Heat Wave
Does it feel like fall where you are? I know why I said that I am decidedly not ready last Friday. We had a heat wave warning this week and a couple of days where temperatures climbed into the triple digits, but it’s supposed to cool down again in the next few days. September is the new April. I am ok with a little bit more of summer.
A little anecdote I forgot to share
When I went home to spend time with my family at the end of March, I was especially looking forward to spending time with my niece and nephew. They grow up entirely way too fast (they’re 17 and 16 now) and when I tell them so, they laugh in my face.
I mean, I remember being around that age. It doesn’t feel too long ago.
Especially when we were in my parents’ car and my niece started playing music from her iPhone (because of course, the kids would have their phones connected to the car’s sound system and take over as DJs). My niece played Green Day and I screamed.
I told her that I saw them in concert in 1996 for their Insomniac Tour (not their first album, but their first major tour in Europe!) and I was even able to find and show her the actual concert ticket when we arrived at my parents’ house.
Yes, there were still physical concert tickets back in the day and if you look closely, you can see what I paid for the ticket (of this then very popular, and now ICONIC) band. 26 German Marks. That was €13 at the time. Crazy.
I am happy to hear that today’s youth still appreciates the best bands of my youth.
Jackpot
I went to the Farmer’s Market last weekend and hit the jackpot because I found European plums. They’re really hard to find, if you can find them at all, and only available in late August through September, but there is one farm stand that has been reliably selling European plums in the last few years. They don’t come cheap, but $15 for an authentic Plum Streusel Cake are worth it.
Open Bribery
Did you see the news that tR*ump is pleding to pay $5,000 to every U.S. adult if the Republicans win the House and the Senate in November? So, are we just openly bribing people for a vote? I mean, it’s not a surprise in any way, shape or form, but for some reason, however many years into this nightmare, I am somehow still waiting for someone to step in and say “enough with this nonsense”. Anybody??
Goodbye SUMMIIT
I found out this week that “SUMMIIT Challenges” (the website and companion app) is going to shut down in November. In case the name doesn’t ring a bell, SUMMIIT Challenges organized PeloFondo, Climb and Stride Events for the Peloton Community and I’ve been participating for a few years with my Streakers365 team. I am truly heartbroken that there won’t be any more challenges.
The events were first-class, community-centric virtual event experiences free for all participants. The organizer’s motto: people over profit, always. It was a really cool platform and awesome community, but unfortunately, as with most free things, they can become unsustainable over time as the community grows. The organizer couldn’t keep pouring into the platform while operating at a net loss. Apparently they also didn’t want to turn it into a subscription model (which I understand and somewhat appreciate, because what ISN’T subscription-based anymore these days?), but I also know that many people would have gladly chipped in to keep the platform alive. As it goes, all good things must end sometime. Thanks for the awesome memories, SUMMIIT Challenges.
Have a great weekend everyone, and don’t forget to enjoy things while they last!
Leave a Reply