My new years resolutions for 2026

Me and Alison sat at a bar looking at the camers

Following my review of last year… here’s my New Years Resolutions for 2026 which follows on from 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 ones.

  1. Work smarter with the business
    With the new business, I’m getting to grips with the general running of it. However there is a load of things to learn including some of the possibilities had not considered before like the benefits of being a digital nomad.
  2. Finish my dating book
    Another throw back to 2025, As described in my review; Hannah is having one last review before it heads out to the list of agents and publishers I have found. I’ll give a bit of time but afterwards I’ll be self publishing it myself by the end of 2025. Alongside this, myself and Jess have started a currently unreleased but very related podcast. I would be foolish to not mention the online datingmanifesto.cc.
    Some of the pages from my own written book
  3. Do more with the scooter
    I recently MOT’ed my currently scooter but considering I should keep it or sell it? I have been looking around at buying another scooter. I recently spotted a Yamaha TMAX 650 in Barcelona which looks so great and a better choice than the Honda Forza 750, which has poor storage. The dreams of a electric maxi-scooter have all but gone however.
  4. Listen to 28 Audiobooks in a year
    Its surprising how many books I’m going through but this year I’m going to push a bit more. Next year is 30 which will be a leap but a good stretch goal, encouraging me to listen when I tend to just play some of my mixes.
  5. Create a DJ hackday
    It’s time for a DJ hackday, I just got a early alpha of the Drift DJ one and I just can’t help but think its time for change.in the DJ market. Especially reading this post about the Pacemaker device, which spurred me to look back through my old presentations about how ground breaking it is/was.
    Pacemaker DJ device sat next to a Drift DJ one on a table
  6. Spend more time with family
    My parents are getting older and I am quite far away from them. My dad has a degenerative disease and its weighed heavy on my actions and mind. Spending more time with them and the rest of my extended family is something I can do better in 2026. I still have a lot of time for friends and want to get a bit more serious about them, rather than leaving it to the last minute. Of course Alison is someone I think about a lot; now being engaged, I’m thinking a lot more about our future together and how to make this the best it can be together.
  7. Personal knowledge management and task re-managed
    I’m a little torn. Vikunja is good, so is Anytype.but the hard part is the initial capture. Something I started doing is using the notes to yourself in Signal to do the start of something I guess I should be using Anytype but I feel like I need to do the categorisation at the same time. I also wonder if I actually trust anytype? With Joplin, its all local and I can understand the model, anytype I find more tricky.
    Vikunja’s dependence on the UI does bug me, as one of the big selling points was the CALDav integration. Then I find the login a pain every single time, i reboot I’m going to try self hosting it again and find a way to do a 3 way sync if possible?
  8. Go to a new Rollercoaster park or ride a new ride
    A regular resolution but a good one with a twist. I recently went back to Helsinki and seriously enjoyed Taiga at Linnanmäki. Certainly in my top 10. I still haven’t been on Hyperia either, although waiting in the queue for a long time. 2026 has to be the year!

    Taiga rollercoaster inverted in action
    Copyright by Justin Garvanovic – https://rcdb.com/7722.htm
  9. Learn when to self-host and when to not
    Related to the one above, I am getting the message about self-hosting. I think its great but there are times when I need to be more thoughtful. With this, its likely a good idea to either considering owning a VPS (which I have done in the past) or shell out money for hosted solutions. To be fair my  Vikunja is exactly that and so is my Wallabag and even this blog. Both I could self-host but have decided to just pay the money and use the export to satisfy ownership needs.
  10. Get more experimental with my Sourdough bread
    I have quite enjoyed baking bread thanks to my friend Paul sharing his starter. I’m not planning to get super serious about it but listening to the chapter titled Air in Cooked, I feel I experiment a bit more. Its ben fun and playing with Spelt and other flours is just the start.
  11. Go to a new country
    As always this a good one and I’m looking at you Switzerland, Czechia and Austria again. Although I am also thinking South Korea after needing to cancel in the pandemic and part of me wants to head to Taiwan but maybe I’m going to be too late?
  12. Learn to drive a car
    I’m keeping this one alive, especially since seeing some of my god/page children driving now. I know its been in my new resolutions for ages but maybe 2026 is the year finally?

My sourdough baking experiments so far…

Home made sourdough on a breadboard with a slice on its side
Bread number 3 with the instagram filter – Yum!

Don’t worry I am not going to start posting about baking sourdough… This is mainly some people were asking and offering tips and even starters. Thanks but honestly I think I’m doing alright so far…

I said a few posts ago, one of the things I have been up to is trying to bake sourdough bread. Baking isn’t my thing as I’m more of a person who doesn’t follow recipes and measure things. I even had a new years resolution to bake a cake a while ago. A few people offered a number of pointers and helpful links. But I have just gone off and done it with a sourdough starter from my old friend Paul.

So far its been quite something…

Home made Sourdough bread on a breadboard sliced in half
Attempt one

Here is my very first one, it was pretty dry I expect because I didn’t put enough olive oil in it. I also used garlic salt because I didn’t actually have standard sea salt believe it or not. I was quite impressed it actually turned out in a form I could eat. It was great with large junks of cheese.

I hated using my hands to fold the uncooked bread and I made the mistake of not having  cornflower, which meant it stuck to my hands like clay.

Home made Sourdough bread on a breadboard sliced with a knife
Attempt two

The second one, I fixed the problem of olive oil and sea salt. I also added more Rye flower to the mix (2/5’s  instead of 1/5). This loaf was really good and even my partner enjoyed it toasted with her Vegan butter.

I of course got cornflower too, to stop the clay like sticking.

Home made Sourdough bread on a breadboard with slice cut
Attempt three

Number three was amazing. With all knowledge of number two but I skipped a step when folding it, by accident. It made clear to me how I didn’t need to follow a set recipe to the letter, as I messed with the weights and percentage of white and rye flower again. As you can see it was closer to 50/50.

Home made Sourdough bread fresh out the oven in a cooking bowl
Attempt four

Number four with seeds got a bit too big as I wanted to see if I could use more sourdough starter. My measurements were pretty loose but I haven’t tasted it yet. It was pretty wet and I was thinking I should add more flower to dry it out. I haven’t tried it yet but now I finished number 3, I’ll give it a taste tomorrow.

Between 3 and 4, I was worried the sourdough starter would be a pain especially as I was out of the country quite a bit during summer and conference seasons. Now I have quite a bit of sourdough starter, hence why I tried to create a bigger loaf on attempt number 4.

Generally, I’m thinking maybe I should have done this much earlier (during the pandemic is when a lot of people picked it up) but its slight easier as I work mainly from home running the business now. I haven’t bought any Pollen sourdough for a while now.