Blog

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

Trading it in

In the quest to consolidate and simplify my life, in preparation for the time when COVID is over and we all go back to what once was normal (as of this writing, hopefully early next year?), I am selling my barely a year old 15-inch Macbook Pro. The laptop was bought as a bandaid option during a difficult time last year - when my main computer the iMac was unceremoniously taken away from me - and as specified it doesn’t fit what I need going forward. While indeed I am taking a rather huge chunk of loss in depreciation, sometimes in life you have to spend the money to get what you want.

I am stingy 95% of the time so I can afford to spend somewhat frivolously during the small 5%. Exhibit A: the GT3.

Anyways, the 2019 version of the 15-inch Macbook Pro is a fantastic machine, but the reason I am trading it in (for cash to be used on a future Macbook Pro) is because the particular unit I bought is lacking in storage space and memory. Apple’s largest laptop is appropriately expensive, and speccing for larger SSD drives and extra RAM increases the price rather dramatically. It was an emergency situation at the time of purchase of my 15-inch unit, so I didn’t have the foresight (or money, honestly) to spec the machine the way I would have liked. “Poverty spec” - the absolute base model - was what I ended up purchasing.

Armed with only a 256 GB SSD drive, space becomes precious really quickly, especially dealing with 100 MB RAW files from the Sony A7R2 and 4K footage from the GoPro. I am not able to fit my music collection onto the main drive itself, because it would take up half the room. To listen to music I had to plug in an external drive, which is slightly burdensome and a hassle if I wanted to move the Macbook somewhere off the desk. The goal with whatever Macbook Pro I buy in the future is to opt for enough hard-drive space that I can fit the entirety of my digital life onto the laptop and still have vast amount of space in reserves for my photography and video projects. I want to be able to just grab that one computer and take everything with me wherever.

One laptop to hold them all. Tolkien would be proud, I’m sure.

Summer hate

Living in San Francisco, we get to enjoy what is called nature’s air conditioning: during the Summer month it stays in the 60s almost all the time. Of course, we expect the few days of high temperatures to give us a good sear once in a while, and this past weekend was unfortunately such a time. The sun was blazing and the weather was in the upper 90s for much of Friday and Saturday. Sunday was thankfully a bit cooler, but it brought on another rare anomaly: thunderstorms. Indeed it was rather weird to open up the blinds in the morning to a darkened grey sky and random thunder strikes.

It was as if someone brought tropical weather to San Francisco. I joked with my friend in Hawaii that we needn’t to come visit her any longer: Hawaii came to us.

Suffice it to say, for a city famous for its mild weather, we are never prepared for mid 90s, no matter the fact these few days of high temperature happens every year like clockwork. I get it: it’s not economical to outfit air-con to buildings for only a small percentage of days out of a whole year. It seems we rather suffer through them than spend the money for central climate control. Thankfully, my friend who lives just south of San Francisco (but not in South San Francisco) outfitted his home with the sweet nectar of air conditioning, and it was there I went this past weekend to escape the brunt of the afternoon heat.

I won’t have to do that for future heatwaves, however: I finally purchased a portable air conditioning unit. I’ve been saying for years that I would get one of these things, but for whatever reason I never clicked the checkout button. What changed this time? It’s not like this particular hot weather pattern was worse than the previous ones - temperatures didn’t even reach over 100! I think the COVID situation finally pushed me over: if I’m going to be stuck at home for work, I would greatly prefer a chilled room in order to concentrate fully. Secondary benefit: I’d get a better night’s sleep.

The portable AC won’t arrive in time for the remainder of this hot weather, but for sure there will be plenty more to come. In the immortal words of John Snow: I’m ready.

You're getting a Dell!

At work, we are imaging a whole bunch of Dell laptops in preparation for the looming Fall semester (still remote, mind you), and I have to say there’s nothing quite like the intoxicating smell of brand new computer hardware. Don’t worry, it’s not just Dell machines - the sweet scent of Apple computers will come hopefully in a few weeks’ time. For now, it’s Windows laptops made by Dell, and in handling over a few dozen of them over the past week, I’ve come to one concluding revelation: it’s so nice to have various type of ports built into the a laptop.

I am the biggest Apple fanboy as there is, but even I have to admit the decision to feature only USB-C ports - and nothing else - on the Macbook line is a massive inconvenience, especially in the education environment. Back last year when my main machine was a Macbook Pro, each and every time I needed to import photos from my camera via SD card, I would forget that I first have to get the USB-C to SD card adapter out of the drawer. Were it a Dell machine - or any typical PC laptop, really - I’d be able to stick the card right in, no fussing with adapters. The hashtag “dongle life” is a real thing, and can get massively annoying.

Most annoying is in classrooms when users need to connect to a projector or television; we never get calls from PC people needing an HDMI adapter, because most of them have it built right in - it’s always Apple users who need a dongle for practically everything. A laptop with many type of ports is a convenience I didn’t realize I wanted until I had to image a load of Dell laptops recently, juggling between many USB (type A, obviously) sticks and ethernet cables. Add to that the ability to upgrade hard drive and memory by the user, and it’s a small wonder why I stuck with Apple laptops even after their transition to USB-C ports only.

Oh right: build quality. The precision assembly of a Macbook Pro is second to none (ignore the episode regarding the butterfly keyboard), and the equivalent Dell feels chunky and flimsy in comparison. “Why does the display lid need to be this thick?”, you’d ask, and “Why is the keyboard deck not absolutely rigid?” Of course, depending on the person, this may or may not be high on the list of things that matter to you in a laptop; for me, how tactilely wonderful a Macbook Pro is to hold and use is worth the hassle of dealing with dongles all the time.

Thankful for the gig

With the enhanced federal unemployment benefits having expired earlier this month, my brother - who was laid off at the beginning of this pandemic - had no choice but to look for work again. Due to personal extenuating circumstances and other factors, my brother can’t exactly return to the retail automotive sector he was working in prior to the lockdowns. Indeed, it would be quite a difficult time for him right now on the job hunt if not for the saving grace of a recent invention: the gig economy.

For the many discussed ills of the gig economy, the existence of it has really saved my brother’s bacon in terms of providing a source of income during these coronavirus times. The sheer ease of access - all you need is a mobile phone and a car - to begin working for these apps is incredible, and the ability to set your own schedule means my brother can still keep his preferred mode of sleeping in (not that DoorDash is really popping during those morning hours anyways). I am happy and grateful for the gig economy in helping people like my brother to easily keep earning money. I can’t imagine the scenario otherwise, honestly.

Of course, it has to be said that my brother only has to make enough money for his own spending: he is in a privileged position of not having to pay rent or carry a household with the income earned. I think those situations are where the gig economy garners its negative reputation: it’s tremendously hard work, with super long hours, in order to make an adequate amount of money to support a family while driving for UBER or delivering groceries for Instacart. We’ve all read the new articles: it’s really tough work, with zero health benefits because these gig workers are treated as independent contractors.

All things considered, my brother is lucky to not be in such a position, and that the gig economy exist to help him make some money and go through this rough period before his personal issues get completely settled.

Movie watching

Lacking for things to do on the weekends - because once again, COVID - I’ve recently started to rent movies to watch. It’s as if life is one long inescapable plane ride right now, and I’m just looking to fill up the time. This might sound horrible to the ears of the productivity-obsessed, but what the heck do you want from me? Surely I’ve hustled enough during the workweek for my regular job; shouldn’t I get to relax come Saturday and Sunday? Reminder: we’re still in a bloody pandemic!

Anyways, I digress. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually watched movies at home, with Youtube content having so dominated my free viewing hours in recent years. But, there’s only so much automotive-related videos to fill up the time, especially when creators are somewhat restricted from going outside (as we all are), and manufacturer model launches aren’t exactly happening like it used to be. With movie theatres still closed down, where else am I going to watch movies but at home? I think this is a great opportunity to catch up on some movies that I surely must be one of the last to see.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with coworkers a few weeks ago, about how back in the days of our high school and college, we’d pirate the movies we want to watch (surely the statute of limitations have long expired, right?) For me, piracy was due to the lack of money, and the availability of an Internet connection. I had dreams of amassing a big digital collection, and in some ways, I succeeded; but I sure as heck did not pay a cent for it.

Contrast that with the present: when I want to see a film, I simply rent it on streaming platforms (whichever is the cheapest, naturally). I make good money now, and it feels morally wrong to continue bootlegging movies (it is morally wrong). No matter how easily accessible illegal copies are, the expediency of logging onto Amazon and clicking one button cannot be beat. I also no longer have the desire to hoard movies into a collection: I seldom watch a film a second time, so that would just be taking up hard drive space for no good reason. This is why I prefer to rent instead of buy: the initial cost is far lower, and I don’t need to see the particular movie more than once.

I look forward to catching up on many good movies in the coming months.

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).