06.22.2026
I've been socking away money (mostly through credit card reward points) in the hopes of upgrading my iPhone 14 Pro whenever the new ones come out this year. My current phone works pretty well most of the time, but I've been noticing a drop in performance and battery life over the last few months (even with a replaced battery) and it's been overheating a lot more. Apple saying they're going to be raising prices on all their stuff which is making me a little nervous but for something I use daily like my phone I think splurging a bit is fine and if I can get another 4-5 years out of it like my current one great. Rough time to be wanting to upgrade a lot of my tech though... I've also wanted to upgrade my apple watch (current one is from 2016 and can't hold a charge for more than two hours) and my iPad (from 2018 and can barely multitask these days). They have the series 11 watches on deep discount more and more frequently so I might grab one this week before prices go up and I guess we'll see when Apple announces a new entry level iPad. Thank goodness my computers are still in good shape - my 2022 microcenter prebuilt tower and my 2020 M1 MBP are still just as good as the day I got them and will be holding onto those for as long as I can.
In better news though World Cup fever has really hit Boston and the vibes have been great. I went on my lunch break around the same time as one of the games in Boston was starting and there was so much excitement in the streets from people getting ready to board trains to head to the stadium. There's been a lot of talk already about how fun the Scottish fans are but it's just been so cool to see how many people from all over the world are in Boston for soccer. I just haven't seen any of the actual matches yet because I've been busy LOL but I hope to be able to pop into a watch party in my neighborhood soon.
Friday I was up in Maine at my friend's new pinball spot for a soft opening. I wanted to see the new space but I love any excuse to get to Maine and I was determined to try the famous pinky cone at Aggie's ice cream. The pinky cones were so good and they were only a dollar! And it didn't feel like they were skimping on the scoops either! I got maine blueberry and a blueberry/vanilla soft serve twist. So good. Pinball is fun too.
Saturday I saw my most anticipated show of the year, Jimmy Eat World and Thrice. They were excellent - Thrice has definitely slowed down over the years but Dustin's voice has aged really well and their newer songs definitely play to his strengths more. Jimmy was awesome, they sounded so good and their setlist was unbeatable. They played all of Bleed American, every song off of Clarity that's bolded on RateYourMusic.com and a bunch of random b-sides I love. Was a great time. I could write a whole separate post about how concert etiquette has seemingly vanished but in the sake of keeping this post relatively positive I will refrain LOL.
Sunday was the solstice and I was able to knock something off my want to do list for the summer and that was the Harbor Islands. We took the ferry to Spectacle Island and it was super pretty. There's a nice trail that goes around the island and a grassy picnic area at the top with great views of the city. Didn't see too many new birds though. They have a nice but rocky beach and the water was so refreshing. Definitely need a pair of water shoes for next time though.
I think it's going to be a very busy and fun summer as my calendar is already starting to get full. Looking forward to it!
Links: