Blog

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

Evening tech support

The thing about working in IT support is that I get asked by friends for help with their IT needs as well. Heath Ledger’s Joker in the film The Dark Knight famously says: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” He forgot to mention that when friends and family comes calling, you do have to do it for free.

Such was the situation last evening. I was all ready for the wind-down phase of my day. About to hit the shower, then straight to bed. Then suddenly a phone call from a friend. She somehow did a factory reset on the WiFI extender in her room, and it’s no longer working. Without a functioning extender, the network signal to her office is super weak, therefore extremely difficult for her to work-from-home.

Of course, it was me who setup the WiFi extender initially. So you can say I felt even more obligated to assist. No good deed goes unpunished. I guess I’m not going to sleep on time!

Thanks to the magic of video calling, I avoided having to make a house call (the friend lives close enough). With streamed visuals I was able to guide my friend through the setup process. 15 minutes later, she was all good once again. Indeed, it’s technologies like Zoom that allow IT support folks to do our jobs during this pandemic. Providing instructions while being able to see what the users are doing is exponentially better than asking them on the phone to describe what they see.

Especially when those users are our not-so-technically-inclined friends!

Road trip? Nah...

I spent much of Sunday evening watching two road trip videos. One from the boys at Gears and Gasoline, the other from duo at Everyday Driver. Both teams drove thousands of miles across America to reach their destination. During this period of insane gas prices! Worse, the cars driven here are sports cars that return miles-per-gallon in the high teens. Gears and Gasoline spent some $6,000 on petrol to get from Florida to Alaska. I don't think I’ve spent that much total on any one trip.

I’ve got a whole week off coming up the week after this, and I’ve been thinking about taking a road trip. Watching the two videos was suppose to inspire me to go. However, after seeing how much was spent on gas, I am not so sure. Prices have come down recently (thanks, Biden!) but around San Francisco, 91 premium remains in the high five dollar range. That only seem cheap coming down from the high six dollars just a few weeks back. The $5.99 per gallon I paid this past weekend is still insanely high.

So yeah, I am not going anywhere. I’ll take a few drives in the local mountains during the week off, and that will be it. Now is not the time to drop a few hundred (or more) on gas simply for the sake of driving wanderlust. Because there's also lodging to think about. Having recently booked accommodations in Austin for end of October, hotels are absolutely not cheap during these times. Everybody is trying to escape and go somewhere.

I’m going to hunker down and wait out this initial travel rush. Save some money in reserve while doing so, and hopefully wait out this current high gas price phase as well. More work to do yet, President Biden!

Type R or bust!

Two days later, I am still buzzing over the newly-announced Honda Civic Type R.

The hottest version of the 11th-generation Honda Civic looks absolutely fantastic. It resolves everything that was wrong with the previous generation Type R. The gaudy body cladding and fake vents are gone. The new Type R is way more subtle, with just hints of aggression. The wheels are 19-inch items now, instead of overly large 20-inch units on the last car. Even the prerequisite “big wing” at the back is now colored in black, blending in nicely with the rear windscreen. It's as if legendary Honda tuner Spoon did the styling on the new car. If you know, you know.

Fitting, then, that the new Civic Type R will be made in Japan. The Swindon plant in the UK - production home of the previous Type R - is no more. As illogical as it may be, a Japanese-made Civic Type R is immediately more attractive than one made elsewhere. Just as I would be less inclined to buy a BMW that isn't manufactured in Germany. I'm sure the forthcoming BMW M2 is completely fine being hecho en Mexico. But I'm extra glad my own BMW M2 was built in the fatherland.

Back to the new Civic Type R: I desperately want one. With the era of internal-combustion engines seemingly at the end of life, the performance cars of today are likely to be the last of its breed. This is the time to buy what you can and keep it forever. As an enthusiast that grew up on Japanese cars, I've had thoughts about getting back into a proper J-VIN vehicle. The Toyota GR86 has been so resoundingly well-received that the soft goal is to buy one to keep - soon as I finish paying off the M2. It seems the Civic Type R has entered the chat. And it's talking a very loud game.

It'll be a tough decision. Logic would follow the front-wheel-drive Type R, since the M2 is rear-wheel drive. However, the GR86 might be the last pure, affordable real-wheel-drive sports car, and there's something to be said about that. Bottom line is: I am not selling the BMW - the Japanese car will be an addition. I consider my F87-generation M2 Competition to also be the last of its kind. The upcoming M2 is heavier, uglier, and uninteresting.

The joy of tools

A fresh set of iFixit tools is a special feeling. Rows and columns of alloy bits not yet tarnish by human fingers. The sharp ends not yet met the heads of a screw. Breathe in that freshly open box smell. It’s probably toxic, but you don’t care. Every single piece is right where it should be, corresponding to the labels perfectly. It’s strange how much excitement I can draw from a $40 dollar tool set. I was super excited when we finally got in some new sets at work.

Primarily because other people have no sense of responsibility. No sense of order. No sense of putting things back where they should be once you’re done with it. Our old roster of iFixit toolkits are all in varying state of mess. Bits either missing or not where they should be placed. Half the time the sets themselves aren’t even put back in the designated area. More than once I’ve vowed to buy my own set. I would then only have myself to blame if the pieces are in disarray.

Of course, they would never be: I’m entirely too obsessive compulsive about things being in their proper place. I don’t expect my coworkers to be on that same level. Most people don’t clean the floors of their home every other day. Naturally then I also have the cleanest desk in the office. I put to regular use those alcoholic wipes that gets handed out like candy since the start of the pandemic.

So I may have selfishly commandeered one of the new iFixit sets for myself. I instantly ran to the label-maker to sticker my name to the case. Perhaps it’s a dick move, but I have to say I do use the tools quite often. Besides, I would gladly proffer up “my” set should someone needs one, and all the others are being used.

London is burning (hot)

The news today out of Great Britain is the country is suffering through a record-breaking heatwave. Temperatures there breached 100 degrees (Fahrenheit, natch), a phenomenon supremely unusual for the island nation that far up the latitude chart. People from hotter climes must be confused at the news: “What’s so especially devastating about 100 degree weather?” And to think that England conquered the world whilst dressed in multiple layers of wool.

The answer is of course obvious: Britain is simply not built for temperatures that hot. The country is famous for its perennial rain, cold, and cloudy grayness. Houses and infrastructure aren’t designed to keep the populace comfortable under those heat conditions - there was never a need. Same situation exists in San Francisco, also famous for its temperate climes year round. When it does get super hot for that one week in October, we suffer just like the Brits are suffering right now.

When it gets that hot in a region where air-conditioning is not really a thing, the only effective way to combat it is one, stay indoors and keep hydrated. Then two, do absolutely nothing else. Productivity is going to and will have to decline massively during that period.

I have to say I was pretty smug this morning, after hearing about the heatwave in England. I walked to work in a balmy high 50s (again, Fahrenheit) weather. Complete cloud cover, no direct sun in sight. How have the climate change gods managed to avoid wrecking their havoc on San Francisco? Last summer was rather mild, and thus far this one has been too. I see reports of massive heatwaves elsewhere and I can only sheepishly chuckle, “Well, it’s still nice and cool over here!”

Granted, there is the great drought our region is continuously going through. What use is cool weather if there isn’t any water?

Must protect the hair

I’m not at all vain about aging, except for one thing: hair. The thought of balding scares me unreasonably. If my hairline ever starts to recede or a bald spot forms at the back, I’ll seek medical remedies immediately. I don’t care to spend thousands of dollars on teeth straightening or laser eye surgery, but for hair loss I would gladly throw money at the problem. As I head into my later 30s, I am definitely, unreasonably, proud that I still have a full head of hair.

Thank you, the genetics of my forefathers and foremothers.

Of course, I’m not immune to the random strays of white hair. Luckily it has not (yet) developed to a point of unmanageable. Every week or so I would spend about 10 minutes in the front of the bathroom mirror to pluck the white hairs out. Obviously this is only possible if you grow out your hair like I have. Do white hairs grow back once they’ve been pulled from its roots? I don’t know: I’m unreasonably afraid that the answer is yes, were I to look it up.

When white hair starts dominating my head, I will for sure be using hair dyes. Hopefully that is something way down the road.

Does a hat-wearing habit accelerate or cause balding? I certainly hope not. I wear a hat to work everyday, just like gentlemen of old at the turn of the 20th century. Function? To keep the sun out of my eyes. At work it isn’t so convenient to carry around a pair of sunglasses (they also fog up while wearing a mask), so I wear a billed hat instead. I don’t think I or anyone can pull off a top hat these day, like the gentlemen of old.

What are you unreasonably self-conscious about?

I'm going to walk

Yesterday I had a truly blissful moment. It was around 5:00 PM in the afternoon. I’d just finished swimming some laps at the local pool. The sun was out, and the temperature was warm enough for San Francisco (which is to say: slightly cool). Being a local pool, I walk there instead of drive. A short 20 minutes of pre and post exercise. That walk back home yesterday was the best post-workout high I’ve experienced in a long time.

I’m generally a fast walker, but yesterday afternoon I walked at a far slower pace. Partly because I was tired from the cardio at the pool, and partly because I so present in the moment. What would I be in the hurry for anyways? Absolutely nothing. Saturday is for slowing down and enjoying life. At least it still is for my single, zero children lifestyle. Those of you with kids: sorry, Saturday is for spending more time with them!

It never gets old how utterly walkable (almost) everything is around me. Not only is it a time and planet savor, but I’ve come to enjoy walking to places. The air quality in this part of the city is fairly decent, plus I get that all-important sun exposure for those precious vitamin Ds. If a spot is within a mile or so radius from home, I’m walking. Unless of course I need to buy a big bag of rice from H Mart. Then the car comes into play.

Or when the weather is inclement. Walking in the rain is no fun, poncho or otherwise.

Suburbia may appeal to me at a later stage in life. For now, I don’t see myself giving up on this entirely walkable situation any time soon. Not for two times the salary would I go back to having a soul-sucking car commute. How you seen how crazy the drivers are on the freeways lately? My 10 minute walk to work is almost therapeutic in comparison.