Blog

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

Economic turkey

You know what’s a surprisingly economical meal? Thanksgiving food. Turkey, mash potatoes, ham, and frozen broccoli can all be bought at Costco for about $75. That lot will comfortably feed 10 adults into a food coma. In this inflated economy, I think Thanksgiving food is a very viable option for other times of the year. The price per pound per gram of protein of a turkey is devastatingly superior.

You know what grinds my gears? When people say: “When adjusted for inflation.” It’s annoying because the person saying that line is invariable using it as a defense of the current economy. It’s not so bad once you adjust for inflation! A 2024 Honda Civic is magnitudes better than the 2000 version, at a cheaper price when inflation adjusted.

That’s great, but we don’t live in the past. Our reality cannot adjusted for inflation. Telling people X isn’t so bad when you consider Y and Z is a recipe for losing an election. The economy under President Biden may look mathematically great: all-time highs in the stock market, and broad wage increases that kept up with the pandemic inflation. But people don’t feel great about the economy. Facts may not care about feelings, but facts don’t vote, feelings do.

I’ve certainly been negatively vocal about the economy on this blog. I’ve had a fortunate 30% increase to my 2019 salary - the keeping up with inflation part - and yet I feel like my purchasing power has gone to shits. What people want is deflation, but without all the other hugely deleterious effects. Of course, that’s not possible, but the Americans sure voted like it is!

Gym, tan, Thanksgiving

I hope you’ve had a great Thanksgiving day. I certainly did. I cooked a meal, worked out, and then ate that meal. What more can you ask for on a day off? Thanksgiving is just another day off for me because my family did not celebrate it growing up. One, because we were immigrants from China (where it’s obviously not a thing). Two, because our mom did not want to take the pots and pans out of the oven just to cook a 20 pound turkey that would take forever to eat.

What’s wrong with a chicken?

For the Thanksgiving holiday my friend is going on a cruise with his family to Mexico. He told us he will be unreachable until he gets down there because the ship does not have free WiFi. For the privilege of an Internet connection, the cost is $40 per day. Absolute thievery. I guess we have a new pro tip: if you would like to do a digital detox, go on cruise! Unless of course you are rich enough that $40 per day for Internet is of no consequence to your finances. (Or charge it on a card like a good Gen Z.)

I do wonder what it would be like to be without Internet for multiple days. The longest I’ve been without connection is the 15-hour flight to Hong Kong. The smartphone has largely gotten rid of boredom, so it’s an interesting dynamic to see people having to be bored. I have doubts: folks can’t even use the restroom without bring in their phones. At work I see people scrolling while filling up their water bottles. Our inability to be still for even a minute is astounding.

Never say never, but I don’t think I’ll step foot on a cruise ship. If I wanted to be confined to a specific location with multitudes of entertainment and food options, I’d rather go to Las Vegas. To see the ocean, I would head to the local beach side (lucky to live right by the Pacific Ocean.)

Cooking for others

This era of high food prices is really causing me to rethink about outside food consumption. I don’t see a reason to pay $30 for a simple meal when I can make that same dish at home for cheaper, healthier, and with more meat. (As a consistently lifter of weights, more protein is always good.) The skills I learn cooking for myself and the recipes I keep will last an entire lifetime. The kitchen smells great, too.

The only tradeoff? Time commitment, of course.

Another joy to be found in cooking at home is in sharing the food with others. There’s a great motherly pride when someone eats the food that you’ve made and they absolutely love it. No wonder parents everywhere get their feelings hurt when their kids tell them a particular dish tastes not so great. All that love and attention in making the food, crushed in a moment of child-like honesty.

Is Thanksgiving not the epitome of sharing this kind of love? No one bakes a turkey for themselves (even a high protein eat like me have no need for a 20-pounder); it’s all about doing it for the culinary enjoyment of others. It would be entirely different - and loses its meaning - if an entire Thanksgiving feast is made to order. The time commitment is the point. Though the least the non-cookers could do is clean up afterwards.

This coming Thursday I hope you get the privilege to cook for those close to you.

Thankful for the balance

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you’ve all had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday. I most certainly did. I accomplished the one task I set out at the start: vacuum and clean the interior of my BMW M2. Job done, the rest of the time is pure rest and relaxation.

Cleaning the inside of my car is an annual tradition (unlike any other). Because I drive the BMW so seldomly - and typically it’s just me inside - the interior never gets too grimy. The few people I’ve chauffeured around have all remarked in amazement how clean it is. I would sheepishly reply that it is not due to any sort of cleaning diligence on my part. Granted, I probably would vacuum more often if the M2 needed it.

I am thankful I live close enough to work for me to walk (instead of drive). Furthermore, what I am most grateful for this Thanksgiving is happy employment, one that allows for taking an entire holiday week off with zero issues. There was no stress at all in going back to work today. I slept quite soundly the previous night; the dreaded “Sunday scaries” are fortunately not a thing for me.

You absolutely cannot pay me enough (more) to break this peace of mind.

The contrast of seeing people working during Thanksgiving week (shoutout to the folks keeping Whole Foods open for half a day that Thursday), while I am freely hanging out on vacation, fills me with immense gratitude. Sure, I’ve hustled tremendously to be where I am at, but it would be naive to think there weren’t some lucky levers that got pushed by some sky deity along the way. My original staff position - some 10 years ago - only opened up because someone left.

No amount of agency on my part could have control that!

Respect the Thanksgiving

It’s November, and you know that means: it’s officially Christmas season. Well, not in my house! In this rented studio of mine, we have respect for the major holiday before Christmas. That’s right, I am talking about Thanksgiving. The Christmas tree (and decorations) goes up after the fourth Thursday of November, not before. There won’t be any Mariah Carey on the music rotation. And if I see Santa at the mall available for pictures - before Thanksgiving, I am punching him in the throat (tongue fully in cheek).

I get it: the Christmas atmosphere is pretty awesome. To get two months of it - from the beginning of November to end of the year - stretches out that specialness. I certainly like Christmas more than Thanksgiving. The latter doesn’t have songs to compete with the many famous tunes related to Christmas (shoutout the woman being horny for Santa). Aren’t Thanksgiving decorations simply autumnal-themed? Pumpkin spice latte can never compete with the evocative Starbucks holiday cups. (Or for the folks on the American political right: Christmas cups.)

You know what does respect Thanksgiving? Capitalism. The local Walmart may already have Christmas decorations up, but it hasn’t forgotten that it’s (day after) Thanksgiving that brings in the biggest revenue of the year. It seems like Black Friday has morphed from Friday after Thanksgiving to an entire month of sales and consumerism. These big box stores all have Black Friday sales way before the actual day. Take the Walmart example: if you join their membership program, you get first access to “Black Friday” sales on the second Wednesday of November (that’s tomorrow).

Black Friday is the best time to do your Christmas shopping. If you’re the frugal, non-procrastinating type.

Additional dealer markup

During Thanksgiving I met up with my cousin who I’ve not seen for a quite some time. Turns out he recently traded in his long-serving 2006 Toyota Corolla for a brand-new Toyota Sienna. The move makes perfect sense: he’s got a young kid now, and loading-unloading the car seat is just that much more convenient in a van than a tiny sedan. Besides, the improvement in vehicle safety has been magnitudes over the decade plus. I too would want the best and safest for my baby nephew.

Being that we are still amidst the great supply chain shortage in terms of new cars, I naturally asked my cousin if he paid over MSRP for the Sienna. Turns out he paid about $3,000 in ADM, plus the color blue he bought was not really his first option. I guess you absolutely cannot be picky in this market, especially the sought-after Toyota hybrid products (gas is still super expensive, after all). You agree with the dealer on the price, and then you wait until it’s your turn to get the latest shipment off the boat. For a particular color the wait can be months.

With high inflation, high interest rates, and a seemingly looming recession (tech companies have announced significant layoffs in droves), the current feeling is that the new vehicle shortage vis a vis demand will come back down to earth sometime next year. I hope the prognosticators are correct because the timing would be perfect for me. As I’ve written before, I am looking to buy the latest Honda Civic Type R. The car has just been released to the public earlier this month, so I’m waiting out the initial rush of folks who are willing to fork over the $10,000 or so dealer markups.

I’m looking to make the move sometime in the spring of next year. The hope is that serendipitously the market conditions would become favorable enough that I can buy a Type R with minimum to zero markups. In the meantime I’ll be scouring the forums for all the information pertaining to the FL5.

Hooray austerity

It is Thanksgiving week! That means Black Friday shopping is upon us. This year I plan to buy absolutely nothing. 2022 has already been a bit of a high spending year for me, in terms of material things. Earlier in the year I bought an LG OLED TV, and a PlayStation 5 to go along with it. Later on a pair of bookshelf speakers that costs $400. Just two months ago I replaced my 20-year old mattress with a fancy box unit from Helix.

I don’t always buy things, but when I do, I purchase the good stuff.

It’s time for some austerity. The Black Friday deals will certainly try their best to tempt me, but I am determined to prevail. Actually, that’s a lie. Last week a friend informed me a set of Google Pixel Buds A-Series was on sale for only $50 on Amazon (from original price of $99). It is downright disposable at that price. And since I am in need of replacing my pair of basic AirPods with something that lasts longer than one hour on a charge, the timing of that deal was perfect.

Let’s revise this, then: I endeavor to spend no more than $50 (plus tax) on things material during this holiday season. I will instead spend money on food and experiences with my friends. It’s not really about saving money, but rather spending money on the important stuff. I may want a standing desk that I’ve been eyeing for a long time, but I’ll be happier buying food from Costco for our Friendsgiving later this week.

Besides, there are other ways to get the benefit of a standing desk, such as going outside for a 10 minute walk.