2024 was really fucking hard. Naomi's nocturnal sleep cycle absolutely fucks with the extended family as a whole. Kate's ex-other-partner "A" was a twat and the understandable fallout from that went on for months. Glad that's over. Kate's got other partners now and is much happier. I'm happy with my extra comet relationship with Beki, I imagine that will de-escalte naturally over time but we're cool where that's at.
That said, I'm still trying to live a life outside the 7-11 days.
7-11 day
A typical day for me (for posterity):
- 0700 alarm
- 0730 out of bed, wake Felix up, make brekkie
- 0745 make sure Felix is out of bed
- 0755 make Felix's lunch, start overnight washing up
- 0815 Felix leaves for school
- 0815 complete overnight washing up
- 0845 shower, sit down to start work
- 0900 work
- 1700 stop work, start playing with Naomi
- 1800 Dinner (Kate usually makes it, an autistic control thing)
- 1900 Washing up complete, play with Naomi
- 2245 stop playing with Naomi
- 2300 bed
When Naomi is diurnal, Kate will have been with her all day, so for me to give Kate a break (go out, see partners, etc), I play in the evening.
When Naomi is nocturnal, Naomi will be awake all night and will be bored to tears if no-one plays with her. Mostly it's the evening I'll play but also in the mornings (I get up at 6).
So everything I want to do with my life fits around that. Naomi might grow out of it but I must plan for the worst.
Cycling
The big discovery in 2024 was how much I enjoyed fucking off into the countryside on a bike. Often not really knowing where I'm going or where I am, just bimbling up and down narrow bridleways and being screwed by Google. It's that sense of freedom, exploration with a side benefit of getting fit and outdoors.
I intend on smashing all these stats:
- Activities: 26
- Distance: 612.4 km (200 of that in September!)
- Elev Gain: 3,335 m
- Time: 35h 27m
But I have two big challenges ahead:
Overnight adventure part 1
Big Rob and I are going to cycle to a pub/B&B, stay overnight and then ride back. One day I'd like it to be a camping trip but a B&B/hotel will do at first. Some research about where bikes are stored is needed but generally that's the idea.
Cycling to my sister's in Wootton Bassett
It's about 80km to my sister's house in the Costwolds. That's way further I've ever been (50km is my record). It's a whole day's ride. I'm going to work up to it and she'll give me a lift home. The horror is that there's a hill right toward the end because my sister typically bought a house in the hills to make my life harder. It's the long game but she's like that.
New bike
The boss man is up for cycle to work scheme. I sold it on him today and will buy the new bike for a bunch of money off. About 40% off. I need a new helmet and shoes and shit too. Lots on that in the other thread, still going with the Boardman ADV 8.9.
Clomper into Demo
Clomper isn't anywhere near a complete game but I think there's value in getting a wider test going on of what's there. So I want to get it unfinished into people's hands.
It's a slightly risky strategy but I think it's more fun than just doing videos. Taking that feedback and building it in is something cool to try. Might slow things down, might shine a light on things I've missed.
That video has done really well. My second best ever - the first went viral in a way that it had no reason to.
Weight down
I don't have a target weight. I ate far too much over Christmas and went from about 79kg up to 82kg. It's disappointing but not surprising. I don't have much time to exercise at the moment, but I will try and get back on the bike soon. Until then, cutting down on crap is the order of the day!
I was at 82 before I started cycling during the summer, so I know it's doable - Naomi permitting.
House
Everything on pause until Naomi's sleep is sorted. It's too stressful for one person to do alone. Moving is unlikely for lots of neurodiversity reasons.
My Room
My office is coming along but I need to make a custom shelf and for that I need a workmate. For that I need a place to put the workmate and that's really, really tricky in our house. There's just not enough room anywhere. Under the stairs sounds perfect but the tumble drier is there. As soon as I know where to put the workmate, I'll get one. I have the power tools and know how to use them, I just don't have the space.
I also will probably mount the monitors to the wall. The weight on the desk is too much. I have a powerful SDS drill now that can put screws in easily (makes all the difference), so it doesn't bother me anymore.
If I had a workmate, I could make a wood frame, assemble it off the wall so that I can check monitor measurements and then mount that to the wall and the monitors to the mount.
I want a second IKEA wall organiser too, I love the one I have but there's more stuff I want to put up.
Bunch of small tasks
I have a bunch of little things that need doing - sort through photos, merge all the "kitchen drawer" spaces, convince Kate to part with some books or change how the shelves are organised and so on. I want to get a lot of that done in 2025.
Will any of it get done?
Some, possibly, all unlikely. Depends very much on my responsibilities.