People think shipping should be free

Yesterday my boss complained to me about another person complaining to her about the shipping costs on this big purchase the department is making. The person is stunned to find the cost to ship a container's worth of furniture from Wisconsin to San Francisco - including setup - couldn't and shouldn't possibly be $3,000 dollars. 

What did she expect? Free?

I remarked to my boss that Amazon Prime and its free shipping (within two days, no less) have completely ruined people's expectations of what delivery should cost. Just because you can get laundry detergent shipped for free doesn't mean goods of a certain size (say, furniture) can costs equally nothing for UPS to get it to your home. 

I'm paying 10 grand for the television: can't you throw in delivery for free?

Amazon Prime sets a bad precedent in other marketplaces as well. Anybody that have tried selling items secondhand (or even firsthand) knows that offering free shipping is huge incentive to entice customers to buy. 

So they eat the cost. 

I'm starting to think one of the reasons wages have been stagnant is because the poor and lower middle class simply refuse to pay for quality work. They want things done as quickly and cheaply as possible. The rich understands the adage 'you get what you pay for', and have the monetary means to do so. Everyone knows 'Made in U.S.A.' denotes supreme quality but that tool set made in China is half the cost so let's go with that one. 

I guess I'm one of those people because man do I love Amazon Prime. 

Percipitations in May. 

Kendrick and the white girl

During a concert, Kendrick Lamar invites a white girl on stage to sing with him. Naturally his songs contain the N-word and in the moment of joy the girl raps right along to 'M.A.A.D City' and uttered the N-word multiple times. A dismayed Kendrick stops the music to reprimand the girl, putting her on blast in front of the entire audience (that's cold).

So then of course the Twitterverse is having the same ole discussion again about who can or can't say the N-word and whether it should be banned entirely or only black people can say it, suck it white folks because slavery.

This particular episode reminds me of Trinidad James's 'All Gold Everything' a few years back. The song's chorus got a bunch of N-words in it and you can bet non-black people rapped through it without self-censoring (at least privately, or on an all-white party bus). An old white-lady even got into trouble when fraternity kids videoed her singing the chorus. 

I think people should be free do do what they want. Want to say the N-word? Go right ahead; just be aware that depending on the color of your skin and whether you're in public or private, there may be consequences. Don't be so naive to think non-black people aren't rapping the N-word to hip hop songs when there are no black folks around to hear it. 

At the very least, you know the white girl invited up by Kendrick does it. 

It's an MX-5 party at the campus parking lot. 

By age 35, you should....

By 35, you should have twice your salary saved, according to retirement experts: https://t.co/QoVA6EFpHJ

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) May 12, 2018

The above tweet caused a humorous row on Twitter, with legions of millennials mocking its futile commandment. Twice my salary saved up by 35? Perhaps you mean twice the salary in debt? What's this 'retirement' you speak of? Double the salary is easy when you have a salary of zero! 

While I enjoy the hilariousness of people's responses (it's why I can't seem to quit Twitter, after all), I failed to find anyone argue the "rule" itself is intrinsically flawed - because it isn't. It seems the need to save for retirement is an universally accepted truth; it's just that in today's economy of stagnant wages and high housing costs people find it bloody difficult

I have to call bullshit, though: anyone absolutely can and should save money, for retirement or otherwise. While double the salary by 35 may be not applicable for everyone, it's a fine goal to work towards. I'm fairly certain no one has ever complained they've got too much money saved up in the bank. 

Back in my childhood our family of four lived entirely on my father's measly salary of $1,500 per month yet however miraculously my parents still found ways to put money away every month. It wasn't easy in execution but as long as the spending is always less than income they were satisfied. 

The habit has passed on to me and it's serving me excellently. 

I'm 30 this year, and on my current employment trajectory the goal set by MarketWatch is attainable should I choose. I'd need to perform some hardy austerity to get there so we'll see how it plays out because I'm not one to miserly store away money - in the expense of the now - for a future that may never arrive. 

Overheard in the Library hallway

The hallway outside my work office is a busy part of the Library with plenty of foot traffic. Whenever it's Finals time the conversations and exclamations I overhear are super interesting. For one it's incredibly easy to discern who is done with Finals and who isn't: those who are have a sunny and loud disposition to their voices.

They would smugly mock their friends for still having tests to take and needing yet another night's worth of studying. "What are you doing in the Library?" they condescendingly/jokingly ask. 

Some of those not yet finished with classes (perhaps they picked professors who hold exams on the actual week of Finals and not the week before like the cool ones) have walked down the hallway saying horrible things like how they hate this University and should've tried being famous on Instagram instead. I may have made-up the latter but on appearance being an "influencer" on social media seems quite lucrative. 

You get the few cryers as well, which always freezes me stuck between letting them get it all out and being a gentleman going out into the hallway with the box of tissue. Two weeks ago I experienced the perfect symphonic alignment of a female student crying in a concert with a baby (of another person's). You can't put a price on that, my friends. 

To those stressed with Finals: hey, it's okay. This too shall pass. Soon it'll be over, you'll survive to fight another day, and with the students gone the campus will be nice and quiet. 

Ready to play. 

Airpods are more robust that they look

Airpods, these wonderful little things are so comfortably inconspicuous in feel that it's often easy to forget I am wearing them (never mind for a moment the disconnect about music playing in my ears should make it obvious). When that happens it can get dangerous - for the Airpods. 

This morning I was washing up listening to music as usual. When I went to wash my face with a towel I forgot I had the Airpods on so sure enough the towel brushed the left-side pod and it tumbled into the sink-pan. The faucet was running so it got properly soaked. Dread filled me as I fish the thing out of the torrent, facing the likely possibility it was wrecked.

To replace a single Airpod costs $69 (nice) from Apple. 

I grabbed a can of compressed air (those are always convenient to have around the home) and proceeded to blast through the orifices and apertures on the soaked Airpod. Plenty of water came out, which was more evidence the thing was probably a goner. 

Not waiting for the thing to dry completely (stupid move in hindsight), I stuck the Airpods back into my ears to test it out. To my utter surprise the soaked piece still works, with no degradation whatsoever! These brittle looking things have turned out to be quite robust. Prior to today's folly I've also dropped the Airpods many times (from standing height to concrete, no less), and they've yet to fail or even look worse for the wear. 

Whether it be good luck or otherwise, kudos to Apple for making surprisingly durable product. 

I love it when B&H sends their massive catalog goodies. 

Instant noodles with bacon

During the work-week I tend to eat the same thing everyday in order to keep down the decision fatigue. For lunch my go-to is instant Korean ramyun, which isn't the healthiest thing in the world but man is it not the greatest comfort food known to man. Anyways, it obviously lacks in protein so to supplement I've been going with the beloved bacon. 

Not just any bacon, I buy the thick-cut ones Costco sells as a two-pack. Unlike most people I'm not fond of bacon burnt to the point it resembles jerky: I prefer it cooked just enough with a slight browning to the edges, and the inside parts still soft and juicy. 

In the interest of saving time however lately I've forgone pan-frying the bacon and instead dump it into the same pot of water for the noodles. The meat fat and juices really augments the flavor of the broth, and the bacon itself has the consistency of braised meat. Pair it with kimchi and it's fantastic as hell. 

It's easy to make, too: bring water to a boil, add everything at once, and when the noodles softens it's ready to eat. 

The petty games

A few nights ago I was driving home stopped at a intersection. The street has two lanes so there was an SUV next to me. The light turned green and the car behind the SUV immediately honks at it to get a move on. I take off while shaking my head because it seems to be an epidemic these days with impatient people honking at the lead car as soon as the lights change. 

As I look in the rear-view mirror I smiled because I saw the SUV playing the petty games: it purposely continued to go in order to piss off the honking driver even more. Even when it finally took off the SUV went at a slower pace than other traffic. The honker was also boxed in by the faster moving cars on my lane, unable to skip out of the mess. 

Karma is so sweet. 

I personally would never play the petty games because this is America and you have no idea who has got a gun. I live in not exactly the finest of neighborhoods so it is best to be avoided. If I'm at the head of the line at an intersection I treat the lights like the starting grid of a Formula One race: as soon as the lights turn I am off.  

Not everyone needs to be like me and treat traffic lights like a racing driver, but I think if you are the first car in line then you have an obligation to move as quickly as possible. Likewise, those queued behind should exercise more patience because not everyone or every car is capable of moving off the line so fast. 

That said I do enjoy watching other people play the petty games.