2025 has been another mixed year.
I still have two unresolved health problems, one of which was partly (and initially successfully) treated, but has since come back, the other I’m still waiting for an appointment to see the right specialist (because the hospital lost my referral and refused to take into account the time I had been waiting when they found it). Neither of them are cancer or otherwise life threatening, but this also means I’m the lowest priority for investigation and treatment. Both are painful, one of which I can get effective but temporary relief from, the other I can’t (which makes things like going away difficult—I don’t want to be far from home when the pain starts).
My freelance business is going well, and I took a major step up this year when one of my clients asked me to become their Director of IT and Chief Security Officer (part-time so I will continue running my business for my other clients). I have already made some changes which have shown positive results, and I hope this will continue into 2026. This is the direction I want to take my career in—I enjoy writing code but I prefer to be involved in the commercial side.
I joined two more book clubs—one at the local Unitarian Church (you don’t have to be a churchgoer or religious to attend, which is good because I’m neither!) and the other at a walking group (the book club is new). I’m currently the only man who attends each club, which is a reversal of the dynamic I’m used to in IT.
I’ve finished 84 books so far this year according to my GoodReads Year In Books, consisting of 29,765 pages and including one book which no one else has read: A Practical Guide to the Insurance Act 2015 (as exciting as it sounds). Highlights include:
- I really enjoyed the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas and am about to start A Court of Thorns and Roses.
- Surrounded by Idiots was amusing, and my type (Blue + Red) was as predicted by other people (I think these personality profiles are scientifically nonsensical but entertaining).
- Ian Kershaw’s two volume biography of Hitler is magisterial, and you can definitely see the parallels with some current leaders.
- I read a Stephen King novel (actually two in the end) for the first time, but I don’t think his genre / writing is for me.
- Male authors have a bigger standard deviation of scores (from me) than female authors.
I have started storing my read books in a database this year and will write another post with a proper analysis and breakdown.
Film club included Post-Apocalyptic Commando Shark (so bad it’s good), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and KPop Demon Hunters (unbelievably catchy songs). We’ve broadened the scope a bit and as a result we’ve had a good run of films.
I also took the decision this year to be ruthless with things that were annoying, upsetting or causing me stress. This included cancelling Duolingo (their decision to gone all-in on AI also played a big part), unsubscribing from all political / news podcasts, and only checking the news once a day in the morning.
Goals for 2026
Read 50 books: This has been a goal since 2018 and I enjoy tracking my progress over the course of the year. You can follow me or add me as a friend on Goodreads or Rambling Readers if you want to see how I get on, and to set your own reading challenge.
Improve cooking skills: I really need to eat more healthily, and for that I need to learn to cook—taking into account two major constraints: I don’t like cooking and cooking for one is hard.
Exercise more: I’m not great when it comes to exercise, partly because I hate the gym (or rather, I hate the type of people who hang out at the gym and body-shame other people). I need to get into the habit of going for a decent walk at least once a day—preferably twice—and maybe looking at some basic resistance training that I can do at home.
Deliver two history talks: I only managed one history talk this year, but I would like to get into the habit of two per year as this is something I enjoy doing and other people seem to enjoy listening.