Blog of Sam Fox

(Not page 3, popstar, politician, pornstar, or phoenix professional)

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North America

New Orleans from Muriels balcony
USA

New Orleans: Swamps, Food, Booze and All That Jazz

May 21, 2023
  1. Exploring the Enchanting Swamps and Vibrant Music Scene of New Orleans
  2. New Orleans: Swamps, Food, Booze and All That Jazz

With all the focus on AI at the moment I thought it would be fun to try and get ChatGPT to write my New Orleans blogpost for me. It didn’t quite capture the trip but made a good effort. You can read the AI version by following this link, and my version below:

New Orleans has been on my bucket list for a long time, I think what initially started the wish to go there was seeing the film Chef. After I moved to New York in 2014 it was an analytics team outing to go and see the film. It’s become one of my favourite films, with the music, food, and comedy a perfect formula. As I heard more about New Orleans it cemented its place on my bucket list.

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Kayaking in a swamp, image created by AI
USA

Exploring the Enchanting Swamps and Vibrant Music Scene of New Orleans

May 21, 2023
  1. Exploring the Enchanting Swamps and Vibrant Music Scene of New Orleans
  2. New Orleans: Swamps, Food, Booze and All That Jazz

I wrote this blog post about New Orleans with the help of ChatGPT, which fed the itinerary to create the content. While trying to edit the tone, I realized that the initial version was the best one, so I decided to go with it. I did ask it to make two more edits after I input it into WordPress. The first was SEO tips, the second was to reduce the use of passive voice. To really push it, I use Dall:E to compose the images to go into the post. As a comparison, you can find my personal blog on New Orleans here.

During our recent visit to New Orleans, we had the chance to explore some of the city’s most famous attractions and activities, with a particular focus on the enchanting swamps and vibrant music scene. Our stay was at the Virgin Hotel, a modern and elegant property located in the heart of the city, providing us with the perfect base for our adventures.

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Grand Canyon at sunset
USA

Vegas? Casinos, no. Road Trip, yes.

August 19, 2021

Back in June, we found ourselves somewhere neither of us really wanted to be. Las Vegas. So we hired a car and took a mini road trip from Vegas, west to the Grand Canyon.

I had flown into Las Vegas to join Danielle who had already been there for a few days with work. Her team were representing a new hotel/casino, Resorts World, which was opening on the strip. I’ve never had much interest in visiting Vegas, nowhere close to the top of the list of places to visit, but when opportunity strikes…

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Caribbean, North America

Quarantine in Paradise

February 21, 2021

14 days in the Caribbean sun? Or, 14 days in the bitterly cold New York winter? Could be a hard choice, or no choice at all. In more ways than one!

I’d just dropped Danielle off at Heathrow and was on the way home when I realised I had a missed call from Danielle. My first thought was, did Danielle leave her passport? Or, maybe the flight was delayed/cancelled? But then wouldn’t there be more panicked signs? Multiple missed calls, a text message? Maybe it was a butt/pocket dial.  

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USA

England raised, New England engaged

January 23, 2021

The beating Mediterranean sun, golden beaches, rugged hiking trails, French wine, and fresh seafood. That was the idea. We’d celebrate a friend’s wedding in Toulouse then travel onto Corsica to enjoy a summer holiday…and our engagement. Unfortunately, all plans got postponed.

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North America

ATM caves, a must-do adventure

August 2, 2020
  1. Mexico to Belize, via the Chicken Bus
  2. Slowing down, Caye Caulker island life
  3. ATM caves, a must-do adventure

Things kept on getting better after we left Caye Caulker. The next stop was San Ignacio, our home for a couple of days. The location wasn’t particularly astounding, barring a local market across the road and the Macal River bordering another town, it was mostly devoid of things to note. Yet, from this town, we were less than an hour away from one of my trip highlights—Actun Tunichil Muknal, or in less tongue twisty terms: ATM caves.

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NYC coronavirus lockdown

Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases

July 4, 2020
  1. First day working remote
  2. We stay home and wait
  3. Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing
  4. Confirmation arrives, stocking up
  5. Finding routine in irregular times
  6. New challenges with the remote working
  7. Noticeable changes
  8. Finding a pattern
  9. COVID-19 Lock Down
  10. First week, check
  11. Weekend plans? You know stay away from people as much as possible.
  12. Game night as the pause begins
  13. Streets empty as everyone builds furniture and plays games
  14. Staying sane
  15. Keeping date night going
  16. Socializing remote
  17. Friday feeling? TGIF?
  18. House Parties not Street Parties
  19. Running in the rain
  20. Betting on unknowns
  21. Optimizing the lockdown life
  22. Community Support
  23. Virtual Social Closeness
  24. Friday night: Virtual Happy Hours & Games
  25. Four Weeks In
  26. Discovering the new exciting
  27. A Weekend Getaway in Quarantine
  28. Rain and games
  29. Looking for escapes
  30. Escape to the Country
  31. An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’
  32. Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases

If all had gone to plan, we would have just completed our French vacation/holiday, and I would be in England right now. As it is, like so many things, the trip has been postponed. With most holiday plans out of the question this year, I decided to use some days off for a staycation With New York reopening from the lockdown it’s a better time to take off. With the offices closed on Friday, I took Tues-Thurs off to get six days in a row for the price of three. It’s been a great chance to get some runs and cycle rides in, as well enjoy as much football as I can soak in with the resumption of the Premier League. Ah, and work on this blog!

A couple of highlights from recent runs
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mountains in the catskills new york
New York, NYC coronavirus lockdown, USA

An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’

June 20, 2020
  1. First day working remote
  2. We stay home and wait
  3. Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing
  4. Confirmation arrives, stocking up
  5. Finding routine in irregular times
  6. New challenges with the remote working
  7. Noticeable changes
  8. Finding a pattern
  9. COVID-19 Lock Down
  10. First week, check
  11. Weekend plans? You know stay away from people as much as possible.
  12. Game night as the pause begins
  13. Streets empty as everyone builds furniture and plays games
  14. Staying sane
  15. Keeping date night going
  16. Socializing remote
  17. Friday feeling? TGIF?
  18. House Parties not Street Parties
  19. Running in the rain
  20. Betting on unknowns
  21. Optimizing the lockdown life
  22. Community Support
  23. Virtual Social Closeness
  24. Friday night: Virtual Happy Hours & Games
  25. Four Weeks In
  26. Discovering the new exciting
  27. A Weekend Getaway in Quarantine
  28. Rain and games
  29. Looking for escapes
  30. Escape to the Country
  31. An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’
  32. Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases

We’ve been back three of weeks now, a weird few weeks. When we left the city as still firmly in lockdown, the streets were deserted, and we were getting groceries delivered and left outside our door. A lot of things changed while we were upstate: cases went down a lot, the state started reopening in certain areas, summer arrived and George Floyd was killed. I’ve already reflected a bit on that first week back with the protests, riots and curfew. My next post will be a chance to reflect more on what the city is like now we’re back but I’ll look back at our couple of weeks upstate here.

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New York, USA

A Pandemic in a Pandemic

June 4, 2020

This is something I wrote late on Monday, was going to post on Tuesday but #blackouttuesday needed a voice of silence. Now I’m posting on Thursday evening. Protests continue, the curfew has been moved up to 8pm, some looting and rioting continues across New York and the country. Several shops near us were broken into and now boarded up, but unlike earlier this week I don’t hear any sirens or people outside right now (11.30pm).

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