So.

How was it for you?

2025 was a good one for me personally, a lot of change, but this time all triggered by me.

I resigned from a job I loved on the 2nd Jan because I could see a tidal wave of toxicity that was just beginning to build at the very top of the company and I knew that if I stayed, I’d be fighting a trench war that I’d ultimately lose.

It was the right thing to do, they managed to go deeper and darker than even I imagined they would and people are leaving in droves right now.

I wrote a silly little management book that I’m going to have to add at least one more chapter to thanks to the way that the senior leadership treated one of my people. It was genuinely the worst behaviour I’ve seen in my career to date.

The book is here. When I update it at some point, the kindle version will update itself.

I gave physical copies to all of my team and friends when I left and the leaving do was a thing of beauty.

Feral Pony Club

And I started retirement.

That actually meant working longer hours doing actual physical labour for no money and fewer breaks.

I loved it.

There’s a copse of a hundred or so trees on the eastern side of my land and I was going to tear down an old shed.

Instead, I rebuilt it, put in new floor and cladding and built a new door from scratch.

That was just the start of it, I tore things down, built new things to replace them, painted and repaired, reclad and added new electrics, sealed roofs and totally revamped an old shed / garage into a proper 10×5 metre workshop.

Every day started with a long dog-walk and the doglets loved it, the combination of summer and open fields giving them an endless playground.

I still got into London to see friends and in August, I finally did the road-trip that I’d promised myself.

I took Cairo ( Milo’s getting on a bit to spend hours and hours in a car) to Portland where we spent a couple of perfect days with some of the best people I know; to Wales to rekindle an old friendship and to Newark where we met new friends for the first time.

And what a time we had.

Walks, conversations and lots of laughter.

And Dottie.

The best thing I did this year.

A pure chance conversation that linked a series of people to give an outcome that was pure magic.

And gave me two new friends that I value very dearly.

Dottie is a tiny, beautiful Jack Russell who looks like an Alsatian but she’s around the same size as Milo.

She’s found a home where she’ll be loved for the rest of her life and she’s brought pleasure to her new family in a way that I couldn’t hope for when I brokered a conversation.

Summer rolled on beautifully and I managed to make around sixty litres of apple juice from my little orchard along with thirty or so of 10% cider.

One of my old team became a dad for the second time and I was honoured to be invited to a Nigerian naming ceremony in September where I met his family and friends and discovered a whole new world of formality, religion and fun.

And so the year went.

I became an RAF Trustee, did physical work for the parish council, opened a school fete with the mayor and made a return visit to meet the High Sheriff of Shropshire.

I did more outside work and planned a trip to Spain to see a band play their first international show at the end of November.

But. You know.

Plans.

They’re only aspirational.

One of my best friends left the company two months after me and she took a huge and incredibly interesting job.

And she needed a bit of help.

So we talked and I agreed to go back to work for a year.

And.

My aunt had a few falls a week or so before I was due to go to Spain and two weeks before I was due to start work again and I couldn’t square the circle of how I was going to fit everything in.

There’s only one answer to that .

I cancelled Spain and took Cairo on a two day trip to North Yorkshire, we stayed at an old inn on the return leg and it was as pleasant as it could be.

And then, a week later, I went back to work.

And it’s fine.

A brand new industry, but the same old problems, I have no fears for this job, it’ll be more than ok.

I rekindled another old friendship with a friend who lives just outside Bath – where I’ll be staying a lot this year.

And Bath is lovely.

Christmas wasn’t a drama and the whole thing starts again on Friday.

What about the bells?

The tradition of the “108 bells” refers to Joya no Kane (除夜の鐘), a Japanese Buddhist ritual. It’s performed on New Year’s Eve, known as Ōmisoka.

In this ceremony, large temple bells, called bonshō, are rung 108 times around midnight to symbolize the cleansing of the 108 earthly desires or worldly passions (bonnō) that afflict humans, such as greed, anger, jealousy, and ignorance

I hope they ring for us all

I’ve just woken up after a short doze on one of the sofas, Cairo is snuggled up against me and Milo has colonised most of another sofa across the room, quite a feat considering how small he really is.

It was back to work this week and I was away for four nights in Bath.

That’s not the worst thing in the world, Bath is quite lovely and the Christmas market was incredibly pretty.

I drank and ate in some nice places, including The Raven – a pub that the owner expelled Starmer from a few years ago.

The town feels safe, particularly compared to London and people are generally polite and chilled, I’ll be staying there a lot, so it’s good that I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the evenings, whether alone or with others.

There was and is a bonus in that one of my few real friends lives in Bath and I managed to catch up with him this week.

He then gave me a bottle of wine from 1982! I’m crossing my fingers that when I decant it on Christmas Eve that it’ll be a suitable treat for Christmas lunch.

Work itself was fine and the office is just a 20 minute drive away from Bath, keeping a nice separation in the evenings, I haven’t regretted it so far and don’t think I will.

It’s only for a year anyway and it’ll mean that a number of things that need doing this year won’t impact on my pension fund or savings.

It wasn’t all sweetness and light though, Cairo got attacked by two German Shepherds on Thursday and was limping quite badly when I got home.

But they’re tough little fuckers, Milo got kicked up in the air by a pony a few years ago and only had a cracked rib, Cairo is now running around happily and only has a couple of cuts.

The owner of the Shepherds was distraught and did all that she could and more, she seems like a nice person and all’s well now.

We’ve had a few walks over the weekend and both dogs have helped me get my office ready for next week when I start working from home in earnest.

The Milo Industries Global HQ is now ready to be a hive of industry and sleeping dogs as of today.

And that’s where things are as of today.

Things are as good as they can be but I know that this is ephemeral, we have to work hard to appreciate what’s good in our lives.

The news from Bondi Beach today is horrifying and somehow more personal than it should be.

I’ve been there for all of 20 minutes once but it was always one of those places where people would talk about having Christmas dinner on the beach.

Families have been ripped apart and nothing for those people will be the same.

Loss when it comes, can be sudden and overwhelming and grudges and hurts can never be fixed from that point onward.

None of us know what’s coming next, so take the time if you can to make sure that your loved ones know that you love them; get in touch with old friends, make definite plans to see them.

Cuddle those closest to you and take the time to appreciate the small moments, enjoy the peace and appreciate the good things while you can.