Why I Wear Boots on Planes (and You Should Too)

I'm obsessed with disaster.

Not because I like it - but because I understand one simple truth:

All systems fail.

Eventually. Always. Sometimes slowly. Sometimes in the blink of an eye. And I want to know exactly how - and what happens next.

I don't scroll Instagram when I'm on a train. I run simulations.

Murphy's Law is My Co-Pilot

You've heard of Murphy's Law - "Anything that can go wrong, will."

Me? I simulate it.

• Driving at 55 mph into a sweeping left bend - what happens if my front-right tyre blows out with an HGV coming the other way?
• What if a deer jumps the barrier?
• What if the guy in front panic-brakes?
• What if the bridge fails?

I play through it. Over and over. Not out of fear - out of curiosity.

Same on trains:

• What happens if this carriage derails at speed?
• 750 volts on the live rail - but the real killer is current: thousands of amps.
• How fast does metal melt? What catches fire? Who moves first?

I don't enjoy these thoughts.

But this is how I think. Because systems fail. And most people are in denial.

So What's That Got to Do With Planes and Boots?

Here's what most people don't think about on a flight:

What if the plane clips the runway and fuel ignites? What if the cabin fills with smoke in under 10 seconds?

Now ask yourself: Are you in flip-flops? Bare feet? Nylon shorts? Crocs?

I'm not.

• I fly in boots.
• Denim jeans.
• A long-sleeved shirt.
• And a hat.

I sit aisle. Why? Because I'm not getting trapped next to a 20-stone stag-do zombie when the alarms go off.

I want grip. Protection. Options. When the worst happens, I want a chance.

The Point Isn't Just Planes - It's How I Think

This isn't about air travel. It's about design. Engineering. Leadership.

When I build systems - for fintechs, banks, security stacks - I don't assume success. I simulate failure.

I model chaos. I hunt edge cases. I design from the bottom up, as if everything will fail, because one day it will.

That's why my systems are resilient.

It's the same mindset I bring to architecture reviews, dev team training, incident postmortems. Not "What went wrong?" But: "What else could have gone wrong - and why didn't it yet?"

Want to Build Things That Survive the Fire?

That's what I do at Opendata Consult.

If you're a fintech or a bank building anything that needs to work under pressure - APIs, auth flows, infrastructure, or compliance - I can help you design it to survive the real world.

Because sooner or later, everything breaks.

And when it does, you'll want someone who's already simulated it.