Today is my dad's birthday!
Thursday: despite my best efforts, I didn't get any sleep on the flight. I ended up playing Vampire Survivors the whole time. While on the ground in Maryland, the temperature was 80 F, and it felt like it; in Reykjavik, it was closer to 50, and the rain was continuous. After we landed, we had a bit of a wait while we tried to figure out how to locate the taxi transfer the group had purchased, but after an airport employee called the service to verify, we soon had a driver leading us to his vehicle.
The group was getting a little punchy thanks to exhaustion. I tried to watch the landscape as it passed, but the rain was too heavy. Our driver was a newish arrival from Lithuania; he didn't speak much English, so Larry tried to talk with him in Russian, and the two conversed until we arrived at their hotel. Julie and I were booked in a separate location ("Local 101"), so he drove just the two of us into old town.
The hotel had an area for us to leave our bags and refresh ourselves, since our room wouldn't be ready yet.
We headed into town for breakfast of a cinnamon roll and a cheese pretzel at Braun, where we read a free newspaper about the upcoming eclipse and other Reykjavik current events. Julie wanted to walk by the Hotel Holt, but we couldn't find it, and soon returned to the hotel to sit for a while and change into dry clothes. While we rested, another traveler talked with is about our respective eclipse plans: he was going on a much more exclusive cruise full of musicians and other international performers.
We eventually left to board our Golden Circle Tour. We took a first bus to the BSI terminal, and after passing through, we boarded the second bus, followed soon by the other seven people in our party. I slept more than I intended, but such is life while riding on a bus. Saw a tall mountain obscured by low clouds or fog.
First stop was Geysir, where we walked up the path and took a bunch of short videos trying to catch the geysers as they erupted. Heavy mist; frequent rain; periodic sulphur clouds.
Second stop was the waterfall (Gollfass), and we headed down the more strenuous path to the right to get the closer views. We graduated from "somewhat damp" to "very damp". Lots more pics and video.
Third stop was the continental rift, where the North American plate and the Eurasian plate are drifting apart. After my bathroom break, I had to take an accelerated tour, but Julie felt too wet and cold to continue down the path between the rocks.
Once we got back to the city, we stopped in a 1011 24-hour convenience store for snacks and dinner. Julie got raspberry Oreos, I picked up some low-spice Takis, and we both got Sbarro slices of pizza.
Back at the hotel, we learned about their dinner offerings, but we were already committed to our low-effort dinner plans. We marveled at how inadequate the shower doors were for limiting the flow of water out of the room. Julie put on miscellaneous 80s music videos while we ate. It didn't take her long to crash; I played some Vampire Survivors before I went to sleep as well.
Wednesday: another shift in which I stayed up too late the night before, so I spent most of my breaks napping. After work, I made the old penne pasta with parmesan and onions recipe that Julie introduced me to early in our relationship. It was Julie's turn to spend most of the evening working, so I caught up in Hearthstone and Uma Musume dailies while I ate. I called my folks at 11:30 and spent a long while talking with Dad about what they got up to on his birthday, plus the stuff we've been up to. Now I'm posting this update before bed. Maybe finish Tears of the Kingdom's main story tomorrow?
Tuesday: another typical workday, followed by our usual trash and recycling routines. If my youtube history is any indication, I spent a lot of time watching stuff; I think I also continued playing through The War Within's prelaunch event to level up all my characters and collect as much transmog gear as possible.
IS THE COUGH STILL HERE? YES
Sunday: Julie made toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch, which we followed with a trip to the gym. (I spent the time reading Club Floyd transcripts while I cycled.) After we got home, I called Dad to hear how his birthday was going, but we didn't have a very good phone connection. Might be time to try a video call again?
For dinner, I'd found a recipe for caldo verde I wanted to try, but I forgot to buy kale. Julie found some chopped spinach in the freezer, so I didn't have to sacrifice my salad greens for the soup. Since the Asian grocer was too far out of our way, I just sliced up a pepperoni-like sausage instead of using the Korean pre-cooked sausage th recipe recommended. I was a little doubtful how well this would all come together thanks to our substitions, but we were both happy with how it turned out.
We played a couple more games of Civ, but none of them were noteworthy. Once Julie went to bed, I got distracted by a Portal 2 reaction video and stayed up too late again.
Steam:
Sid Meier's Civilization VI - Metroplex
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
I have disavowed Cultist Simulator because I have a problem with its creator, but I launched it on this date for some reason.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
Friday: just after midnight, there's a HUGE car accident in front of our apartment complex on Rock Road. A car is missing its wheel.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
Tonight I tried to play Silent Hill 3 after dark, and it really scared me. I don't like playing horror games, even though I'm invested in the Silent Hill franchise.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.
No entries have yet been recorded for this date.