Blog

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

Loathing in Las Vegas

The last time I was in Las Vegas was back in 2014. As an adult who seldom drinks and detest going to parties, the little town in Paradise, Nevada never held the same appeal to me as it does to others. A weekend off to Vegas? But why? It’s nothing but a whole mess of people, spending your hard-earned money frivolously, and supremely dry weather (bring lotion).

Well, I just came back from a long weekend in Las Vegas. My friend was attending a conference and had a free hotel bed for me to stay. I figured, why not? It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Vegas; let’s see what it’s like from the perspective of an introvert who is now in his mid thirties.

My priors views about the place are still present. The throngs of people on a Saturday evening on the strip is absolutely amazing and also terrifying, coming out of the pandemic. All I could think about while I was amongst the sea of people is the horrific tragedy in Itaewon, Seoul. If there is a crowd rush right now I will for sure die. The best time to walk the strip is actually a weekday afternoon, during golden hour. Far less people, and the sunsetting colors make the views kind of spectacular.

The frivolous spending of money is what actually grosses me out of the most about Vegas. American consumerism and consumption-ism is on full display. You can’t walk a super long Vegas block without encountering something to lose your money to. Everything there is designed to separate you from your cash, all dressed up in a nice coat of high-class veneer to convince you of your specialness. Las Vegas allows the layman to indulge in a taste of the stereotypical rich lifestyle. Provided you’re willing to fork over some money.

Because the lunch there is definitely not free. The food prices in Vegas are incredibly high, even at the hotel food court level, never mind the branded restaurants behind famous chefs that you’d need reservations for (and a tip to the maître d'). For three days I bought nothing material from any store, only spending on food. I easily dropped $300 on sustenance alone, and that’s without going anywhere fancy. Vegas inflation is real, add on top of that the regular inflation we’re experiencing everywhere.

Las Vegas is indeed a playground for the rich. Normal folks like you and I can only pay what little we have to get a taste. And perhaps get lucky at the tables and games so we can join the ranks of the rich, however minuscule the chance may be. That’s what keeps people coming back, the endless hedonic treadmill.

I should be prepared

Two days ago there was an earthquake in nearby Santa Clara county. A 5.1 magnitude event. I honestly did not feel it here at work in San Francisco, though oddly my coworkers felt the shaking. So did my friends group, and everybody that is local on my twitter feed. First thing to do after an earthquake - the non catastrophic kind, obviously - is to get on twitter and tweet about it. That’s the rule.

I guess the reason I did not feel the shake is because the duration was quite brief. The objects around me didn’t move at all. I was a bit worried about my bookshelves at home. Stuff falling out of it would land directly on my $2,000 electric piano. The iPad that I put there would surely get obliterated. I really should secure the bookshelves properly to the wall with the supplied brackets. Complacency - we haven’t had a truly big one since 1989 quake - and laziness gets to us all.

It’s those factors that are also causing me to procrastinate on an earthquake-readiness kit. A bug-out bag, if you will. A backpack filled with emergency food, water, clothing, copies of important documents, and straight cash (homie), ready to take at a moment’s notice. Honestly, someone need to hold me accountable on this so I actually get this done sooner rather than never. To be even more prepared, I should get an M1 motorcycle license, then buy a used bike. Therefore I won’t be stuck in traffic in a line of cars during a major disaster.

I should also get a gun permit, learn how to shoot one, then buy a gun to put in the bug-out bag. People are going to come for my stuff during the chaotic aftermath of an earthquake or tsunami. Besides, this is America - lots of folks have guns. I can’t be bringing a knife to a gun fight. That reminds me: a solid blade and a multitool is also needed in the disaster bag.

Plenty to do after I come back from next week’s vacation! Everything but the part about the gun. Maybe the motorcycle, too.

I wouldn’t park my sports car under a tree!

Goodbye, Apple TV+

Yesterday Apple announced a price increase on its services. Primary to my concern is the $2.00 increase to Apple TV+, now costing $6.99. That impelled me to cancel my subscription. At least the company makes it easy to cancel! I did it right on my iPhone via the Apple ID settings. Shame on companies like The New York Times forcing you to make a phone call. Just so the minimum wage agent on the other side of the line can try their best to convince you to stay. No, thanks. My decision is absolute.

Apple TV+ at $4.99 is apparently low enough of a price for me to keep my subscription long after I finished watching the show that made me sign up in the first place: Pachinko. Since then, I did not launch the app even once to watch another thing. Great shows like Succession and Ted Lasso that everyone rave about? I could not care less. I simply do not watch TV shows. The latest Marvel and Star Wars stuff on Disney+ I’ve yet to start. The impetus is not immediately there.

The price for these subscription services only ever goes upward. Apple did me a favor by reminding me I’m still paying for Apple+. $6.99 for something I don’t use is too much. I don’t even share that account with my friends, which I absolutely do with Disney+. Accounting sharing is how I am able to watch stuff on all the major streaming platforms for the price of one or two. Though to be perfectly fair, Verizon wireless pays for my Disney+ subscription (and Hulu, and ESPN+). The friend who is paying nearly 20 bucks a month for HBO Max is the real MVP.

Not that I watch a lot of stuff on HBO (not a single hour of Game of Thrones). If I were on my own, I’m not sure I would subscribe to even one of the streaming services. If anything, I would pay for Youtube Premium, a platform I watch videos on every single day.

Always be backing up

My housemates have gone on vacation, so I am the only person currently occupying the home. Typically when I leave the house for work or whatever, I don’t take my keys. The entry door uses a keypad for locking - the key serves as a backup. I figured if there’s ever the slight chance the keypad stops working, I can always contact my housemates to come to the rescue.

Can’t do that anymore when they’re both on vacation! Therefore I’ve been taking the door keys with me, just in case. Technology is only as great as the backup plan for when it (inevitably?) fails. I simply cannot trust it completely to do its job every single time, without failure. The only time the good ole key and tumbler setup have stranded me is when I’ve misplaced the key. Batteries never run out on analog.

Obviously there’s a huge convenience factor to a keypad lock. And on most days I enjoy that convenience immensely. Just like the ATM at a bank branch: it’s great to be able to get stuff done without having to talk to a live person. However, I would never trust the ATM for a depositing a huge amount of cash. One misstep with the inner mechanicals - that I have zero control over - and that money is gone forever. This is especially true for ATMs that are not inside a bank building: who are you going to call while your cash is stuck in limbo?

Technology makes life fantastically convenient, but I think the point here is you have to be smart and cover your ass. My work in I.T. exposes me to catastrophic failure often enough. You can turn on your computer one day to find it utterly unresponsive. I sure hope you’ve had a consistent backup plan in place for your data!

Pour some sugar on me

Sometimes you know you’re going to suffer for it, but you do the thing anyways.

This past Sunday I drove my housemates to the airport for their long-delayed honeymoon to Thailand. It was around 9:00 PM when we set off from the house. First stop was the local In-N-Out burger for what was their dinner. I already had my supper, so rather than just sit there and look at them eat (I’m not a fan of the mukbang video genre), I ordered a milkshake. In the only flavor acceptable: Neapolitan.

This decision would prove detrimental as the rush of sugar and fat absolutely wired me up. There was no way I was going to sleep at my usual time of 10:30 PM. It’s just not going to happen. So I did the only thing possible: stay up until the sugar rush passes and I feel tired enough to go to bed. Plenty of chores were done before I finally hit the sack at 1:00 AM the next day.

Yesterday was a unusually warm day in San Francisco. A friend asked to go get ice cream after dinner. This meant, once again, ingesting something sugary and fat late into the evening. Knowing full well my normal sleeping schedule will be ruined, I went ahead and got that rocky road scoop on a waffle cone regardless. Totally worth it! Being social and hanging out with friends is decidedly more important than slumber.

Up to a certain point, obviously. You won’t see me going on a bar-hopping binge well pass midnight. Not that my friends and I are the sort of people to do that. Not in our currently advanced, mid thirties age anyways.

Thoughts on the new M2

So there’s a new generation BMW M2. And it’s rather ugly! The front end looks decent enough - it’s very boxy - though I’m not convinced about horizontal slats on the iconic BMW kidney grilles. The side profile is the best looking aspect of the new car. The classic three-box coupe shape is still there. The bulging fenders to accommodate the wider track from the M3/M4 looks delicious.

It’s the rear of the new M2 where the styling fails completely. What the heck is going on with the rear bumper treatment? It looks like there’s warts growing out of the body. The taillamps also bulges out for no apparent functional reason. In a text to a friend I said the new M2 looks like a fake copy of the old M2 done for a Grand Theft Auto game. It is definitely not a looker.

It gets worse on the inside: the new M2 has BMW’s iDrive 8. There’s a giant horizontal slab of LCD screen for both the instrument cluster and the infotainment system. I much prefer analog gauges and physical buttons. Curse on Tesla for jump-starting this trend of having touchscreens to do and show everything in car interiors. I’ve had newer BMW cars as service loaners, and the digital instrument cluster is utterly useless in terms of getting information at a glance. I’m not a fan.

What else is bad in the new M2? The weight. It’s some 200 pounds heavier (at about 3,800) than the old M2, which wasn’t the lightest thing to begin with. Despite the weight and overall size increase, the interior space isn’t that much larger in the new car! The braking system have changed to by wire: there’s no physical connection from the brake pedal to the master cylinder. That just reads artificial to me. There’s no reason for brakes to have different modes! It either stops brilliantly or it doesn’t.

One last thing: the new M2 will be built in Mexico. Call me a snob - because I am - but I want my high-dollar performance German car to be built in the fatherland. This also means prospective buyers won’t have the option to do European delivery. It’s something I wanted to do when I bought my (previous generation) M2. But the COVID pandemic put a halt to all of that. Shame!

You get three stars!

Sometimes you’re simply compelled to leave a negative Yelp review. It’s not that I had a genuinely horrible experience, but in the saga of trying to get the windshield replaced on my BMW M2, it was not so pleasant dealing with certain vendors. What it boils down to is this: communication. Any store has the right to refuse service to anyone, obviously. However, they should let the customer know this! Instead of stopping all communication without warning.

The first bodyshop I contacted to inquire about the windshield was such an establishment. While they did return my initial call saying they can help me, they never contacted me again with a repair estimate, after promising to do so. I emailed multiple times and never got a response. I realize most of these bodyshops completely ignore their emails, but I think that’s a mistake. Millennials and Gen Z people grew up on emails as a communications tool, and are deafly afraid of making a phone call.

A place of business would be wise to pay attention to incoming emails.

After I successfully got the windshield replaced (hat tip to Weatherford BMW in Berkeley), it was time to post lukewarm Yelp reviews for the shops that ignored my requests. A modicum of revenge for making me wait three weeks to get a simple piece of glass replaced on my car. And honestly, it’s such a relatively simple job! I know it doesn’t bring in the big money like a proper collision repair, but a small-bill customer is still a customer.

So I gave those shops three out of five stars, and wrote a little bit about the utter lack of communication. It would not be fair to give them any less stars because ultimately I did not do business with those places. Three stars is just enough to have my say forcefully, without looking like I’m being a dick about it. Even though I guess I’m trying to be a bit of a dick about it.