Blog

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

But I would drive 500 miles

Well, haven’t done that in a while!

This past weekend, I drove over 900 miles in less than two days. Most would say that’s insanity, I would call it bliss. Tiring for sure, especially towards the end, but long drives are my kind of jam. Man, machine, and the open road for hours on end. If sitting down silently is not the type of meditation you can get into, I highly suggest going on a road trip. The stuff that comes to mind when the going seem interminable can be fascinating.

The occasion for the near thousand mile jaunt is a car meet down in Southern California. I mean, what else could it be? The love of cars have made many an enthusiast drive ungodly hours just to hang out with fellow like-minded pals. Granted, I would do such a thing for a friend’s birthday, but then I would simply fly (way less time consuming). The only reason to take the car would be show off said car once you’ve arrived.

It was the first time I’ve taken my BMW M2 Competition on a long road trip. I didn’t realize that after about two and half hours of continuous driving, the infotainment actually alerts the driver, asking if you would like to take a break. Obviously, I’ve never driven the car for that long until last Friday. I am happy to report the M2 driver seat passes the butt pain test. The only reason to stop, then, is to refuel, or relieve.

The road trip reminded me what a godsend cruise control is. Even the basic ones where the car will only keep the speed for you (not the fancy types where the the car will slow down or speed up with the car in front) is such a luxury to have on an endless stretch of highway. The freedom to move and stretch the right leg makes longer stints possible. Speaking of possible, it’s impossible these days to to buy a new car without cruise control, right?

Tay Tay and football

I never thought that Taylor Swift and American football would crossover, but here we are. Because Taylor’s new beau (in an illustrious line of many) is Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce, we now cannot watch a game of football, or any sports show about football, without hearing about America’s favorite pop star. I think it’s fantastic she went to the game in Kansas City to cheer on her boyfriend. We should all be so lucky to have such supportive partners.

That said, I really just want to watch football. I don’t care about Taylor being at the game, nor do I care that Kelce’s jersey sales have increased 400 fold since they started dating (hope he gets a cut of that). Why the heck Taylor Swift on the front page of ESPN dot com? Worse of all are the puns using the titles of Taylor’s multiple hit songs during commentary. Ha-ha, Kelce found a blank space in the end zone and scored. Hilarious.

Taylor Swift need to tread carefully. I remember back when Tony Romo - then quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys - was dating music star Jessica Simpson. When the Cowboys - some would say inevitably - lost in the playoffs, some fans blamed Jessica for cursing the team. If this Taylor-Kelce relationship have legs, then the Chiefs had better win the Super Bowl! Otherwise, it might be the start of the Taylor curse (see: Kardashian curse) - should she continues to date sports stars.

Somewhat FOMO

It was a weird feeling being at the Apple Store this past Friday. For the first time in eight years, I won’t be getting the latest iPhone. So to be at the Apple Store on iPhone launch day, then, gave me some modicum of FOMO. It was bittersweet to be amongst the eager revelers standing in line for their pickup appointment, minutes away from getting their hands on that new titanium. That could have been me also! Honestly, if money was no objection, I’d be standing right in line with them. But, as the saying goes: “Not in this economy!”

I was there on iPhone launch day because it was also the launch day of this year’s latest Apple Watch. The 9th iteration of the Apple smartwatch proved to be the right amount of waiting for me to get my first ever (smartwatch of any kind, that is). I’m not a watch person at all; it’s been years since I’ve worn a “dumb” watch. I stopped wearing that Hamilton watch soon as the battery died. I was too lazy to take it to a watch repair shop to get it serviced. That’s how unenthusiastic I am about watches.

And that’s also why it took me - a huge fan of all things Apple - so long to get an Apple Watch. I reckon nine years is a decent enough length for the Apple Watch to mature into a well-rounded product. The Series 9 receives a processor and screen upgrade over the Series 8, which is just lovely. A smartwatch can never be too fast, and its screen can never be too bright in battling the outdoor sun. I bought the cheapest model: the aluminum 41mm. Well, count ourselves lucky if we can refer to $399 anything as “cheap”.

More so than telling time (I’ve got an iPhone for that), I bought the Apple Watch for its health tracking capabilities. Already I am learning quite a lot from just the heart-rate monitoring function. The data (so far) says my resting hear-rate is 49 BPM, which is apparently quite good. When I’m walking, the average BPM is 90. I’ve yet to do a run with the Apple Watch (air quality was horrendous this past weekend), so I’m very excited to see what my vitals are during workouts.

And those hourly reminders to get up and stand for one minute is pretty effective. Got to close those activity rings!

That's a no from me

Much have been said, lots of it negative, about the exterior design of the new BMW M2. The incongruously boxy design makes the new car look like a Chinese knock-off of the old one. You know it’s not a winning design when people have to caveat it with, “It looks better in person!” Beautiful objects look good no matter if it’s in person or on photographic medium.

To test out the hypothesis that the new M2 looking better in the flesh, I got an opportunity to stare at one when I took my own M2 (previous generation) to the dealership for service. The copy in the showroom is in Black Sapphire Metallic, which helps to camouflage the bulbousness of the lower half. In person, the front end of the new M2 looks rather decent. I wouldn’t call it cohesive, but it’s effective in translating the latest BMW design language. Again, the color black really helps to hide some of the awkward shapes.

What black cannot hide is the hideousness of the new M2’s rear end. The rear bumper design is as atrocious in person as it is in pictures and videos. Why the need for so many elements that jut out? Like warts on an otherwise pristinely smooth face. If I were in a car following this new M2, I would want to pass it as soon as possible so I don’t have to keep looking at that rear end design. It’s simply awful.

The service advisor asked me if I were looking to upgrade - from my old M2 to the new one. I had to be diplomatic about it (instead of laughing out loud ) and said the new car’s exterior is too polarizing. Obvious bias aside, the F87 generation BMW M2 Competition will go down in BMW’s rich history as one of its classic designs. Elegantly aggressive is how I would describe it.

Gratis finis

Well that is it. Today is the final time that maintenance on my BMW M2 will be paid for by BMW. Every new BMW vehicle comes with three years’ worth of free maintenance. That is the perk you receive in paying so handsomely for Bavarian engineering. It’s wild to realize it’s been three years since I bought the M2 back in October of 2020 - during the heart of the pandemic. Taking it for its third annual service also signals the longest period I’ve kept a car bought with my own money.

And honestly I do intend to keep this M2 Competition for as long as possible. I know I said the same thing about the Porsche 911 GT3 (letting that car go still hurts), but hey, the intention is there, okay? Sometimes life throw you unexpected curveballs - especially the financial ones - and you just have to adjust. There’s plenty of residual value tied to M2; if I ever need to sell it in order to facilitate some big life decisions, I totally would in a heartbeat.

What I won’t do is sell the BMW in order to buy another car. The days of swapping out vehicles every few years is over. The M2 is just about the perfect car for me: powerful and sporting enough to easily get into trouble, yet practical enough to do a major Costco run. To move on from that for the newest flavor in automotive town would be silly. Besides, with interest rates at historic highs (for my lifetime), I want to avoid taking out a loan, or withdrawing money from the savings account.

Cheers to many more years with the M2. Time to start saving up for not-free maintenance service that begins a year from now.

Good to have healthcare

How’s everybody in the Bay Area handling the smokey air conditions? AQI reached the 180s yesterday (read: unhealthy), and it’s hovering in the 150s so far today. Thanks a lot, wildfires burning up in Oregon! I haven’t worn a mask outdoors since the early days of the pandemic. Remember those days? In hindsight, it was rather needless to mask-up outdoors. So was wiping down packages and bags with disinfectant.

The horrible air quality did not stop people from exercising outdoors. I saw plenty of people working out at the Marina Green yesterday. And all I have to say is, “Why!?” I can’t perceive any net benefit whilst breathing in this bad of air. This is what indoor gyms - with proper air filtration - are for.

Our health is too important, and so is having quality health care. It’s open enrollment period at my work, and it’s a good annual reminder how fortunate I am to have health care paid for by the employer. It’s the good stuff, too: my friend and I are both with Kaiser Permanente, but her emergency room deductible is $150, while mine is just $50. This low deductible tier do not come cheaply: my employer pays over $960 a month for the privilege (that’s $11,520 a year). I can’t imagine having to fork over that much money myself. Good thing the healthcare mandate, part of the Affordable Care Act, was struck down in court…

I can totally see why people stick with a job they may not like too much, all because of maintaining healthcare coverage. In America we sadly don’t have universal healthcare like rest of the first world. Our healthcare is dependent on employment, or being so abjectly poor that you qualify for government assistance. It adds degrees of difficulty for those wanting to take a leap of faith in pursuing the arts, or going freelance. Especially so if you’ve got dependents relying on you having health insurance.

It would be fantastic if there were universal healthcare. Instead of paying Kaiser $11,520 a year, my employer can pay that money directly to me instead. That would be lovely.

Sunset Night Market

It’s National Cheeseburger Day! I hope you all went to your local McDonald’s and got a double-cheeseburger for only 50-cent (apparently, the original price for one when it first debut on the menu). A single day promotion only available on the McDonald’s app. I saw a kid trying to order from the counter and got declined. They really want to harvest your data!

I made the mistake of going to McDonald’s after work. Thanks to the promotion, it was absolutely packed with people ordering the $0.50 double-cheeseburger. Especially in these inflationary times, who can say no to a sub-dollar sandwich (with cheese)? Nutritional value be damned, we just want to save a buck or two. Regular price for a double-cheeseburger (San Francisco, mind you) is $4.19. I’ll take the nutritional deficit hit, thank you.

The first ever Sunset Night Market this past Friday was also absolutely packed with people. The local district supervisor had visited Taiwan and drew inspiration from the famous night markets there. The somewhat quixotic attempt to replicate it here in San Francisco (we can’t have nice things) was a rousing success… if you only count the sheer number of visitors. It was so packed that one could not see what a booth was selling without being right next to it. I haven’t been in such a dense crowd since rush hour subway in Guangzhou, China.

Prolific crowd number aside, there’s much to improve upon if the Sunset Night Market wants permanent staying power. Firstly there needs to be way more food vendors. The draw of the night markets in Taiwan is numerous food stands. By my count, the amount of food vendors at the Sunset Night Market was less than ten. This in turn worsened the experience of getting food, because the lines -for the vendors that were there - were super long.

The organizers didn’t allocate enough space for the lines (they’ve closed down only three blocks) so it was a mess of people in line blocking the general flow of the crowd. They need more space for everything. The next night market should close down at least six blocks for the same amount of vendors. Sadly, plans for the next one won’t be until Spring 2024!? I am rooting for its continued success, though.