Travel preparation status: I forgot to activate the out of office notification. But I finally have a tent AND a backpack. There's even some chance I'll manage to pack my stuff before I have to catch the first train in the morning. Oof. 😅
Spending some time in the Ledbury Tesco parking lot before getting a shuttle to the camp site is definitely an important part of the EMF experience. :D
87 out of 88 and second place on the leaderboard. As the sun is setting, I guess that's it. The gchq.net game took me places I otherwise wouldn't have discovered. Would definitely play again, this was great fun. :) #emfcamp#emf2024
Speedy tren did its job, I'm back in Europe. Now I have about 45 minutes to catch my Nightjet to Vienna. Whoop whoop
But also... How complicated can travelling by train be?
Eurostar: Yes!
Well, that's great. The NJ is here. But... It's missing half the coaches, apparently they're stuck somewhere in Germany and supposed to be added in Mannheim. At ~1:00 in the morning. Until then, they stuff everyone into one single seating coach. Argh.
Morale is high. We're having good conversations in the compartment, learnt a lot about railway safety and operations and there's beer. Could be worse. :D
What's kinda funny about night trains is... Everyone I ever met there is super chill about delays and other inconveniences. Like, right now, our carriage is missing and everyone is like: "Here's a story about a rail travel I took which was a lot worse. And it was great fun!"
Great. There are now people boarding the train wanting to have their seats. And they are pissed that we're occupying them because we were told by the conductor. Exactly what you need at 1:00 in the morning.
Changed train in Linz, maybe that one stays on time.
Next to me are some punks. I mean proper punks. But they are talking about project controlling meetings and buying a house in Italy.
So I guess... Punk's not dead, punk's got a job in controlling and is buying houses.
Finally made it home. \o/
The thread isn't finished yet, though. Once I'm showered and relaxed, I'll post more pictures from EMF and the one day we spent in London afterwards. :)
Ok. Moar pictures of contraptions!
James Bruton ( @XRobotsUK ) brought a... thing. It's a three-wheeled tentacle robot. Absurd and amazing!
A lot of vehicles, some of them competing in the hacky racers series!
A tracked trike which worked really well on the grass and dirt.
And someone had a real fighting robot with them! #emf2024#emfcamp
By the way... The second picture shows Matt Denton on his Lego-inspired motorbike. He finished it on site and also made a video about the first part. And cought me while I was admiring the tentacle thing from the first picture. :D https://youtu.be/rAm-lMeZ-uE #emf2024#emfcamp