Mar15

A hike up the Great Sugar Loaf

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Tuesday, 17-June-2025


Dear lord it’s been a minute since I’d gotten to go on a hike.

Time to rectify that!

I had a day off, I had the option to rent a car and escape the city, and I’d put together a list of hikes to check out. I pulled the list up, picked an option that wasn’t so far away, and headed out of the city and toward the “wilderness”.

I’ll say – for a short near-city hike? This was solid! I took a slightly non-standard route, taking the long way around via a big old loop, and that extra milage made all the difference.

A quiet parking spot, a calm walk in, some good solitude and quiet as I made my looping way toward the summit.

Then, a relaxed lunch up top, some good views of the ocean and Dublin itself… yeah. This was the escape from papers and classes and city insanity that I needed.

Mar13

Ben goes to a concert!

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Wednesday, 04-June-2025


I got to go to a big concert!

It’s been a hot minute since I got to go to a show… I’ll admit, Macklemore isn’t my absolute artist ever, but I know a few of his songs, and his legal name is Ben which sets him up as a solid standup guy. A few classmates put out an open invitation, and… well, that all makes it a good enough reason for me to join.

And join I did – a long train ride, a long walk, all leading to a surprisingly short queue to get into the massive outdoor venue. Some good food, a few beers, and lots of general revelry with friends…

Yeah. This semester was pretty busy and intense, but this was a great escape and opportunity for a bit of fun.

Mar11

Sandbox VR – a space elevator adventure!

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Thursday, 22-May-2025

A while back, while walking around Dublin near campus hunting for lunch, I saw a place called “Sandbox VR” that was opening up soon. Seemed neat, so I kept it in the back of my mind.

In May, I realized Sandbox was fully open, had an evening free, and was even able to convince my friends Andrea and Megan to join in for a trial run!

To be fair – there’s not too much to be said about this… We went, we played, the game crashed a few times, they moved us to a new VR room, it crashed again. They got it running, we played, and we beat the game.

We went outside to try their robot bartender, and… who could have guessed it, but it crashed a few times before successfully putting my glass on the tray! To be clear, there wasn’t much drink in the glass, because no one considered including a feedback loop in the system and so it kept trying to pour from an empty bottle.

…

If I seem disappointed in the experience, that’s really the best I can convey.

But hey! I got to play a VR game with Andrea and Megan! And the staff really were great – they were trying so hard, I’ve got to give them all the credit.