Yesterday I went for two walks. The first walk was after lunch because I had something to drop off at the post office. Usually I would have printed the label at home, rather than doing this walk. I desired to go for a bike ride but the chore was more important. In the process I learned something. If you need to print something, you can go to the post office, and via an app you can print the label for a package there and then.

In Australia, and England, and Ireland, and Switzerland there are talks, in some cases that are being implemented that seak to block children and teens from using the Social Media Giants. “As of December 2025, the Australian social media ban specifically targets major commercial platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick, and Reddit. The ban requires these platforms to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or maintaining accounts.

The Garmin Connect End of year summary is currently available, and updating daily. The stats are quite interesting, Despite cycling as much as I did Garmin says that I took 3.8 million steps this year and that in March I took 486,000 steps. That’s when I was hiking a lot. Activities I logged 457 activities, of which 233 walking, 154 cycling and 36 running. I logged 741h and 58 minutes of sports.

When you plan road works that are meant to improve journeys for people cycling, and on foot, it is essential to remember that people who are on foot, or on bikes, need proper infrastructure to get from A to B, because if they don’t, then they go from being on foot or on bikes, to being in a car. If we take this to the extreme, if you don’t plan for pedestrians, or cyclists, or cars, then people just stop visiting.

Within the last week I tried to wear shoes that I bought two or three years ago. I tried them on because although I love the Trail Glove 7 shoes I don’t like their durability. I find that they last from four to six months before being worn enough for my heel to hit the ground hard enough to become painful. In theory I should work on my stride, to change how the foot strikes the ground, and ensure that I have a softer, more gentle foot fall.

Recently I have been using the Radio France app for iPhone and came across a set of three podcasts looking at Russia and its move towards digital sovereignty. This is a set of three podcasts looking at how Russia has tried to seperate itself from the internet, but especially from US influence. Russia is not alone in trying to do this. Europe is making an effort, as is Asia, and Asia, and Australia.

Yesterday for the first time in a week and a half I went for a bike ride. I was thinking that I would ride with the lazy group. That is to say “group 3” as it is commonly called. Due to the lower turnout for this weekend there was no differentiation between groups. I felt fine, for the first part. It’s when we start to climb, and descend, and climb again, and descend that I began to feel exhausted.

For two years they worked on a motorway bridge. For two years they cut down trees, added tons of soil, and then widened roads for cars. Never during that time did they consider that people might want to walk along the most direct route from A to B. More recently I have been walking into and out of town and for a while I had to walk on a dirt path.

This morning I set the alarm for five thirty, and I recharged my bike lights, head unit and more. I decided that if I felt good, and full of energy I would go for the group ride. I slept through the night and woke up feeling fresh, but I skipped the ride. I had a cold, and when I got better from the cold I was double vaccinated against the flu and COVID.

Yesterday I walked in light persistent rain for around two hours and my trousers got a little wet. The rain was heavy enough for me not to be dry, but not heavy enough to soak me. During the walk I noticed, at one point, that the rain seemed to be aerosolised, floating upwards and sideways rather than straight down. The wind was picking up so I suspect that it’s the wind that changed the properties and behaviour of the rain.