Well, 2026 didn't take long to show us its true intent.

First #5km run of 2026 and it was very cold and slow. My ancient Forerunner 10 failed to record again (I have a Fenix 8 on the way) but it looked like a 25:15 before it quit.

Absolute queen. No notes.

Driver of a (new style) VW Transporter who didn't "Think bike" resulting in brain seizures and a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Caring for two disabled relatives both with degenerative neurological conditions, memory impairment and dementia. And currently under investigation for prostate cancer.

The post box a couple of doors down from me has been upgraded to a "Parcel post box" which only allows you to post a parcel once you've scanned its QR code. Except the scanner isn't working. So you can't. This used to be a serious country.

Picture of the staff who operate my account.

Maybe not my absolute favourite, but it's a 90s classic. youtu.be/JXkN3nJyWEA?...

Scoville in his natural habitat; a pile of my clothes. No, I didn't want to put them on again after my NYE run. #FIVPositive

Final #5km run of the year. It's freezing out there. Literally. And whilst it was nice that some of the locals decided to celebrate this event with fireworks it wasn't necessary. My old Forerunner 10 failed in the final km (again), but it was a high 25/low 26. New year, new running watch I think.

And with Service Model by @aptshadow.bsky.social that's 56 books read in 2025. Mostly fantasy and speculative fiction as I'm nothing if not a creature of habbit, but there's other stuff in there too. #BookSky

These are unsettling times.

Walking through Newbury town centre minding my own business and somebody grabbed my arm and shook it. It was Boris Johnson in his pre MP form, out canvassing with the then Tory MP, who when he was PM he fired.

@garybrannan.bsky.social Putting on your archivist hat, how many bricks would you be shitting trying to recover something this unique from a magnetic tape this old? hackaday.com/2025/12/29/o...

Quite chilly out there tonight, but a fairly decent post Christmas run. 25:45 #5km

BrigaDune

Currently reading Service Model, so a murderous robotic valet? Last book I finished was Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil, but we're not going there. #BookSky

Y’all might not appreciate it, but it took him 87 moves and 14 hours to get here

Managed a Boxing Day afternoon run. Was nice to get out in the daylight. Cold, but 25:54 #5km

Just gone half eleven at night on Christamas day. Am about to start cooking my breakfast/dinner. It's been worse in previous years.

I've just completed all the puzzles in the mscroggs.co.uk Advent calendar! My favourite puzzle was day 21. Took some hard thinking. Once again @mscroggs.co.uk making me do combinatorics. And of all the puzzles how was day 12 the only one I got wrong first time around?

Who's staying up to do some #MidnightMaths this year?

It's a Christmas Wordle miracle! Wordle 1,650 2/6* ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Oh, it's that time again. Bah, humbug!

Christmas eve run and blimey it's cold out there tonight. Watch didn't record properly, but it was a high 25, maybe very low 26. #5km Might be time to retire the old Forerunner 10.

Monday night is a run night. Not too bad out there to be honest. 25:54 #5km

@robinince.bsky.social Your book is a Kindle deal of the day today for 99p.

Cold Friday night run. 26:14 #5km

Somebody's won a bunch of Map Men merch. Spoiler: That someone is me! Cc @jayforeman.bsky.social @markcooperjones.bsky.social

Suck it up, Wordle! Wordle 1,644 3/6* ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Windy out there tonight, but the Wednesday evening run cannot be ignored. 26:02 #5km

Nary a thought has ever entered this cat's brain.

@mscroggs.co.uk Was about to message you about today's page. Hit refresh. Was relieved to find I'm not imagining things and my sleep deficit wasn't to blame this time.

@mscroggs.co.uk Am I being really slow today, or is there an issue with day 16 of your advent calendar? Can not get column 1 to work with row 2.

There's a German (Bavarian actually) saying "Du rüttelst fei gscheid am Watschnbam" translating roughly to "You are really shaking the slapping tree", hinting at the strong possibility a slap might fall down if the behaviour is being continued.

Tired, but it's a Monday so #5km time. 25:59 which is still technically in the 25s.

MUM! @mscroggs.co.uk is making me do combinatorics again! www.mscroggs.co.uk

Genius, as always.

Tired but went out running anyway. Cold evening. 26:11 #5km

Day 12 of #AdventOfCode. Last puzzle of the year and I was thoroughly trolled by it. Spent ages solving the test input only to find out that the real input didn't need any of it. Not sure I'm happy about that. topaz.github.io/paste/#XQAAA...

Day 11 of #AdventOfCode and a surprisingly easy problem once you think about it. Reader, it took me a while to think about it! DP is usually the answer. topaz.github.io/paste/#XQAAA...

Really tired from #AdventOfCode but went running anyway. Surprisingly good conditions. A slow 26:14 #5km

Day 10 of #AdventOfCode and the first genuinely hard problem. Came to the solution relatively quickly and spent the next few hours trying to get SciPy to do what I wanted after NumPy and SymPy failed to deliver the goods. topaz.github.io/paste/#XQAAA...

You will be visited by three spirits

@mscroggs.co.uk I like your method for Day 9 of #AdventOfCode, but I think it fails on this valid input. 1,1 1,10 10,10 10,8 3,8 3,1

Day 9 of #AdventOfCode and a tricky problem. Well, tricky for 05:00 brain. Got nowhere. Went to do the early morning care visit at my mum's and stuck in traffic the solution appears. Did the care visit, came home, solved the problem. Spoiler: Coordinate compression topaz.github.io/paste/#XQAAA...

Read the latest from @badmachinery.com before bed and it's everything you could possibly want.

Yep, that leg's not going anywhere. #FIVPositive

Monday night run. A little windy, but otherwise good conditions. 25:49 #5km