Blog

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

Never eat alone

After my Wednesday evening workout session, I typical go to the local Chipotle for sustenance. There’s no better way to get the big three macros (carbs, protein, and fats) covered than a Chipotle burrito bowl. I’m fairly convinced one can properly bulk up feeding on that alone. Best of all, and the whole point of going there in the first place: I don’t have to cook after a strenuous workout.

But that post-exercise meal plan is changing. California’s new minimum wage law for fast food workers - a luxurious (sarcasm) $20 an hour - went into effect on April 1st. In response, franchises with over 60 stores nationwide (that would be most of the fast food chains we know and frequent) have raised menu prices. You didn’t think they were going just absorb the increase in labor cost, did you? Profit margins are too holy for that.

The price for the burrito bowl I usually get at Chipotle went up about $0.75. That may seem trivial, but fast food costs have already ballooned in recent years due to the pandemic supply chain and inflation. The latest increase is the straw that is breaking my camel’s back. After working out this evening, I cooked at home instead. $15 for a burrito bowl is so not Raven.

While I am happy for the fast food workers getting a raise, I just won’t be the one supplying those dollars. In fact, eating out has become so expensive that I am implementing a new personal rule: no more outside food unless I’m with others. The social aspect is definitely worth paying for. Otherwise, like the McDonald’s meme goes: we have food at home.

Cover your butt

Speaking of high auto insurance costs: part of the reason why it costs so much per month to insure my BMW M2 (aside from the fact it’s a fast BMW) is that I have way higher liability coverage limits than what is mandated by California. This great State of ours calls for only $15,000 for injury/death to one person, $30,000 for injury/death to more than one person, and $5,000 for damage to property (15/30/5 in insurance parlance). Those minimums are laughably low when considering the average selling price of new cars in America is about $48,000.

That means if you collide with a brand-new Toyota RAV-4, and you only have the California minimum coverage, high chance you will be personally on the hook for damages over those minimums. A total-loss for the RAV-4 is already above $30,000, so let’s not even add on any potential bodily injury of the opposing driver.

And yet the minimums aren’t any higher, because that means everybody’s base premiums would be higher as well. It seems California is incentivized to keep the minimums low, because more people would be able to afford auto insurance on the low end. (But driving is a privilege, not a right?) No need for low-income folks to carry high liability when there is nothing in their bank accounts for the opposing party to sue for.

Obviously, if you’re at least a medium earner with a some assets in reserves, you’d be risking a lot to not have higher coverage. I personally have 100/300/100 on the M2’s policy. On the other hand, I also carry uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Because a driver carrying State minimums can’t possibly cover a total loss of the M2. It’s kind of perverse, actually: if you have assets, you have to pay more to cover yourself and cover for other drivers’ insufficient coverage. Fair, it is not.

But I gladly pay my high insurance premiums. My risk tolerance is super low when it comes to preserving the integrity of my bank accounts. The car can always be replaced with a check from my insurance; never ever dependent on the other party’s insurance to make me whole.

I like eggs

Are there eggs available for purchase at your local grocery store? Reads like there’s an Avian flu outbreak amongst the chickens in California, and the supply of eggs is threatened (and chickens-related food products too, presumably). All appears to be fine at our local Whole Foods this past Saturday, and supply at Costco looks to be healthy that Sunday as well. But, as a daily eater of eggs, I bought more than usual at Whole Foods, just in case.

Eggs are obviously an excellent source of protein. Since my high hemoglobin A1C results from last October, I’ve been eating scrambled eggs as a substitute for white rice (mostly the dinner meal). At a rate of at least two eggs per day, I go through the supply quite quickly. Be that as it may, I still do not buy in larger bulk from Costco. I greatly prefer the eggs from organic-fed, free-range chickens. Those are only available at the likes of Whole Foods. It may be the money talking, but I can definitely taste the difference.

Not that I am the stuck-up picky type. I don’t go to my friends’ homes and lament they only buy non-organic eggs. I’ll eat them all the same.

I asked my mother whether or not she stocked up on eggs, in case of imminent shortage. She said they (my parents) do not eat much eggs, so didn’t feel the need to do so. I reminded her that eggs are great for protein, and that she and father should eat more protein now that they are both retired. I feel like I’m going to be a broken record, the nagging parent (how the turntables) when it comes impelling my parents to eat more protein (and less carbs). It’s such a crucial nutrient as they age into their golden years.

We have to eat our proteins, too. Sure hope the egg supply stays consistent through this mini crisis!

An electric road trip

Turns out, road-tripping in a Tesla electric vehicle is eminently doable. At least in California.

During my recent trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles - driving my very not electric BMW M2 (God bless the dinosaur juice!) - a friend drove down with me in his Tesla Model 3. It gave me the opportunity to see what it is like to drive hundreds of miles, in a single day, in an electric-vehicle. What is the charging infrastructure like? Do charging times dramatically affect progress towards our destination?

It’s important to keep in mind that we are talking about Tesla. Tesla famously have its own supercharging network. Your non-Tesla EV obviously may have a wholly different experience going down the length of California in a single day.

The supercharging network is fabulous. The ones we went to were situated in malls, offering a far better bathroom experience than the dank ones in gas stations. We even did some last-minute road-trip essentials shopping at the Target next to the first supercharger we stopped at. It makes sense that superchargers are in areas of higher quality than the typical highway-side rest stops. Purveyors of six-figure Tesla cars aren’t wont to slum it with the peasants.

Improved amenities aside, the best thing about the superchargers is the charging speed. My friend charged his Model 3 Long Range from 20% battery to 80% in less than 20 minutes. Just enough time for a bathroom break and stretch of the legs. For sure that charging time is considerably longer than a simple gas fill-up, but if you coincide the charging with the need for humans to take a break as well, then 20 minutes did not feel burdensome at all.

One of the major concerns folks have with electric vehicles is taking them on long trips. I can affirm that if you have a Tesla and you’re in California, that concern is nonexistent. You can comfortably traverse the State and be confident that a supercharger station is always within reach. And once at a supercharger, the refilling experience is quick and seamless. Tesla have done a fantastic job building out the infrastructure, one that I’m sure is a huge competitive advantage.

The most depressing place

One of the most joyless place in the world has to be your local DMV office. That’s why we avoid going there as much as possible. My California driver license is due for renewal this year. Normally I would choose the renew-by-mail option. However, I’ve been procrastinating on getting the REAL ID, a Department of Homeland Security identification requirement to board a U.S. domestic flight. This will be fully enforced May of next year, so I had to bite the bullet and visit the DMV.

Even with an appointment, I was not checked into the building until 10 minutes after my scheduled time. The line outside was that long. Coincidentally, the card payment devices at that DMV office were out of a commission, a fact that wasn’t relayed to those of us in line. It would be cash only, a huge bummer for me because I hardly ever carry cash. Luckily my housemate was home and just 10 minutes away. He came through with the cash minutes before my number was called. Clutch!

The paperwork to attain a REAL ID is relatively draconian. Firstly you need another form of identification (can’t be your driver license), which for most of us is our passport. Secondly you need two pieces of official paperwork that has your name and current address. I used a bank statement and the declarations page of my automobile insurance. The second part seems to be tripping some people up. I heard no less than two people while I was at the DMB not having the necessary identifying papers.

Of course, they didn’t get much sympathy from the DMV clerks. No need to be joyous and courteous toward customers when job security is already baked in. Though honestly there’s really not much for the clerk to do if the customer did not come prepared. On the other hand, the customer likely wasted two hours waiting and will now have to do it all over again on another day. I would be frustrated too.

Save for the snafu with needing cash, I had everything in order. The REAL ID diver license will come in the mail soon enough. And hopefully I won’t have to step foot inside that DMV for at least a few years.

Historic heatwave

Man, that was some heatwave, wasn’t it? Even the west side of San Francisco got up to the 90s. That’s still not as bad as the rest of California: soon as you leave sight of the ocean, you are in the 100s. I feel most bad and concern for my father who works in construction. It cannot be fun at all yesterday at the work site. God bless the men and women who have to work outside under these scorching conditions. The construction workers, the firefighters, and the guy with a food cart selling hotdogs to the neighborhood.

Yesterday afternoon we got an email from campus saying PG&E is instituting rolling blackouts from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The funny part is the email cautioned us to avoid using the elevators - if possible - during that time. Make sense: last thing any of us want is to be stuck inside an elevator that’s only going to get hotter because no electricity means no circulation, either. Folks in the downtown campus simply left and went home. I guess there’s less oversight over there!

Turns out much of California was under potential blackout conditions during peak hours yesterday, our house included. Thankfully it never came to pass. It seems enough household heeded the warnings and reduced their energy consumption enough to mitigate the need to cut off power. It’s a good reminder for me to be prepared. I really should get one of those fancy multi-hundreds of watt battery generators. The type that people take to go camping or hashtag van life.

Just like air conditioning, you’ll be glad you have it when you need it. Speaking of which, I’m lucky my studio is somewhat subterranean so it stays cool even when outside temperatures are in the 90s. If that weren’t the case, I would be running a portable air conditioning unit for sure. As a friend said: “Comfort [at the home] is paramount.”

It's going to take a while

As of two days ago, California has fully opened back up from the pandemic. That means no masking practically everywhere, and zero capacity restrictions. Yesterday after work I went to the local Target to re-up on mouthwash, and everyone inside was still masked - even me! I guess returning to our formerly maskless lives is going to take some adjusting.

I am very happy to stop wearing masks, but my workplace still requires it as of this writing. And since I walk to work, I put on a mask before I leave the house. It makes no sense for me to wait until I get to the office to put the mask on because I hate touching my face with unclean hands. At the ripe old age of 33, I am still prone to acne breakouts for some inexplicable reason.

So if you encounter me on the sidewalks and I have a mask on, it’s not because I am fanatical about mask-wearing and don’t trust the science. I am merely following the rules of my workplace! Hopefully things will change soon. The governor has signaled that he will sign an executive order to fast-track the relaxation of workplace COVID restrictions. I suspect once I return from vacation in a fortnight’s time, I can freely enter the office without face covering.

That’s right: to perfectly coincide with the state opening back up, I am taking a two week vacation from work. Indeed it’s the first proper time-off since the start of the pandemic. Time to load up the Kindle… app on the iPad!