💾 Archived View for gemlog.blue › users › eschr › 1632633472.gmi captured on 2021-12-04 at 18:04:22. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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The day had finally come! After a couple of weeks of distress due to my laptop adapter acting up (the usual cable wiggle tricks didn’t work anymore) and days of looking for its replacement online, followed by an ebay purchase that had to be returned because it wasn’t a fit, I managed to buy a substitute from a repair store downtown. I’m also equally glad that it was a used item, not because I didn’t have to cough up a bit more cash, but because I have slowly delved into having a “second-hand first” mentality, after realizing how a good portion of the modern lifestyle is based on acquiring new items as soon as the old ones show the slightest bit of problem. Additionally, I have planned to extend the livelihood of my phone and laptop (5-year-old and 8-year-old, respectively) as much as I can, which includes battery replacement for both as soon as I have the opportunity for it. Especially for the phone, this hopefully would keep it running for at least the following 2 years because I barely use my phone nowadays and therefore can maintain its battery health much better than at any point in the past.
I have been playing P’s Game Boy Advance regularly ever since we had our newly bought Pokémon games as my birthday present (also from ebay), and honestly, I can vouch for it more than I would for a Nintendo Switch. Its battery life is much more reliable, and it’s completely offline, so you wouldn’t have to worry about any security breach, or simply not being able to play a game because you have to first download an update and you happen to be in a WiFi-less environment. I’d love to get myself a used GBA, perhaps with a connector cable as well, so P and I could trade Pokémon or whatever else is possible with it.
How is this even a section on my journal? I have mostly kissed beginner yoga goodbye and have always done close to nothing when it comes to sports, save for some occassional lightweight home exercise. But on Saturday as we were having warm sunny day here in the valley, which has become a rarity within the last few weeks, P asked if we could go to the nearby park instead and try the badminton set (two rackets, one plastic shuttlecock) that he got for his birthday from his parents. Being self-aware of my existence as a couch potato nowadays, I quickly said yes. And it turned out to be a splendid idea! Sure, the breezy wind ended up being a third arbitrary player in our “match,” but it was really fun being outside getting yourself active in the pleasant weather. We really should do this more often.
We also got ourselves lent a set of kubb[1] blocks from P’s friend who came across us in the park. I had only been told about this lawn game but never tried it myself, so today was my first time playing it. I actually enjoyed it. It was mostly just throwing wood sticks onto wood blocks from a certain distance, so while there is less movement involved in comparison to badminton, it is somewhat similar in the sense that it trains your aiming skill. Beginner’s luck hit me and I won the first round, only to be beaten on the next two. I also wouldn’t mind playing this more often, provided that the weather and lawn conditions (you can’t play it on tall grass, the pieces would just fall off every time) are on check.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubb
I’m considering to donate regularly to a charity for environmental cause with good track record, and review websites such as Charity Navigator eventually led me to World Resources Institute[2]. I haven’t found any dirt on it so far, so I’ll keep this on my list for now.