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.
