Blog

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

Paul Blart, library cop

Every time I’ve walked by the local public library lately, I’ve noticed a security guard out front. I guess that’s a permanent fixture now? What a sad commentary on the state of things here in the Bay Area, that even a freaking library needs someone menacing to stand at the entrance. Let me guess: teenagers were doing wayward things inside the library during the afternoon hours. I can’t imagine anyone would actually rob a library. Used books on the secondary market aren’t that lucrative.

The local mall not only has its own security guards, but some of the shops inside - the ones with highly prized merchandise - feature their own security detail at the entrances. (Yo dawg, I heard you like mall cops…) This is a fantastic situation for rent-a-cop businesses: look at all the jobs being created! But for the patronizing public (read: me) it’s a jarring reminder of the reasons these security people have proliferated. We’ve seen the videos: the concerted looting, and rowdy teens (respectively or not).

Target closed down its self-checkout aisle because too many folks were scanning and leaving without paying. We really cannot have nice things around here. The utter tyranny of the minority of people breaking the law, and ruining the entire experience for the rest of us.

We laugh at China for being a policed state, with cameras everywhere. Have anybody noticed the we - at least in the San Francisco Bay Area - are getting there as well? I mean, at least here it’s not government sponsored! There’s private security guards at stores (and public libraries, apparently), and there’s private security cameras outside homes, businesses, and inside public transportation. We’re are absolutely being surveilled whenever we go outside. A price worth paying for being safe?

I should build a PC?

You know what I want to do? Build another PC. Not that I have any use for one, mind you. This is a strictly Mac household. But what I miss is the artistry in putting together various components into something functional and useful. The joy in picking specific parts that play well together, then fitting them in the most aesthetically pleasing way. You have not lived until you’ve spent hours in managing the mess of power and data cables into a pleasing presentation. This is the sort of passion project I am pining for.

Because once upon a time, my main computer were PCs that I meticulously (well, perhaps not the very first one) put together. Before I was able to afford playing with cars (read: being a working adult), customs PCs were the primary domain of my geek-dom. I remember getting a side job during junior year of high school specifically because I want to spent (relatively) extravagantly on a new self-built PC. I printed out a list of components-to-buy to put in my binder as a reminder of precisely what I am working towards.

Those were simple and magical times.

These days I don’t really build much of anything. I buy quality items that (hopefully) last a very long time. PCs have given way to Mac computers that work beautifully right out of the box. I rather use the time that would otherwise be spent tinkering with things for something more productive. Like reading a book, or studying Korean. It’s kind of ironic: I can afford to buy every top-of-the-line PC component, yet I haven’t built one in a long time. The high school me would be utterly dumbfounded by this.

Listen, if there was a way for me to build a PC, and then break it apart and return the parts? I simply want the joy of putting it together. I have zero use for the finished product.

Inflating age

The thing about inflation slowing down of being “over”: will prices of things ever come back down? Or is the reality of $10 meals at McDonalds going to remain forever? Heck, gas prices have been above the five dollars-per-gallon mark for as long as I can remember. I don’t suppose I’ll see the number four or three again unless I venture outside of California. The custom photo calendars that I make every year have gone from $20 per unit to $30. That’s a significant jump when I have to buy 10 for gifting.

Workers of America: unite and get those raises! As high and as soon as possible. Because we know consumer prices are never receding, even if (and when) the Federal Reserve manages to tame down the massive pandemic inflation. The purchasing power of a dollar has forever changed, so get more of those dollars while you still can.

Today is my 36th birthday. I am filled with gratitude for what is, and tremendous happiness for what is to come. Growing older isn’t so scary or fearsome when you are improving bit by bit every single day - at whatever measure you choose. I wake up in the mornings excited to execute and get on with what I am passionate about. At this juncture in my life, I think it’s real key: what gets you out of bed in the morning is something to focus on and cultivate continously. Things you’re so enthused about that you would rather forgo sleep. (Not that you should!)

36 is a fantastic number. And honestly, if we count the three lost years thanks to the pandemic, it’s really more like 33. The COVID years were spent treading water and avoiding death. The grand plans all got put on hold. Now that we (the worldly we) are unequivocally back to business as it were before (I am traveling to China, for the first time since 2019, in two months), I can once again look forward to what’s to come with great anticipation and joy.

Take care of yourself now

Today a coworker told me the sad news of her elderly mother taking a fall. She is still at a care facility on the long road to (hopefully) recovery. Falling down at that age is absolutely one of the worse things than can happen. My own grandmother was never the same after an accidental fall. Not only are elderly bones more brittle, but they also have less growth hormones and repairing capabilities. It is best to avoid entirely. For example, a broken hip hugely increases all-cause mortality:

A recent meta-analysis revealed that women sustaining a hip fracture had a 5-fold increase and men almost an 8-fold increase in relative likelihood of death within the first 3 months as compared with age- and sex-matched controls.

This is something I latently worry about my parents, as they enter into their retirement years. I stress to them often that they have to remain constantly active, and to continue moving heavy things (cardio fitness alone is not sufficient). They also must eat plenty of protein, and less carbs. Obviously, I can’t physically force them to do anything, so whether or not they follow through with my heeding is beyond my control. I think in the near future I will buy for both my parents an Apple Watch: for the fall detection feature. I want to be alerted immediately if my mom or dad takes an unfortunate tumble.

Hearing anecdotes of the fragility of aging, and the ignominy of being mobility hindered and needing assistance to perform basic human tasks, is always a reminder for myself to avoid that outcome to the best that I can control. That means taking care of my body and building a strong foundation now, while I am still at the meat of my adulthood. The retirement years are only worth living if I can be as active and moving freely as the younger years (relatively speaking).

Having grandparents that suffered through it, I can say with certainty that being confined to a living facility for the last decade of life is not the way to go.

You done messed up!

And this is why you don’t trade a perfectly reliable, recent model-year Japanese car, for a 15 year old high-strung German sedan. My brother, the genius that he is, swapped his ND2 Mazda Miata for a B7 Audi RS4. The latter of which is currently in the repair shop, because the high-pressure fuel pump failed, and there’s leaks in the engine oil cooling circuit. If you think that during this time my brother is without transportation to work, you would be correct. Counting on a German car made in 2008 for daily-driving duties is kind of taunting the gods.

I completely understand the want for a naturally-aspirated German machine that revs to the heavens. Once upon a time, I too traded in a Mazda Miata (ND1) for a 991.1 Porsche 911 GT3. Like brother, like brother. The big difference in my case is: I didn’t need the 911 to commute. The GT3 also had a certified preowned warranty, so anything that can go wrong is fixed for free at the dealership. (The circulation fan of the HVAC system failed during my ownership of the car.)

Again, if you need something dependable for commuting, an old, out-of-warranty German car is not it!

A lot of the issues with my brother’s RS4 is caused by the car having largely sat for a whole year by the previous owner. High performance cars (of any nationality) are meant to be driven. Hard. Getting the mechanical bits up to proper temperature, and the various fluids circulating freely throughout, is really good for longevity. Sort of like exercising for humans. The only downside is the fuel bill. I (still) don’t commute with my current BMW M2, but you can bet it gets driven spiritedly on the weekends.

I ran so far away

Rockstar Games finally released the first trailer for the hugely-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6. My first reaction is: oh my god, it’s not coming out until 2025? We’re not even done with 2023 yet! Talk about a super long gestation period. Grand Theft Auto 5 - the previous entry in the franchise - came out way back in 2013! What will be 12 years in between releases is a bloody long time for such a storied and popular series.

It’s all about incentives, isn’t it? Grand Theft Auto 5 was and still is a money printing machine. Therefore there’s no real financially-incentivized rush to make GTA 6. I myself have contributed at least $170 towards the Rockstar Games coffer vis a vis GTA 5. I’ve bought a copy for each generation of the Sony PlayStation console the game was released for: PS3, PS4, and PS5. All because I wanted the fidelity improvements in each subsequently new PlayStation. Worth it? Heck yes. GTA 5 on a giant LG OLED 4K television is an absolute experience.

I am somewhat disappointed that the GTA 6 is returning to Vice City, the fictionalized version of real-life Miami, Florida. The franchise have already done Vice City previously, and it seems Rockstar Games is keen to redo every locale since GTA 3: Liberty City and San Andreas have been featured twice. I guess it’s Vice City’s turn. I’m sure GTA 6’s world map will be spectacularly detailed and huge, but I was hoping the franchise will fictionalized another city it has not done before. There’s organized crime and general mayhem to be had in the Seattle/Vancouver area, right?

Nevertheless, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a day-one release day buy for sure. Best of all, I have more than a whole year to prepare for it. Being not an avid gamer, I will spend 2024 playing the second (of third) entry of the Final Fantasy 7 remake franchise. Then 2025 will roll in perfectly for GTA 6.

Electric toy truck

Last week, the big hubbub in the automotive world is the Tesla Cybertruck commencing deliveries to eager customers. After four long years of (purportedly arduous) development gestation, the quirkiest pickup truck ever (surely Doug DeMuro would agree) is finally on sale. For a company that famously does not have a PR department, it was curious to see a select few journalist getting their hands on prototypes (provided by Tesla, obviously) for early review. Maybe you do have to market an electric toy truck costing $80,000 to $100,000 after all?

Judging from the few early reviews, I must say I am very impressed with what the engineering team at Tesla has accomplished. Elon Musk set out to create something cool and fantastical - from the radical design, the unusual stainless-steel body, and various performance metrics - and his team did its best to fulfill the dictum as much as possible. The project inevitably ran into constraints: be they federal regulations, or general laws of physics. (Example: the final product has side-mirrors, where the concept truck did not.) But overall I think the execution is hugely laudable.

The Cybertruck is now the halo product for Tesla: one that increases the prestige of the brand, and elevates every other model in the portfolio. Customers can feel good knowing the same engineering prowess that went into developing the Cybertruck is also present in the Model Y or Model 3. No doubt that some of the innovations in the Cybertruck will trickle-down to future iterations of other Tesla vehicles. Tesla-firsts such as the 800-volt architecture with a 48-volt base, pure steer-by-wire system, and reverse charging. Those are exciting stuff to look forward to in non-Cybertruck applications.

While I give Tesla credit for making a truck that doesn’t look like any other truck on the road, I reckon there’s a good reason that pickup trucks have looked the same for the past many decades. Until future reviews say otherwise, the Cybertruck looks to not have the same sort of utility of a “traditional” truck. Obviously, I don’t think potential buyers care. Honestly, plenty of people buy a truck for style points, rather than truly using any of the utility fully. The Cybertruck certainly has style points up the maximum.