Weeknotes #172: tables, darts and democracy

Volunteering, politics, table tennis and Wembley brought a lively week.

Week commencing Monday, 4 May 2026

Graffiti handwritten in white marker on the dark background of a Starlight Express show sign at Wembley Park. The text reads: "you have reached the end of the line… This Train Terminates here". To the left, the original sign features colourful beams of light streaking diagonally against a deep blue, star-filled cosmic backdrop.
Cheeky graffiti marks the end of Starlight Express at Wembley.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 2/7 and Move 4/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 0/4. Total steps: 35,862. 14.8 hours in meetings.

Life

  • More table tennis volunteering on Bank Holiday Monday. The competition moved into the knockout rounds, but the draw was announced late on Sunday night, so nobody was expecting a big influx of people supporting the teams playing. There were still four tables in play at all times, but there wasn’t a very big crowd, and neither of the positions I was given had much traffic.
  • Related, on my way on Monday, I saw a removal van at the Troubadour Theatre, which I assumed was there to pack up Starlight Express, as the show had finished the day before.
  • Wednesday, I attended a drinks event with some interesting people, but I really should’ve left after we’d had the drinks and not gone to the pub afterwards. We ended up across the road at Flight Club until midnight.
  • Polling day on Thursday brought some good news for PY, but early results pointed to a historic collapse in Labour’s support, so bad news for Keir.
  • On Friday, the scale of Labour’s losses became fully apparent. Across England, Labour lost nearly 1,500 local council seats but managed to hold on to my local council, Merton.
  • Saturday, back at Wembley. There was a new location, courtside, by the expensive seats. I wasn’t mad keen to spend time right down by the tables because one wrong move could throw somebody’s game, and that would have been bad.
  • Finals day opened with a bit of a show. We were in the arena for the rehearsals before the public was let in. There was a lot of pyrotechnics involved. It looked impressive when it was performed in front of what they said was a sell-out crowd. Certainly, the seats around us were very busy, which made the volunteering session go by quickly.
  • After the shift, we stayed until we were certain China’s women’s team had it in the bag.
  • On the way home, I noticed the graffiti on the Starlight Express signs. I thought it was quite moving.
  • Oh, and home for the men’s final. Thrilling game; China won. I can only imagine the noise in the arena. I was disappointed the BBC cut the feed before the medals.

Media