The Smell of a Grill Can Spark Up Nostalgia

Labor Day is upon us once again. I can’t believe the summer went by so fast. Seems like just yesterday I was freezing at the opening day of baseball season. I’ve watched about 90% of the games the Phillies played in this year, staying up for the West Coast games doesn’t work out to well with my work schedule. I watched riders tear through the mountains in the Tour de France (my favorite part of the year) and finally the Olympics just ended with all the amazement and controversy I expected. Soon we’ll be settling in for Sunday football and deciding what Halloween costume to wear while watching the World Series play out before our eyes. Shorts will be put away and hoodies will be dragged out of the closets.

It seems that Runescape is nearing the time of the usual changing of the guards. Some players won’t be on much because they’re starting high school again. College kids are coming back from their summers away and will be playing again. My friends that are commercial fishermen will be back soon because their season is closing. And so it happens when the seasons change. The same will happen in the summer, then the fall again. It’s always sad to see people leave, but its great to see them come back again.

I hate to see the summer leave. I’m not a fan of the cold weather. As much as I love fall, it still reminds me of trying to enjoy a Sunday night with Monday morning (aka Winter) just around the corner. Next week I go back to my 8-5 hours, leaving me a little more time to play the game. Snowy weekends will be spent with a hot beverage and the laptop set up and key for watching lots of movie while I try to level, instead of being out enjoying the sun. Everything is cyclical, with every change brings some good and some bad, which makes you appreciate the good more after going through the bad. I’ve been getting a lot of levels this week. As you go on, the days of getting multiple levels grow fewer and far between. I ended this weekend by getting 80 Attack, 64 Summoning to push my CB level to 108. Pushing me at 1698 total. That desire to stay up for “just one more level” was overruled by my exhaustion.

I got to witness a good friend get her 99 Range level and Skill Cape this weekend and its pretty inspiring. All you need is a goal and you can be entertained for hours :)

One World, One Dream

I can’t believe the Olympics is coming to an end. I also can’t believe that Microsoft Word just auto-corrected “Olympics” to have a capital – O. The thought of spending 4 years without Team Handball is a complete bummer. Watching sports has always been inspiring to me. Spending 5 hours indoors watching the Tour de France riders leg out 100 miles through the Alps has always made me go out and go for a ride. Sure that giant hill I’d climb a few miles away isn’t the Alp D’Huez, but mentally it was.

I’ve never been that good of a swimmer. I grew up surfing the beaches in Jersey where you could always stand if needed. Getting around in the ocean without a board leashed to my ankle always meant walking in the sand against the current. Don’t get me wrong, I can “not drown” but I wouldn’t say my freestyle is anything close to graceful. That said, in what you might call a subconsciously Phelps-inspired move, I joined a swim program at my gym. Basically, it rewards you for little accomplishments you make in swimming the lap pool.

It starts off with some easy tasks. 100m, or 4 laps. Gradually working its way up. The equivalent of the English Channel, ending with 100 miles. Of course, these all aren’t going to be done in one sitting. I’ll do a few laps, go home, come back the next day and do some more. Each level is awarded with a patch which shows your accomplishment. If I could sew, maybe this would end up on something, but I have a feeling it’ll end up in a drawer somewhere.

Once again though, it’s a little bit of life imitating Runescape, or vice versa. The first few levels will be easy, and maybe I’ll even get a couple in a day. The end, however, will take days and dedication to get to the next level. Maybe I’ll sputter out in the middle somewhere and get distracted by another skill, or maybe I’ll keep with it to achieve my goal of completing them all. The reward is minor, fireworks above the head, maybe a sparkler lit in the backyard. A patch that shows what you’ve accomplished or a cape to cover the shoulders. Either way, regardless of how minor the actual reward, the sense of pride is really what we work towards. You don’t necessarily need a patch or cape to prove to yourself what you’ve done. So like all those amazing athletes we gather every 4 (or 2) years to watch, just stick to what you set. Proving something to yourself is almost better than proving it to others.