2026 Week 2

I don't really have a solid idea of what I want to write today but want to get back into the habit of writing so I'm just going to list of some of the things I did this week, and maybe some thoughts will come out of it.

 The first half of the week was mainly spent with work. Day shifts on Sunday and Monday, and night shifts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nothing too impactful happened there, on Sunday I went the whole shift without any phone calls, which is a novelty.

Tuesday I had a PT session before my pre night shift nap. I was back with my usual trainer after having a few sessions with one of the other trainers over the Christmas/New Years period. I managed to do a bit better with my squats and bench press, and dead lifts I did a bit less weight for more reps than I had been doing. My left knee has been giving me a bit of trouble, so I've got some things to do to try and help that, but unfortunately some of those have triggered tightness in my calves/Achilles tendon which is the problem that got me going to the trainer in the first place a few years ago. More stretches and foam rolling is in order there.

Friday, while a day off, I went in to work. There's a new project that's just about completed and is going to be put into normal operation soon which means my department will be looking after it soon, so a few of us had a site visit to see how the site is set out and how it works so we'll know what to do if/when something goes wrong there. Turns out while it's being touted as a huge environmental asset, it's pretty much a normal wet weather pump station. 

Saturday I started the day with a Parkrun. I got my first time under 35 minutes for about 4 months which I'm happy with. I'd like to get back down to the low thirties. I'm 11 runs away from my 50th run and I've got the idea that it would be nice to do a sub 30 for the milestone. The markets at New Farm are still closed, so I didn't get to have my usual bacon & egg roll from the German sausage stand. 

Saturday evening I met someone for a first date. We went to a comedy show and then had dinner and a few drinks. I think it went well and I think I'll try to see her again, but there were a few awkward pauses and some differences of perspective (I view a relationship as an optional extra where I think she sees it as a need) and she was upfront I wasn't the only guy she was meeting that day. 

2025: A reflection

So another year done. Overall I think 2025 was a positive year.

Work

For three quarters of the year I was on higher duties acting as the team lead while the regular lead was on extended leave. It was a different set of challenges (managing people is a bit different to managing things) and some new lessons to learn. I think I did ok, but other people have said I did well so I’ll try to believe them. There has been a bit of adjustment back to my old role I haven’t fully done yet. I’m still prone to get distracted from the main part of the job with the bigger picture items that are the lead’s responsibility, and I leave too much of the basic tasks to the other operators in my team.

I did apply for a lead position with one of the investigative teams which would have been interesting, and a bit of a change working regular hours. However I missed out and the feedback was mostly around interview performance, which is something I’ve heard before, and I’ll admit while I made the case for why it would be good for me to get the job, I didn’t make a case as to why that would be good for the company. I did get sounded out about filling in for the person who did get the job, but passed on that as it was a rather large pay cut to do so (I find myself in a bit of a trap where any sideways move within the business will likely involve a large pay cut due to no longer doing shift work, and even a step up will likely be a reduction), and for 2026 I have plans already for that money. So for 2026 I’m not going to look at options outside the Ops Hub, and maybe in 2027 look at day shift options then.

Travel

Last year I racked up a few more kilometres than I have for some time. In addition to the usual trips to Albury for Bordercon, Melbourne for PAXAus, and Innisfail to visit family, I visited NZ for the first time. Mostly I was in Auckland, but took day trips to Rotorua and Hobbiton, and spent a few days on Great Barrier Island which is a dark sky sanctuary. This is the first time I’ve been overseas since returning to Australia in 2009, and hopefully there will be more to come.

Health

I've continued to work on my health. I've continued with the PT sessions focusing on strength, and have generally been improving. My PB for barbell squats is 91kg and I've managed 120kg for deadlifts, which is more than I would have thought myself capable of even a year ago. I've also kept up going to Parkruns, even doing my first international Parkrun while I was in New Zealand. Last year I was hoping to get my 5k time down into the low thirties, and in the middle of the year I set a PB of 31:01. After that I started trying to build up distance in prep for the Bridge to Brisbane which was a 10k run and since then my times have stayed in the mid thirties. But I'm still going regularly (yesterday was my 38th Parkrun, I should reach 50 by the middle of the year. My weight while steady for most of the year at a little over 100kg jumped up during October when I was traveling a lot and is now around 108kg. I'd like to get that back down and am trying to regain my focus on better eating.

Social

A bit better this year. I've actually hosted some games nights which has been fun. The dating app I was trying didn't really result in much, a few matches and conversations, but only one date which was pleasant but no really spark on either side. I have recently switched to a different app which has produced a higher rate of matches, so maybe picking the one I knew was used by a Star Trek actress wasn't the best choice. I also went to a few speed date events without much success, and the last one was so loud and crowded that I found it very stressful and struggled to carry on a conversation halfway through, so I probably won't try that again.

 Looking Forward

 This year will be a more laid back year. I'm not going to push my career forward (although there are one or two specific things that if they became available I'd apply for). The big thing I have planned is using my long service leave at the end of the year to travel around South America. I'm going to do some package tours in Mexico and Peru, and will finish it off with a cruise down to Antarctica. This is the big expense of the year, and pretty much all my financial surplus will go to paying for this. I'll be off work from the start of October through to the week before Christmas, and I'm really looking forward to it.