Another day in the office tomorrow. Thought it would be nice to cycle in as I haven't done it for ages. Looked at weather forecast. Thunder showers at the time I would be cycling home. So yeah, train and tram it is then.

Being in the office means I am overhearing my boss on a call basically talking the team to someone, and the stuff she's saying about me, it's lies. ALL LIES I TELL YOU! Data expert? Me? Never!

One of the key factors in how much HS2 is costing, is our decision to keep reviewing, rescoping and recosting it every five minutes in response to costs.

Heading to the office for some things. Realised that this year I have actually spent more time in the Newcastle and London ones than the one 14 miles away.

Thoughts and prayers to all the journalists having to travel on a train from Euston at around 8am.

Posted without comment

Just rewatched the first episode of The Prisoner, and I am convinced that the only way to successfully remake The Prisoner is for it to be very British, and it to be even more batshit insane than the original. It can be done but without meeting those criteria, all remakes will fail.

Just perfect

Finally. A bean burger recipe where the burger does not go to mush when the burger hits the pan. The secret? Drying the beans it seems. purecookingjoy.com/black-bean-b...

And open up the windows and doors, and let that cool air in.

These mugs were handed out at the work Christmas party. Which I couldn't attend due to falling ill with a stomach problem and having to go home at lunchtime. Can't remember quite how I got it in the end but someone must have saved me one or something.

Pure Evoke II DAB radio that I reviewed for Transfusion back in 2004. Had it now over 23 years. If the BBC switches to DAB+ I will be screwed as it doesn't support it, but until then it will remain in daily use. transdiffusion.org/2004/01/01/e...

The end of an era - After almost a century we said goodbye this morning to our great companion of the airwaves Radio 4 198 LW. I shall miss her warmth and crackle. Here’s the final sign off at the end of #theshippingforecast before she fell silent… ❤️

Brewed some beer last week. Fermentation is temperature dependent but normally takes 2-3 weeks. Due to the heat, appears to have finished in 6 days...

Guardian Editions app is this morning exploring new ways in being utterly crap. And no, I am not referring to references to Andrea Leadsom.

This is quite lovely.

Not saying the heat has addled my brain, but I was this close to putting the cookbook in the fridge instead of the mayonnaise.

Temperature in my home office now seems to have equalised with what it is outside, so now basically on a "sod it" moment and have opened the window in the hope that a bit breeze gets in.

Every now and then, I remember this.

Given the vast number of unknown factors that will decide this election's outcome, our tool means you can make your own results by entering first preference vote shares and adjusting how those second preferences flow across parties. Happy calculating...

Here's Greater Manchester's mayoral election history, with Andy Burnham never dropping below 60%. But supplementary voting means voters pick their top two candidates, making this by-election far more unpredictable. It's in the second preferences where the race will likely be won.

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Thunder. Rain. Not sure it's clearing the air much though.

Was listening to some over 70s people moaning about the Manchester Evening News paywalling articles the other week. People who, 20 years ago, would have paid to get a paper delivered to them.

Yes. Stuff costs money.

I don't want the World Cup to come home because every football trophy my kids bring in to my home they immediately drop and then I have to glue it back together. In my experience they are very poorly made.

Yes, that’s her.

Doing that thing I do every heatwave where I think I probably do need an air con unit in the home office. Followed by me then forgetting to do anything about it until next heatwave.

Admitting defeat and moving from the home office in the old attic space, for the cooler climbs of the living room. Urgh. Too hot.

Did the school run. Got back absolutely dripping in sweat. Found daughter had left her water bottle on the stairs. Leapt on bike, cycled to school and back. Now even more soaked.

Life Leisure (the local council leisure centre operator) put out a load of messaging saying their new app/booking system would launch today at 4pm after migrating all the data from the old one. I thought putting a hard deadline may not be the best of ideas, cos things do go wrong. But hey.

Go Ape have been trying to put up an outdoor excursion site in Danson Park, Bexley. Objections to doing so have included: 1. Attracting more kids to the park means children will be kidnapped 2. Bexley's kids are bad kids and don't deserve it 3. Building Go Ape will result in decapitated cats

The Peak Forest Canal to be extended so it actually goes to the village of Peak Forest that it was named for, instead of finishing seven miles short.

Every morning I let the chickens out, opening up a little gate on their enclosure so they can roam a bigger area of the garden. Every morning Hendini would race to be the first one out. No matter what she was doing - even laying an egg - she had to be first. None of the others cared but she did.

Americans just *love* to get confused about our car system. They simply cannot comprehend a system that doesn’t require hours queueing at the DMV once a year and stupid paper temporary plates.

Taking my daughter to her swimming lessons later. Pool hall is hot enough at the best of times. Going to be like a sauna in there tonight!

Quite funny that Burnham just went out through the Euston side entrance and just avoided almost all of the media scrum. (Cmon news crews, they always do this at Euston with VIPs, they used to do this with George Osborne when he would come back from Tatton, know your station layouts!)

Yes, well, hmm.

Looking in my wallet yesterday, I found a strange 50p from Gibraltar saying New Calpe House, Norfolk Square - Your Home From Home. Anyway, this eBay listing has it for sale at £10,086.70. Which is quite something for a 50p coin. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39589556...

For some reason, David Cameron's resignation has sprung to mind.

Noting how many people see a picture of a Facebook post, and think it's an X post. Despite the fact it looks and is a Facebook post.

"So make sure the signage is removed so everyone knows we've closed this branch and no one thinks we are still here."

The right honourable Sir Keir Starmer, the ultimate avatar of competency, told Donald Trump a secret he trusted him to keep until he was ready to announce it himself. Masterful gambit, sir.

Ironically I have noticed that many older people I know almost take pride in the number of Amazon parcels they get.

Anyway, the audience, and especially the asker, hated it. They didn't want a solution, they wanted someone to get mad with them. You could literally see the guy lose the room as he answered.

One of my formative political experiences was at a selection meeting when someone asked about the proliferation of takeaways and charity shops in the town. An excellent candidate gave a thorough answer, about local plans, what you can change, what you can't. The balance between planning and market

One of my wider takes is our politics won’t be on the right path until someone can stand up and confidently say “No, your high streets won’t be like they used to be, we aren’t uninventing Amazon. But here’s a plan that gives them a new purpose and makes them more residential etc”

Apropos to nothing, but on leaving university I had no idea what to do job wise. So based on my university bar work, I applied for the Wetherspoons Graduate Programme. They invited me to some interview/recruitment thing, but by the time they did I had a job building web pages. Rest is history.