Blog

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

No calm before storm

Well I guess I won’t be taking the GT3 out for a drive this weekend. It would be highly uncivilized to contribute to the already horrible air quality caused by the many wildfires that are burning in the Bay Area. Somewhat ironically, the areas of fun mountain roads that us local car enthusiasts frequent are almost all on fire right now, so it’s not like I can take the 911 to its usual spots, either. This is not a complaint, but rather an observation. Of course I am hoping the best for those living in the affected areas, and a hearty Godspeed to the firefighters and first-responders.

The Fall semester starts next week, which is quite difficult to believe that it’s here. These days I don’t really notice the passage of months, not with being in lockdown since March and each day largely blending into the sameness of the next. There’s no freedom to go anywhere or do the things I’m used to, no room for spontaneity, so I’ve settled down into this new rhythm, one of not noticing the usual big events on the calendar. Does it really make a difference that a new school year starts next week? Not at the moment, no: I’ll still be doing the same thing I’ve done since March for the foreseeable future.

Again, not complaining, but a statement of facts.

Under normal times I would indeed be taking the GT3 out for a spirited drive this weekend, to clear the mind and have some joy of machine before the looming Monday arrives and I’ll have to deal with the super craziness that the beginning of Fall semester typically brings. No such luck this year, obviously, and honestly none of us on the tech support side knows what a fully remote start to the school year will look like. It’s unprecedented for sure, and I hope we never have to go through it again after this one.

Stay safe. God bless.

Well this is not good!

I opened up the blinds this morning to an intensely smokey sky, immediately knowing that it’s not the usual fog we get here in San Francisco, an ominous sign for what’s currently happening in the Bay Area. As I’ve written on Monday, the region is experiencing a historic hot weather pattern, combined with freak thunderstorm conditions this past Sunday. This uniquely combustable mix have finally cracked open the gates to hell as the lightning have lit several wildfires that are burning right now. Evacuation orders are in affect for areas in the Santa Cruz mountains and Vacaville, some homes have already been destroyed; and lest we forget, we are still in the middle of a bloody pandemic.

This is not good at all.

Slightly better news for San Francisco is that the heatwave is largely over for us; we’re solidly in the 70s during the day (some of us would say that’s still rather hot, spoiled brats) while rest of the Bay Area continues to suffer through high 90s and 100s that will last for the rest of this week. Surely that’s not going to help the fire-fighting efforts, and judging from what I’m reading on the news, we’re only in the beginning stages of containing the many blazes in the area. The governor of California have declared a state of emergency, which is somewhat hilarious because haven’t we been in a sort of state of emergency since early March?

2020 cannot get any more weird and horrible if it tried, and try it will: there’s still more than four months of the year left, and November elections are looming in the horizon. At this point it’s probably better to be prepared for the worst than holding to an optimistic position that things will only improve from here on out, that surely this is the bottom. I have no doubts that all of this will pass and we’ll get back to our preferred normal, but any thoughts of a fast resolution should be out the proverbial window by now. I certainly did not think that we’ll be sitting here in August facing another school year of remote learning, and yet here we are.

Right now I can only pray that the wildfires aren’t going to get much worse, and people in the area will be safe.

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.