I really only need it to keep my phone charged when we have a power outage or we're camping for a few days or to give my steam deck a boost if I'm on a long journey. The bigger the capacity you go for and with the more bells and whistles you have, the more things there are to go wrong and the more you pay.

There are literally tons of choices now, all pretty decent. It's all grey label Chinese rebrands. Anker used to be the quality king, but Iniu and Ugreen are brands also on Amazon that are of the same quality.

The decision should be more about what you want from it. Power output of the ports, charge capacity, price.

If you have a laptop you should look into how much it uses to charge. 45W, 65W or 100W are common levels, and often available from power banks (although gaming laptops may prefer more, they'll still take what they can get). Even if your laptop charger uses a barrel connector you can actually charge it from at least one of the USB ports - great to know when your relative loses their charger!

Phones don't require that much. However you may want to consider the charging levels with multiple devices - a 100W port might downgrade to 65W if a second device is plugged in. It also might not, really depends on the product. Like I say, the choice is about what you want from it.

There's a beefy one now with 160W max with 3 USB-C (2 with captive cables) each capable of 100W, plus a USB-A. 25Ahr charge capacity.

Also you can get a power station with an AC inverter if you really want it all. They typically have a range of outputs, even a cigarette lighter socket, and often contactless charging on top. You can also get a solar cell to charge them. However with increased capacity comes increased price.

Anker

Check out iniu. Their capacity to size is unmatched. I learned about them from Captain drone YouTuber a while ago.

https://youtu.be/r4-zwfBIQs4

Seconded. 65W Anker and it's never let me down yet.

Can't really go wrong with the Anker ones, I've got a couple and they do the job

I wish I could snap my fingers and delete caffeine from my brain, because every time I've quit I start feeling that way. Yet I always go back sooner or later. This week I switched to half caf in my daily moka pot of espresso, and I'm definitely in withdrawal. Hope I can stick with it and get to where you're at.

I've been fighting a flu for the past two weeks, and since then haven't touched caffeine because of how it makes my throat all raw and choke-y.

Today is the first day I feel relatively fine, I didn't oversleep (I work nights) and rose up with the glorious winter sun. Normally I'd be stumbling about, reaching for a heavy brew of the brown stuff staring into my phone, and stressing about the day to come.

This time it's different. I have energy, but not from the caffeine. I'm happy even, just drinking in the morning winter sun.

We'll see how long I last this time without caffeine, but for now I'm enjoying it

Awh no way haha. Enjoy! I hope Leominster treats you well 🙏

That's actually super good intel, since we're visiting the weekend before Xmas! Thanks. And yeah, it's easy to lose the wonder of youth, but easily rekindled in the right company 😛

Oh! Christmas, and maybe Halloween - there's an estate up towards the top of Leominster, with a road in it called Pump Piece. We used to visit that road every Christmas and walk around the estate, the houses around there go all out with their Christmas decorations and they're remarkable and unique. Probably quite tacky, but not in the same way that most other majorly decorated houses I've seen - the decorations are different, and cool. I remember one house that seemed to have a projector showing slides of old Christmas art out the front. It's very cute. Awh man I miss Leominster... Or maybe I just miss being a kid 😂

That's the impression I got poking around online. And thanks for the tip about the sunflower field, that sounds magical!

I spent a lot of my childhood visiting my maternal grandmother in Leominster. It's a nice, small, quiet town, as far as I remember. The chippy is fantastic! Near enough to Hereford too, which is handy. There's a sunflower field somewhere between Leominster and Worcester, which is beautiful. And it's not too far from the Brecon Beacons!

Just give me an Earl Grey, and I'll talk your ear off about the Earl Grey's reforms of the 1830s

Hell yeah. Been a while since I made cream of pumpkin soup though, I usually do a curry with pumpkin.

the tragedy of the Batavia, Crowley,

a man after my own heart, I see!

I even think it's strange when Americans are into that sort of thing. It's downright spooky when others do it.

I'm happy to make turkey and pumpkin soup, and if you're over I promise I'll at least talk about actual weird shit - the tragedy of the Batavia, Crowley, that sort of thing.

I knew one weird German guy who celebrated Thanksgiving, and for some reason he invited me over every year to watch football (go Bazooka Sharks?) and sample his delicious Turkey. We had nothing in common (I don't do sportsball and his politics makes me stare into the horizon and sip beer), but gosh his turkey and pumpkin soup was great

Well, the only other Americans we know here came over for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Then they stayed in town until Saturday evening. Feels like I've done nothing but cook since Wednesday night! Giving myself a break with some take & bake... At least they paid for the groceries. Pretty happy overall.

Other good news is that my wife has an interview! If she gets it we'll have to move halfway across England, so we're visiting next month to see if it's a good fit. If you know anything about Leominster I'm all ears.

It sounds like everyone's okay, I hope? Either way, what a nightmare.

I don't usually comment on the weekly threads, but I just thought something seemed off. Thanks for letting me know.

I didn't feel anything at all until they put the sterilising spray on at the end, and honestly for about twenty seconds I have never felt pain like it. It honestly felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to my sack.

Other than that, yeah 10/10 would recommend.

Cheers for asking! Been a pretty chaotic week for various reasons, including but not limited to having to call an ambulance and fire brigade for my dad to get him to hospital on Friday.

Everything okay OP? Haven't seen a new one of these in a while.

On the face of it, yes.

Unfortunately in reality, no.

The US has it's filthy paws in so many pies now that it causes problems - as the saying goes: when the US sneezes, it's "allies" catch a cold.

I couldn't give two fucks about the US (the single fuck is reserved for Dolly Parton) but the realist in me knows that US foreign policy can top or tank any field of policy.