Countdown

It was another quiet day at work. While working, I listened to the Triggernometry YouTube channel. Stephen Fry was their guest. It was an interesting conversation about language and free speech. Later, I switched to Radio 2, where it was Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Kitchen Disco, which seemed too much of a party for me while I was staring at a screen for work.

I let it play into Tony Blackburn and then Bob Harris' Sounds of the 70s, opening the show with the sad news that DJ legend Johnnie Walker had died. JW had a remarkable presenting career spanning almost 60 years, from the pirates to today. While not the 70s party playlist scheduled, it was a show full of music and memories and seemed very fitting.

Once the clock hit 5:30pm, I stopped working. I suspect the others had left earlier. We ate some leftover chicken from the weekend and were just about to head out when I looked at train times to discover our 7:30pm train from Wimbledon Chase was cancelled. We looked for a bunch of alternatives, including using the K5 bus.  But that bus arrived with the destination, Raynes Park and pulled away again when the destination was changed without letting us on.  We decided that we'd take the 57 no matter how long it took because moving would be better than not moving, and, in the end, it made good progress towards Streatham until it broke down about 4 four-minute ride (or ten-minute walk) from Mark and Rob's house.

We ended up walking that last stage and were still not too late; perhaps fewer cars were on the road during these holiday evenings. We'd stopped off for Cava and wine to fuel the evening. Mark and Rob did nibbles, and we had a lovely evening with them - and Esther and Pete - listening to music and, eventually, turning on Graham Norton's New Year's show.

After that, Sophie Ellis-Bextor was back (this time on television), and I was much more in the mood for the party. The New Year fireworks looked amazing on television, and we spent the early hours watching more music on TV. I don't know how it got to a.m., but by then, I'd decided the night bus would take too long, and an Uber brought us home so we could welcome the New Year into the house.

A lovely way to welcome 2025.