After falling asleep at about 11pm last night I woke at 3am and discovered my other half had been to bed at some point, and then gone downstairs. I also figured out I was partially deaf, and had perhaps the driest mouth in the known universe. Snoring. I must have been snoring. I pulled my…

After making it all the way through Christmas and New Year without catching any of the various coughs and colds that were doing the rounds, I suddenly sneezed this afternoon. I sneezed, and then my nose completely blocked. I thought “oh here we go”. It’s amusing really, isn’t it. I make it all the way…

After clearing the decks at chore-city this morning I walked (very slowly) into town with my middle daughter. She’s on crutches at the moment – recovering from anterior cruciate ligament surgery – a repair on an injury sustained in a rugby match about 18 months ago. It’s probably going to take a year to recover…

Well, here we are again. Another January 1st has rolled around, and with it, that familiar hum of “new year, new me.” This is where many people launch into grand declarations about resolutions, goals, and all the exciting things they are going to do this year. Not me. This year feels… different. Instead of looking…

As the final hours of 2025 ebbed away, I sat on the sofa with a laptop, quietly lifting 22 years worth of blog posts into the air – to land them far from the madding crowd. After a rather horrendous run through the end of the year – more of a stagger than a run…

After falling off the internet in recent days, I reached out to a few friends around the world this morning – wishing them a happy “Boxing Day”, and none of them outside the UK had a clue what I was referring to. In the UK, the day after Christmas Day is “Boxing Day”. I just…

Somehow we’ve made it through Christmas in one piece. We all congregated in the lounge by mid-morning. There had been strict instructions to cap the budget at a sensible amount per person this year – because we all work now (well… all except our youngest daughter, who is heavily pregnant) – so none of us…

It’s been a few days again. A few days since I last emptied my head into the keyboard. I’m not sure where the last week went, to be honest. Work, chores, and errands rapidly conspire if you let them – and I tend to let them. I’m trying to re-wind in my head – to…

I don’t recognise the internet any more. Walled cities have proliferated, filled with newcomers, settlers, and homesteaders – who invariably join each other in a race to the bottom – chasing just enough engagement to inflate their numbers without having to invest too much effort in establishing any sort of “real” relationship with anybody. When…

I went to my other half’s work Christmas party as her “plus one” last night. It was interesting – being the person on the outside, looking in on the work friendships and relationships – not having to “be present”, or “show up”. I learned so much about a room full of strangers – a collection…