I'm a big fan of tech so I spend a lot of time tricking around at various bits and pieces.

I have also been involved in cycling advocacy but I'm currently (February, 2022) at a stage where I'm fucked off with the general hostility to people who just want to cycle safely and lower their contribution to emissions. So my advocacy these days is mostly just keeping some of the websites running and thinking about how to get back into the actual cycling bit!

I really like my electronic dance music, in particular Frenchcore is my go-to at the moment but in general the harder styles are what I most enjoy.

CW mental health, alcohol abuse

Work in progress

I'm looking for a way to share this, initially I was tying it into getting back into cycling. This whole page just doesn't flow so I'm going with it ship it and iterate: When I got back into cycling as a commuter in 2008 it was supposed to be temporary; until I got my driving license. However, it clicked with me as a mode of transport, as exercise, as an enjoyable activity and as something that really had a positive impact on my mental health.
At that time my experience of having depression (diagnosed in 2006) was quite up and down but I generally felt a lot better from the daily commute. While things were looking up on the mental health front I hadn't hit rock bottom on the alcohol abuse side. I'd taken a break from drinking and felt that I was back in control. That lasted for awhile and then I crashed down pretty hard. The outcome from that involved talking to psychiatrists more and a visit to an alcohol counsellor who was 100% unequivocal in saying: "You're an alcoholic". Accepting that and gettting used to it has been something that has happened in stages and over a long period of time. It's only in the last 3 years that I've decided that I'm going to be more upfront about it and care less about how people react to it.

Anyway, I'm happy to talk about it