Adrian Phelan

Post 11

Weight on me | The job bit | Secret Santa | Park running | Dorset Day | The 1% Club | Christmas jumpers | Thanks

Welcome to this week’s blog. 

A second on the lips…

Having spent most of 2025 losing weight, I’ve now put on quite a bit since I’ve been sitting down seven hours a day. It’s bad timing in terms of work and exercise because of the long evenings and inclement weather. The ever-present box of Family Circle biscuits in my eyeline isn’t helping either.  The fact that they’ve mainly gone soft isn’t putting me off. And I’m still going straight for the Jammy Dodgers and Bourbon Creams even though I can have them any time. God help me if someone brings in Pringles.  

If it’s not eating food, it’s talking about food, and we had the Gregg’s conversation this week. When Irish people are asked what they did in London at the weekend the first thing they’ll say is ‘went to Greggs’ before telling you about Tower Bridge or Buckingham Palace. It’s a long way to come for a sausage roll but many would say worth it.  I’m a fan of Gregg’s chicken and steak bakes myself [that’s two separate products not a mixture] which are both tasty and cheap as chips. And there’s a Gregg’s on every corner now. It’s an economical solution on a day out in Central London when there’s a few mouths to feed. I’m now thinking about their peperoni pizza slices, so I need to move on. 

Work away  

Work has been quite quiet this week, which is both nice and concerning as I’m hoping for an extension in January, so it keeps me going until I work substantially again. Former colleagues have learned this week if they are at risk of redundancy, so I am thinking of them as well. There’s many of us in the same boat and I sincerely hope we all find land soon. As ever, find me on LinkedIn and continue to keep me in mind.  

Chris Cringle  

I’m in the secret Santa at work. We filled in a questionnaire to help us choose our gifts, but my recipient gave very little away. My answers filled up three pages. I’ll have to default to the usual Bluetooth speaker (I’m rumbled if you read this) and perhaps some chocolate to make up the money. I almost always get beer as a gift. Even when I’ve gone on for weeks about being off the booze, they’ll get me beer. I’d be happy enough with beer this year mind so if you have me and you’re reading this, buy away.  

It’s our work Christmas lunch today as well. We’re leaving the office early which would usually be the first ingredient in a recipe for disaster, but I think most people are driving home. They’ll just have to watch my solo slow decline. Imagine this blog after five pints. You wouldn’t read it.  

Stoney miles 

How I didn’t fall over at last Saturday’s Parkrun I’ll never know. The course was treacherous. But I’ve now done 30, all in 2025. I’m proud of that milestone, in the same week I got to ten of these blogs. I’m regularly guilty of not persevering with things I start; even those that bring me pleasure, so it’s great that both of these are still ongoing.  I’ll need to seek out concrete Parkrun courses for the rest of the winter. Falling over [which I did spectacularly a few months ago] will be more amusing if I do that as well.     

I do like to be beside the seaside  

We made it to Dorset for the father-in-law’s 80^th and it was a lovely afternoon. Not in the sense that I brought my Speedos for a dip but there were relatives my wife hadn’t seen for years and others who got to meet cousins for the first time. The venue was The Cliff House which was in an idyllic location (if it were the summer and not blowing a gale). They’d erected a massive temporary alpine lodge for Christmas and it was brilliant. There was a festive party in full swing when we were leaving and it looked like everyone was having a great time. You could see the Isle of Wight from the front of the venue where we’ve holidayed three times. It was a bit surreal that in a couple of hours we’d be back in the bosom of our Hertfordshire home. It really is a small world.  

Let’s see what’s in the prize pot 

We’ve been following the 1% Club rollover programmes this week and I think they’ve been great fun. It totally baffles me when people get through questions of complex maths, English and logic and then go out because they don’t spot that the first letters in a sequence of words spell out ‘DOG’.  You can totally cheat at the 1% Club when you’re at home as well. I’ve used my pass about 8 times  already.  

Do Good Well – Save the Christmas Jumper 

As it was Christmas Jumper Day this week, let’s give a signpost to Save The Children. And a cheeky extra plug to a charity I support, Children With Cancer. These charities tackle heart-breaking situations for children so please support how you can, including raising awareness like I’ve done here.  

If there is a charity you would like featured in a future post, let me know.  

Thanks again 

Thanks for getting this far. Carry on enjoying the run up to Christmas and I’ll be back with you again next Friday.  

Adrian  

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