New Year's eve in the office. It's very quiet. All the talk now is of cuts and redundancy packages - people hoping for the right one, others hoping to avoid it. It looks like my area will have to deliver a 65% reduction over 3 years, with much of that front loaded into the coming year. So we're all nervous.

The practical upshot is that it has become very difficult to actually do anything. Any change or improvement to working practices is fought off strongly - because people are afraid that it might facilitate job losses. That's a bit of a nuisance when you're working on an improvement project like the one I'm involved in.

I am celebrating 'Christmas' on the 21st this year. Why? Partly because the weight of expectation drives the children wild and in the past has ensured that Christmas Eve - Christmas Day has become a dreadful 24 hours. Partly because I'm an atheist, and I would far rather celebrate the turn of the year and the nights starting to get shorter.

I explained this to a tolerant and liberal Christian colleague in work, and was flabbergasted by her response. She told me I was improperly imposing my views on my children, who should be allowed (sic) to celebrate Christ's birth on the day traditionally associated with it.

I could get no traction with her when I explained that I believed celebrating a Christian Christmas would be to impose a belief system on them. No, she equated 'allowing them to make up their own minds' with, basically, following Christian norms.

I asked what a Hindu or other faith family should do. Her response was that they should follow their own faith. So there you have it, she was prepared to extend a courtesy to other faiths that she would not extend to an atheist. I was totally stunned.

Liverpool very cold, but main roads are clear. I've just arrived on a bus which was so cold there was ice on the inside of the windows and icicles hanging from the ceiling. Freezing fog over the river and the pavements are lethal - I had to grab a lampost to prevent myself from hitting the floor at one point as my feet went from under me. I can now here the sound of fog horns from the ships on the river.

Quick winter walk at Dibbinsdale today. Very surprised to see a fox running along the path in front of us. At about 14:00 in the afternoon. Really made the day. And of course on the way back there was the buzzard sat on top of the street lights...but he's always there.