Day: 8 February 2026

Weeknotes #159: buns, binge, bridges

Rainy week, resilient leaps, food risks, thoughtful station tour.

Week commencing Monday, 2 February 2026

Modern entrance to London Bridge Station with glass canopy and metallic lettering on beige brick facade, Union Jack and British Rail flags visible on left
Not falling down: London Bridge Station stands strong

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 3/7 and Move 4/7. (62%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days 1/5. Total steps: 41,471. 15.3 hours in meetings.

Life

  • I was at home for much of the week. I went to the office once. I am not sure I left the house on weekdays other than for a small shopping run. It rained a lot.
  • Related, they’re still working on the water pipes in the street. Their digging has blocked a storm drain. I have to leap puddles to cross the road.
  • Relatedly related, I don’t leap well, and I discovered my shoes are not waterproof.
  • We got a gigantic hot cross bun this week. It wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped.
  • Food-related, on Tuesday my Vietnamese pho had been sitting on the hob for several days. I survived its consumption.
  • Sunday, to London Bridge Station for a tour, where it ceased to be somewhere to pass through and became something to look at. The tour focused on the station and its immediate surroundings: the arrival of competing lines, the coexistence of two stations, and the long process that eventually fused them into the sprawling place we know now. Very well done.

Media

  • I watched, more or less, the entire season 4 of Bosch in a binge this week. It might explain why there’s not a lot else to say.
  • I also discovered there were a few episodes of Love, Victor I hadn’t watched, so I finished them. Love, Victor seemed a little too neatly tied up at the end. I suppose that’s good for the kind of show it was. It’s a shame they didn’t take it for another couple of series.
  • We watched an episode of Roman Empire by Train with Alice Roberts. It has a lot about the Roman Empire and is presented by Alice Roberts. There’s really not much train in it.
  • Related, the episode focused on Pompeii, which looked absolutely amazing. Even though it’s being horrendously overrun by tourists, it seems like a place we should visit.

Elsewhere: Watching The Decline of New Labour

His belief in a parliamentary democracy and MPs who work on behalf of their constituents is clear and often put him at odds with senior party colleagues. The fact that he does not follow the party line all the time is what makes his account all the more memorable.

Decline & Fall: Diaries 2005-2010The second volume of Chris Mullin’s diaries that I have read and, as an inside account of the British Parliament at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it’s both reassuring to see that many representatives in The House are not in it purely for self gain, having loftier aims that benefit us all, and disappointing to discover that Honourable Members, just like any group anywhere, can be back-stabbing and self-serving. Mullin clearly falls into the former but his ringside seat for the end of the Blair era, the expenses debacle, the arrival of Gordon Brown and the self-destruction of New Labour is fascinating. I don’t know if the diaries are well edited, or well written in the first place, but you are drawn in by the stories the diaries reveal and gripped as the details of parliamentary life are unveiled. His belief in a parliamentary democracy and MPs who work on behalf of their constituents is clear and often put him at odds with senior party colleagues. The fact that he does not follow the party line all the time is what makes his account all the more memorable. The book’s easy to follow as Mullin does not fall into the trap of reducing most people to nicknames or initials and, therefore, can be read without constant reference to a ‘cast of characters’. This volume ends as Gordon Brown leaves number 10 and Mullin retires from The House (he did not contest the 2010 election) but before that point some of the most interesting events of recent times are recorded with a charm and wit that’s compelling.

Decline & Fall: Diaries 2000-2010 by Chris Mullin / My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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