Journal

Living for the summer

Sunday March 11th 2012

I’ve been feeling pretty energized this past week with the days being lighter longer. I can’t stand the winter – there isn’t a day of dark and wet weather that goes by without me yearning for the return of summer. It’s so close now that I can’t wait at all and I’ve been out making the most of the unseasonably warm(er) and dry(er) weather.

Last weekend I went for a two hour cycle and it was dry the whole time. Today I went for a bike ride with Jason and although we did have some very light rain while we were out, for the most part it was dry and unusually warm. Later in the afternoon it was even dry and warm enough to get out with Elisha and play on our skateboards.

These are run of the mill activities, but the fact that it’s the better weather that makes them possible just fills me with the motivation get out there and enjoy them while I can.

Over the years the weather in this country has ruined my best laid plans for enjoying outdoor activities more times than I care to remember, but each year I have renewed hope of a memorable, long, dry summer. Maybe 2012 will be the best one ever?

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Journal

The biggest challenge of all

Sunday March 4th 2012

From last year’s experience, I know I can cycle a hundred miles. I might not have been as fast as I’d like, but I was able to put myself through it and my recovery time was pretty good. This year as part of my challenges I signed up for a few tougher cycling events in addition to Pedal for Scotland in September, just to raise the bar a little and keep me motivated to train harder through the year.

However, I’m not a huge fan of the long endurance rides. I don’t think spending six or seven hours in the saddle is as much fun as a manageable two or three hour ride that leaves plenty of time in the day for other things. My first ride of this year is a 45 miler in May that I’m quite looking forward to. Training for a 45 mile ride with some tough climbs is doable when you have a busy family life, while training for 100 mile rides isn’t quite as practical.

To that end I decided to limit number of cycling events I signed up for so I don’t end up in a constant onslaught of training for and participating in events. This left the door open up for some other fitness challenge, though, and when my old college mate Eoan suggested doing the Tough Mudder, I had to have a serious think about it.

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Game On

You can touch this

Sunday February 26th 2012

Yesterday I cracked and bought myself a PlayStation Vita. I’d been wanting one since the Vita Rooms event, but let launch day come and go earlier in the week without taking the plunge. By the weekend, with a £230 tax rebate sitting in the bank and a burning desire to play some proper games on the go again, I decided just to go for it.

The hardware is beautiful and the interface is really nice. Unfortunately I’m not enjoying WipEout 2048, the only off the shelf game I picked up from the high street, but there’s a lot of great launch titles out there and if I get the same enjoyment out of my Vita as I did from my (pair of) PSP’s over the years then it’ll be well worth the investment.

Some free augmented reality games that I got from the PlayStation Network after redeeming a code are actually quite good fun, and show the potential for that kind of thing. The Cliff Diver game in that pack is pretty neat – creating a variety of augmented reality pools and diving boards upon your environment in which you can make the titular character do what he does – dives off cliffs!

Considering I was never intending on getting a Vita until I went to the Vita Rooms event, it just shows you how effective that type of marketing is. Let people play with the hardware and sell it on its merits.

I’m actually looking forward to my commute this week – no time better than 45 minutes on the train to get some good gaming in. 🙂

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