Weeknote 22/2025

This has been my first week of holiday this year. Although I wouldn't categorise it as 'relaxing', a change is (as they say) as good as a rest.

I've had a test drive of some cars as our lease is coming to an end in a few months' time. The inevitable spreadsheet is here. Right now, I'd say our choice is between another Polestar (2 or 4) or a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

The Škoda Enyaq and Elroq are both fine but, shall we say, a little 'uninspiring'.  Although perhaps that's a good thing given that we probably got caught speeding again at about 1am on Saturday morning.

We were on our way back from Bristol for a family wedding on Friday, deciding to drive halfway back up the country so that we'd be able to complete the journey on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, there was a horrific accident on the M5 motorway which meant that we were diverted and delayed. We tried to make up the time as and managed to get flashed by a camera which was so bright it lit up the entire road 😐

Getting up early to charge the car on Saturday morning after four hours sleep wasn't the most fun part of this holiday. Especially as I was sharing a room with Ben, who is a bit of a sleep talker. Driving well within the national speed limits, we managed to get home, changed, and out to my daughter's football presentation in the early afternoon. Their treble win (a year up!) was celebrated at the event, which was followed by a BBQ. After that, we came home to watch the UEFA Champions League final.

Other than that, I've had my first CBT session for five years, with the same guy I had last time. We discussed a bunch of things and it was really helpful. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to book another session soon, mainly because that one was so helpful.

After listening to me, Johnny (my therapist) drew a bucket on the whiteboard, filled with some water. This represents 'stress'. If we represent events and things in our life as 'rocks' being added to the bucketm then the water level rises. Eventually, it spills over. The idea is to have 'holes' in your bucket to prevent the water overflowing. These holes might be exercise, positive relationships, various forms of relaxation, etc. The problem is when these 'holes' fill up and the water (i.e. stress) levels rise.

I don't think it's coincidental that I was super-stressed in January and my heart stopped working properly. While I haven't got a definitive diagnosis, my GP thinks it's Angina:

Angina is described as a clinical syndrome of chest pain or pressure that accompanies periods of myocardial ischaemia; it is usually the manifestation of coronary artery disease. It is usually aggravated by activities which increases myocardial demand for oxygen e.g. - exercise and emotional stress. The name is derived from the Greek 'agkone' which means strangling. (GP Notebook)

Exercise and emotional stress, you say? ✅

On Monday, I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the premiere of The Teesdale Way which features Tom Watson, who I've got to know over the last year or so:

A heartfelt story filled with stunning previously unseen footage of Teesdale follows two local residents on their attempt to be the first to run the entire length of the River Tees in under 24 hours. Filmmaker and former local Ron Yeadon couples unparalleled countryside views with an inside look at the appeal of ultrarunning.

It was the first time I'd met Tom in person, and I thought he was the hero of the story. It's an incredible film, made even more poignant for me for a couple of reasons: first, I've walked some of the route that they ran; second, given my heart condition I'll probably never be able to emulate their feat. I'll have to make do with reliving the past glory(?) of my Hadrian's Wall walk a few years ago.

Talking of storytelling, I went to another talk at the Lit & Phil with my mother on Tuesday. It's nice to do things both separately and together with my parents, and goodness knows my dad and I watch enough football. I've enjoyed all of the events we've been to with my mum, but this one wasn't so great. It could have been so much better had they thought about what they were trying to say from the audience's point of view. Why was it so bad? Let's just say that telling stories is always better than recounting your career history 🙄

Being on holiday and knowing that I was going to be away at the end of the week, I got my Thought Shrapnel posts written early. I'd taken the previous week off, and didn't want to extend that, as previously that's led to me abandoning the blog/newsletter for several months.

This week, I published:

• The Warrior Emotion
• Swatchy!
• Thinking in systems means to think in boundaries, not binaries
• Agreement vs Certainty
• The phrase 'opportunistic blackmail' is not one you want to read in the system card of a new generative AI model
• Heuristics for multiplayer AI conversations
• Is there still an 'Open Web' crowd?
• There may be six individuals out there who are waiting for exactly the thing that only you can write
• Building a shared idea of "we"
• Real life isn't a story. History doesn't have a moral arc
• British culture is swearing and being sarcastic to your mates whilst simultaneously being too polite to tell someone they need to leave

The episode I recorded with Maren Deepwell for her Leading Virtual Teams podcast is now live. I'd encourage you to listen to it — even if you're not, you know, leading a virtual team.

I also took some time off from social media, which is always a blessing. I don't dislike other people, just their poorly thought-through opinions. For example, this week I sat quietly as someone waved their drink around while saying that vegetarians should "invent their own food" rather than call a cylindrical non-meat item a "sausage." I'd like to think I've got better things to think about and talk about, so I just shut my mouth.

Sometimes, when I read back what I write in my weeknotes and other posts, I think I'm oversharing. My wife certainly thinks so. It's an interesting thing to contemplate in the world of AI agents, who can quickly build up a context-free picture of an individual. For example, given how much I've talked about my mental and physical health on this blog, I'm sure at some point an LLM would pick that up. Similar concerns have led Audrey Watters to move such updates to a private email list.

Next week, my wife and I are both back to work. My son is on study leave and so should be revising for his remaining 'A' Level exams like next year depends on it (which it kind of is). Meanwhile, my daughter is jetting off to Valencia, Spain for a school football trip where they get to train with Villarreal CF and tour their iconic stadium.

June is shaping up to be a busy month: we need to finish off the BBC AI Literacy project, for which I'll be attending an event in Manchester in a couple of weeks' time. Laura and I will also be in The Netherlands to facilitate the DCC Summit at the end of the month. And, after our user research and desk research, we need to make a recommendation to Amnesty International UK for their new community platform.

I'm very much looking forward to heading to Madeira on holiday at the end of July. Although I won't be able to attempt the longer and more adventurous levada walks, there are shorter and flatter ones that I should be able to achieve. On past experience, our two teenagers are likely to be thankful for that.

Image: a Banksy at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (where the reception was held)