This weekend was surprisingly interesting for being such a non-event. Let’s run through it. Warning: this post will go all sorts of directions as I try to work out everything going on my life.
Last weekend I was out of pocket for a family reunion primarily on my Mom’s side although I did spend much quality time on my Dad’s side as well. This was the first reunion after my Mom passed away last year and appears to be the first of a series of reunions that my cousin is working to produce annually. The idea behind it is to regale in the memory of those who have passed in our family, which to be honest, makes me a bit sad. Every year we will connect to remember those who have passed previously as well as those within the past year. This seems to me to foster anticipation of more family members passing away, which stings a bit given the past year. I’m not sure I like the idea of connecting with family with the purpose of discussing those who have passed–the idea of it seems rather somber, but perhaps that’s just my outlook. I would much prefer the idea of connecting annually without the focus being remembering those who passed, but rather building wonderful memories with those who have not. That being said, I can’t blame anyone because any event that brings family together is better than no event.
I’d rather not get into the weeds on that trip aside from the fact that it was exhausting, driving around 7 hours on the highway round trip in two days. On the bright side, Project CELICA seems to drive better after the exercise! It was a pleasant drive, racking up nearly 1000 miles in the trip. During that event I was also managing some construction efforts at home replacing my driveway and patio with stone pavers. During this time frame, the construction company managed to break many sprinkler lines and sprinkler heads as well as turning my (and my neighbor’s) yard into a muddy mess with their heavy duty construction equipment. My yard being messy was expected, but by damaging my neighbor’s yard and sprinkler system I now have to manage an upset neighbor on top of the stresses already involved with construction efforts already on my property. To say this effort is stressful is an understatement–I haven’t felt this type of stress in quite a long time.
The construction effort underway is coming along, and once completed I plan to call contractors against my sprinklers, yard, and for installation of gutters. I’ve been working remotely for the past couple of weeks to oversee the effort, and skipped yardwork since there was a large team of people installing patio extension last weekend. This weekend I had not done any yardwork for two weeks on top of the damages incurred during the pavers installation, so I was keen on trying to make things look better.
This Saturday I managed to get the yard looking reasonable with some sweat, a lawnmower, an edger, and a blower, but there is still much work to be done. I questioned whether I should buy some grass plugs and attempt to nurse the damaged parts back to health but I really just want the contractors on the patio installation to complete their efforts. They are also installing an outdoor kitchen, but only a shell of the kitchen is built today.
Once that yardwork was over, I proceeded to complete the “pixel remaster” of Final Fantasy II for PC. The game was strange, more so than the original. I’m conflicted on whether I found it enjoyable or not, but I don’t have any regrets. I also got started with Final Fantasy III, but I couldn’t escape this urge to get into a sports game, primarily American football. So after playing several hours of Final Fantasy III, I stopped and picked up an “EA Play” subscription so I could download and try Madden 21 (football).
I’d been doing much research on the Madden football series, but the latest couple of iterations had terrible reviews, to the tune that I told myself that I wasn’t even going to take the risk. Getting a month membership of EA Play seemed like a low risk effort to try the game out, and I definitely have no regrets with that decision. I have sank many hours into Madden 21 so far, and I plan to purchase Madden 22 for it’s minor updates over the past year.
I have a history with sports video games, particularly in grade school. I used to be a huge basketball fan so I will probably look for basketball games also at some point. Basically, these hours I have sank into Madden 21 have sparked a renewed interest in these sports which I did not even realize was latent. I have not followed sports since the early 90s.
Back in 1991, I remembered the first Christmas that I got a Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a huge Christmas for me–I got the console, Super R-Type, Super Mario World, and John Madden Football. I learned a lot about football via that game and sank a reasonable amount of time into it. Game mechanics from back in that game still existed in the modern versions today, although with better graphics and more feature-rich.
I intend to try to research more about NFL rules, regulations, and strategy as a result of this reignited interest. In many ways, these sports are similar to playing Chess–it is a game of strategy with the added element of necessary physical prowess. This appeals to my health-conscious nature and interest in physical fitness. I’m no spring chicken, but some of these 20-30 somethings out there are inspiring with their fitness levels. Additionally, think about how some of these guys in there early 20s are earning millions in sports contracts, often retiring by their late twenties. Some of these guys were raised with a silver spoon while others had to struggle to make ends meet. It is interesting that sports and ambition can bind these guys together towards a common goal. I think about how all these different folks with their different backgrounds come together into a functional team. Each team has different dynamics and these different skill levels and personalities come together to make it work out there on the field.
Lastly, I discovered that Kanye West released Donda today. The album is a longer one, consisting of 27 tracks, and I’ve only scratched the surface of it. My first impression of it is positive–it is very polished, reminiscent of other intensive productions from him in the past. Between this and the Certified Lover Boy album Drake is slated to release I think this will be an impressive time for music.