I finally leave my job tomorrow and I’m treating it seriously.

I’ll check and respond to all emails, sign off expenses and reflect on the past six years.

They’ve been really good, I’ve had trips to Malaysia and Australia, Dublin and a load of very, very interesting places in the UK where they do secret and important things.

But 2024 was the highlight, I created and recruited a new team and they are….

Genuinely the best I’ve ever worked with.

The UK contingent (plus my best friend ) is in the first photo and that’s my leaving do, we left the bulk of the people in the bar to do photos.

Oh yeah.

We all had the same shirts and My Little Pony temp tattoos on our left cheekbones. (don’t ask)

That’s me in the black t-shirt.

We started drinking just before 4pm and drank for just under 11 hours, apparently there was some projectile vomiting and I have a lovely bruise on my back after a poor dismount from the bar stool that I stood on to give my leaving speech.

There was a big turnout and people travelled some impressive distances, but in the long run, it was the feral pony club that mattered and I’m going to treasure the memory of our last night.

I have some presents from the wider teams and I thought that was it.

Until yesterday when a surprise package appeared at my house.

An engraved pewter bottomed glass with all their names on it.

I’m not ashamed to say that I had something in my eye

Our story probably isn’t over and I have some updates on my leaving that I’ll leave for a day or two.

But for today.

I did something right.

I’m so fucking proud of them all.

I’m not going all biblical, it’s just the most well known description of a mythical light-bringer.

You can add Eos, Helel, Phosporos and Aurora to the list.

And I think that’s important right now.

Our little world is getting darker, the news is awful on a daily basis and there’s no let-up in sight.

So we have to generate our own light.

Not an original thought, obviously.

Marcus Aurelius wrote this.

‘Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly. What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.’

It’s not a bad way to think, he also wrote this.

‘When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.’

And that should be our revenge against THEM and the status quo, if things are bad, try to find a way to make them better.

If we don’t?

Nobody will.

This is my council tax bill, I’m responsible for the 9.9% increase part. It’s fuck all, but we’ll spend it on things that people actually tell us they want rather than hoping Shropshire will sort everything (they won’t).

And we’ll try to do good with the money, more poo bins, more footpath work, more drop in meetings with sandwiches.

My book is published and I have copies for all my team (who don’t know I’ve written it ) that I’ll give them as a memento on my last day.

As for them, I couldn’t be prouder if they were my own children, multiple award nominations (including national) and more to the point:

Our WhatsApp chat is full of how they’ll send me off (and whether arrests will occur).

I’m looking forward to the weeks and months to come, of spring and summer without an hour by hour schedule and spending as much time as possible outside with the doglets.

As for them.

I sometimes think that they’re possessed by demons.

But they’re small demons of light that make me laugh.

Little Lucifers

What matters to you personally?

Is it money, true love, material possessions, the respect of others, climbing up the treacherous ladder of success?

Whatever it is, I wish you well and hope that you achieve a modicum of happiness.

For me, I’m becoming less driven by a single idea or ideal and I’ve begun to let go and just enjoy the days and hours.

It’s been a strange week in a number of ways but I’m lying on a sofa in the sun, music in the background and a beer to sip while I type.

The views from this sofa are spectacular and it’s probably my favourite spot in the house, it helps that it’s in the kitchen.

So what’s been strange about the week?

Well.

I’ve stopped taking new meetings and took part in an all day briefing meeting for my team and the team that they’ll be working closely with as from April.

It ended at 3am for me, in a club in Soho.

More on that in a while.

I finished my book and it’s ready for pre-order on Kindle and Amazon paperback – I have no idea if it’s any good, but fuck it.

I’ve ordered some author copies so that I can give them to my team on my last day in the office – and we’ll see what happens.

I had a call with my pension advisor and we’re looking at a plan for the next couple of years – I may continue work or not.

Depends how much I like being on my own clock.

I had a meeting with Shropshire council to try to sort some road issues out for some parishioners and I’ve helped a chap with his planning application for a single house on 11 acres of land.

I also found out that not only has one of my team been bullied by senior management in a country far,far away, but they’ve tried to close ranks and stitch him up because he logged a grievance.

We have a call to discuss the situation next week with HR and management, I’m going to fucking eviscerate them.

I’ve heard from the guy trying to arrange the Wembley concert and he has a meeting with Wembley on Tuesday- he also has a retired Paratroop General on the committee now.

And…..

After the team meeting on Thursday, we went for dinner (for 12 people) and we were joined by somebody I’ve mentioned before – The Smurf.

Our history is complicated to say the least but she’s one of my best friends, she’s 19 years younger, has a husband, two kids, a lovely dog, a job and a good life.

The plan was for her to be my guardian angel for my leaving do on the 26th as I think it’s got the possibility to be epic.

But.

She needs an emergency operation at the end of the week or she might die.

Not hyperbole or exaggeration.

And the op is massive and life changing.

So, the end of Thursday night was mostly listening to her while we tried to dance and look normal in a series of bars and clubs.

I put her in a cab at 3 and went back to my club, luckily I’d been up for 23 hours so I managed a couple of hours sleep before leaving at 6 to come home.

I’ll catch up properly with her tomorrow to get the latest and to tell her that although I probably don’t believe in a deity, I’ll ask every day for her to still be here for the foreseeable future.

I’ll also tell her that these lyrics from a song by Sixx AM inspired me to write about her today

‘Do you wanna see heaven tonight?
Underneath those lights you will look so beautiful
Do you wanna see the stars before they fall?
See the stars before they fall’

Life’s short.

Enjoy yours, hug your friends and lovers – call somebody that you’ve lost touch with.

Think about what really matters.