Blog

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

Let the ego lose

I’m somewhat of a connoisseur of dashcam videos on YouTube. Watching them helps me learn from the mistakes of others, if you will. I must say, it seems like half of the accidents caught on camera can be avoided by one simple device: the brake pedal.

Drivers hate this one trick!

Too many times, the entire collision can be avoided if the non-offending driver simply used the brakes. Slow down. Avoid the accident. I get it: braking is bruising to the ego. Why should I slow down when it’s the other person who is not following the rules or acting stupid?

Instead, the onus is put on the offending driver to course correct, to realize their mistake in split seconds, and avoid the accident. In an ideal world, sure, we all wish that’s the case. In the real world, that is giving up our agency. The only person you can control is you. Try as you might to influence the action of others, that action belongs to them ultimately.

Remember the goal is to get to the destination safely. Let’s say the ego won. But by not backing down, the other car failing to yield hits your car. Now you’ve got to deal with insurance, getting the car fixed, and wasting a lot of time. God forbid there isn’t bodily injury, too. Worth it just to satiate the ego? Absolutely not. Avoid the accident; let the other jerk win.

There’s a huge sense of justice in American culture. That rule-breakers ought to be punished properly. Often times then when we get behind the wheel, we feel like the last stand before the fall to anarchy. We want to police bad behavior on the road. Speeding in the fast lane? I’m not moving over. Cutting in line at a merge? Not on my watch! I dare you to crash into me.

Not me. I’ll take a bruised ego and chip on the shoulder to preserve a clean car. As the saying goes, the cemetery is filed with people who had the right of way.

Burdened with perfectionism

Amazon’s The Grand Tour is back with a new series and three new hosts. I have to say that despite the abundance of quality automotive content on YouTube, there is simply no replacement for one thing: cinematography budget. We watch The Grand Tour because it showcases cars in an insanely beautiful way that only a small army of cameramen and support staff can deliver. YouTuber with a consumer drone can create a suitable TEMU facsimile, but are they going to wait hours for the correct sunsetting light for that perfect shot?

Probably not.

The Grand Tour - and the many Youtube channels that do similar content - is proof definitive that cars are meant to be driven and used. Provenance isn’t how much money the owner spent on maintenance. It’s what sort of roads the car has traveled to. What sort of story a particular scratch on the front quarter panel has to tell. A winning race car with many hours of accumulated dirt and scraps on the painted surface is immensely more interesting than the exact car fresh out of the factory. Because it has done something.

Super low mileage museum pieces are a one-trick pony. A time capsule showing a moment in time - when the car was new. There no further story to tell.

But if you’re afflicted with obsessive compulsive behavior like me, it can be very difficult to do things with your cars. Each additional mile, each additional round of maintenance, opens up opportunity for something to get blemished. Something to go wrong. A scratch on the interior plastic pains us deeply. God forbid we curb an alloy wheel - there will be no sleep that night. The peasant amongst us can’t afford to throw money at the problem, either. Paint protection film? I don’t have another $5,000 on top of the price of the car just to protect it from nature.

Of course, perfectionism has its advantages in other domains. Our attention to the details is how we got/get ahead in the workplace. Those of us in the perfectly circular Venn diagram of OCD and car enthusiast need a way to turn down the perfectionism when it comes our automobiles. When cars get used - as well they should - the scars will come. Tackling a first-time project like replacing a glovebox? There’s a good chance something will get mangled. It’s all part of the game.

We should still very much care about the process: of doing things meticulously, and not taking shortcuts. What we shouldn’t do is to let adverse outcomes cripple us from doing anything in the first place. Because we want to have stories to tell.

Proud of my people

One of my favorite genre of YouTube videos is car restoration. Channels like M539 Restorations and AutoAlex Cars, where the hosts buy used cars with many problems, then fix them up to be reliably running machines. And sometimes they throw in some tasteful modifications, too. It’s kind of like what I am doing why my Golf GTI that was purchased used. Suffice it to say, there were plenty wrong with it that needed fixing.

A term that's come up rather often in these car restoration videos is “Chinesium”. This references car parts purchased for cheap from China. Perhaps there’s some sort of defending-the-motherland in me; I’m taking the terms Chinesium rather negatively. Yes, there’s plenty cheap quality stuff from China, but in the year of our lord 2026, I hope the stereotype of disposable Chinese junk can be cast into the history books.

Think of the Apple iPhone. Arguably the most important consumer device this century. Where is it made? China. The iPhone certainly does not have a reputation for junk, now does it? Contrarily, it’s one of the most beautifully made products on the planet. Open one up and the inside is just as immaculate as the outside. All of it is put together by the hands of my people. At least until Chinese labor is no longer cost competitive compared to Southeast Asia, and Apple moves product out of the Middle Kingdom entirely.

In reality it simply boils down to supply and demand. There’s whole exhaust systems from China for $150 with questionable quality because customers are buying. Ask China to produce something nice, and the country can deliver with the best of them. The aforementioned iPhone is one example. Another is the slew of lithium battery powered products from the likes of Fanttik and Wolfbox. My Fanttik Slim V8 APEX portable vacuum gets used all the time.

Car parts from China isn’t an automatic negative. Plenty of well-respected brands contract out production there. The TDD magnetic paddles I installed on the GTI is fantastic, and bought on AliExpress. It’s all about having standards. When you ask for quality from China, you can and will get it.

It's not enough that I win

One of my recent YouTube rabbit holes is the Delivrd channel. It’s videos of a guy named Tomi negotiating car deals for his clients. His company charges a simple $1,000 to do the thing most people loathe about the car buying process: everything before signing on the dotted line. Customers save time and headaches, whilst getting a great price on the car they want.

American car dealerships truly make vehicle purchasing a horrible experience. Say what you want about the current CEO, but Tesla’s direct sales method is the absolute best. Customer can do the entire transaction in 15 minutes right on their smartphone. No longer do we have to beg some asshole salesperson to please take our money.

To be fair, the dealership system wouldn’t have its sour reputation if cars strictly sold at MSRP - no markups, no discounts. That fact that everybody practically pays a different price creates a competitive game, with opposing sides fighting to keep as much money as possible. The game then creates hurt feelings, because there are winners and losers.

Services like Delivrd have a finite ceiling it can scale to, at least with the current dealership system. Franchises can afford to give Tomi’s clients a great deal only because there exist other customers who are getting the opposite. People that pay above MSRP, plus all the add-ons, are effectively subsidizing those who are coming under invoice. For there to be winners, there has to be losers.

Credit card companies would close up shop tomorrow if every single account holder pays off their monthly balance promptly. In reality, it’s the profits from the minimum balance interest payers that allow the companies to give people like me 5% cash back. Someone loses so that I can win.

Is it fair?

Non participation trophy

This YouTube video showed up on my feed. It explains two corporations now dominate the American ski resort market, and it’s made the ski experience terrible. High prices, long lines, and poor working conditions.

I’ve a suggestion: don’t participate.

There’s obviously zero incentive for the companies to change operations when there are still lines. If the high prices aren’t enough of a deterrence, then surely a poor experience should? Perhaps sunk-cost fallacy is in play here. A skier isn’t likely to turn back at the sight of the long line, after paying hundreds for a pass, plus the cost of getting to the mountains.

Nothing is going to change if consumers don’t move with their feet and vote with their wallet. McDonald’s didn’t (re)introduce a value menu until enough customers stopped customer-ing. (That’s me!)

Anytime I read about corporations doing this horrible thing or that, I simply go back to: don’t participate. None of us are entitled to anything, other than what’s listed in the United States Constitution. Credit card companies being evil with their interest rates? Don’t get a credit card. So what if Vail has ruined the ski experience? Don’t go! You’re not entitled to a ski weekend.

It’s fine if skiing becomes an exclusive province of the rich. Some things in life just aren’t meant for the lower classes. I would love to buy another Porsche 911. But because I cannot afford one (fuck you, inflation), it’s not for me. I also can’t afford to stay at a Grand Hyatt when I travel. So I don’t.

I know. Right to privilege jail. Right away.

Pure envy

Youtube personality MKBHD is in some hot water for his recently released Panels app. It’s a $50 per year (introductory price) subscription for wallpapers. You might be thinking, “Who actually pays for digital wallpapers?” And you’d be right! I personally don’t remember ever paying for a piece of art to adorn the background on my laptop or smartphone. Pictures of Kpop girl group members are very free on the Googles.

That’s what the hubbub is about: MKBHD is daring to charge money for something that people think should be free. Lament all we want about the devaluation of the arts, but you simply cannot force people into paying customers. Do people care about supporting their favorite music artists? Clearly not: give me millions of songs available to stream at any moment for a low monthly subscription. Would you pay to watch your favorite Youtube channels? I at least pay for YouTube premium.

Obviously, MKBHD is free to make an app and charge however much he wants. The complainers aren’t likely to be customers anyways. Whether or not there will be enough customers for a $50 per year wallpaper app? The capitalistic mechanism will sort it out soon enough.

What is surprising to read on the Reddits is people saying mean personal things about MKBHD. He’s out of touch! He’s greedy! His reviews are just shilling for the big tech companies! I think this is all plain jealousy. Here’s a guy making millions of dollars doing Youtube videos, and also happens to own a few material things in the six figures of dollars. MKBHD has reached escape velocity into being rich. He’s no longer the humble everyman that you and I can relate with. You either die a hero, or live long enough for people to see you as an asshole.

Same thing happened to automotive YouTuber Doug DeMuro. Soon as he sold his car auction website for tens of millions, he crossed the threshold into rich asshole-dom in the eyes of some fans. All of the sudden, his car reviews are no longer entertaining. And his opinions are “out of touch.”

It’s not really about the wallpaper app. It’s a reflection to those who did not chase their dreams to success. So when the guy that did messes up, well then, time to knock him down a peg.

I rather be wrong

One of the YouTube rabbit-holes I fall into are car dash cam videos. Compilation of idiots on the road causing car accidents. It’s not the sadist in me that enjoys watching the suffering of others. I like watching dash cam footage because I get to observe and learn what not to do when I am on the road.

And also: we all should install a dash cam in our cars. Should misfortune befall you and it’s your word against the other driver, video footage (caught in 4K) can potentially save you a ton of money. I would have a dash cam permanently installed in my BMW M2 if I had a commute. As a weekend car, I simply use a mounted GoPro.

The most important point I take from watching the dash cam videos: don’t play the vigilante. You are not the police, so don’t play the enforcer of road rules (written or otherwise). There’s always going to some drivers on the road doing something stupid or being a bully. The best thing for us to do is to stay as far away from that action as possible.

I’ve see way too many footage of drivers playing cop. For example: blocking someone from “illegally” merging, or refusing to slow down/change course because they had right of way. What ends up happening is they collide with the offending cars. It’s so stupid: sure, they’re logically in the right, but now they’ve got a mangled car to repair. Even if the other driver’s insurance will cover it - if they’re insured at all - those drivers are still out the time and energy to take the car to the shop.

Stubborn drivers, piloting 4,000 pounds of fast-moving steel, refusing to back down is some scary shit! No wonder our insurance rates are so freaking high.