Weeknotes #121: it’s eurovision time

Eurovision fun, successful chilli, sensor woes, and work thoughts.

Week commencing Monday, 12 May 2025

This image shows a festive Eurovision party buffet spread across a dining table covered with red and blue checkered tablecloths. The table is laden with various foods including cheese and charcuterie boards, salads, dips, bread, and Swiss-themed items (with small Swiss flags visible). There are also cupcakes on a tiered stand, wrapped presents, purple decorative elements, and party accessories scattered throughout. The abundant spread suggests a well-prepared celebration with both savoury and sweet options for guests.
Eurovision buffet

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 7/7; Exercise 6/7 and Move 7/7. (95%). Morning walks: 4/4 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 1/5. Total steps: 64,365

Life

  • I pay for one of those insurance policies that sends somebody to fix plumbing or electrical issues. I’d booked someone to fix the sensor that turns on the bathroom light. It needed replacing. But now it turns off too quickly, and I don’t think I’m covered for another call-out.
  • Related: it’s not a setting on the sensor.
  • I went to see a consultant about my cough. More tests are booked. It’s getting (slightly) worse. It was a lovely walk up to the hospital.
  • Tuesday and Thursday evenings were Eurovision semi-finals. They were a lot more fun than I remembered and gave me a chance to see the songs before Saturday.
  • Saturday was the Eurovision party. The weather was nice, so people could sit outside if they weren’t that keen on watching. We rigged up multiple speakers.
  • Related: we retrieved the lockdown projector and projected the image onto the kitchen units for those at the end of the room.
  • My slow-cooker bean chilli with vegan cheese was a huge success and very easy to prep in advance.
  • We didn’t get the cocktails in a can out early enough, so most people didn’t know we had them.
  • The winner was Austria with the song Wasted Love, performed by JJ. The Austrian in the room was very happy.
  • Work-related: How can traditional British TV survive the US streaming giants?, and Microsoft is – again – killing an advertising product. I know what it’s like; if I can help anybody affected, contact me.

Media

  • The sixth episode of Doctor Who was watched on catch-up on Sunday. The Interstellar Song Contest featured the Doctor and Belinda attending a futuristic Eurovision-style song contest and a plot to kill trillions of people. Cameos by Rylan Clark and Graham Norton were quite good.