The Monthly Zest - August 2025
I'm back on the 9-5 grind so August has been kinda quiet besides work. The new job has been going well though! It's similar to what I used to do but a lot less stressful. Granted, it's only been a couple weeks (and my boss was out all last week so they didn't give me any new projects then) but I'm very optimistic about it. We'll see how I feel about it in a couple months when it really gets busy but hey if I end up hating it I can not renew my contract.
The best part about it (and I was so glad to be right about this) was yeah I really needed a job where I get out of the house a few days a week. I still love my work from home days - especially days where I don't really have a lot going on - but I feel so much more regulated and in a generally better mood every day when I leave the house. They make me wear business casual so I actually have to dress up and give a shit about how I look again. I also get tons of steps in both walking to the train and walking around during lunch. It's very nice and I definitely can't go back to full remote.
Anyway, back to the ZEST. The theme of August was reconnecting with old friends I hadn't seen in a long time. One weekend my old roommate from college came to visit and explore the city and another weekend I linked up with some old friends from high school to play Street Fighter! It was really nice to see old friends and I'm very happy that we're playing SF6 together because I really have to get back on my Zangief training and it's nice to have local friends to learn and play with. I also spent a lot of time playing pinball with my new friends from league!
Besides that, I continued my little summer road trips. I went down to New Bedford to visit a friend of mine and did some exploring. Finally got to visit Cisco Brewing on their beautiful little oceanfront spot and we got a really good meal at Candela Cucina too. We also stopped at a little barcade called Play which was fun but I liked their rooftop deck more than their games haha.
My friends and I also did two trips to Horseneck Beach on the south coast too, one at the beginning of the month and one today at the end. We usually do Salisbury but wanted to mix it up this summer and my mom actually recommended this one to us. It was super nice, easy to get to and really good birdwatching too! When we went today though the amount of red algae was actually kind of insane and made the water look a little gross. Still a beautiful day though and I finally finished my copy of Head Lopper under the sun.
I'm very much looking forward to fall and being back on my routines again (including getting back to my Tuesday night yoga that I was neglecting for Tuesday night pinball tournaments). Was a very fun and relaxing summer!