Controversy at the BAFTAs

It has been a long time since I watched any awards show, be that the BAFTAs, the Oscars, the Brit Awards, the MOBOs, or any other. For the most part, I concluded that they were basically just people in the industry patting themselves on their backs while enjoying a lavish party, and that really the only reason anyone cared is because they're connected at least tangentially to things we actually do care about. I also concluded that winning BAFTAs or Oscars was actually no indication of whether I would actually enjoy the film in question.

But I digress.

This weekend at the BAFTAs there was a moment of controversy when one of the attendees, John Davidson, a sufferer from a particularly difficult form of Tourette's Syndrome, shouted the N-word while two people of colour, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, were on stage.

The whole thing was generally horrible.

Now, the very first thing I have to say is that I have nothing but respect for Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo (and indeed for Jamie Foxx, who also seems to have been particularly strongly affected by this incident), as actors and also as individuals. And people of colour get faced with this sort of shit far too often, so I certainly can't blame them for objecting.

But two things can be true at once. And in this case, the other truth is that John Davidson was present at the BAFTA ceremony precisely because of the film that was made depicting his journey with Tourette's, the way it has affected his life, and the negative effects of it. And, crucially, the fact that his tics and outbursts are entirely involuntary and out of his control - to the extent that he has previously shouted "F- the Queen" while receiving his MBE, and declaring that he was carrying significant amounts of illegal drugs while at airport security.

It's a very difficult disability, and is out of his control.

So any suggestion to deal with it, "couldn't he just..." has the answer that, no, he couldn't just. There were basically two possibilities: either accept his presence, and the risk that went with it that something like this could happen; or bar him from the ceremony in some form (which, incidentally, would be illegal under the Equalities Act...)

Ultimately, there's no neat resolution to any of this.

For myself, my sympathies lie with the victims in all of this, all of them: Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindon, of course, and also John Davidson. Because there was offense caused, and we shouldn't minimise that... but this is that odd case where there isn't actually someone to blame.

And engaging in a witch-hunt, or fighting it as yet another front in the Culture War does nobody any good.

(All that said, there is one little bit of blame to go around: apparently, the BBC in their wisdom elected not to edit out the slur from their time-delayed transmission, while editing out both Alan Cummings' later apology for it and some other shouts that occurred in the night. They could easily, and should, have handled that better. But in all of this, that's a fairly minor point.)

And that's that, I think.

The Future of VAR

On Clyde 1 Superscoreboard last night there was an interesting debate concerning the future of VAR - apparently the scope of its use is due to be significantly expanded at this year's World Cup, and the question was whether that would be the end, of if we'd see further expansions in scope.

I'm reasonably convinced that the answer to that is not only that it will be massively expanded in scope, but in the next few years we'll start to see AI-assisted refereeing, where the AI has been trained on the last several years of video footage, will 'watch' the game in real time, and will make all sorts of rulings. Indeed, there may come a point where the AI referee becomes the primary authority in the running of the game, although we're some way away from that just now.

In theory, this actually represents a good thing - at the moment, the biggest problems with VAR are that the checks seem to take ages (certainly, far too long), and they're all-too-often still wrong. Switching to an AI assistant should lead to much quicker turnaround and should, again in theory, see them become much more accurate.

(That said, they'll need to be very careful in how they train the AI, or they'll see them much more likely to award decisions to the 'big' team over the 'smaller' one. Or maybe the opposite...)

But all of that is a few years away... though maybe only a few. I think there's a reasonably good chance that we may see an AI assistant being tried out at the Women's World Cup in 2031, in advance of its being rolled out more generally after that.

Day 50: Update on Goals

It is already day 50 of the year, so time for the first update on my goals (and non-goals) for the year:

As for goals for next year, I only have three:

• Books: By day 50 I should have read 4.9 books. Thanks in large part to some decently-long journeys in the first couple of months, I'm a bit ahead of schedule on this one - book four finished while in Barcelona, and book five shortly thereafter. I'm now closing in on the end of "The Fellowship of the Ring", so I'm in a really good place.
• Weight: After a fairly disastrous Christmas season, things have been going in the right direction. There's a long way to go, and so I don't want to declare any sort of a victory, but so far, so good.
• Church Website: I've made a small update to the website, and managed to clean up something that wasn't working in December, so that's not terrible. My next step is to make sure there is at least some sort of a page for all of the various groups in the church, and then I can see about populating them with actual data.
• Blog: By day 50, I would expect to have posted 16 times. I'm very slightly behind target, with this being post 15, but that's not disastrous.
• Garden: Something that has recently come up is that our back garden needs a bit of attention - last year we dug a hole for a sandpit for Lion which has turned into a disaster. There is also some damage to the lawn, and a few bits and pieces in need of repair. I didn't set a decoration goal for the year as pretty much every room (except the kitchen and adjoining utility room) has been addressed, but it turns out that this should be looked at - getting the garden fixed is a new goal for the year. But in terms of an update: we haven't yet meaningfully done anything towards it.

And that's where we are: small progress on all three goals, a very small slip on the non-goal, and now an additional goal for the list. I'm happy with that, for now.

Experimental Cookery 2026: Rib-eye Steak with Red Wine & Pastrami Sauce

For completeness, I made this for our dinner on Saturday. It was fine - nothing much to it, pretty decent results, but not spectacular. We might have it again, but I'm not in any huge rush.

Experimental Cookery 2026: Waffles

I do like waffles, but we've hardly ever had them - my previous "waffle maker" was a repurposed toasted sandwich maker that, frankly, wasn't particularly good even at its own job, and the pre-cooked waffles we've had from Tesco have never really hit the spot. All in all, it's been a disappointment. Then, before Christmas, LC and Funsize decided to plant a seed: they decided to openly muse about getting me a waffle maker as my present, so that I could make them waffles for breakfast. (When I queried how that made it a present for me, Funsize quipped that I love to cook, so it's all good.)

Anyway, they didn't get me a waffle maker for Christmas, but that did lead me to muse on the topic. So I did some research, and identified a few good ones (apparently, there are a lot of indifferent ones out there). I picked one... and then found it was out of stock everywhere.

Argos then, rather cruelly, decided to reduce the price to their "lowest ever!", while it was still out of stock. Which was nice. But then, at the start of this week, it came back into stock. And I had some money-off vouchers available, so an order was placed, and I ended up getting a shiny new waffle maker at a third of its real price. Huzzah!

This morning, therefore, was the first actual use of the waffle maker. I found a batter recipe online (it's basically a pancake mix, but enriched with butter, and with the eggs separated and the whites whipped up to soft peaks). I made this up last night, rested it overnight, and then cooked the waffles this morning.

And they were lovely - nicely cooked (not quite perfectly formed, but that's about the amount of waffle mix I put into the maker), soft and fluffy. All in all, a win.

They're not perfect, but that's not a surprise for the first time out. But give it a few more tries (and some adjustment of the waffle mix), and all will be well.

So that was nice.

The Starbucks Incident

I'm not a fan of Starbucks on several levels. However, in this case, my issue is not with them...

I was traveling to Barcelona from Edinburgh, and due to a combination of travel times and company policy, I was using BA flights with a stopover at Heathrow. Which was fine - arrive at the first airport at silly o'clock, fly to Heathrow for a tight-but-doable transfer (I had an hour, and they claimed I needed an hour), and then to Barcelona just after lunch. And, it being a BA flight I could reasonably assume I would get something to eat, and maybe a coffee, on the flight...

Silly me.

I got to Edinburgh at silly o'clock and got onto the flight. So far, so good. And then the pilot came on to announce that we were delayed by ten minutes... That was far from ideal, but there should still be time. Then I discovered that BA no longer provide any meaningful food or coffee on their "short" flights - I received a tiny flapjack and a small bottle of water.

Never mind - I didn't actually choose them for the food.

At Heathrow it transpired that we had a little more time than was expected, and so by the time I had found my transfer gate and visited the toilets I had all of a few minutes before having to board. So I visited Starbucks and bought a croissant and a medium coffee. Said coffee was almost thermo-nuclear in temperature, but never mind as it would cool down on the plane.

Oh, and the croissant was very dry, but would also be fine with the coffee to wash it down.

Oh, and it was stupidly expensive, being a Starbucks not only in an airport but in Heathrow Terminal 5.

Anyway, never mind - that was me sorted for something to eat and drink on the second flight, which would tide me over until a late lunch in Barcelona. Huzzah!

Then I went downstairs to board my plane, only to be met by an instruction that we were boarding using a bus and that no hot drinks were allowed on the bus.

And so I now found myself, having very grudgingly spent over-the-odds on a mediocre coffee that was currently burning my fingers through the cup, having to throw almost all of it into the bin because I couldn't take it onto their bus. I then found myself having to eat a fairly dry croissant without the coffee to wash it down that would make it palatable. And then on the second flight I was given two small biscuits and a small bottle of water as the 'food' offering.

All in all, that was just a rubbish experience. And I absolutely blame Heathrow for this one - at no point is there a sign saying "by the way, you can't take your coffee on your plane". I consider the whole thing an horrible, and deliberate, rip-off of customers.

(And yet, somehow, the food offering was still better than the flight back, which was a "BA" flight operated by one of their partners, and where for three hours there was nothing at all. It's fair to say I have very little intention of using them, or Heathrow, any more than I absolutely have to in future.)

#5: "The Specimens", by Mairi Kidd

Basking

I spent the second half of last week in Barcelona, at the ISE trade show. This was a fun trip, albeit made up of three very long days. It featured a new and exciting way for the airports to rip customers off, which I may or may not post about separately.

But one thing that was really nice came on the last day, when Barcelona enjoyed 18 degrees and bright sunshine. Which meant that just as I left ISE for the last time, before getting on the metro to the airport, I spent a minute just standing, basking in the sunshine.

It's funny how you don't notice how much you miss it until the sunshine is back.

#4: "And the Mountains Echoed", by Khaled Hosseini (the current candidate for book of the year, though I'd be surprised if it stays there. It's very good, but not quite as good, though also not as desperately sad, as "A Thousand Splendid Suns")

Experimental Cookery 2026: Malaysian Chicken

Our first Experimental Cookery of the year comes from the Hairy Bikers "Great Curries" - a book I love in theory but have made depressingly little actual use of. This one has a lengthy ingredient list, almost all of which then get chopped up and turned into the curry paste before the others are added.

Some years ago, I took a cookery class (with work!) which led to me purchasing a small food processor that I use only for curry pastes. Or, at least, I do in theory - I've used it on a total of two days for a total of three things (with this representing the second day of use). So it was good to have a pretext for making use of this again.

Anyway, the meal was quick and easy to prepare: gather the ingredients, chop and then blend the ones for the paste, then cook that along with some spices to make the base of the curry. Add the chicken, then the vegetables, and simmer.

The results were very nice, but extremely hot (that will be the 10 chillis in the sauce). But the potatoes were a nice touch, and I'm sure we'll have this again.

One thing I think I would do differently would be to use either chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks, rather that getting chicken legs and breaking them up - I'm far from convinced the mixture added anything to the overall meal and I didn't enjoy that bit of the task.

The other thing that I'm inclined to do, time permitting, is to start making up some of these curry pastes in advance and freezing them - that then should make a lot of future meal prep a lot easier when the time comes. Of course, that "time permitting" is always a big question...

To the Moon!

A couple of days ago I learned that NASA are in the process of putting together a crewed mission back to the Moon - the intent this time is simply to orbit and then come back, rather than landing, but presumably that's a next step towards returning there.

I'm rather surprised by the lack of media attention on this one, and equally glad that America has brought their space programme back online in a big way. And, much as I don't like giving him credit, that it one of the definite good things of Trump's presidency - returning to the Moon, with a view to setting up an actual Moonbase, and longer term looking to Mars is the sort of big, bold strategy that we just haven't had for some decades.

It's also worth noting that all of this, especially Mars, is one of Elon Musk's particular obsessions as well. And it's easy to mock, but he is actually right - on a universal scale human life is incredibly vulnerable. It's only a matter of time before something happens to render the Earth uninhabitable (for us), so for the species to survive long-term we really do have to become first multi-planetary and then multi-stellar.

Of course, that "matter of time" may well be measured in centuries or millennia, so perhaps it's not the most urgent thing. But given the other things they're working on, it may be no bad thing to keep Trump and Musk focused on the skies...

That Rarest of Things

Somehow, the Guardian managed to publish that rarest of things: an actually astute article on Scottish and Welsh independence in a unionist-leaning paper. It takes as its central thesis that it's likely that the upcoming Scottish and Welsh elections are predicted to lead to pro-independence majorities, while the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly is already in favour of leaving the UK. It then argues that this should serve as a major wake-up call to Westminster that things need to be done differently.

It won't, of course, but never mind.

Probably the key statement, though, and one that seems to have sailed blissfully behind the commentators (who are rehearsing the usual pro- and anti-independence talking points), is this: "This doesn’t work for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, but it also doesn’t work for many parts of England." (emphasis mine)

That is, the UK fundamentally isn't working for any part of the UK.

I've spoken about this before, more than a decade ago, and it's even more true now: for a very long time, voters in the UK have had the choice of a Labour (or Labour-led) government, or a Tory (or Tory-led) government. Worse, the Labour and Tory parties actually agree on the vast majority of their policies, disagreeing in a fairly narrow range of areas and on some implementation details.

This has manifested itself in a massively-unpopular Tory government getting voted out and replaced with a Labour landslide that has collapsed to even worse levels of unpopularity in an unprecedentedly short period of time.

Look to the future and the next election has one of three possible outcomes: either Labour somehow manage to turn this around and get a second term and we get more of the same (as far as I can see this is the least-worst option, but I really can't see it happening), or the Tories somehow manage to recover in the polls and come back into power and we get more of the same, or (horror of horrors) we end up with a Reform government, probably elected on a fairly narrow subset of the electorate.

That's a horrifying prospect, and it's probably just as horrifying for a great many people in England, just as it is in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The only real difference? Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have (at least in theory) the option of leaving the UK. England don't have that option - in theory, they could eject the rest of us, but that still leaves them with the same broken Westminster system of government.

So what is the solution?

The answer to that is actually the same, whether the question is now to stop the rise of Reform or countering the pro-independence parties in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland: make the UK actually work for the people of the UK.

That includes, but is not limited to, a better voting system, a better caliber of MPs (of all parties), an end to the cozy consensus that leads to all our parties agreeing on almost everything. And it mean finding a way to improve the economy... but not just "the economy" (which typically measures things that are only important to the very rich) but the economy as it is felt by regular people - jobs, wages, inflation (especially food inflation)... we need to find a way to end the dependence of so many on food banks (it's good that they're there, but they should also be a mark of shame for a supposedly-rich country).

And all of which needs done before the next election. Which means two things: firstly, the timescale is absurdly unrealistic such that it's almost certainly too late.

Secondly, it means that only Labour can stop Reform. Not as an election slogan (which is almost certainly will be), but because they're currently the only ones with the power to actually do anything.

My Most-read Book

I very rarely read a novel twice, and even less often read one three times: I've read "The Lord of the Rings" on two occasions, the "Red Dwarf" novels at least twice each (and mostly three times), and "Good Omens" three times, but that's about it.

Until yesterday I'd never read a novel four times, but "The Hobbit" has broken new ground in that regard. (Actually, nearly five times - we were studying it in first year at high school, got as far as the death of Smaug, and then the teacher left and the new guy had no interest in concluding it.)

I still don't think this really qualifies it as my favourite book of all time, which remains "Good Omens", though I doubt I'll ever read that again at this point.

Anyway, this is all prelude to another re-read of "The Lord of the Rings" coming later this year - I purchased a good quality hardback set of the books late last year and am keen to revisit them.

#3: "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkien

Fawlty Towers: The Play

For his birthday, we bought my father tickets to the "Fawlty Towers" play, and yesterday was the day for going to see it. This involved a comedy of errors as I managed to miss my stop (there seems to be one advertised that doesn't actually exist) and get another train back, but then on to the show.

There's actually not all that much to say about it - it's an adaptation of three of the episodes of the TV series, woven together into a combined show, with some new material. The characters are all present and correct, and uncannily like their TV personas.

The performances, and the production as a whole are great, with the caveat that you've probably seen all of it before - indeed, some of the reviews have noted an odd phenomenon whereby the audiences will laugh before the corresponding joke. A comedy of anticipation, if you will.

The one bit that's new is the very end of the show, which fits in with the general chaos that has gone before while not quite matching any of the actual shows. And... it's fine, but it's also the weakest part of the show. Not that they could have done any better, given the number of moving parts.

Basically, it's recommended for fans of the TV show. If you didn't like the show, you almost certainly won't like this any more. And if you haven't seen the show, it's probably not for you - it's a particular type of retro comedy that they just don't make any more... but maybe watch a bit of the show and see what you think? (It's not like it's hard to get ahold of these days.)

Plus, on the way home I was able to finish my second book of the year, so that was nice, too.

#2: "The City of Mist", by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Two Films

I'm not terribly happy with my previous post, so thought I'd add something about two things we watched that I did very much enjoy:

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

This was really an odd one, and again didn't end in the best possible way. But the lead up to that end was really good fun. (And the ending was also unambiguously a good thing, so that's a win!) The highlight, for me, was the bringing together of the old and the new casts for that finale - the use of the original Ghostbusters was very sparing, and wisely so, but it all worked well. I do hope they may another sequel... though I'd be inclined at that point to retire the originals.

The Roses

On a completely different note, "The Roses" on Disney+ was an amusing look at a disintegrating relationship, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman in fine form. I don't have much to say about this film, except to recommend it - it was well worth the couple of hours spent watching it. (Which is also why it doesn't get a whole post to itself!)

The War Between the Land and the Sea

So, RTD's "Doctor Who" spin-off show. UNIT get thrust into the middle of a tense diplomatic situation between humanity and the newly-reemerged Homo Aqua (formerly the Sea Devils).

I mostly enjoyed this, and thought in particular that it had three and a half really good episodes out of five. Sadly, the episode and a half that weren't good were pretty awful, and they were also the last episode and a half of the show. Endings are hard, I guess.

I should note at this point that the material I enjoyed I enjoyed despite some glaring flaws - RTD persists in writing an agenda with a show wrapped around it (rather than a show with an agenda), and frankly it's all very predictable. Plus, he does just love his "every phone in the world does something at the same time" thing, which is frankly just daft.

But the central conceit is good, the characters are well drawn, the effects are surprisingly great, and it is genuinely thought-provoking. Good stuff.

And then it all goes horribly wrong: our hero and his Homo Aqua counterpart suddenly turn into a doomed Romeo & Juliet forbidden love, all the various factions start running around shouting at each other even where that makes no sense... and then we get to a climax that is incredibly troubling. I don't think the show meant to be pro-genocide, but that was the impression I got.

So, do I recommend it? Sadly, not really. Given a better ending, yeah, it would have been good. As it is, it just doesn't work for me.

Celtic's Management Woes 2026 (January)

This season of Scottish football has been utterly mental. A month ago, Wilfried Nancy had just lost his first game in charge, prompting a meltdown amongst some sections of the Celtic fanbase. Yesterday, having lost six out of eight games, he was sacked, bringing to an end a fairly dismal management failure.

(I still maintain, as I said last month, that it was absurd to demand his sacking after only one game. However, it did become clear that he wasn't the man for the job - it seemed that almost every manager in Scotland had the beating of him, by seeing what he did in the first half, tweaking their system to suit, and watching the collapse. That inability to counter changes made by others was a fatal flaw.)

And so we're back to Martin O'Neill, this time to the end of the season. It will be very interesting to see how that plays out - on the face of it, going back to the safe pair of hands should be a good step (and it was certainly a necessary step; with the transfer window rapidly running out, Celtic couldn't dither over getting someone in). However, it's worth noting that the five league matches that O'Neill faced before were actually easier, at least on paper, than those faced by Nancy, and it's also worth noting that this transfer window is enormously important - does O'Neill still have the eye for a good player that will allow Celtic to emerge stronger from this window than they go in, and indeed stronger than Hearts, Rangers, and even Motherwell?

Ultimately, I think this is a positive move by Celtic on all fronts - it clearly wasn't working under Nancy and was highly unlikely to get any better, so taking decisive action was right; and appointing O'Neill was the best available option for the rest of the season. It certainly makes things interesting for the run-in!

Stranger Things

Some years ago we took out a Netflix subscription. At the time, this was largely motivated by "Star Trek: Discovery", which was on its second season at the time. (I'd purchased the first season on blu-ray, making it probably the last TV series I purchased.) However, there were then several other things we took the opportunity to watch: "Lost in Space", "Cobra Kai"...

And "Stranger Things".

"Stranger Things" came to its end at New Years, with LC and I watching the finale in the evening of the first. And it's fine - in my opinion it's not one of the all-time classic finales, but neither is it a total disaster like some others I could mention ("Game of Thrones", "How I Met Your Mother"...).

That said, I'm afraid to say that the final season wasn't really worth the wait - over the years since it started "Stranger Things" went from a must-watch show to being something that was just there. We were always going to watch the final season to see how it ended, and indeed watched it right away... but partly because we were already between shows.

And that's more or less that. Our new show is the "Doctor Who" spin-off "The War Between the Land and the Sea" - more on that once we're done.

Books of the Year 2025

Here's the list of books for this year:

1. "Machines Like Me", by Ian McEwan
2. "The Ultimate Discworld Companion", by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs
3. "So You Want to be a Game Master", by Justin Alexander
4. "The Maps of Middle Earth", by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", by J.K. Rowling *
6. "Nero", by Conn Iggulden
7. "The Labyrinth of the Spirits", by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
8. "A Stroke of the Pen", by Terry Pratchett
9. "Hercule Poirot's Silent Night", by Sophie Hannah
10. "The Phoenix Project", by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford
11.  "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", by J.K. Rowling *
12. "Hera", by Jennifer Saint
13. "La Belle Sauvage", by Philip Pullman
14. "Mary: or, the Birth of Frankenstein", by Anne Eekhout
15. "Assassin's Apprentice", by Robin Hobb
16.  "Dragons of Deceit", by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
17.  "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", by J.K. Rowling *
18. “Tower of Fools”, by Andrzej Sapkowski
19. “Dragons of Fate”, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
20.  "Odyssey", by Stephen Fry
21. "1984: Julia", by Sandra Newman
22. "Dragons of Eternity", by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
23. "Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince", by J.K. Rowling *
24.  "The Running Grave", by Robert Galbraith
25. "Defiant", by Brandon Sanderson
26. "Aim to Misbehave", by Rosiee Thor
27. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", by J.K. Rowling *
28. "Warriors of God", by Andrzej Sapkowski
29. "Skyward Flight", by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
30. "Light Perpetual", by Andrzej Sapkowski
31. "Crystal of Storms", by Rhianna Pratchett

My target for the year was 30 books, so that has been exceeded.

The list of books includes five rereads (Harry Potter), and five books for Funsize - the same five Harry Potter novels in each case. There were no RPG-related books this year, although "Crystal of Storms" is a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, which is RPG-adjacent.

This year's best book was "Mary: or, the Birth of Frankenstein" by Anne Eekhout, with "Hera" by Jennifer Saint as a close second. The weakest book(s) of the year is a joint award to the three Dragonlance novels - it hurts me to say this, given how much enjoyment I've had from Dragonlance over the years, but these really didn't work for me at all.

As might be expected, the backlog of unread books has shrunk significantly over this year. My hope would be to clear it entirely by this time next year, but I guess we'll see.

My Year in 2025

So, how has 2025 as a whole been?

My Year in... Blogging 

This year has seen me return to regular blogging, which is a good thing. This is the 120th post on the blog for the year, so that's a success. This year also saw me completely miss the 20th anniversary of this blog, which is... weird.

The Imaginarium remains on indefinite hiatus. I have more to say on the topic of gaming more generally.

All in all, I'm happy with that. In 2026 I would like to just see more of the same. Though there is a part of me that is considering a refresh of the blog - the current theme has been in place for a very long time, so maybe it's time for a change?

My Year in... Work

This has been a banner year in many ways, though somewhat frustrating in parts. It has also been a really hard year in many ways. So, successful, but I'm also very glad for the rest!

My Year in... Health

Nothing to report here - it's basically been fine.

My weight continues to be an issue, and one that really needs to be addressed. That said, I said exactly that last year and ended up getting nowhere...

My Year in... Gaming

It's funny how something can be such a huge part of your life for so long, and then it just stops, and then... it turns out you just don't miss it that much. I haven't done any gaming this year, I haven't been planning any campaigns, or writing anything, I haven't purchased any (physical) products or backed any Kickstarters. (I have purchased a small number of classic PDFs, but that barely counts - I'm completing a couple of 'sets'.)

I have no plans for any of this to change in 2026. Indeed, it is very likely that this segment won't even appear in the wrap-up for next year.

My Year in... Band

Band continues to be something of a disappointment. It just about does what I wanted it to do, but it's not particularly fulfilling. I may need to think on this some more - the current arrangements are unlikely to hold.

(On the other hand, the very last practice of the year was really good, so maybe there is some hope? If we can pick up in 2026 where we left off this year, I think I'd actually be happy with that.)

My Year in... Resolutions

As always, the wrap-up of annual goals, and setting of goals for next year, are handled in another post. The headline is that this year has been mostly positive.

My Year in... Travel

This year had two meaningful trips: to France for a week in the Summer, and to London for a couple of days with work. These were enjoyable enough, and in particular it was good to see the Sun in Summer! That said, I'd hope that next year sees a bit more travel to various places.

Also, there is now A Plan, but that's one for the future...

My Year in... the Church

This has been a tricky year. A few months ago I made to mistake of being persuaded to take over as convenor of one of the committees, which started well and then became hugely stressful. I'm now rather concerned for the future.

I also allowed myself to be drawn into a "Growing Young" initiative within the church, which I remain convinced is both the right thing and indeed absolutely essential for the church going forward... I just don't want to be the person doing it. But we'll see what happens with all of this in 2026.

You'll note, however, that the topic of this subsection has changed from "My Year in... Faith". And there's a reason for that - the last several months have very much been about attending church and being involved in the church, and I've been feeling something of a falling away in terms of faith. I have some thoughts on that for 2026, but I'd very much like to switch the title back for next year.

My Year in... Money

Another odd one. On the one hand, this is robustly healthy, and is all generally good. On the other hand, I now find myself obsessing over a spreadsheet that basically doesn't change day to day, which is odd. That's a good thing insofar as it's better than reverting to just ignoring it, but on the other hand it doesn't actually achieve anything.

My Year in... Love

I said last year that one of the good things was that Surprise! and Funsize had adopted a more settled sleep routine, which meant I was a bit better rested. Please excuse me while I go have a darkly cynical chuckle to myself.

My Year... Overall

This has been a really good year - even the negatives have generally been about things feeling flat, rather than anything truly bad. If 2026 is as good as this year has been, it looks to be really good indeed.

As always, this will be my final post of the year. I hope 2025 has been good for you, and I hope that the start of 2026 finds you happy and well, and looking forward to even better times ahead!

End of Year Update on Goals

As part of the end-of-year wrap-up, here is the closing update on my goals for the year:

• Books: My target for the year was fairly modest, set to the same 30 books as last year. Unlike last year, however, I actually achieved this target - see the separate post (tomorrow) for the full rundown.
• Weight: This goal has been failed. There has been a very small amount of progress made, but nowhere near enough.
• Church Website: This has fallen by the wayside. I now have something approaching a plan for the website, but need to dedicate some time to making it happen. I do also need to get some information with which to populate the page. Ultimately, though, this goal was not completed.
• Career: This goal seemed to just naturally fall into place midway through the year. That was really great, and served to fix an awful lot of things. Good stuff!
• Redecoration: We had the windows replaced in July, which served to complete this goal. However, as a side-effect of that we found there was a need to fix some of the paintwork in the upstairs bathroom and didn't have the matching colour. This therefore led to us redecorating that room, thus leading to this goal being done and then some.
• Blogging:  I didn't set a formal blogging goal. If I had, I would have achieved it - this is the 119th post for the year, with one more scheduled for later today.
• Home Automation: This is another funny one - I didn't set a goal as such, but did have something in mind. In the event, that "something" was abandoned, as I think has been the rest of any automation plans, at least for now. I'm a little surprised by that, but not particularly disappointed.

So the final tally is three goals done, and two failed. Of the "non-goals", one was completed and the other abandoned (not failed). So I think we can assume a final score of 5-2 in favour, which can be considered pretty good overall.

As for goals for next year, I only have three:

• Books: The target for next year is a little more ambitious than this year: 36 books, or an average of 3 per month.
• Weight: This really needs addressed. The target is the same as this year: to lose 20 pounds in 2026.
• Church Website: This also carries over from last year - I want to get the website renovation done.

I've once again decided not to set a goal for Blogging, but will keep track of progress through the year. If I do hit the nominal target of 120 posts, I'll promote this to a proper goal in 2027.

#30: "Light Perpetual", by Andrzej Sapkowski

#31: "Crystal of Storms", by Rhianna Pratchett

Wee Guys

LC has a group of friends who have (mostly) stuck together since her school days, and each year we get together for a meal in the run up to Christmas. As can be expected, most of the original group were girls (now women, of course), and although there are a few partners now there are still twice as many women as men. Additionally, the families now number six children between them (one 17 year old, and the rest Funsize's age and below), with Surprise! being the only small boy among them.

All of which may seem odd context, but is fairly important to what I'm getting at. So, to recap: there was Surprise!, one teen, and three older men present.

Anyway, as the meal was winding down, I noticed that there came a point where Funsize had rushed off to play with the other girls, and LC was with most of her friends at one of the tables, leaving myself, one of the other men, and Surprise! at a second table. I was on one side of the table, with Surprise! and C on the other.

Anyway, C and I were chatting, and as we did so I gradually noticed that Surprise! was occasionally glancing across at C, and then carefully mirroring him - as C moved his arms or adjusted his posture, Surprise! did the same things.

This very closely matches the experience when he's with his cousins: despite being the youngest of five boys, Surprise! always wants to get involved as best he can in the games, and very much takes his cue from the older, bigger boys. (And, finally, it's worth noting that he fairly idolizes his childminder's son - another older boy.)

It's hardly an epiphany, but: wee guys look up to bigger boys as their guide for how to act.

And that doesn't really change - whether formally or informally, men seek out those they perceive as successful in whatever milieu they want to thrive, try to identify the behaviours that those role models exhibit, and copy those.

That, unfortunately, creates something of a problem, because positive male role models have become rather thin on the ground: our politicians are a fairly unimpressive bunch (not to mention being mired in various scandals along the way), religion has lost almost all its sway (not to mention being mired in various scandals along the way), our civic authorities are viewed with skepticism at best (not to mention being mired in various scandals along the way), and our media and sports stars often seem more interested in the trappings of fame than in providing good examples (not to mention being mired in various scandals along the way).

It's also the case that a great many boys are now being raised by single mothers. (At this point I need to stress that is in no way a criticism or a value judgement; just a statement of fact.) And our education system is run by women, and increasingly for women.

All of which adds up to an awful lot of wee guys having no positive male role models who they can look up to.

And that's why the likes of Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson are so dangerous. Because wee guys will look up to bigger boys as their guide for how to act, and if they have no positive male role models, they will look up to negative ones.

So, what is to be done?

Well, firstly, we men need to up our game. Whether we like it or not, we are the role models for the next generation - there isn't anyone else. So it's important to be aware that at any time, any one of us may find ourselves being observed, looked up to, and copied. You may find that you are the role model, so be a good one.

But society has a part to play as well:

• We need to see an end to the casual misandry that has wormed its way into much of our media - particularly egregious examples are the blithering idiot that is Daddy Pig and the oh-so-funny 'jokes' in Doctor Who. The mainstream media no longer make equivalent jokes about women, and that's a good thing; they need to stop the reverse.
• And I'm afraid there's a degree of casual misandry in our education system at all. A few months ago, I was fairly horrified to see our local university holding a 'debate' with the topic "We submit that masculinity is inherently toxic". Again, reverse the sexes and there would have been outrage; it absolutely would not have been allowed. This needs to stop. (Indeed, if I never again hear the word 'toxic' being used in reference to people, it would be too soon.)
• We need to stop viewing initiatives and groups aimed at men, and even those aimed exclusively at men with suspicion - very often, the moment any such group or initiative is started it is immediately the subject of a pile-on from accusations of misogyny, or demands that it be 'inclusive'. But women-only groups are accepted and celebrated.
• Perhaps most important of all: we need to stop demanding perfection from role models. I've spoken about this before, in the context of politics - absolutely nobody is perfect, so if you tear down and drive out any largely-positive-but-flawed role model for falling short of perfection, the alternative isn't perfect exemplars; it's the ones who you can't tear down, whether because they're too powerful, too entrenched, or they just don't care. In politics if you can't tolerate Tim Farron the alternative isn't a better Tim Farron, it's Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. In role models, if you're going to tear down anyone who is less than perfect, you'll be left with Andrew Tate.
• Much as I have agreeing with Tory blowhard politicians, the ones who periodically lobby for a Minister for Men and Boys are right - the specific problems of boys falling into addiction and crime, of them taking their own lives, and of them falling under the sway of the Tates and Petersons of this world probably need a dedicated person in government to focus on them.

Why does all this matter?

Society has long taken the view that there is such a thing as "male privilege" - that women have been disadvantaged in society simply by virtue of their sex while men are not. And there's historically a great deal of truth in that. But it is emphatically not true for the current generation of young men and boys, who are struggling in a great many ways. If the goal is equality, there is a great deal to be done - and not all of it in the direction that you'd expect.

But maybe you don't care. Maybe you're of the view that men had it all their own way for centuries, and now it's time for payback.

Okay, fair enough. But consider this: none of those young men and boys who are struggling is entirely isolated. Every one of us is connected to a web of other people: families, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, 50% of whom are women and girls.

So when a boy goes off the rails and spirals into the manosphere and misogyny, the women and girls around them suffer. When a boy is driven to despair and falls into addiction or suicide, the women and girls around them suffer.

The bottom line is that if we fix the problems being faced by the current generation of young men and boys (and, yes, the problems being faced by the current generation of young women and girls - I'm not blind to these; they're just not my topic for today), then we all of us benefit, and all of us will be the happier for it.

Which should be obvious, but presumably isn't.

Suddenly...

Firstly, many congratulations to St Mirren on winning the League Cup. A few weeks ago the match seemed to be something of a formality as Celtic strolled to the first step in yet another treble (at least potentially), and then suddenly it didn't.

In fact, it turns out that their winning the match was very much not a shock. They played extremely well, but the usual rule that "you need to play extremely well and need them to have an off day and need a lot of luck to boot" didn't apply - Celtic just haven't been their usual selves all season, and so a really good performance by St Mirren was enough.

Which leads me to the surprising realization that, suddenly, it looks like we might be looking at the first season since the 50's when neither Celtic nor Rangers pick up any silverware.

The thing is, this year we're at a point where they are no shock results: anyone can beat anyone else (well, apart from poor Livingston...).

In terms of the league, that means there are no false positions: Hearts are deservedly in the lead, Celtic are deservedly behind them - not far, but a little, and then Motherwell, Rangers, and Hibs are deservedly a bit further back. By the end of the season, the best team overall will be in the lead... and at the moment, that's Hearts.

For the cups, it's a matter of putting together a run of a few games, but crucially the right few games. There are a whole load of teams that you could see doing that: Hearts, Celtic, Motherwell, Rangers, or Hibs easily. Aberdeen could come good and retain their Scottish Cup, or St Mirren could readily do the double.

In a world where anyone can beat anyone, though, Celtic are probably the favourites... but it's also the case that it's more likely to be someone other than Celtic than it is to be them. (And the same for Rangers, and I suspect more likely even for them together.)

But while I said that this is a year that there are no shock results, I suspect there is one: specifically, if neither Rangers nor Celtic win something, that I'm sure would be a shock.

(Of course, there's a transfer window coming up fast, and the smart money is on both Celtic and Rangers strengthening. But it is worth noting that Celtic have come out of all of the last three transfer windows than they went in, and they're going into this one with their best player wanting away. Meanwhile, Rangers have managed to spend a huge amount of money on a team of duds. So while I expect both clubs to recruit, I'm by no means convinced they'll strengthen.)

It's going to be fun!

Voyage's End

Some time ago I found myself in a Star Trek-ky mood. I think it was probably at one of the points where we had a Paramount+ subscription, but where I'd watched all the latest shows. And so I made the mistake of starting a rewatch of "Voyager".

The reason I chose "Voyager" shouldn't be a huge mystery: as I've mentioned on the blog before (albeit a long time ago), I lost track of it after the end of the fifth season, making it the only one of the middle run of Trek TV I never finished. (I've also never seen all of TOS, and never seen any of TAS, but I'm afraid I have no great enthusiasm for those.)

Of course, one might very well question why I went for a rewatch, rather than just jumping back in at the sixth season. Certainly, I'm now wondering just that...

(The reason, incidentally, is that it's been so long that I wanted to see if my previous impressions still held. And, for the most part they do - I find myself somewhat kinder of some aspects of the show, but also struck by how many of the characters are unlikeable, or just dull, and how much wasted potential there is in the show. Also, I've just reached the middle of the third season, and hit a run of really, really bad episodes.)

So "Voyager" has been my recent go-to for a brainless show to kind-of watch when I have nothing much else to do. Which has been going okay.

Except that last week Netflix let it be known that it will be leaving in a couple of weeks. Meaning that if I really push myself, I may manage to get to somewhere early in the fourth season - just after the introduction of Seven of Nine, and the beginning of the show's painful obsession with all things Borg. I might, just about, reach the "Year of Hell" episodes that mark the halfway point of the whole (and also the very "best" episodes of the show).

And then it will be gone, just as surely as it was before. Typical.

(I daresay that at some point we'll take out Paramount+ for another couple of months, presumably when "Strange New Worlds" returns. At which point I may race through some more of "Voyager". Or maybe not.)

My Pettiest Annoyance with "Stranger Things"

We watched the first set of episodes of "Stranger Things 5" when they were released a few things ago. To be honest, I wasn't as keen as I previously would have been - the very long delays between seasons has largely blunted my enthusiasm for what had once been must-watch TV. (George RR. Martin may want to take note...) In the event, the episodes were mostly very good, and nicely set up a race to the finish. So I'm pretty happy with that.

But...

There is one thing that rather annoyed me. Though be warned, it's absurdly petty...

In one of the episodes, Mike gives Will a pep talk, likening Will to his D&D character, "Will the Wise". However, he later notes that Will isn't really a wizard like his character, but rather a sorcerer because his magic is innate rather than learned.

Which is a nice, clever D&D reference that will sail over the heads of those unfamiliar with the game, but serve as a nice little "Easter Egg" for those of us who are.

Here's the thing, though: "Stranger Things 5" is set in 1987, when the current edition of the game was 1st Edition. Indeed, the books for this edition have been showcased in "Stranger Things" over the years - it's very clearly the edition they have been playing.

The sorcerer class was introduced to the game in Third Edition, which was published in 2000. Until that point, the distinction between wizards and sorcerers was no different than in plain English - they're one and the same thing.

So that clever little reference is, I'm afraid, an anachronism.

As I said, it's a very petty annoyance!

#29: "Skyward Flight", by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson

Punitive

A few days ago we received a card from the Royal Mail saying someone had sent us something and failed to attach postage - if we wanted it, there was a charge to pay. Of course, there was no indication of what the thing actually was, so...

Anyway, I ended up paying the fee and arranging for a redelivery for yesterday. The item therefore arrived this morning.

Anyway, it turns out to be a Christmas card, and it looks like a straightforward mistake. At a guess, they wrote a whole bunch, stuck stamps on them, checked them, managed to miss one, and then posted them. (I hope that's it, and not that they completely forgot to stamp all of them!) No big deal; it happens.

Except for one thing: the charge to receive this item was £5. The item in question was just a card, which would be £1.70 for first class delivery or 87p for second class (both of which are already outrageous, but that's another rant). That's a mark-up of between 3 and 6 times the regular cost, which frankly seems punitive - especially since this was not, in fact, our mistake.

Given that the postal worker in question had to visit twice (once for the original card and another for the revised delivery), I would have thought a fee of double the original might be reasonable, but surely no more than that?

All of which amounts to nothing, of course. Royal Mail are now a private company responsible for their own charging patterns, and if we don't like it we get to go to the (non-existent) competition. That's the joys of privatization for you. Oh well.

Just one thing though: please do remember to stamp your cards before sending!

Celtic's Management Woes 2025, part two

Just kidding.

Back when Brendan Rodgers left Celtic and they appointed Martin O'Neill as interim boss, I thought that was an inspired move - O'Neill is the only living Celtic manager who can be placed in the same quality bracket as Rodgers, and so he was the safest of safe pairs of hands. And so it worked out - eight matches, seven wins, and an all-around improvement in their form was the result.

But it was only ever going to be an interim appointment. Martin O'Neill wasn't going to take the job long-term, which meant that a permanent manager needed to be found. And while there was no rush, it needed to be done in time for the new guy to assess the squad in good time before the January transfer window opened. All of which meant that they had reached the point where it really had to be done.

And that in turn meant that Wilfried Nancy was always going to face a baptism of fire - the fixture list in December is absolutely packed, so he was always going to have a match within a couple of days of arriving, and a 'crucial' match within a week at absolute most. This week, with a top-table clash, a must-win European match, and then a cup final, is perhaps more crazy than most... but only a little.

So the first match was always going to be difficult.

Additionally, given that Nancy was hired, at least in part, because he has a very clear, distinct style, he needs to assess the squad not just in general but also in terms of how they fit that style - if that's why he's here, that's what he's going to play, so he needs to players for it. He basically needed to make the change right away, and accept that it led to a rough start.

So the first match was always going to be difficult.

The outcome of that match was not what would have been wanted by Celtic, but the immediate knee-jerk response by their fans has been quite a thing to behold.

But the harsh reality of things is this: Martin O'Neill is gone. It was fantastic to see him in action once again, and he left Celtic in a much better place that he found it, but he's gone now. Time to stop looking back and move onwards: Wilfried Nancy is the manager now, for better or worse, and he needs the support to actually give him at least a little time to get bedded in.

Of course, maybe it really won't work, and he'll have to be removed. But the time for that is 4-5 months after he arrives, not 4-5 days.

(And, actually, the more important thing is what happens in January. Celtic have had a couple of remarkably poor transfer windows, and can't afford another. So the key determinant of the destination of the title is really about who Celtic bring in, rather than the identity of the man bringing them in.)

Family Tickets

Last week I read an article in the Guardian about family tickets, and in particular a perceived unfairness faced by single parents (as the tickets are generally "two adults and two children", or sometimes "one adult and three" children - most single parents of course have one, and less commonly two, children and so are ineligible).

I am, obviously, not a single parent. However, LC regularly has preparations for her work that she needs to do at the weekend, and which is best done without the distractions of children in the house. The consequence of this is that I frequently take Funsize and Surpise! out to various places and so have noted exactly this same issue. (Naturally, as a lone father who is, gasp, taking care of his own children!, I am routinely hailed as an absolute hero when out on these trips. So it's not quite the same.)

For any businesses who are keen to do something about this, I have a suggestion to make. I should stress that I'm personally not particularly bothered either way, since not getting a discount isn't a big deal to me. But I can well see that for a single parent, it might be the difference between something being affordable or not.

My suggestion is simply this: pitch your "family ticket" as "one adult and one child", but also offer a discount on additional tickets bought along with that ticket - the price works out the same, but is then much more flexible. Of course, it's not quite as simple as a fixed 2+2 family ticket, but that's the price of flexibility.

Or just offer "10% off for multiple tickets bought together" - that's close to working out at the same thing anyway, and much easier...

#28: "Warriors of God", by Andrzej Sapkowski

Race to the End

It's hard to believe that we're into December already. Unfortunately, November saw something of a slip on multiple fronts, meaning that goals that I thought were definitely going to conclude easily within time are now at risk - in theory, I'm still right on target with these goals, but the progress over the last few weeks suggests it may be a struggle.

So the race is on - can I complete three books this month (with two well in progress)? Can I manage a further nine blog posts (after this one)? Will I find time to update the church website?

And, ultimately, do these things necessarily matter all that much?

This Year's "One New Thing"...

As I mentioned in my Guide to the Stress-free Christmas, I quite like the notion of building a strong foundation for Christmas and then each year adopting a "one new thing" rule - in order to avoid things becoming samey and repetitive, each year try to identify one new thing to try.

However, this year I think our "one new thing" is actually going to be "no new thing" - partly because Christmas worked so well last year that I'm keen just to keep things the same, and partly because we're rather over-stretched at the moment and so this is a year to just keep things on narrow rails. Which is fine - for various reasons we're all going to be somewhat busier this year than last (some of which I can't talk about), so not taking anything extra on feels like a good step.

That being the case, Christmas this year is going to look somewhat like this:

• Obviously, we have presents to buy and wrap for a number of people. This has started, but has quite a long way to go. I'd like to get all the presents bought in the next two weeks, and then wrapped in the week after, but we'll see.
• Likewise, we have cards to send to a number of people. I'd hope to get this dealt with fairly soon, too.
• The Christmas tree and other decorations will go up over the weekend, officially on Sunday. (I then have a second tree to put up on Monday...)
• We need to place an order with the butcher in the next couple of weeks.
• There's the village Christmas Lights Switch-on, which happens tonight. My band's competing event has been cancelled this year, likely permanently, and it looks like our annual visit to the Zoo lights has likewise fallen by the wayside.
• However, we will go to the Mill Farm Christmas event, including a visit to Santa there.
• Funsize has a number of performances with her Stage School over the next few weeks.
• My work night out is the Friday before Christmas (and LC the week before). I'm not planning as later a night as last year - I think I'd prefer just to get to bed.
• The weekend before Christmas I'm hoping to do some Christmas baking. Not as much as last year (as we had too much), and a different selection, but a couple of nice things.
• The Big Shop will hopefully be on the last Friday before Christmas, but may slip a little later. Then, a day or two before Christmas we need to pick our order up from the butcher.
• Then, on Christmas Eve I'm hoping to take the children over to my parents' for a visit, followed by the Christingle service, and then bed.
• Christmas Day should then have the same format as last year - a relatively slow morning involving presents, breakfast, and a nice walk (weather permitting), followed by the big meal, and then a fairly lazy afternoon/evening. At some point we'll watch a nice film or something on TV.
• Then, on Boxing Day it's over to my parents' again, this time for the big family gathering. Fun!

And that's basically it. Which, in fairness, is quite a lot.

Thoughts on the Budget

I must admit, I had expected today's budget to be absolutely horrendous - the various bits of speculation I'd seen online had suggested it would be a near-perfect attack on every aspect of my finances, and that has proven not to be the case.

In the event, the effects we'll face are likely twofold: the freezing of the tax bands will mean paying slightly more tax than might have been expected... but in the way that frankly is unlikely to be noticeable, and the change to NI payments on salary sacrifice pensions means paying a little more in NI (though by my calculations is a pretty small increase). That's not horrible (though I can well understand that people living in very expensive properties, or those in London, people saving large amounts in cash ISAs, or people who use electric cars might feel differently).

And, frankly, the removal of the two-child limit for child support (and the corresponding "rape clause") can only be a good thing.

So, a cause for hints of optimism, I think.

However...

I was extremely bemused to see that the OBR published their report (by "mistake") ahead of the budget, meaning that the key analysis was all in place before Rachel Reeves even stood up to talk.

But more to the point, there was all the speculation beforehand, which as I said had given me the impression that this was going to be a horror show. The thing is, all that speculation involved a great deal of talking down the economy, of suggesting all manner of badness, which will have prompted a load of people to take actions that now are ill-judged (such as, for instance, the suggestion that the rules for pension lump sums were going to change, encouraging people to take them early, or the likely damage to investor confidence). There's a decent change that that very speculation caused damage to the economy.

Needless to say, this is something of a problem. (And, incidentally, I don't recall this level of feverish speculation about any other Budget. I don't like pointing to misogyny as the sole root cause of things, because it tends to be reductive, but in this case I can't help but think that it was a big part of it. Either that, or our right-wing press really hate Labour, which they do, and thought this could be a useful target.)

That said, I don't really know what could be done about that - I'm really loathe to advocate restrictions to the press without absolute need.

End of a (Quite Short) Era...

On Sunday Funsize and I finished our read-through of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Rereading this book for the first time since it was first published, I'm reminded of my two previous conclusions regarding the book: on the one hand, it's a great ending to the series, and itself ends really well; on the other it is by far the weakest book in the series, and for large stretches of it just isn't very good. (Basically, there about about 200 pages in the first half of the book that should just be dropped.)

But that's not really the topic of this post.

As we were getting close to the end, Funsize was presented with a choice: we could then tackle "The Lord of the Rings" ("The Hobbit" was not quite the first book I read to her), or we could make a switch: LC would take over her bedtime, and I would instead read to Surprise!.

In the event, Funsize elected to make the switch. So instead Surprise! and I will be making a start on (probably) Winnie the Pooh, or maybe Thomas the Tank Engine. And then we'll see - there are lots of books ahead of us.

As I said, the end of an era, albeit a fairly short one.

#27: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", by J.K. Rowling (a book for Funsize)

Counts as Fun

One of the consequences of getting everything locked down in spreadsheets is that I now have a monthly ritual: at the end of the month I cross-reference my bank balance against my spreadsheet of expenses and proceed to move some things around: the credit card gets paid, some money gets moved into a pot for the bigger expenses that come in the second half of the year, and then whatever is left goes into savings.

In theory, I then forget all about this until the same time next month; in practice, there's constant adjusting, tweaking, and general obsessing over the spreadsheet.

All of which pretty much counts as fun these days. Which is perhaps a measure of how everything else is going right now. Oh well.

The Tale of the Lost Book

Book #26 for the year was supposed to be "Warriors of God", by Andrzej Sapkowski. I had started it some weeks ago, and was making rapid progress, when disaster struck - there came the morning when I had it at home, then didn't have it when I reached the office, and yet it was neither at home, nor in the office, nor in the car. Somehow, it had disappeared.

I very rarely lose things - I do quite often misplace them, but they generally turn up (often where I left them last time I had them; sometimes where they have been hidden by the hiding-things fairies). And it drives me mental - it doesn't really matter what it is, but having something disappear like that creates a gap in the mental model of the universe, which is just endlessly frustrating.

In this instance, it also created a conundrum, because I've already picked out my remaining books for the year. As noted, book #26 was supposed to be "Warriors of God", which is part two of a trilogy, with the third part also on the list. I also had "Skyward Flight", but having just finished "Defiant" I had been hoping to delay that one a little. Book #27 will be the final Harry Potter, which I'm currently reading to Funsize.

But the final book that I had picked out was one that I at that time had on pre-order, as it had not yet been published at this time this all went down. So I couldn't really start that one. Suddenly, all my best laid plans had very much gone agley.

Anyway, the upshot of all of that is this: "Skyward Flight" is a collection of three novellas, so I ready the first while waiting for the new book to be published. Then I read that (see below). In the meantime, I ordered, and have now received, a replacement copy of "Warriors of God", which I will resume next. And that, more or less, puts the sequence back where it should be: book #26 is finished, #27 is the Harry Potter that will finish imminently, then #28 is "Warriors of God", #29 is "Skyward Flight", and then we finish with the third volume of that trilogy.

Unless things change again...

#26: "Firefly: Aim to Misbehave", by Rosiee Thor

Experimental Cookery 2025: Slow Cooker Vegan Chilli

We're having a pot-luck lunch at work, and I have decided that my offering is going to be a vegetarian chilli. So I've had a look around, and found a method on the internet. Today was the test drive.

As might be expected from a slow cooker recipe, this one was quick and easy - chop things up, put them in the cooker, stir to mix, and then wait a very long time.

We had the resultant chilli with a mix of baked potatoes and rice, some pickled jalapeños, guacamole, and (non-vegan) sour cream and cheese. Oh, and some Doritos. It was something of a feast!

The verdict: yeah, that was good. The jalapeños definitely helped - it was perhaps slightly lacking in a kick without... but then, tastes vary on that one, so providing the option is the way to go. But it was hot, filling, and flavourful - all the things you want from a meal. And it's ideal for the purpose I need it for in a few weeks.

We'll definitely have this one again, though it's unlikely to entirely replace our regular (non-vegan) chilli recipe!

Officially Underway

This morning I purchased the first of my Christmas presents for the year. So I'm now officially underway!

Obviously, the hope is to get all the presents bought by the end of the first week in December, get them all in hand by mid-December (earlier would be good, but isn't actually possible), and get them all wrapped by the end of the 18th of December. We'll see how that goes - at the moment I don't even know all the people that I'm buying for, which rather hampers my ability to select a gift.

(I say "obviously", but of course it's not obvious at all. Those deadlines are entirely arbitrary. But as part of my "stress-free" Christmas, I like to get ahead on those things that are amenable to getting ahead on, and buying presents definitely falls into that category.)

You may note that I've discarded my previous stance that I don't start on Christmas until December. That's a consequence of having children - in the past I was in the habit of taking a day off work early in December to get everything organised, and indeed I had time at other times to actually do things. These days, I absolutely can't use one of my days off for this purpose (I just don't have any to spare), and my available time for anything is sorely limited. Which means that things just take longer. So now my rule is that I start Christmas after we get past the Armistice, giving a few weeks to get things done, with the hope of concluding the present buying at the same time as previously.

To Stop, or to Do It Forever?

It is now eight years since we moved into our current home. As is basically standard practice, at the point that we moved we forwarded our mail, and made sure that "everyone" was aware of our new contact details. The previous owners of our current house did likewise. Those redirections have, of course, long since expired.

Shortly after one of those redirections expired, we started receiving a small number of letter addressed to the previous owners. So we reached out, got a forwarding address, and sent them on. All of which is to the good, except that about once a year we still receive a letter (and only one) addressed to the previous owner. I'm almost certain, but not entirely so, that it's junk mail.

So I find myself at a quandary.

On the one hand, it basically costs nothing just to keep readdressing the letter and chucking it back in the mail - there's a post box close enough to being "on the way" that it's just the cost of a little ink and a few steps.

On the other hand, eight years is probably long enough that if they'd wanted this company to know their new address they would have let them know.

I'm also struck by the reality that either we have to stop forwarding these letters at some point, or we have to commit to doing so effectively forever. And, of course, if they ever move again, I'd just be creating another new problem for another set of new owners...

So... yeah, I think I'm done. I forwarded this week's letter, and I'll continue to forward anything that looks like it isn't from a business (on the off chance that a long-lost friend tries to get back in touch), but for anything that looks like it's just spam I'm now going to introduce it to the shredder.

Experimental Cookery 2025: Lovely Home-made Gravy

We've just had a fairly indifferent dinner - venison sausages, mashed potato, and gravy (plus peas and sweetcorn for me). The sausages were nice, the mash was okay but a bit bland (could have done with boiling the potatoes for another minute or two, and perhaps adding some mustard to give it a kick - but we didn't have any), and the peas and sweetcorn were as you would expect.

The method for the gravy came from the Hairy Bikers "Perfect Pies" book, which advocated slicing and frying an onion, adding some wine and some flour, some stock, boiling it down and straining. Nothing much to it, really.

I think that what went wrong was two-fold: too much flour, and boiling down a little too long. The outcome, therefore, was a really thick gravy that tasted fine but looked fairly unappealing - not really what I was aiming for.

I actually have loads of different methods for gravy scattered among my many books, most of which go unnoticed (since I don't generally care for gravy, we only ever have it fairly seldom, and when we do I tend to just bust out the granules as a lazy solution). But it's something that it's good to have in the back pocket, if only for special occasions. So I'll be making gravy again... just not necessarily this one. Though I should perhaps note, if it wasn't obvious, that the weaknesses of this meal were more down to my preparation of the components rather than anything in the books.

Should Have Seen That Coming. I Didn't. But I Should Have.

Our microwave died on us last night - at first glance it seems to work, but it doesn't actually heat anything. And given that that is the main, nay the only, purpose of a microwave, it's somewhat less than ideal.

I think this is my fourth microwave - there was the initial one bought when I first moved out, a replacement purchased some time in 2011, a replacement product for when that one failed almost immediately, and now the current machine. I don't have a specific record of buying this one (because I don't track everything), but I'm reasonably sure we must have had a new one some time since 2011, and I'm equally sure that this is the one we brought with us from the old flat. So it was at least eight years old, which is decent service.

The upshot is that I should probably have expected it to be on its way out, but alas I did not - I was blissfully unaware that my trusty appliance was just about done for.

I'm now in the process of trying to find a new microwave, and am finding myself somewhat stymied. My assertion last night was that "microwaves are all pretty much of a muchness", which is pretty much accurate. The problem with that is that when you ask Google to recommend the best microwave, every site therefore gives a completely different set of results. Similarly, the reviews of every microwave seem to be the same - loads of people saying it's great, some giving a more nuanced view, and then one or two saying it's a load of rubbish.

All of which isn't terribly helpful. I guess the reality is that it doesn't matter much: just pick one and be happy with it.

Celtic's Management Woes 2025

Funnily enough, I almost wrote a post by this name yesterday. It would have been a very different post!

Had I posted yesterday, I would have noted that Hearts are in a really strong position, and Celtic a surprisingly poor one, but that Celtic still had the best squad in the league, the best manager in the league, and sufficient money that, if they had to, they could go buy a whole new squad in January. I therefore expected (and expect) them to go on a very long unbeaten run in the latter parts of the season. The destination of the league will therefore, I think, be determined by just how much of a lead Hearts can build before Celtic get their act together.

(I would also have noted that it's a really good thing to have a serious challenge in place again, and also that it would be really good if Hearts did manage it - it's really not healthy to have one, or at most two, clubs winning everything all the time.)

Of course, Brendan Rodgers then resigned last night, which was followed by two rather acrimonious statements being issued by Celtic.

So, what now?

Well, the first thing that strikes me as really interesting is the contrast between how Celtic are doing and the way Rangers did - Rangers were the ones who removed their manager, and they did so right before an international break. They thus had control over the timing, and gave themselves the best possible opportunity to find a new manager. They then engaged in farce for several weeks, left poor Steven Smith to manage the club in a game in between, before finally settling on what seems to be a decent appointment (although with rather too many near-misses).

By contrast, when Brendan Rodgers walked away, Celtic immediately put in place a temporary team of impeccable credentials - Martin O'Neill probably wouldn't be in the frame even if he were interested, but as a safe pair of hands he is second to none. This gives them as much time as they need to take to get exactly the right person in position - as long as it's done reasonably quickly, and certainly before the transfer window opens, they'll be just fine.

As for who "the right person" is, I wouldn't care to speculate. I suspect they may well go for the obvious option, and bring back Ange, but my gut feeling is that that would be a mistake. But we'll see. In the meantime, my biggest question is whether Hearts can take advantage of this to widen the lead further - will someone do them a favour or two?

Day 300: Update on Goals

The penultimate update on goals for the year:

• Books: By day 300 I should have completed 24.66 books. I'm now far enough ahead of target that I'm reasonable confident that this goal will complete successfully - indeed, I've started giving some thought to which books I would want as any "extras" for the year.
• Weight: There has been a very small loss since the previous update, but not enough - this goal will show some progress but will not be successful.
• Church Website: There has still been no update made.
• Career: Done!
• Redecoration: Done!
• Blogging:  If I had set my usual goal for this year, I would expect to have posted 98 times by now.  As with the "books" goal, I'm now reasonably confident that this will be successful over the course of the year.
• Home Automation: The item I had been waiting to purchase was reduced very significantly for Amazon's "Big Deal Days". However, about a day before those started we saw an Amazon advert that prompted LC to declare that I should not buy said item. I therefore respected that, and as a consequence this goal has been abandoned On the one hand, that was somewhat unfortunate, not least since I had basically waited the whole year for that very moment, but on the other I can readily see where LC was coming from.

So that's two goals completed, two that are sufficiently advanced that I'm confident of completion, and one that has now been abandoned. Of the two that remain, one is something that I might be get to something approximating "done", while the other won't succeed (but where any progress is better than none).

I've also started giving some thought to goals for next year - two of the goals will clearly carry over, as will a third if it doesn't reach "done". I'm inclined not to set a formal "blogging" goal, though will continue to track it in the same way as last year. The others will be dropped for one reason or another. But that then seems a little light.

#25: "Defiant", by Brandon Sanderson

How to Achieve Independence

I said in my previous post that independence really shouldn't be a talking point in the upcoming Scottish elections - regardless of the outcome the UK government won't authorize a second independence referendum, and there's nothing to be done in the absence of that authorization. (Incidentally, Swinney's claim that Cameron somehow set a precedent by authorizing the previous one is nonsense - it's one of the oldest and most absolute principles in what passes for the UK constitution that no parliament can bind its successors.)

But, that being the case, how should those who are in favour of independence proceed?

Fundamentally, ultimately, it's about a whole lot of really hard work: first, build a clear and obvious majority in favour of independence. They demand a second referendum from Westminster. If one is not forthcoming (as is likely), conduct the next Scottish elections as a de facto referendum, win a majority of the votes, and then declare independence.

But the really important point there is that those steps have to be followed in order. Before any of the other steps in the process can be pursued the first step needs to be completed. Right now, the latest polls indicate that there is a wafer-thin majority in favour of independence. But that fluctuates - a few months ago there was a wafer-thin majority against, and in a few months that's likely to be the case again. If push came to shove, and there really was a referendum tomorrow, it would almost certainly be a win for the union, again.

And the fact that that is still the case shows a shocking complacency on the parts of the SNP and the former "Yes" campaign. At the time of the 2014 referendum, there was a clear generational split - young people favoured independence, but over-50s were very strongly pro-union. Move on eleven years, and the demographic shift should mean a permanent pro-independence majority - older voters gradually die off, while more and more younger voters join the electorate. But that shift hasn't happened. Over the course of the last eleven years, people who were pro-independence have shifted their positions, such that the demographic split remains constant - younger voters favour independence while those over fifty are strongly pro-union. Whatever the SNP and the former "Yes" campaign have been doing has been counter-productive - the SNP government, in particular, have managed to turn people against their core aim.

And that's before we talk about the missed opportunities of Brexit, or the disasters that were Boris and Truss, and indeed the now-loathed Labour government. I rather suspect the SNP are now banking on an incoming PM Nigel Farage as a great recruiting sergeant for independence. If so, they're deluding themselves.

Ultimately, there were some key questions that the "Yes" campaign just couldn't answer to the satisfaction of enough people, notably on the economy and currency questions. As FM, Salmond ran a reasonably tight ship, but even so he was never able to convince enough people that that would translate into setting up an independent country. In the eleven years since then, neither the SNP nor the "Yes" campaign have been able to advance the debate at all, and nobody could now accuse the current SNP government of running a reasonably tight ship (nor, indeed, of being able to build one).

Fix That.

The SNP, assuming that they do indeed get to run the next Scottish government, need to get a real handle on all of the basic elements of government, most notably the economy. They need to end the constant shambolic incompetence they've shown of late, they need to get these damn ferries finished, and they need to stop being caught in these awkward expenses stories (justified or not).

Meanwhile, either the SNP or their related think tanks need to start grappling seriously with the topics of establishing a new country - critically, the setting up of a new central bank and a new currency. The answers of 2014 didn't win over enough people, and they definitely don't work now. What made sense when the UK was part of the EU just doesn't make sense post-Brexit.

I just really can't see any of that happening. Indeed, in order even to start, I think the SNP need some time out of office and need a really good clean-out of the too many mediocrities that infest it. And so, I'm afraid, I think independence is essentially a dead subject for the remainder of my lifetime - it's noise for the SNP to try to win votes (and their opponents to try to stop them), but not something that's actually going to happen.

#24: "The Running Grave", by Robert Galbraith

Any Chance?

It would be really good if we could somehow avoid the upcoming Scottish elections being another completely pointless go around of "vote for us for Independence!" on one side and "vote for us to stop Independence!" on the other.

The reality is that the SNP have neither the ability nor the inclination to meaningfully advance the cause of independence. It's a project that is long-since failed and, unless something massively changes, is effectively dead for my lifetime. So, no, the SNP won't be delivering independence, or a second referendum, or any such thing. Even an outright majority of SNP MSPs wouldn't do that, and they won't get that anyway. And, equally, Labour, the Tories, and the Lib Dems won't be preventing independence, for the same reason that they won't be preventing us being invaded by Martians.

But I suppose I get it.

Because if the SNP don't stand on the topic of independence, they need to stand on their domestic record, and on that front they've been hopeless. There isn't a single thing... actually, there literally is a single thing that they've done since Salmond resigned that they can be proud of (the baby box). Everything is very obviously worse than it was then, and not just because the UK government has been useless, obstructive, and short of funds.

But equally, if the other parties don't stand on opposing independence, they need to stand on what they have to offer. And the sad reality there is that, as monumentally awful as the SNP government has been, all the alternatives are very obviously worse.

So I guess the argument will be about independence again.

Well, it's that or "we're the best to stop Reform!"

But the problem with them arguing about that is that a very large part of the reason for the rise of Reform has been the public's utter disgust with all of our mainstream parties. So arguing that "it's us or Reform" has a real danger of backfiring.

World Cup Qualification

It's fair to say that Scotland aren't very good at football. Every so often it looks like this time we might be about to get somewhere, and then there's immediately a wobble - it's as if the players look at the notion of actually being decent and just can't bring themselves to do it.

The most recent international break has been a really weird one. On paper, it's been really good - six points out of six, and a place in the playoffs guaranteed. What could be better?

And yet, look at the actual games and it's another story. Against Greece we were poor for almost all of the match and were hugely flattered by the scoreline. Against Belarus, we were saved by some dodgy refereeing decisions and a good bit of luck. All in all, not the best.

Next up is Greece away, and then a showdown home to Denmark that will decide whether Scotland come top or face the playoffs.

The permutations make the Greece game largely irrelevant. We can assume Denmark will beat Belarus, meaning they will end on between 13 and 16 points, and they have a vastly superior goal difference to Denmark. So if Scotland lose to Denmark, we will end on between 10 and 13 points, with Denmark on 16 - the playoffs. If we draw, we'll end on between 11 and 14 points, with Denmark on 14, with an equal head-to-head, and a worse goal difference - the playoffs. And if we win, we'll end on between 13 and 16 points, with Denmark on 13, but with the superior head-to-head. In which case we'd go through as group winners.

But I find it really hard to believe, on the evidence of this weekend, that Scotland will beat Denmark. And I also find it really hard to believe that Scotland have it in them to get through the playoffs. It's looking very much like another chance for glorious failure.

But maybe this was a blip, and the next two games will see better performances. Here's hoping!

Alien Earth

LC and I have been watching this and finished at the weekend. The premise is fairly straightforward: a Weyland-Yutani ship crashes on Earth while carrying a number of Xenomorph eggs and some other nasties, and we go from there.

It's good stuff, well made, and with some interesting themes to follow on. And yet...

I'm afraid I really didn't care for the ending of the season: there was an ongoing story that seemed to be coming to a conclusion, and then the final episode seemed to suddenly lose all forward momentum so as to set up the next season of the show. Which is unfortunate - there was enough there without that enforced cliffhanger.

Oh well. Despite that one significant negative, we enjoyed it enough that we'll almost certainly watch the second season once it's out (though we'll probably let it come to an end before making our start). And I'd make a qualified recommendation to others: if you enjoyed the "Alien" movies, you'll almost certainly enjoy this.

Microsoft!!!

I very seldom (though not never) make use of cloud-based storage solutions such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. After the Fappening many years ago, I concluded (or was reminded) that you should never put something online, including in the cloud, if you wouldn’t want malicious people viewing it. (I should note that that’s not to victim-blame. Those responsible for the leaks in the Fappening were very definitely the villains in that piece. But I still advocate taking reasonable precautions.)

I should also note that I have a small number of files on my PC that I have made a declaration that they won’t be backed up online (for data protection reasons). So this isn’t just an idiosyncratic quirk or a mild preference.

On a related note, when I first purchased my PC, I spent a fair amount of time getting it set up and making sure the settings were as I prefer. It’s not a wildly bespoke system, but it is my system that I know better than some random developer at Microsoft.

So I rather object to the tendency of Microsoft, after every “major” update, to bring up a number of screens hectoring me to accept Microsoft’s recommended settings. If I wanted to use those, I would be using those. And I really object to their position of “assumed consent” – if you don’t explicitly opt out of their suggestions, they’ll “helpfully” go ahead and do it for you.

And so it was this morning that I discovered that Microsoft had moved (not even merely copied) all of my key files off my PC and into their OneDrive service. Meaning that any security concern, real or imagined, was now in play, meaning that my data protection obligations were compromised, and indeed degrading the experience of using my PC (because some files were no longer in the location the system required – though I should be glad of that, I suppose, or it might have taken much more than two days to discover).

And so it was that I immediately had a task to undo all of this and make sure the files weren’t any longer online and were back in the locations I expected. And reconnected the library files. (It also probably means that my automated backup for this week may well be a monster – it’s all the same files with all the same content, but they’ve all been “touched” since the last backup).

Thanks guys.

How to Lose a Customer

LC was out on Saturday, and so I decided to order Dominos pizza - it has been a pretty long time, but it's always quite enjoyable, and after an afternoon of rushing around it was good not to have to cook. Or so I thought...

The order was placed for 5.30, and the pizza tracker was opened. It promptly "went to sleep" until closer to the time, and then never seemed to wake up. But at exactly 5.30 there was a ring on the doorbell, and Dominos delivered our order. Huzzah!

Or not, as it turned out. Because while the two sides ordered were correct, neither of the pizzas were those we'd ordered.

Now, at this point I must stress that this is a very simple mistake that could easily happen to anyway (especially at it looks like their label machine was probably out of order) - the driver grabbed the wrong two boxes, and so there was a mix-up of orders. It happens; not a problem.

But then it's how you fix the problem that matters. And it really matters.

So, firstly I checked but there wasn't any obvious "we've screwed up your order, let us make it right" button on either the webpage or the email confirmation. That would be extremely useful, though I guess open to abuse.

So, onto Google I went to find the store's phone number. I called, and was answered promptly. I explained the problem, only slightly painfully, at which point she needed to speak to her manager so put me on hold. Which was fine. Moments later, she returned to say her manager was on another call so would be a few minutes... and then hung up.

Sigh.

So I called back, and got the same assistant. She apologised, and correctly put me on hold this time.

Ten minutes later...

After getting no response for ten minutes, I gave up, hung up, and called again. This time the call was answered by a different person (who turned out to be a driver who was helping out due to staff shortages). Unfortunately, he couldn't hear me very well...

I explained the problem again, this time rather more painfully. At which point he went and grabbed the manager, who came to the phone immediately. I then explained the problem for a third time (by now feeling really irate, and dealing with two very hungry and very disappointed children). After a few goes around, he grasped that all I wanted was for them to make the two pizzas that I'd actually ordered and deliver those to us - I wasn't demanding a replacement of the full order, or a refund in whole or in part, or compensation, or anything of the sort. Just give me the thing I wanted, please?

The replacement pizzas finally arrived at almost exactly 6.30, a mere hour after they were due.

(On the plus side, we did then end up with the two incorrect pizzas, which provided lunch for LC and I on Sunday, and then a dinner of sorts for LC on Sunday. So it wasn't all bad, I suppose.)

The upshot is that they made a real mess out of what should have been a fairly simple fix.

The way I think it should have worked:

• Firstly, the means you use to order should also provide the same means for dealing with issues, especially simple issues like this. Things like "why hasn't my order arrived", "I've received the wrong thing", or "it's been damaged" are pretty straightforward, and could easily be resolved by an automated system - and would probably cover 90% of all issues right there.
• Assuming that isn't possible (and given that it could be abused, maybe it really is not possible), then the person who answers the phone really needs to be empowered to solve the problem directly. And if that's not possible, then the second-line staff who can solve the problem need to be available to jump in and help right away.

As it is, this was very much a case where their service very much did not delight me. It will now be a very long time, if indeed ever, that I order from Dominos again. It's one bad experience after almost 20 years of otherwise fine service, but the experience was sufficiently bad as to sour all those others.

Experimental Cookery 2025: Baked Potato with Speedy Chicken Chilli

This one came from last month's Tesco magazine, as part of their "5 for £5" feature. It was, as the name implies, quick and easy to put together - a little chopping, a little frying, then add the sauce and simmer for a while.

The end result was enjoyable enough. It's not going to become one of our favourite meals, but that was never likely to be the case. But I at least enjoyed this meal, then had some of the leftover chilli in wraps for my lunch the next day, and then used the last to top some nachos. So that all counts as a win in my book.

Otherwise, there's not much to say about this one.

Missed It!

For the past several months I've been conscious that we've been coming up to the 20th anniversary of this blog. But every time I thought about writing the "20 years!" post, I've elected not to do so, on the grounds that it wasn't time yet.

We passed that threshold on the 8th of September, meaning it sailed gracefully and unnoticed into the past. Oops!

Screen Time

The issue of screen time is a question I constantly wrestle with. On the one hand, there's a large extent to which Funsize and Surprise! will inevitably have access to screens, and the important thing is for them to learn to be comfortable and safe using them. On the other hand, it's not healthy them watching too much TV/Netflix/Disney... and there are much worse things out there.

And so there have been tweaks, and more tweaks, and yet more tweaks. At the weekend there was an allocation of some additional time, to reflect an unfairness that had crept in. Today that has been adjusted downwards again.

But I think it may need to be something we discuss again. And again...

Another Milestone Passed

Last night Funsize and I finished our read-through of "Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince", which marks the completion of the 23rd book of the year. This therefore means that I have now read more books this year than last, which is obviously a really nice place to be (albeit rather too early - and nowhere near the totals of years gone past).

#23: "Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince", by J.K. Rowling

Stung!

It has been many years since I was last stung by a wasp. I can't say the experience has improved any over the intervening time.

Perhaps the most galling thing of all, though, is that the awful provocation I made to be stung was to open the window, that the wasp was nowhere near, in order to let the wee beastie escape from our office. Grr!

#22: "Dragons of Eternity", by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Seven Weeks On... the Decision

Seven weeks ago, I posted that we were mulling over what to do about Christmas this year. As it happened, LC and I had a conversation on the topic about six weeks ago and more or less locked it down - we were basically in agreement, and so other than leaving some time to let it settle there wasn't much more to say. Still, I did say I don't start my Christmas countdown until 100 days before, and so it isn't until now that I'm ready to share.

The upshot is that we're more or less going to repeat what we did last year: we'll host people for the big meal at Christmas. I'll head over to see some other family on Christmas Eve, and then we'll meet with everyone for the big gathering on Boxing Day, but Christmas Day itself will be a local walk followed by a large meal, followed by TV. (For the TV, since there's no "Wallace & Gromit" and no "Doctor Who", we've identified a recent film that we'll carefully avoid watching until then, and use that as our centerpiece. Until FS and S! object, that is.)

I think that means we're now getting towards settling our core "Christmas experience". That may be another post for when the season is really underway.