Blog

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

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.

Fixing a puncture

As a car enthusiast, it’s always satisfying to work on your own car. You know for sure that the job will be done correctly, and any mistake made you have nobody to blame but yourself. It sure beats making an appointment at a car shop, only to wait the entire day (if not more) to get your car back. (How long does it take to perform an oil change, honestly?) Never mind the fact shop labor rates have inflated just like everything else.

DIY whenever you can to save some money.

I drew an unlucky straw recently and got a puncture on the passenger front tire. No big deal, I’ve all the tools to plug a tire, provided it’s right on the tread surface (it was). On the BMW M2 it was my first time removing a wheel fastened on by lug bolts (instead of the lug nuts). The bolts came out easy enough, but the wheel was sort of seized onto the hub. Apparently this is a thing with BMW wheels. I’m fortunate to live in a mild climate, so a few hard wiggle of the wheel did the trick to loosen it.

The problem with lug bolts is when it comes time to put the wheel back on. On a car with wheel studs it’s super easy to align the bolt pattern. With no protruding studs of any kind on the M2, I have to masterfully cradle wheel whilst in a squat position, then carefully turn it to align the bolt holes. I should have done some Googling before this job, because apparently they sell an alignment pin to make this as effortless as wheel studs. Hopefully it goes on sale for Black Friday…

Those of us who lift weights consistently do so for the aesthetic appeal. Anybody that tells you otherwise is probably lying. Another aim for my resistance training is to be functionally strong. I insist on doing overhead pressing because holding a heavy weight above your head is a primary movement in everyday life. I squat so that I can be in a squat position comfortably for over an hour while fixing a tire puncture. I deadlift, so that I can hand-hold an over 40 pound wheel and tire for multiple minutes.

There’s really no downsides to weight lifting, other than the time commitment. And the soreness afterwards.

Stock up, stock down

San Francisco is seeing the first big rain storm of the season. I am somewhat regretting not replacing the tires on my BMW M2 before this. The stock Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires are on the final few thousand miles of usable life. (Current mileage of the M2 is 20,214.) These high performance summer tires are not the best in the rain when new, so it’s downright sketchy when the grooves are worn down. I’m definitely not turning on the performance modes in these wet conditions.

The reason I haven’t yet replace the tires is because I am cheap. I want to delay the inevitable $1,500 charge to replace all four for as long as possible. That doesn’t mean I’m avoiding driving; like a good Chinese immigrant I simply wish to maximize the usage out of a product. I paid for the tires, did I not, in the original purchase price of the BMW? This is the equivalent of adding water to a near empty shampoo bottle in order to use every last bit of it.

The reason I’m being so unreasonably stingy (I don’t make bad money) is because our workplace is facing a fiscal crisis. While I am confident in my abilities and what I contribute to the job, I simply do not have the seniority years to feel completely secure. In the event layoffs do happen, and I am affected, I want to be fully financially prepared. That means stashing away money and squeezing out the utility of things I already have. Black Friday shopping for the dopamine hit will not be in my vocabulary.

Just because a university is a non-profit doesn’t mean no profits. Students pay tuition, staff and faculty have to earn a living. You can’t idealize your way out of hard numbers, especially when cuts have to be made. Under-utilized classes should be the first to go.

In turn, Universities should lean on majors that are popular. For as long as I’ve been at San Francisco State (since 2007), nursing is an impacted program. Meaning: demand outstrips supply. Why does this remain so? The nursing major should have expanded to accommodate the demand long ago. Leverage the popularity and competence to make SF State a known destination for nursing (and whichever other in-demand programs). Give the students what they want!

Capitalism is not without faults. So long as that’s the system we are in, that’s the system we have to work around.

Month three of Accutane

You know what’s a fantastic snack? Greek yogurt mixed with granola. It satisfies not only the protein requirement that I need (I am a do-you-even-lift bro), but the sweet taste that I want. It’s like eating ice cream without all the negative consequences. These days I eat Greek yogurt with granola first thing in the morning before I have coffee. It helps take the acidic sting of drinking coffee straight black, too.

I am nearing the end of month three (of a calculated five) of Accutane treatment for my chronic acne. Just as I have read on the r/accutane subreddit, new acne has finally stopped forming by the third month. It is indeed a weird feeling to not have a single new pimple for an entire week. Much like wearing contact lenses for the first time, it’s a whole new world that I’ve not experienced in decades. It’s like I didn’t even know this was possible!

The pandemic era of mask wearing definitely did my supremely oily skin no favors when it comes to causing breakouts. However, the amount of acne did not abate even after the pandemic was over - and constant mask wearing ceased. I think I know why: it’s milk.

As a consistent lifter of weights, I supplement with whey protein daily in order to provide the necessary fuel for muscle protein synthesis. (For those who are not familiar, whey is a strained extract from whole milk.) From what I’ve gathered, it’s not uncommon for milk to exacerbate breakouts for those who are already prone to acne. I can definitely remember (and have pictures to prove it) times when my breakouts weren’t nearly as severe. And during those times I was not supplementing with whey (or drinking milk at all).

The fear is that when this Accutane regiment stops, and I keep drinking these protein shakes, the milk is a strong enough factor to cause acne again. I guess I shall find out. Having purchased a nearly two year supply of whey because Costco had it on sale, I’m not giving up the habit anytime soon. There are non-diary protein powders out there, but those are significantly more expensive per pound compared to whey. (Whey is actually the cheapest per gram of protein of anything, meat or otherwise, you can buy.) Not in this economy!

Not for thee

This guy on Reddit is complaining about the prices of haircuts nowadays. I wonder what is his opinion on paying people a “living wage”. (Whatever that means numerically.) According to what he is saying, barbers definitely do not deserve one. Haircuts should remain cheap just like the old times.

Why am I getting the sense the people arguing for a living wage are advocating for themselves only, and not others? There’s this talk of Trump deporting illegal immigrants will cause food prices to go up because there would be a shortage of farm workers. The assumption is that with smaller labor supply, farmers will have to pay more to attract workers. Basic supply and demand.

Well, no one likes to pay more for groceries, right? The high inflation of past years is how (ironically) Trump won the election. But then aren’t we tacitly saying that farm workers don’t deserve a living wage? Fast food workers got a $20 minimum here in California, and enough people balked at the increased menu prices that McDonald’s and others had to start offering $6 value deals to entice customers.

There’s definitely a dichotomy between advocating for higher wages in general but not liking the results. Corporations will always protect their margins, therefore passing the wage increases to customers. Sure it’s easy to skip fast food, but groceries are kind of essential. The populace won’t stand for inflation at the supermarket.

Let’s be honest: what we really want is for us to get paid more individually, but for prices of stuff to remain the same. So we can’t all get a raise, because that would cause inflation. Living wage for me, but not for thee: Californians rejected the State proposition to increase the State minimal wage two weeks ago. At least we are honest with ourselves!

Unconsumed holidays

Word on the street is that with the supposed Trump tariffs looming on goods made in China, people should buy what they need now to save a buck or two. If you’ve been eyeing a dishwasher upgrade and the thing is Chinese made, time to buy yourself a Christmas present.

Anecdotally, sales representatives have warned us at work to put in big orders now, should the tariffs come into fruition, and suddenly that batch of laptops is now 20% dearer in price. I’m sure the representative has an incentive to sell as much as possible before the end of the year for that bonus. That said, our university is not exactly loaded with cash, so any savings on bulk purchases is not nothing.

Maybe Trump is playing 4D chess: threatens tariffs, inadvertently causes the biggest holiday buying season of all time.

It may be the most wonderful time of the year in terms of weather and atmosphere, but the blatant and rampant consumerism of the holidays is kind of disgusting. The combination of Black Friday and present shopping is both a financial burden and environmentally unfriendly. The endless shipping boxes and the energy it takes to get them to customers.

I’m glad my friend group do not have holiday gifting culture. And even if we did, I’d buy everybody stuff they’d actually use. Like toilet paper, or a pack of USDA Prime beef. The last thing I need more of are items that just sits on a shelf to look nice. It would go straight to the trash bin if and when I ever move home again.

Good news: I saved 100% by buying nothing!

Get the fat

This may be stating the obvious, but two percent Greek yogurt tastes so much better than the non-fat version. Much like how whole milk is the only true milk out there. Those of you drinking two percent milk might as well be drinking water, because that’s what you are buying.

It’s a shame the Costco Kirkland brand only sells non-fat Greek yogurt. For the tasty stuff I have to shell out more money for the Fage brand. In an era of everything-cost-way-more-than-it-use-to, I aim to save a buck here and there when I can. Buying in bulk at Costco with its house brand is a great way to execute that strategy. Alas, it can’t fulfill everything. At least I get 5% cash back at Whole Foods (where I buy Fage Greek yogurt).

It’s occurring to me more and more than when I look at (the high) menu prices of restaurants, that perhaps I should make the same food at home instead. For example: I have strong affection for Korean food. When I see my favorite dish - beef short rib soup - is encroaching into the 30 dollars territory, it’s time to learn how to cook it myself. Save a bit of cash, and it’s probably healthier, too (way less sodium).

I’m reminder of my friend who lives over in Switzerland. Eating out prices have always been expensive there, so whatever dish she desires to eat, she learns to make it. Who would have thought that I would come to face the same situation here in America. Or perhaps it’s just me? I guess a lot of people out there are making more money than me to afford restaurant food frequently.