Goodbye 2025

It’s that time of the year, dear reader, where I try to sum up the year that is about to be filed in the annals of history while thinking ahead to the new year. 2025 marks the end of my first full year of retirement and it was special for that reason. I spent the year enjoying not working. Gone are the days when I had to deal with constant deadlines and office politics. 

It is very relaxing and I am much happier for it. 

On the other hand, I promised myself that I would try to keep my mind and body active and I think I have managed to achieve that with a routine that has given me some purpose. That said, I am still thinking about what to do in 2026 and also still learning about what is out there for an old git like me. 

The best way to summarise the year is to be guided by a set of questions that hopefully cover what happened in 2025. 

Here goes. 

1. What did you do in 2025 that you’d never done before?

I gained a daughter-in-law.

My eldest son got married earlier this month in a small ceremony in Manchester with just close family members attending. They are going to have a big celebratory party in 2026 but for the purposes of the wedding they wanted to keep it small and special. 

I also joined Lancashire Cricket Club so that I use my free time in the summer relaxing while watching a peaceful cricket match. I managed to see Lancashire play and also attended a couple of England games, including a very lively and very exciting test match against India. 

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Yes I did, largely. The routine I set up last year helped me battle against procrastination. Over the day or so I will be looking at extending the routine to perhaps bring in a few more resolutions. One that I particularly want to do is to expand my reading a little by making time to read non-fiction books about subjects that interest me, in particular science subjects. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

I know that my new daughter-in-law’s sister gave birth to a son but I’m not 100% sure that is was in 2025 or not. 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes, sadly. 

Mrs PM’s step mother sadly passed away in November at the age of 76. It was a real shock to us because we went for a meal with her a few days before it happened. I will miss her. 

5. What countries did you visit?

We had a great year for travel in 2025. 

In February we visited the Spanish island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It was my first visit there. 

In May, we took Mrs PM’s mother to Valletta in Malta. 

In June, we visited Nice, which is one of our favourite cities in France and on one day we took the train to what is another country, Monaco. 

Finally, we took a cruise with some close friends of ours and visited Greece and Turkey. I was particularly pleased to have visited Athens for the first time. 

Here are a few holiday snaps. 

Playa Blanca, Lanzarote

Sunset in Playa Blanca

Boats in Valletta, Malta

A Fountain in Valletta

A Dream Theater tribute band in Nice

A nice car in Monaco

Sunset in Greece

Mrs PM, PM and two cruise buddies

6. What would you like to have in 2026 that you lacked in 2025?

For this question last year, I asked for a better summer than usual. I think somebody divine must have read it because we were granted with a really good summer with several heat waves and much less rain. Of course, in typical fashion, the lack of rain meant that some parts of the UK were told to be very careful with their water usage. However, we are in Manchester so there was enough rain to keep the water supplies at the appropriate level. 

For 2026? I am still waiting for that elusive lottery win. 

7. What dates from 2025 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

December 13th is a great date because that’s when I gained a daughter-in-law and officially became a father-in-law. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Making an average of 10,000 steps per day in 2025. 

I can say this is done because even if I don't walk tomorrow that target is in the bag. That's an average of 5 miles per day and about 1825 miles walked in the year. Maybe I will aim for 2000 miles in total in 2026 - but we shall see. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

I’m still trying to draw myself away from politics in an attempt to be more positive but it is difficult to do so with the trends that are happening worldwide. When I watch You Tube for example, I find that the “algorithm” is offering me political opinions that I really shouldn’t take any notice of. It is difficult and I really need to have more self-control and not end up following these trails of pain that lead me into territory where I start getting really angry. 

It's a battle that I will no doubt continue to fight in 2026. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I had a couple of colds but nothing more than that.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

The holidays were a great purchase, particularly the Aegean cruise. I also bought a little desk tidy unit that fits snugly next to my desk and makes it much less cluttered. Actually, Mrs PM bought that for me, so not sure whether that counts. 

Oh, and I bought a new smart watch.  

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

As usual, I award Plastic Mancunian Knighthoods to those heroes who dedicate their lives to helping others without wanting the plaudits that many more famous people crave.

I salute you all - you know who you are.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Well that is a really easy question to answer. 

Donald Trump continues to turn America into a dangerous place to be and in his second term he is breaking more rules than he did before and making a much bigger mess than he did during his first term. He is a typical malignant narcissist who has created around himself an alternate world where truth doesn’t exist unless it favours him and his views. 

Likewise we have Nigel Farage in the UK who is slowly but surely trying to create a divisive narrative in the UK with Trumpian values that echo what Trump is doing in the US. Sadly, he is gaining in popularity and that is very dangerous for the UK. 

And of course we have other dangerous lunatics in the world, like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. 

This is why I am trying to shield myself from politics because my anger is rising as I type. 

Let’s pause while I walk away and take some very deep breaths. 

14. Where did most of your money go?

Definitely holidays this year – as is also the case in other years. 

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I was excited about my holidays but also I saw some amazing and varied gigs this year. 

Rock gigs I went to were: Zakk Sabbath (an all star tribute to Black Sabbath including Zakk Wilde, Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist), The Wildhearts, The Black Spiders, two tribute festivals and a tribute gig in Manchester, Nine Inch Nails, Ugly Kid Joe, The Eureka Machines, Ricky Warwick, The Stranglers and The Offspring. 

Pop gigs I went to were: Absolute Bowie (a David Bowie tribute band), Massive Attack, Bjorn Again, Heaven 17, Squeeze and Madness.  

16. What song will always remind you of 2025?

I discovered a couple of new bands, the most prominent being an Italian progressive rock band called Kingcrow. I loved their album Hopium (which was released in 2024) and here is a great song from that album:

I am a huge fan of Riverside and the genius behind that band, Mariusz Duda has a side project called Lunatic Soul that released a new album this year. Here is a beautiful song from that album called The Prophecy:

Other great albums released this year that I loved are:

Dream Theater – Parasomnia

The Wildhearts – The Satanic Rites of the Wildhearts

Steven Wilson – The Overview

Nine Inch Nails – Tron: Ares (soundtrack)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?

I am happier definitely because it is my first full year of retirement. 

I am about the same in terms of weight – just slightly overweight with a BMI of just over 26. 

I am probably about the same financially too – maybe slightly poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

I’m quite happy with what I did last year but maybe I could have been a little more adventurous.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

I am desperately trying to avoid getting drawn into the world of politics because it makes me angry. I tried to step back and ignore it in 2025 and discovered that you can’t really do that unless you ignore the news. I can’t do that and certain “leaders” made me rant when I am trying to become more laid back. At least these days, I try not to talk about politics with other people – and that is helping a little. 

20. How will you spend New Year's Eve?

We are having a small New Year’s party at a mate's house in Sale. 

21. Did you fall in love in 2025?

I was already in love in 2025. 

22. What was your favourite TV program?

I am currently enjoying the second season of Peacemaker and am watching Parks and Recreation for the first time which is fun. I will be watching the final series of Stranger Things next year.

I really enjoyed Daredevil Reborn and Dexter: Resurrection. 

I think I will name the last two as joint winners. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don’t hate anyone but there are certain people who really really push me to the limit. I mention them all the time so I won’t give them any more airspace this year. 

24. What was the best book you read?

I enjoyed Mr Mercedes by Stephen King which I read for the first time. I will also be watching the series in 2026.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I would say, Kingcrow as mentioned above. But I also discovered a band called Volbeat who have been around for years and I hadn’t heard of them until I saw a tribute band for them. 

26. What did you want and get?

I wanted to have a few holidays in my first year of retirement – and I got exactly that. 

27. What did you want and not get?

That elusive lottery win that I am still waiting for. 

28. What was your favourite film of this year?

I would say Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. It was a great way to end a great series of films. 

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

At my time of life, birthdays have virtually no importance. This year I was 63 years old and I was travelling back from a cruise on the Aegean Sea. 

30. What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

As I said, it was my first full year of retirement and I know that I made exactly the right decision. 

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2025?

My fashion sense was and remains non-existent. Perhaps the only thing I bought this year that makes any difference is a new three piece suit for my son’s wedding. 

32. What kept you sane?

Mrs PM of course. 

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I don’t really “fancy” celebrities (for many reasons) but I recently saw Kate Beckinsale and Gillian Anderson and they both looked lovely, so I will share the honour between those two ladies. 

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Where to start without ranting …

See my answer to 13 above. 

35. Who did you miss?

I will miss Mrs PM’s step mother. We got on really well and it is such a shame to have lost her. 

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Nobody leaps to mind.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2025.

My retirement routine works and I plan to tweak it in 2026. 

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

With question 13 in mind …

The righteous rise with burning eyes

Of hatred and ill-will

Madmen fed on fear and lies

To beat, and burn, and kill

They say there are strangers who threaten us

Our immigrants and infidels

They say there is strangeness too dangerous

In our theatres and bookstore shelves

Those who know what's best for us

Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge, quick to anger

Slow to understand

Ignorance and prejudice

And fear, walk hand in hand

And finally...

I wish everyone who stumbles across this blog post a very happy and fruitful 2026. May all your wishes come true – unless your name is Nigel Farage or Donald Trump. 

Goodbye 2018

So 2019 is almost upon us but 2018, so far, has been a fairly good year – much better than the previous two years that’s for sure. I’ve neglected the blog a bit this year, which is a shame really. To be honest I’m still in two minds as to whether I should actually continue with it.  For now I will but I may decide to end it next year. Let’s see how it goes.

For now, I shall post my traditional summary of the year with a series of questions that I dust off annually around this time of year.

1.What did you do in 2018 that you’d never done before?

I didn’t really do anything new this year but I did discover something that has proved to be quite useful. While on holiday, I read something about forming habits that intrigued me. The idea is that if you force yourself to do something every day, it will naturally become a habit after 66 days. I was very interested in this so I downloaded an application to my phone that helps you to record your chosen habit and reminds you if you forget. The application is called HabitBull and so far I have used it to force myself to learn Spanish words every day and also do something called Freewriting, which is basically where you sit in front of a blank sheet of paper and write whatever comes into your head, ignoring grammar, spelling and, most importantly of all, self-criticism.

With the help of HabitBull I have achieved 111 days of consecutive Spanish study (only a few minutes a day) and 54 consecutive days of Freewriting.

Not bad eh? I plan to add new habits in 2019.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I started off trying to be more positive and it worked for the first part of the year. I also gave myself some monthly goals which also worked until around June. I shall try a few resolutions this year but I don’t know what they will be yet.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Two very good friends of mine became grandparents this year – I guess that counts.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

An old workmate of mine died earlier this year. He was only 61.

5. What countries did you visit?

This year was great for travel. In April we visited some friends in Abu Dhabi. We also had a long weekend in Porto, Portugal and Brindisi in Italy.

I revisited Croatia for the first time in almost thirty years with a week in Porec and we had a late summer week in Marbella.

Sunset in Marbella

6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?

I would like common sense to prevail and for the UK to finally scrap Brexit. I am currently embarrassed for my country and the fucking mess that we are in thanks to stupid politicians who are thinking of their own self-interest rather than the country.

I feel like we are turkeys that have voted in favour of Christmas.

We are fucking idiots!

7. What dates from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

No specific dates but I will remember the period between May and September where we had the hottest summer on record. It was hotter in the UK during those months than in some places in Europe.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I stupidly agreed to climb the Old Man of Coniston, a small mountain in the Lake District. It was a test of how fit I am and, while I managed it, I was bloody knackered at the end of it. While that sounds like a hard thing to do, it wasn’t really because there are paths up the mountain – but it was steep and once we reached the top, we walked down and around it. In total it was a nine mile walk. The pint of ale at the end of the walk when we returned to Coniston was the best pint I had all year.

As an aside, this blog reached it’s 10 year anniversary.

View from the Old Man of Coniston

9. What was your biggest failure?

Probably to lose weight. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not fat but I did have a vague plan to lose about 6 pounds. Instead I am the same weight as this time last year. I’ll probably try again in 2019.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Only aching limbs after climbing a mountain.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I bought a Kindle Paperwhite because my old Kindle suddenly died. I can read the new Kindle in the dark – which is a great thing.

Sadly, however, a month after the Kindle Paperwhite arrived, I found the old dead Kindle and impulsively tried it – and the bloody thing started working.

So now I have two Kindles! I guess I can use the old one as a spare.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

My PM award this year goes to the England football team who, against all odds, managed to reach the World Cup semi-finals, winning a penalty shootout on the way. I have never hugged so many strangers in the space of a month in my life.

Oh My GOD! We won a penalty shootout!!

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Donald J Trump is still President and still being an utter dickhead!

Theresa May and her government are still fucking up everything and thanks to them we are the laughing stock of the world.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Holidays and redecoration of the lounge. But the good news is that we have paid of the mortgage!

Hurray!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

England’s World Cup campaign is a tough one to beat but I was quite excited about going to Croatia. 

Also, I saw Polish progressive rock band Riverside for the first time (see next question).

16. What song will always remind you of 2018?

Lament by the wonderful Riverside.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?

I am much happier, almost the same weight  and possibly a little richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

I’ve neglected this blog and writing in general. Thankfully, Freewriting may help and my decision on whether to continue the blog partly depends on this.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Eating.

20. How will you spend New Year's Eve?

We’re going to Chester this year to have a meal and dance with some friends.

21. Did you fall in love in 2018?

No need. Mrs PM is still here with me.

22. What was your favourite TV program?

I like the Netflix superhero series and the new Doctor Who with Jodie Whitaker.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No. I still hate Trump, Morgan, Farage et al.

24. What was the best book you read?

I thoroughly enjoyed the Pandemic  and Genome by AG Riddle.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I discovered a new Progressive Rock supergroup called Sons of Apollo. Not a bad band at all.

26. What did you want and get?

A fantastic summer.

27. What did you want and not get?

And end to Brexit.

28. What was your favourite film of this year?

I loved Avengers: Infinity War and I also thoroughly enjoyed Mission Impossible: Fallout.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was on holiday in Marbella and Mrs PM took me out for a lovely meal. I am 56 years old.

30. What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Nothing this year really.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?

My aim as usual is to try not to look like a total dickhead when I go out. Mrs PM helps me achieve that because I couldn’t do it on my own.

32. What kept you sane?

My beautiful Mrs PM as usual.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I saw Nightwish in December so I shall nominate their lead singer, Floor Jansen.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Fucking Brexit!

35. Who did you miss?

The people I usually miss. Nobody new.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I’ve met quite a few new people this year – all of them great.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018.

Never trust a broken Kindle.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

You've got the future on your side

You gonna be fine now

I know whatever you decide

You're gonna shine

Don't let the day go by

Don't let it end

Don't let a day go by, in doubt

You're ready to begin

And finally...

I’m looking forward to 2019 – another year older but another year closer to retirement.

And who knows? Maybe The Plastic Mancunian blog may be here this time next year.