Weeknote 31/2025
I’ve been on holiday this week down in Somerset and Devon with my family. I went for a walk each morning around Milverton, and found a Quaker burial ground and so, with the help of Perplexity’s ‘deep research’ functionality, I discovered some more of the history and ended up writing a new section of the village’s Wikipedia page.
It was great to spend some time with my wife’s sister and family. My brother-in-law, Sean, is part of our Sunday Surfers gaming crew, so we talk pretty often. But it was nice to spend time with him in-person, seeing both their new house extension and hanging out playing some vinyl in his man shed.
There’s not much else to report, other than my daughter has now signed for a new football team. After five trials and one game within the space of week for four different teams, she’s accepted a place with Boro Rangers. They won the Junior Premier League last year, among other achievements.
As you may be able to tell from the name of the team, Boro Rangers are based in Middlesbrough which is 60 miles from Morpeth, where we live. Away games next season will be as far south as Derby, which coincidentally is where we’re travelling back from today, having stayed over at the Radisson Blu East Midlands.
So there will be lots of time in the car next season, especially as she’s also in Sunderland’s Emerging Talent Centre and on day release on Fridays at Sunderland College. As a result, we’ve upped the mileage on our next lease car to 20,000 miles/year but I’m not so sure that’s going to be enough…
Next week, I’ll still be on holiday. I’ve quite a lot of tech stuff to put on eBay that, after a couple of house moves and spending a year in our current place, I’ve realised I don’t need. There’s probably some DIY and garden maintenance to do, too.
I’m very much hoping I get a diagnosis next week. My most recent test results should come back which will tell whether or not I’ve got a pheochromocytoma. Whatever it is, I’m managing it better than I was. Both alcohol (even “alcohol-free” drinks) and caffeine affect my sleep and comfort, so I’m restricted to decaffeinated tea and water. I’m also walking instead of doing any proper cardio, so I’m now that left-leaning, increasingly pudgy, teetotal vegetarian you’ve been warned about 😉