Blog

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

The emergency fund

For me personally, one of the silver linings of this whole COVID fiasco is I’ve been able to rebuild my once depleted savings reserves, and I have to say it feels rather nice to have a proper cushion again. In signing over six-figures for the GT3 last year, much of my fluid savings got allocated for that endeavor; combined with practically not saving any money at all each month - because I didn’t exactly stop traveling - my emergency fund was itself in a state of great emergency. At the start 2020 I had planned to enact austerity measures, though the flow of life - in regards to the pandemic - seems to have forced that on me anyways.

Being stuck at home and not being able to travel anywhere - my main area of discretionary spending for the past five years - have allowed me to store away quite a bit of money each month. In preparation for a highly uncertain future, I also have not purchased anything extravagant during this time - no “nice to have” upgrades for things I already own (that 4K OLED TV set will have to keep waiting). The coronavirus situation made it surprisingly easy to impose these austerity measures, and several months since it all started, I am once again in a position to not have to reply on the next paycheck to plug a hole I’ve dug previously.

Indeed, last year was the closest I’ve come to living “paycheck to paycheck” since my free-spending college days, back when saving 20% of income wasn’t even a concept registered in my brain. I didn’t realize how stressful that situation was until recently when I managed to rebuild my emergency fund to a comfortable size. It feels good to not have to scrutinize each subsequent financial move, and that I have the room to be slightly frivolous if I want to. This is how I come to buying the AirPods Pro, even though I already have a functioning set of the original AirPods.

Of course, gratitude must be handed out for how lucky I am to still have a job and be able to save money during these COVID times. I recognize lots of people are not so fortunate - one of whom is my own brother, who was laid off - and I’ve given support to them as much as I can. That said, I can only play the hand that’s dealt to me, and with that hand the goal is to maintain a resisiliant position, and perhaps improve in some areas as well.

Burner phone

I reckon the newly announced Google Pixel 4A would make an excellent burner phone for travel.

What exactly do you need from a smartphone when you are in a foreign country anyways? For me, it boils down to two things: be able to take excellent photographs, and be a competent Internet communications device. All other apps and features we’ve grown accustomed to, such as digital payments or access to Netflix, become superfluous once I am outside of the States. i mean, you really shouldn’t be binge watching shows during those precious vacation hours, should you? Might as well just say home at that point.

What I use a phone for when I travel to China is taking many pictures, and accessing the Internet for maps and keeping contact with friends. While my regular carry - an iPhone 11 Pro - indeed can and does both of those things splendidly, that phone also contains a lot of private information that would be rather cumbersome to carry through border crossings. Unfortunately, I am not a stranger to having my phone searched when coming back into America, and I think getting a burner unit with only a minimal amount of necessary information put on it is worthwhile for my own protection.

Mind you that’s not because I am some criminal mastermind, but rather I am hoping to avoid as much extraneous hassle as possible at customs and immigration. Agents want to search my phone? Go right ahead: there’s nothing but vacation photos and records of places I’ve searched for on Google maps.

This brings us perfectly to the Pixel 4A: at $349, it’s just compulsive enough of a price for me to buy one without much further justification. Google’s Pixel phones are renowned for their photographic capabilities, and the Pixel 4A reads like it does not deviate from the lineage. I wouldn’t be missing out on the equally awesome cameras on the iPhone (except for the 2X zoom). From looking at the specs I presume the 4A is a competent Internet device as well, so that’s my other travel need taken care of. It doesn’t matter the 4A doesn’t have fancy aluminum and glass construction, or it can’t do wireless charging: for a such a relatively cheap price, you don’t expect it to.

But heck, it’s got an OLED screen!

While I don’t suppose I’ll be travel anytime soon (thanks, COVID), it’s never too early to be prepared, right? Let’s see if the price of the Pixel 4A gets even lower come Black Friday (or whatever semblance of that may be this year).

How much for Mulan?

Would you pay 30 dollars to stream Mulan from the comforts of your own home?

I wouldn’t, but I sure bet lots of families will take up Disney’s seemingly expensive offer. Even just two persons splitting the cost would be roughly the same as a typical movie ticket at a theatre; for a family of four, 30 dollars to watch a brand new movie release is a screaming bargain (won’t have to pay for overpriced concessions, either). Indeed it’s easy to get initially surprised at the $30 dollar price, but upon further review, it’s rather inexpensive.

My group of friends are already discussing plans to get together to watch Mulan, splitting the cost however many which ways. Probably not the wisest for social distancing and avoiding gatherings, but we too are young and stupid. At least we’re not having massive lake parties in Wisconsin.

Disney may have just released the floodgates for other studios to do the same for their respective tier-one slate of films: the House of Mouse announced yesterday the often-delayed Mulan will be released to the masses not in theatres, but on the Disney+ streaming platform. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, theatres aren’t opening back up anytime soon, and one surmises Disney saw a pathway to profit via their own platform, so the trigger finally got pulled.

The company can’t wait forever for theatres to open again when massive production and marketing costs are burning a hole in the expense column.

Of course, Disney is not the only major studio to have their own streaming platform, and depending on the success of Mulan’s digital-only release, other studios may follow suit and put out their slate of backlogged films - due to COVID - on streaming for a premium price. Universal have already tested the waters with Trolls World Tour earlier this year to great success, but Mulan represents the first true “blockbuster” to receive the digital release treatment, and how it does financially will be a bellwether for other major films. Perhaps Wonder Woman 1984 will be available to watch for $30 on HBO Max come this Fall?

I’d certainly pay for it. One such movie I would wait until however long it takes for theatres to open back up, however, is Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. Movies shot with actual IMAX cameras deservers to be viewed in an actual IMAX theatre.

Before others wake up

One of the joys of shifting to an earlier sleep-wake schedule is the ability to take the GT3 out for a drive before most other people have even gone out of bed. Such was an occasion this past Sunday, the first time I’ve taken the 911 out for a spin since I’ve shifted my sleep schedule ahead by two hours. I’d forgotten how serene it was to be amongst the few on the road during those ungodly hours; the gas station I filled up the car in was almost deserted, and en route to the mountains the freeway was nearly empty.

This is my kind of meditation.

To have done almost two hours’ worth of driving before the clock strikes 9 AM is something to relish: most of the time it was just me on that piece of mountain road, no slow cars to block my advance. In the background is the gradual transition of the rising sun, from a grey morning dawn to an intensely realized daytime. The interesting colors bouncing off the foliage is unique to these hours, and I find myself actually slowing down the pace to enjoy the beautiful sights. Once I’ve stopped at a turnout for a brief break, the morning air greets with a freshness like no other.

The cooler air in the morning is savored by the car as well: the GT3’s atmospheric engine sings a sweeter tune during those hours of the day.

9 AM signals the time to return home for breakfast, and as I am driving to leave the mountains, on the opposite direction were many cars heading towards where I’ve just been, folks starting their Sunday of recreation in nature. I smile slyly at the fact I’ve beaten these people to it, that I’ve already had my fun, without needing to contend with other patrons of the mountains for a mere parking spot. In fact, I had the entire lot to myself, a thing that’s well worth waking up early for.

I can say that shifting my sleep schedule is one of the best thing I’ve done in this super weird year of 2020; silver linings and whatnot.

IKEA trip

The problem with preferring to buy physical copies of books instead of digital (sorry, trees) is that there’s never enough shelf space to house it all. Eventually I have to start shoving the new ones into drawer, and how esthetically pleasing is that? Isn’t the whole point of physical books is to show them off in book cases and shelves? How else are people going to know I am a learned being and I read a ton.

Joking aside, I do enjoy the library-like feel of having books on display, and in the never ending battle to procure more space, this weekend found me at the local IKEA store. There is a sale on the famous ‘Billy’ bookcase, and since I am an Asian always in search fo a bargain, the time was perfect to make the trip to East Palo Alto.

Not forgetting it’s still very much coronavirus season, I was curious at how IKEA is handling the flow of people in and out of the premise. The solution was rather simple: an amusement park-style queuing system, with a snake-like barricade system, and of course, six-feet of space in between each person/familiar group standing. It was indeed like waiting to in line to ride a rollercoaster, right down to the fair warning at the beginning that it’s a 30 minute wait until the absolute front.

Once inside, both sections of the IKEA store - showroom and warehouse - is open, though obviously the people flow is far reduced compared to “normal” times. You can even head straight to the warehouse section now, where previously they always forced you to walk through the showroom first. Knowing precisely where the bookcase I seek was located, I head straight for that aisle and section, bypassing the opportunity to walk through the second floor showroom.

After checkout, it was then another queue - with social distancing - to get into the elevators and back down to the ground floor where everyone was funneled to be parked on; you can’t have too many people stuffed into one like we’ve done previously. I would say the whole shopping experience was a bit strange, but not too much of a bother. I didn’t realize how much I had miss the simple task of heading to a store and buying something (that isn’t groceries).

With a new shelving in hand for more books, I am ready for the at least another year’s worth of purchases. Bring it on.

No more Amazon Prime

After nearly a decade of subscribing to Amazon Prime, starting with a measly student account way back when, I’ve recently decided to not renew my membership with the online shopping giant. Including taxes, the annual fee for the privilege of having items shipped to my doors for free in two days (among other perks, admittedly) have ballooned to $120, and in this year of all years (hello, coronavirus), I am not seeing the value in paying that.

Ever since the pandemic started, I’ve been super conscious about spending, so my Amazon account is sort of just languishing, with hardly any purchases made. Even at the times I did purchase something, I’ve selected the slow shipping method, out of some sense of moral obligation to not further overload the surely massively overloaded system. If I didn’t need something absolutely right away, then I can wait the few extra days. These warehouse workers and delivery persons have a tough enough job without me adding any additional unnecessary burden.

Hashtag virtual signal.

So with utilization having gone way down, and getting comfortable again with slow shipping, (I was never a big watcher of Prime video) the forces combined to allow me to stop subscribing to Amazon Prime. The clock has turned back to the early 2000s, and I have to accumulate over $25 dollars worth of product in order to get free standard shipping. No more impulse purchases or last minute buys like a box of paper clips shipped to me on the same day, which is quite okay and not really problem in the grand scheme. How’s this for a novel idea: if I need a particular item immediately, I can physically go to a store!

In the beguiling voice of Stefon: these days, Target has everything.

I bought the AirPods Pro

Yesterday I did my first big superfluous purchase since the COVID lockdowns began. That is, if we are not counting paying just under $1,500 a month to keep a Porsche GT3 I can’t drive on most days as a superfluous purchase. Not until I eventually buy a house (god willing) would I pay so much a month for a stationary object. My advice? Don’t be a car enthusiast; don’t have passion for material things at all: it will be a massive drain to your wallet.

But that would be quite a dull life, wouldn’t it?

Anyways, I’ve been doing well to not spend extraneously since the coronavirus situation began, in preparation for a hugely uncertain future. What broke the streak was a deal on Staples for the AirPods Pro: $50 dollars off, bring the price down to a slightly more palatable $200 dollars. While I wouldn’t say I’ve been pining for a pair of these earphones - I have a set of the original AirPods and they remain quite magical and lovely - the AirPods Pro have always been something of a nice-to-have. The standard AirPods are rather useless in crowds and areas with a lot of noise, and the Pro version supposedly solves that problem splendidly, offering a deeper in-ear seat and active noise cancellation.

I’m looking forward to going on a run with AirPods Pro; no longer would I have to crank the volume to an uncomfortable level simply to drown out the outside noise.

After informing them of this purchase, my friends asked what am I going to do with my basic set of AirPods. The answer is simple: continue using them. They remain great for quiet settings such as my room, and brilliant to use for Zoom meetings. AirPods feels so much more natural than the cumbersome and unsightly headsets that people tend to use with virtual meetings. The only gripe is that the battery drains super quickly when performing both talk and listening at the same time.

I can’t wait for the AirPods Pro to arrive next week; I’d almost forgotten what a joy it is indeed to spend disposable income on nice things.