Week commencing Monday, 26 October 2026
Quantified Self
- This week: Stand 7/7; Exercise 1/7 and Move 3/7. (52%). Morning walks: 0/5. Office days: 0/5. Total steps: 41,046. 13.8 hours in meetings.
Life
- I was not in London for much of the week, but it’s worth noting that the Oxford Street pedestrianisation scheme started on Monday. When Londoners were asked what they thought, I filled in every survey in support of the scheme. So I ought to take a look when I get back.
- Previously, I mentioned the app I built to look back on things I’d written on the internet in years gone by. It now imports tweets from my downloaded Twitter archive.
- Relatedly, this week in 2008 I wrote that @curns “is back in London until he leaves early Tuesday & appears to have 2 hotel reservations in 2 countries for the same nights this week – oops!” I have no memory of this situation at all. I wonder what actually happened to me?
- Relatedly related, my early tweets were written in the third person, which made sense at the time but is very odd to read now.
- I introduced myself to Mum and Dad’s window cleaner, who seemed like a really nice man. But when he asked if I was “London or Edinburgh”, I wondered what he’d been told about me and my brother!
- In real news, kinda, you’ve got to love the Norwegians.
- NHS appointment one was right on time, at 8.15am. The waiting room was deserted. The hospital corridors, long.
- Related, appointment two took most of the afternoon, and even the nurses laughed when the consultant referred to himself as the plumber.
- On Wednesday, everybody else spent the evening watching Liverpool versus Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. I slept through most of it. I was awake for the penalties.
- Mum and Dad took me to the Mytton and Mermaid for Friday lunch. I had halloumi fries to start and pork belly with apple and parsnip purée and a Stilton croquette. There was only one croquette.
- Saturday, met the new dog, who is still a bit jumpy, and had a beef burger topped with spicy mac and cheese bites, nacho cheese sauce and jalapeños to celebrate J’s birthday.
- Returning goods to Next on a Sunday took seconds. They already had the details. It’s remarkable how easy it can be to return something you bought online when a company gets its digital strategy right. And how rarely that happens.
Media
- We finished The Marble House Mysteries, which was pleasing enough if you like a cosy murder mystery.
- I never quite caught up on The Celebrity Traitors, so I gave up and read the spoilers.
- On Sunday, I watched the first episode of the current series of Celebrity Race Across the World because I’d missed it earlier in the week.
- A couple more episodes of Slow Horses. I think we have just one left, so it’ll be quite interesting to see how everything is resolved.