I just came across this incredibly adorable video of Björk from 1988 talking about television. She removes the back of the set and alarmingly pokes her hand in and around the circuitry while describing how it all works. Old tube TVs like this can hold a potentially lethal charge - even when unplugged.

It reminded me of my first - and up to now, only electric shock. I would have been about seven or eight years old and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to open up a tube television and see what was inside (I took everything apart as a child).

I was smart enough to know to unplug the TV first, I wasn’t however smart enough to know about capacitors. As I poked around inside I must have touched either a capacitor or the tube, I’m not sure which, but I received what I now realise was an electric shock, but at the time felt like someone came up behind me and punched me in the top of the arm.

In shock, I lay confused on the floor for a few minutes as I caught my breath and got over the initial shock of what had happened. From then on I knew to treat capacitors with respect and to take care when taking apart any mains-powered devices. So far I haven’t had any other shocks, well apart from high-frequency zaps from my Tesla coil :P

I could have died that day, I think using just one hand was what saved me from having a shock across my chest.

In other news I have been playing a lot of Grim Dawn. I’m currently levelling a Templar, Trickster, Warder and Shieldbreaker. I absolutely love this game and have passed 650hrs played on Steam. I genuinely think it will be my first 1000hrs played game on Steam and probably my third-most played game after WoW and Minecraft.

You can find a list of all my Grim Dawn characters here. I update the page occassionally.

I’ve also been playing some hardcore WoW Classic on the Season of Mastery realm Quel’Serrar. I’m currently level 18 and in the guild ‘Hold my Ale’.

So, not much else to report, looking forward to a quiet Christmas and New Year, I must remember to renew my hosting and domains for 2022! I’m also planning on doing some reading over the season too, you can find my reading list here.

Also note to self - watch Game of Thrones Season 5 in 2022!