21 Jul 2026 · 3 min read
Start here: nine months, two apps, zero users
Nine months ago I came home from a three-week Interrail trip across Europe. Twenty-four hours later I had a seizure. The doctors said no driving for six months minimum — for a bus driver, that meant potentially five years off a PCV licence, possibly ten. I didn't choose to leave work. The choice was made for me.
This blog is the honest record of what happened next, one month at a time. Not a success story — a real one, still in progress.
The arc so far
Oct 2025 — The day everything stopped. The seizure, and the job I couldn't go back to.
Nov 2025 — Signing on. Universal Credit, the identity hit, and a work coach — an ex bus driver himself — saying "give it a go, if you don't like it, no worries."
Dec 2025 — The waiting month. Recovery, doubt, Christmas with no job.
Jan 2026 — First day back in a classroom. Starting the Breakthrough course knowing nothing about AI.
Feb 2026 — 86 out of 100. Finishing the course, and the moment it became more than a course.
Mar 2026 — Building my first app. Course graduate to actually shipping something.
Apr 2026 — Toolwise built, both apps submitted — and Salon and Spotters UK born.
May 2026 — Both apps granted Play Store access (and zero users) — then my first hackathon.
Jun 2026 — The score, the feedback I asked for — and finalist in Brighton.
Jul 2026 — Nine months since the seizure. Two apps, marketing as the next mountain.
Each month gets its own post, and each post links to the next. New here? Start with October — everything else hangs off it.
— Michael
Next in the seriesOctober — The day everything stopped →