Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

Throw money at it

A friend of mine, who recently adopted a dog, have decided to pay for professional service for certain things, instead of doing it herself. She calls it “Throwing money at the problem.” Let the pros handle giving the dog the biannual bath, and clipping its nails. I think it’s a brilliant strategy. The point of earning money is to make our lives easier - rather than to buy more things. Mundane tasks that aren’t enjoyable should be outsourced if possible. It gives you more time to do the things you actually like. In that friend’s case, it’s watching Succession.

She’s also hires a mobile detailer to come wash her car from time to time. While personally I’m not at that level of income, I think it’s worth considering having my BMW M2 professionally detailed every few years. Most of the time the car is sat outside in the elements, and these days I’m not as consistent in washing it as I was back in my early 20s. Detail the car every two weeks? Who the French has time for that.

It’s been nearly three years since I bought the M2, and I think the time is right to enlist professional help. To take three years’ worth of accumulation off the paint, polish it up nicely, then put on a layer of ceramic coating on top. The latter is important because ceramic coating is like a semi-permanent wax that last for years. It protects the paint from UV damage and prevents outside elements from sticking to it. Car wash becomes dead easy because I can simply to hose off the car at local wash. Only periodically would I need to bring out the towels and cleaning solution.

I previously had such a service done to my 2013 Subaru WRX STI, a rather long time ago. I skipped the service on the 2016 Mazda Miata because the car is tiny and it takes little effort to wash. The 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 already had ceramic coating done by the previous owner, which was a nice bonus. I’ve lagged on getting the M2 done because at the time I lacked the money to throw at the problem.

It seems I’ve got the money now!

First pho.

I'm not getting the new Mac Pro

Seriously, I am not preordering the new Mac Pro. One, and most importantly, because I can’t afford it, and two, because I think the new Mac Pro is a machine for the true pros, and I’m not a professional - yet. Apple likes to use the word ‘Pro’ for its products to denote the higher end model, whether or not the particular product really deserves the moniker. On the Macbook line, going ‘Pro’ is the only way to get a screen larger than 13 inches. You want the highest spec iPhone possible? The iPhone 11 ‘Pro’ is the model to buy.

However, there are a few times that when Apple uses ‘Pro’ in its products, it truly means it’s geared towards professionals. The iMac Pro is such a machine, and now the new Mac Pro - alongside the $6,000 Pro Display XDR monitor - brings more computing power than the typical consumer can possibly use to the market. It’s a sort of thing that you’d want your respective creative company to purchase for you, rather than forking over the at least $5,999 starting price yourself. It’s pro-grade stuff for the people that need it, though it’s good to know there’s finally a Mac that can run Google Chrome smoothly - with only two tabs open.

You and I surely do not need the hefty specs of the Mac Pro, even if we can afford the entry price. I’m sure technophiles with an inclination towards spending their disposable income on the latest tech gadgets will scoop up the new Mac Pro to showoff on instagram. Like Porsche owners who switch cars every time a new model comes out, these tech nerds will upgrade to the latest and greatest products just to say they have it (I’m guilty as charged with regards to the yearly iPhone upgrade). Good for those people, because I’d be doing the same thing if my car enthusiasm didn’t take up so much of my own disposable dollars.

It’s a shame how adult sensibilities will stop you from doing something you wanted to do as a child. I’ve always been enamored with Apple’s Mac Pro line dating back to the legendary G4 Cube design, and had this belief that when I grow up to a steady paycheck, I’d buy a Mac Pro for myself - simply to have it because it looks so cool and awesome. Fast forward to present, and I wouldn’t think to buy a thing where its utility value for me is so small. I’m quite happy with my 15-inch Macbook Pro, and for what I do with it, there’s no reason to upgrade to the new Mac Pro.

Besides, I’ve come to enjoy the portability potential of the Mac laptop, even though currently 99% of the time it’s plugged into power on the desk. You just never know when you might have to move out in quick notice.

In the still of the night.