Goodbye 2024!

So, it’s goodbye to 2024 and it has been quite some year.

January
The new year started off with some good and bad. I was like a proud dad the first week back when my team were presenting at our UK conference. But sadly, at the same time I started to have problems with my fistula. But before things got really bad, my young padawan and I took the bull by the horns and cajoled our HR team in taking our EDI strategy forward. And then my arm problems got really serious, but thankfully the NHS at Morriston hospital kept me intact and able to recover.

February
A month of recovering from my arm operation, which meant I hadn’t driven my car for ages and that then meant I started to have problems with that. There were some very nervous long drives with the problem, and it eventually ended up in the garage and was a mystery. I also had a problem in work which didn’t help and eventually left to one of the team leaving later in the year. We had the global conference in London, which meant we had a trip along the Thames one evening. It was also my fifth kidneyversary of my transplant.

March
I was carless for all of the month, and it was a mystery to the garage as to what the problem was. So, without a car I took to train travel, I had quite a few problems and it was going to be a recurring theme for the rest of the year. Lol! We had great news when we discovered that we won the ROSPA Industry Sector award for the first time. My young padawan set off on her journey to Japan, but not before we’d bounced loads of ideas off each other and started to come up with our training programme, that was going to set the standard.

April
I finally got my new car mid-month and my young padawan returned from Japan, and I surprised with an update presentation. 

May
Another proud dad moment at our SLT meeting in Leicestershire. My young padawan’s young padawan got engaged. A missed Bruce Springsteen gig in Cardiff. I started to wear t-shirts and shorts for the first time in the year. We said goodbye to Jurgen Klopp from Liverpool. I had some dodgy lurgy in the month. We said goodbye to our head office in Thame, Oxfordshire as we headed to London. 

June
We kicked off June in style as my young padawan and her team secured a very important certification for four of our businesses. I visited Wembley for the first time of the year, as Wigan won their 21st Challenge Cup. I had to use my accountant skills again as I had to carry out an investigation, it was fun. I had a speaker gig at Quality Live and I really enjoyed it. We kicked off our ESG Accelerator Programme in Manchester and the first module went really well. Train travel caused me a few problems. Lol!

July
A busy month of doing stuff. I was back at Wembley to see AC/DC for the first time ever! I think my hearing has just about recovered. Lol! Labour took residency at Downing Street after the election. I saw the Manic Street Preachers and Suede at Cardiff Castle. Went to Lords for the first time to watch England play the West Indies, I loved it. It was the same night as England played in the semi-final of Euros, and I could hear my young padawan scream from Thame. Lol! I saw the amazing Moonwalkers in London, it made me very emotional. We had our face-to-face meeting in Loughborough, and it was a really good wo days. I finally saw Bruce Springsteen as I went to his gig in Wembley, and it was awesome. To round out July we completed the second module of our ESG Accelerator programme, and it went really well, with lightbulbs starting to come on. I was especially pleased as it was the one I was running.

August
The Olympics were happening, and I paid another visit to the BBC Proms. I got interviewed for a podcast and I had a great time. My young padawan’s young padawan decided to leave to find herself and the person who caused the problem from the start of the year left the team as well. I had a weekend in Dublin to see AC/DC for the second time and the gig at Croke Park was far better than Wembley. I had a fantastic day getting drunk on whiskey and Guinness. Lol! I also finally met my friend Niamh, which was great. We met with our investors for probably the last time, and we blew them away.

September
High fives all round with my young padawan as she smashed the last module of the ESG Accelerator programme. So proud of her! Her Masters was getting to the serious end of it now as well, and I was doing everything to help her. We also recruited for the team, and I think Scarlett will be a great addition to my young padawan’s team. There were a few additions to the team in September and was going to be a difficult period. More train frustrations and we reached peak train excuses with the ‘a train hit a water buffalo’. My young padawan launched her sustainability podcast ‘The Green Perspective’.

October
It was back up to London, it became a regular occurrence for the second half of the year. My young padawan took me out to dinner to thank me for my help with her Masters. It was no problem. I went to see Peter Kay at the O2, and he was hilarious. Had to restructure the team after the recent additions, as expected it didn’t go down well but it was sorted out for the best in the end. More great chats with my young padawan and we started to create another new training programme.

November
I went to see Fawlty Towers the Play, which as you can imagine was very funny. My young padawan moved into her first house. We were up in front of three judging panels, and we got through to the finals in each of them, the final will be at Wembley in March. We attended an awards ceremony at the Houses of Parliament. I went to see former colleagues as one of the surfacing crews was doing some work down in Neath.

December
December kicked off really well with our face-to-face team meeting in Tewkesbury. The weather started to cause problems with storm after storm, it meant my trip to see the London Palladium panto was cancelled. Gutted. My young padawan saved me with a trip to Fortnums for me and got them sent in the post to me.

Looking back on this year I’d been surprised as how much I’d forgotten, but overall, it has been a brilliant year. It’s been great to reflect on how my young padawan has been a great cheerleader for me, I appreciate it.

Today I am thankful for:
1. Reflecting back on 2024