### #Weeknotes ### What are #weeknotes ? Weeknotes are a great way for me to reflect on my week. I publish them in public because I believe it’s worth spreading our learnings to others. ### Personal stuff It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks, I've struggled to find the mental space to write something worth publishing. Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to: * Attended [[UK Games Expo 2025]]; played lots of unreleased board games, and competed in the UK Championship for [Crokinole](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/521/crokinole) (a game I'd never played before) * Seen [Willi Carlisle](https://www.willicarlisle.com/) live in Newcastle; I saw him two years ago and his songs, style, and performance have grown leaps and bounds, it was a cracking evening * Watched the Eurovision Semi Finals with some friends, and the Finals with another group of friends; we played Eurovision bingo for the first time, it was a lot of fun * Helped a friend qualify for his sports massage course by happily accepting 4 free sessions of sports massage; he worked wonders on my lats and upper back * I finished reading [The Stand by Stephen King](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/17a91d96-cc0b-4118-97e9-879f4c4fdf45) * I finished reading [Billy Summers by Stephen King](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/0248b0fc-6762-4df8-b7a1-7ba45703e92f) * I finished reading [Extremophile by Ian Green](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/1c3426ef-6b2e-46b2-9f69-fbd00159633e) * I finished reading [Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/ec4eb0ef-b2c5-424c-83b2-3fd38237fa73) ### Professional stuff It's been an eventful time at work too. Here's what I've been up to: * My team filmed a video case study! Unfortunately I was off sick with a, horrible, two day migraine. The team absolutely smashed it, I'll share a link when it's online * We shipped a whole bag load of functionality for a client; the product is in a good place now * I've been banging the drum about a few topics (quality, consistency, process) for ~4 months. Exec leadership are now interested in the negative implications of not having addressed all those problems, and finally it feels like things are going to change. Incredibly frustrating it's taken this to finally see movement, but it's better than no progress * I turned down an internal opportunity as the salary wasn't aligned. It's a shame as the opportunity was very exciting and I think I'd have smashed the role. Thankfully, having freelanced for many years and having 10+ years of experience under my belt, I know my value and I'm willing to standup for it * I'm launching an internal Government 101 lunch and learn programme, starting next week! It'll be great to share what I know and help folks see the value of Government work You can find my other weeknotes here #weeknotes