Christmas 2024 Favourites – Part 1

Merry Christmas! I hope you’re having a lovely time, or at least a comfortable one depending on your circumstances.

We’ve had a bit of drama at home that’s left us without a cooker for a while, as I’ll explain during this post. But otherwise this month has been going well so far. And as there’s a fair amount to mention already, I thought I’d do a post now to get some of it out of the way.

In particular, I’ve got out and about quite a bit already, as I’ve attended an office party, had a nice dinner with a friend, and taken a trip down to Devon. Plus there are a couple of pieces of technology I got in the Black Friday sales that I’ve enjoyed using.

So that’s what I’ll cover in this post, none of which is sponsored or gifted to appear here as usual. And then in Part 2 during January I’ll go through the myriad of things I’ve been watching and listening to, one of which will be getting a special post of its own anyway before the year’s out. There should be more to mention from London as well, as I’m hoping to explore a bit during the rest of my time off.

So let’s get on with it, and I hope you enjoy this first part of my Christmas roundup!

January 2025 Update: I’ve now shared my Christmas Favourites video alongside Part 2 of this festive roundup, which includes everything I’ve mentioned in this post. So I hope you enjoy all of that too!

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The Dream Team – One Year As A Support Worker

It’s been just over a year since I became a support worker for my friend Emily Davison, aka Fashioneyesta, to assist with her new role as a trainee journalist with Newsquest, primarily on the News Shopper site as well as their other south London titles. So I thought I’d give an update in this post and video on how it’s going, and an insight into the work I’m doing. I’m not sponsored to mention any of the products and services that I talk about here, all opinions are my own as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

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40th Birthday Favourites

Here we go, the big four-o,
These two score years have not gone slow!
Amazing how the time has flown,
And since my youth how much I’ve grown.
I had to celebrate, you know,
With food and drink and West End shows.
So with my friends and on my own,
I’ve really marked this milestone.

There’s stand-up stars who made me laugh,
Musicals well-choreographed,
Eating blind and on a cruise,
A 9-course feast and rounds of booze,
A major rock star’s prized possessions,
Art displayed with cool projections.
An action film with audio description,
And shows I’ve seen on television.

Come see how I’ve spent my time,
I promise it’s not all in rhyme.
Here’s why I’m feeling all aglow,
Enjoy this post and video!

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June 2023 Favourites

Half the year already gone, and what a year it’s proven to be already. My support worker job is continuing to go well, so I have a nice little update to share on that. Then there’s the usual mixture of theatre, museums, walks, TV, music, etc that I’ve been enjoying, some of which you’ll already be aware of from my posts over the last few weeks. And apart from a press trip, nothing here is gifted or sponsored. So let’s crack on with my latest roundup post and video, and I hope you enjoy it!

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May 2023 Favourites

Hello again. As you May have noticed, so to speak, from a few of my recent posts, this has been another very eventful and enjoyable month. Which means there’s plenty to mention in this latest roundup post and video, including a big royal event, a musical, explorations of nature and animals, and a few things I’ve been watching and listening to. None of it’s sponsored or gifted as usual. So I hope you enjoy!

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January & February 2023 Favourites

Hey there, hope your year’s got off to a good start so far. Apologies that it’s taken a while for me to do another Favourites update, but I’ve had other things keeping me busy over the past couple of months, as I’ll mention during this roundup. However, I have also been out and about as well, and I’ve enjoyed watching various things as usual.

So, as you’ll see from the contents list, there’s plenty to mention in this latest post and video. And none of it’s sponsored or gifted, except for the panto interview post I briefly refer to. I hope you enjoy looking through it all!

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Blind Leading The Blind – My New Job

Well, hello again. It’s been a while since I last posted about what I’ve been getting up to, and that’s because I took a step back at the start of the year to focus on other things for a couple of months.

But now I’m getting back into a normal routine again, I wanted to tell you about the big development – my new job!

As regular readers will recall, back in 2022 I was made redundant from Torbay Council, after nearly 18 years working in their Printing department, as the authority elected to outsource their print operations. So I left at the start of September, and took a well-earned career break for a few months.

During that time, however, I still did some research to lay the foundations for job-hunting in the new year. And as well as signing up to job alerts and bookmarking useful information online, I also tapped into some of the connections I had made since moving to London at the end of 2016. I knew that building a good social network would be essential, and I’m glad I managed to do so, because several friends and acquaintances did give me useful tips and leads that I could explore further, for which I’m very grateful.

But then, quite unexpectedly, one person in particular was able to offer something even more substantial than that…

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