Blog

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

I don't know about you...

I turn 32 years old today, which is a thing. I plan to celebrate as I’ve always celebrated my birthdays: working. Having had an evening shift at the university for nearly 10 years now, there was never an opportunity for me to go out and have a party with friends. Guess where I’ll be later on this afternoon and night? At work. I’m not the type of person who calls in sick on his birthday or take the day off, and don’t get me started on the “birth month’ phenomenon. I’m happy others can have such a fantastical sense of occasion in regards to their birthdays; for me, it’s just another day, honestly.

Even when I turned the big 30 two years ago: there were no parties or celebration (again, I was working), though there were plenty of internal anxiety. After turning 30, the norm is that you sort of forget about your age as the years pass along, right up until the next milestone: 40. It’s true in my case: birthdays after 30 is so insignificant that I only remembered mine was today when my friends wished me a happy birthday after midnight. Honestly, I’m more looking forward towards the week and a half of time-off we get between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

32 years of age means I’ve only got two more years to play, because I pseudo promised myself when I turned 24 that I will live life frivolously for the next decade more before settling down and do the proper adult stuff. Two more years left to continue traveling to world cities, and spending ridiculous amounts of money to keep a Porsche 911 around. After that, it’ll be time to trade it all in for the next big transition on the life journey. It may sound like I’m being facetious here, but as of this moment in time, I think the plan set way back in 2011 is still on schedule.

I’m not yet ready to transition, but I feel that it’ll have to happen soon enough. The thing to do now is start the glide-path down towards that big change, and make the preparations necessary. Whatever those are, I’m not sure, though the obvious move is to refill the savings coffers after having written a six-figure check for a car this year.

So it’s business as usual as I add another ring to my tree stump. I’m massively grateful to be alive for another year, and for everything that has happened to me - good or bad - thus far. It’s an absolute privilege.

Victim of property crime

Property crime against cars in San Francisco is well-documented and infamous. It’s almost every week I see someone on twitter commenting how their car got broken into when they made the fateful decision to visit the city. Earlier this year, my friend had her own car’s window smashed while it was parked inside her apartment’s supposedly secured gated lot! Indeed, even patrolled garages aren’t immune from the plague: a few weeks ago I saw a car in our work lot with both front windows broken, which is just insult to injury: a single window wouldn’t have sufficed for the thief to steal whatever they needed to?

This crime phenomenon is precisely why I insure my car with Geico, because the company offers free glass replacement, no matter the comprehensive deductible. Somewhat ironically, in the many years since I’ve started driving, not once have I experienced my cars getting broken into, which by the virtue of writing that out I’ve just jinxed myself tremendously. I ashamed to say the damages done to my cars over the years are all my own, though the Toyota Corolla did get a brick thrown at it by local hoodlums on the second day we brought it home from the dealership, such was the state of the neighborhood back in the mid 2000s.

A few days ago, my father got off work to find someone had drilled a hole in the gas tank of his car, though curiously the big vat of collected petrol was still sitting right underneath. Either the perps were caught by police during the act (not likely in San Francisco), or they found a better offer elsewhere. Nevertheless, dad had to fill the tank with a canister with enough gas to get the Hyundai Tucson to the nearest mechanic. The fix was simple: a self-taping screw into the hole, then a bead of sealer surrounding the head. Due to the presence of gas, metal welding was out the question.

Since the Tucson is a lease, as long as it doesn’t leak, we’re going to leave the visually crude fix as is.

That’s the thing with vehicular property crime that’s so frustrating: you have to take the time to get the damaged remedied. It’s already bad enough that things were stolen out of the car; the additional hassle to make the situation whole again is salt on the wounds. I can see why some people get so fed up that they vow to never return to the city unless they absolutely have to. Whatever excitement San Francisco offers does not outweigh the potential of retuning to a parked car with an unceremonious gift left behind by miscreants.

Sooner or later, the powers at be will need to step up on enforcement, because more and more people are abandoning the city…

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.

I almost moved out?

One thing I’ve always had in mind is that when I do move out of the house, it has to be some place extremely close to work; close enough to get there in around 15 minutes, whichever the method of transportation. Living in the Bay Area I’m quite familiar with the horrid commutes many people have, and the last thing I want is to join that party. If my living situation is going to change, then decreasing the amount of time it takes to get to work is a must-have criteria. Otherwise, I don’t really see a point: there’s no good to having my own place if I’m miserable from the daily commute.

Problem is, obviously, it’s extremely expensive to rent a spot in San Francisco, much less on the west side of the city where the university is. And let’s not even speak of actually buying a house in the area, a downright impossibility, unless the housing situation changes dramatically, or I hit the lottery. That being said, I browse the rental ads on Craigslist periodically to gauge the market, and to see if anything will pop up that’s reasonably affordable, with superb proximity to work.

Last week, one such place did materialize. A mere 10 minute walk from campus, it was a newly refurbished in-law studio renting for $1,600 a month, all inclusive. Squeaking in at just under the 1/3 of income rule for a lease, the place was eminently affordable, somewhat to my surprise (I guess the market has soften a bit). Of course, the most alluring attribute is the closeness to campus; to be able to simply walk to work is an absolute dream. There’s a mall with a Target and Trader Joe’s only two blocks away, so it could not be more convenience in terms of living necessities, too.

Later that week I went and saw the place (it was indeed lovely), and then started on viability calculations before I officially apply. Unfortunately, the math did not rule in the favor of leasing: I can afford the place, but due to rental costs, I’d be saving very little every month (if at all) - house poor, as they say. The problem is the big financial purchase I made this January: my Porsche 911 GT3. Had I bought a way more sensible sports car, one that doesn’t cost four-figures to keep every month, I think I would have handed in the application this past weekend.

I did think about selling the 911, though that has its own conundrums and difficulties. I unconditionally adore the car, and letting it go would leave a huge gaping spot in my car enthusiasm. The GT3 is suppose to be the ‘forever car’, so selling it after only one year of ownership would be devastatingly irresponsible. Porsche cars hold their values well, but that doesn’t mean they don’t depreciate: my 911 have loss about $20,000 in value since January, a real, tangible decrease if I actually sell the car. Not to mention I’ll never get the five-figure in taxes I paid when I purchase the car back. Some States let you offset the tax if you trade for another car; communist California sadly doesn’t.

It seems I have to see that process through with the 911 until I can make another huge financial move. I wouldn’t call the car an albatross, but I think it would be wise to accelerate paying off the rest of it so I can have some flexibility. New years resolution for 2020, perhaps?

Top 10 songs lists

Continuing on yesterday’s discussion about people already putting a bookend to 2019 but we’ve still got the entire month of December left to go, later on that evening, I saw people posting their top 10 Spotify plays of the year (Spotify 2019 Wrapped, officially), which is fascinating. While I think it’s a bit premature to do the list now rather than waiting until say the last week of December, it’s probably not likely there’s going to be a new song release this month that will accrue enough plays to beat out songs released far earlier in the year.

I think can safely say that no one is going to stream the new Taylor Swift Christmas song for hundreds of times within the next twenty or so days.

The calendar will soon turn towards the next decade, and yet I still haven’t gotten onboard with music streaming, be it with Spotify, or Apple Music. I greatly prefer to keep and store physical, totally not pirated, copies of music in my vast iTunes library, something that’s gradually grown since I bought my very first Mac laptop during sophomore year of university. I don’t want to deal with importing and remaking playlists, much less lose the entire stats on the number of plays over the years.

Now that I think about it, I had a good opportunity to migrate to streaming earlier in the year. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I lost possession of my iMac, and with it my music collection. Obviously, I made backups of all the songs, but the iTunes library data was gone, meaning I had to start completely over: reconstruct playlists, and the play counts starting back at zero. If wanting to preserve those things were indeed what was holding me back from converting to streaming, then it’s curious that I continued on with physical songs after the “wipeout”.

Habits are difficult to change, I guess.

So unfortunately for me, I don’t have the full statistics for the music I listened to this year - half the year’s plays are gone. But, play-count is not how I like to construct my yearly top 10 music list anyways: I actually analyze the totality of the new songs (to me ) this year and pick out the 10 most impactful. Because often times, the song with the most plays just happens to be the most catchy, rather than any sort of great meaning.

December still matters!

We are barely four days into the month of December, and it seems like everyone has written the rest of the month off? I’m already seeing the usual year-end lists and reflection articles popping up online, even though as of this post there’s still 28(!) days left to this year. On twitter, people are already saying goodbye to 2019 and talking about plans and whatnot for 2020, wishing each other well in the new year. It’s madness: this is worst than moving out the Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving (looking at you, America).

Question: why are you guys throwing away the month of December? Last I check, there are 12 months to a year. Hang on to your top 10 lists for just a moment! Things can yet change: what if there’s a movie that will blow your mind later this month? Or a brand new song release that entrances you? I think it’s entirely premature to be writing conclusions about 2019, and an affront to what is my favorite month of the year.

To be fair, not much does go on during December, other than the super slow burn towards Christmas vacation. The weather’s too cold, the skies' too dark, and people stay inside too often for excitement to occur. Besides, like everyone else I also have the urge to begin concluding down the year (I too have my own year-end reflection to write), because the allure of a “fresh start” to a new year is so strong that we want to turn the new leaf earlier and earlier. As always, it’s very misleading: there’s nothing you’re going to do in 2020 that you can’t do right now, or at least start. Why wait?

Lots can still happen in the next 28 days - if we allow it, so let’s not treat 2019 as if it’s over already. Don’t wait for the 2020 if there’s something you want to start or do: get after it now.

A deserted Market Street on Thanksgiving day.

SF Auto Show musings

One of my Thanksgiving traditions is attending the annual SF Auto Show at the Moscone Center, and this year was no different. Being traditionally Asian, Thanksgiving is not really a celebratory holiday for us - I didn’t even know what a turkey is until our family emigrated here - so there’s no big feast at our house. We simply take the few days off to relax, and because the auto show always happens during the last week of November, I take the opportunity to go outside for a bit and look at cars.

The San Francisco show isn’t one of the biggest, and it seems the scale has been shrinking the past few years. It doesn’t help that the major auto show in Los Angeles is around the same time, so some manufacturers aren’t keen to split their resources like that; LA will always get the nod when decisions have to be made. It’s a down year for the overall car market as well, so surely marketing budgets have shrunken down commensurately. This year, there was almost zero presence from European automarkers, though the Jaguar Land Rover group had a sizable display.

Back in my childhood, I would make it a point to see every single car on display at the show, which I’m sure my parents were very happy about. These days I only look at the models that interest me, of which there are a scarce few. Of primary interest this year was to see the new Porsche 911 - 992 generation - for the first time in the flesh, and thanks to Porsche Livermore, there was one on display at the show even though Porsche itself was not an official participant.

So a quick appearance-only verdict on the 992: it’s rather bulbous, but far less offensive than in photographs. It’s smaller in the metal, too. The rear light-bar design language remains polarizing, and for now I still hate it (the rear spoiler in the up position helps it a little). 21-inch wheels are far too big for the car, and the classic 911 “pontoon” front fender shape is largely gone now; the front is nearly flat like the 911 RSR racing car. The 992 is still quintessentially 911, but I wouldn’t put it high on the list amongst its lineage.

It seems it’s not just me who’s keen for the enthusiast cars: even in a time full of SUV popularity, the brands’ more sporting models still get the most crowds. The aforementioned 992 was mobbed by people the entire time I was there, and the same at the Honda Civic Type R and the Hyundai Veloster N displays. This is what a “halo car” is all about: to create excitement and positive association with a brand, even if the customer ends up buying an SUV instead, because that SUV will be of the same marque as the enthusiast car.

It gives me hope that manufacturers aren’t going to abandon the fun cars any time soon. It’s a great marketing strategy.