8r4d We went for a short walk after a long drive. The interpretive centre was closed by the time we got there but the trail through the rocks is always open to explore.

8r4dsfeets A big rocky mess and an historic disaster.

8r4d Tucked into the back corner of the local racetrack just off the end of the airport runway, fifty bucks will get you an arm band and entrance into the world biggest bouncy castle. I think I’m enjoying sitting in the shade on this 30C day, but the kiddos are loving it.

gamerdad The fifth book in the Bobiverse series showed up in my audiobook library the other day and I quickly moved it to the top of my reading/listening queue.

I’m still not sure if this series counts as humour science fiction or speculative fan service, but i’ve enjoyed every title in it, whatever it is. In only a couple chapters into book 5 tho, so more thoughts on the book and the whole series as I keep reading. Um, listening.

8r4d #runclub dips into September and #summer weather is holding for another week of #running adventure. P’s grandson joined for a whole klick before he petered out, though his navigation skills put his grandfather on guard in case he could soon take over as the crew’s human gps and route guru.

gamerdad I’ve continued to dive into this Australian campaign for another couple hour-long play sessions and have come to the ultimate conclusion that as much as I like this game I’m probably playing it far less strategically than the designers intended.

It’s not that I’m not strategic, but I’ve come to notice that my play style is way more casual than details-oriented. The game famously floods you with dozens of narrative threads all meant as tweaks and dials and knobs and gears to micromanage the course of a civilization thru history. That’s the appeal. That’s the game. And I’m sitting here thinking about how difficult it is to keep all those metaphorical plates spinning as I play. I’m clicking from turn to turn and building all the little pieces to grow my team wondering how some people keep track of it all. But I started to then think about how much I tend to rush it all. Click. Next. Click click. Next.

Then the obvious dawned on me: there’s no rush. I could spend hours on each turn if I wanted. I could read every option. Look at all the data before each play, each spend, each build. I could, but I usually don’t. I just click, click and click some more. Strategy never happens at pace, it is methodical and slow, and I just play “wrong” when I play casually.

I mean, I’m not sure if that changes anything at all whatsoever, but it’s interesting to notice and think about.

gamerdad No thanks to Youtube I found myself watching the latest in depth video about the next version of Civilization, the seventh instalment due early next year in February. Of course, my next best option to playing a game that won’t come out for six months is to dig back into some #ps5 Civilization 6.

Anyway. The last few times I’ve played I’ve been mucking around with the custom game settings. Call me a casual gamer, but sometimes I just like to play in a more creative way, so toning down the difficulty and the aggression of the ai is about the only way to turn this into a builder type game versus the all out campaign of military and religious warfare. Sometimes I just like to build big cities and explore, y’know?

Tonight I was randomly assigned to be the great ancient civilization of Australia, which disappointingly had nothing to do with the mighty aboriginal cultures but instead just the regular modern crocodile dundee aussies. I may need to find the mute button to keep up this save file tho—there’s only so many times I can listen to Waltzing Matilda playing in the background, ugh.

8r4d Alas it is September and #summer is slinking to a close before this month ends. We are still enjoying the sunny #running weather and the lack of training goals so that we can just hit the trails for fun and good company.

8r4d Sucked up my apathy this morning and went for a wee #parkrun #race and some Saturday morning #running fun in the #rivervalley

8r4dsfeets #minigolf on a ski hill?

8r4d For the third time in about a month we were down at the ski hill in summer. First for poetry, second for a concert, tonight and third for some #minigolf

8r4d …Meanwhile, after a week of free fancy #bakery #coffee drinks here I sit, back to #writing and spending some quality time with my #keyboard in my favourite Starbucks this morning.

8r4d Ah, joining the club of parents posting the first day of classes pics on social media. The Kid is on the home stretch and off to grade twelve this year. Yikes!

8r4d A the #summer fades and training slips into the odd season, we go out #running for a few last #runclub meets. Not many people out tonight so I don’t think we have many official weeks left.

8r4d The #rain and fog are lurking in the late summer sky and it’s giving some cool vibes #downtown this morning. A quick stop at the #bakery for a coffee? #grocerygames

gamerdad Back when I was working full time I powered thru so many audiobooks that it word make your head spin. It probably accounts for why my library is in the 500s and’s I’ll never write or post about even a solid fraction of them. Since I’ve been downtown again a few days this week I’ve been back into the audiobooks again and that means I’ve picked back up on this Lord of the Rings history once more. With only a couple hours left I may even finish it off soon, though it seems appropriate with orchestra starting up again shortly that I rejoined my listen right about where they are talking about the music score from the film—a definite masterpiece to compare to, and be a huge part of, the film itself.

8r4d Forgot how lovely the morning commute got can be… I mean if you don’t mind a little traffic. #sunrise #grocerygames

gamerdad Along with some user manuals (which are still weeks away from release as I write this) I’ve been inventorying my supplies for a basic D&D campaign. Dice. Map tools. A big kitchen table to play at. And apparently, tho maybe I’m jumping the gun here, coins are useful. And sure, I could be boring and just but a set, but I do have a #3Dprinter just sitting there in my basement calling out for reason and purpose. I downloaded a set of community-designed coins as a start and I figure I’ll just start printing and creating a collection of some kind. I don’t have any silver or grey filament tho, so I’ll see how they look in a couple hours and maybe lean into some painting to lock in the final look.

8r4d With race season pretty much closed up for another year (at least for most of us) our #running adventures have resumed their normal short + sweet + coffee pattern. #summer it’s almost over… sigh. Today was a guys #runcrew s all the ladies seemed to be on vacation. That just means we talked more politics and told fart jokes than usual.

I started back at the beginning this week. We binge watched season four over three short days (there were only six episodes in this last round) and in a bout of “we should have rewatched season three to re-catch-up confusion, I got to thinking that I really didn’t understand it and it might be that I need to revisit the whole series again, in order, to get a better sense of the whole.

That said, I did pull out the graphic novels and flip through them too in an attempt to see if there were any hints, but it turns out that season four was seemingly invented whole cloth for the Netflix show and not adapted from the page like the first three seasons, so the slight change in vibe and tone I was sensing might not have been completely off.

The Kid had already dug into the reviews before we capped off the series (even though she did politely wait for me to watch the actual show) and the reviews of season four were right in line with what we sensed: a bit of meh, a bit of wtf, a bit of oh. The show was always weird, but sometimes nostalgia kicks in and the magic we glommed onto during those magical first episodes doesn’t float fully across the entire series even if the quality and story parallels. We can inflate stuff in our brains and make it out to be better than it was. But benefit of the doubt, I’m re-watching the whole damn thing now.

8r4d One last song at Symphony Under the Sky and we’re done for another year… and then back up the hill to our secret parking spot!