Blog

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

Got ready to rumble

You guys remember SoulCycle? (Still a thing, apparently.) The stationary exercise bike group class led by an enthusiastic instructor. I guess Peloton and the pandemic have largely obviated that service. No one wants to go outside when the same thing can be done in the comfort of home. Especially when it’s a bunch of sweaty strangers.

Rumble Boxing is kind of like SoulCycle, but as the name suggest, the prime exercise is boxing. (It’s not so easy installing a punching bag at home compared to an exercise bike.) Led by an equally enthusiastic instructor, you go through a circuit of ten rounds within an hour. It’s a blend of cardio and strength training, though I would say it’s more the former than the latter.

I prefer to workout on my own, but when the friend group wants to give Rumble Boxing a go, how can I not oblige. Any opportunity to exercise is good enough for me. The problem is: the location is downtown, and who goes downtown these days? At least street parking is free after 6:00 PM (for now). Obviously we chose an evening class because we’re working adults. All of this needs paying for somehow!

While there’s locker room and shower facilities, you really should show up to Rumble Boxing dressed in workout gear already. That way you can simply use the lockers for storing your personal items (built-in locks, so no need to bring your own padlock). Rumble will sell you the mandatory hand wraps for $8, and rent you a set of gloves for $3. If you’re serious about the sport (and I am definitely not), you can bring your own. There’s plenty of complimentary towels, and water fountain to fill up your drinks bottle (you’ll need the water).

For about $35 for the one hour class, I had a great time. My cardio’s been lacking since I did the 10K run last autumn, so it’s good to train that part again. The free towels definitely came in handy: I was sweating buckets throughout.

Day game after a night game

On Saturday I went to an afternoon baseball game. The first time doing so with this season’s new pace-of-play rules (namely, the pitch clock). Awhile back I attended a night game, and I have to say it is nice to have a nine inning game be done in about two and a half hours. You can get home in a reasonable time and not be too effected for the work day following (unless you’re a complete night owl.) So how does the pitch clock affect going to a day game on a leisurely weekend afternoon?

Much like the night game, it still feels bizarre that a baseball match can go by so quickly. You sit down, eat your food, and boom, it’s the fourth inning already. We use to be able to fit in whole conversations in between pitches. With the new rules, you miss a whole lot of action when your attention is occupied away just for a few moments. Keep that smartphone in your pocket because there isn’t time to go on social media.

I have to say, for a day game on a weekend, I actually wouldn’t mind sitting at the (beautiful) ballpark for a little longer. The particular game we went to was completed in two hours and 16 minutes. It definitely felt rushed because we were in no hurry to get home. Obviously, MLB isn’t going to adjust the pace-of-play rules for games played on different days of the week. For now, my short verdict is: great for weekday night games, not so great for weekend afternoon.

With the shortened game times, I bet the food vendors are making less money than last season (controlling for attendance). Fans are less inclined to go for a second round of food when by that time the match is already over. When games are shortening by half an hour (let’s say), there’s that half hour less opportunity to sell food. Basic, right? Though, perhaps I’m underestimating the gluttony of the typical American baseball fan.

Farewell, twitter

So, I deactivated my twitter account! After more than a decade, it’s time to say goodbye to the bird app. No, this act isn’t a commentary on the state of things vis a vis Elon Musk. Rather, me quitting twitter is the final piece to my complete divestment from social media (I’ve long quit Facebook and Instagram many years ago). To cut myself off fully from the rampant toxicity and negativity. Instead of scrolling through the twitter feed in the morning, now I’ll just listen to music. The latter is a much healthier exercise, that I can assure you.

What do I do for news now? Well, back to what it was before the advent of twitter: actually visiting websites. For technology stuff I’ve got The Verge to tell me the latest. Up-to-date sports there’s ESPN. For Kpop interest there’s the venerable AllKpop. Unlike the endless dopamine hit of an infinite scrolling twitter feed, there’s a finite amount of new stuff when you visit these pages. Surely I’ll get some precious time back from the inability to doom-scroll.

Twitter wasn’t (and isn’t) all negative. I’m going to miss chancing upon book recommendations, or excellent online articles that I otherwise would not have encountered. There’s also the thing I would argue that twitter is best for: watching significant live events or shows. There’s a certain communal magic in having a big sporting match on the TV, and the twitter feed on another screen. I get to see in real-time how others are responding to the same thing I’m watching. Watching a Formula One race won’t be as joyful henceforth, and that is indeed a sad part to quitting twitter.

As with any change, I’m sure I’ll adapt to it in no time. Thanks a bunch for the many good times, bird app.

You're waiting for this?

Last week I was at the local Safeway which has an electric vehicle charging station in its parking lot. On a mid-week morning there was a line of cars waiting to use the four already occupied charging ports. Are these people really sitting there for god knows how long, waiting to “fuel up”? Charging an electric vehicle is far slower than filling up a combustion vehicle with gas. The advertised maximum charging rate only occurs in spurts, and in ideal conditions.

My current stance on electric vehicles is: if you cannot charge at home, then you’re better off buying gasoline-powered. The public charging infrastructure (outside of Tesla’s own superchargers) is still not ready for primetime. I follow quite a bit of car people on twitter, and the consensus I’ve gather is that the public charging network is slow, inconsistent, and not enough. The convenience of being in and out of a gas station in under 10 minutes is still a massive advantage.

I’m genuinely surprised that people are even willing to wait that long for a charging spot. The amount of impatience I’ve witness on the driving road these days is high. You have drivers honking at cars with the audacity to wait for pedestrians to cross before making a turn. What do they want? To run them over? Worst is when I see such impatience on weekend mornings. You’re aggravated on a Sunday morning? I have to assume you’re simply in a hurry to go die.

Personally I do not have the facilities to charge a car in my home. Therefore an electric vehicle does not factor in my future anytime soon. My time is worth way more than spending an hour just to charge up a car.

Throw money at it

A friend of mine, who recently adopted a dog, have decided to pay for professional service for certain things, instead of doing it herself. She calls it “Throwing money at the problem.” Let the pros handle giving the dog the biannual bath, and clipping its nails. I think it’s a brilliant strategy. The point of earning money is to make our lives easier - rather than to buy more things. Mundane tasks that aren’t enjoyable should be outsourced if possible. It gives you more time to do the things you actually like. In that friend’s case, it’s watching Succession.

She’s also hires a mobile detailer to come wash her car from time to time. While personally I’m not at that level of income, I think it’s worth considering having my BMW M2 professionally detailed every few years. Most of the time the car is sat outside in the elements, and these days I’m not as consistent in washing it as I was back in my early 20s. Detail the car every two weeks? Who the French has time for that.

It’s been nearly three years since I bought the M2, and I think the time is right to enlist professional help. To take three years’ worth of accumulation off the paint, polish it up nicely, then put on a layer of ceramic coating on top. The latter is important because ceramic coating is like a semi-permanent wax that last for years. It protects the paint from UV damage and prevents outside elements from sticking to it. Car wash becomes dead easy because I can simply to hose off the car at local wash. Only periodically would I need to bring out the towels and cleaning solution.

I previously had such a service done to my 2013 Subaru WRX STI, a rather long time ago. I skipped the service on the 2016 Mazda Miata because the car is tiny and it takes little effort to wash. The 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 already had ceramic coating done by the previous owner, which was a nice bonus. I’ve lagged on getting the M2 done because at the time I lacked the money to throw at the problem.

It seems I’ve got the money now!

A stamp when you need one

When is the last time you sent an actual letter? The Internet have largely negated that part of the communication experience. It’s so much easier - and less waste of paper - to send stuff digitally. The invite to my friends’ baby shower is completely digital. Long gone are the days of receiving it in the mail and having to tick a box then send it back via post.

But sometimes I do want to send something through snail mail. What catches me always is my lack of stamps on hand. I mean, does anyone just have a stack of stamps at home these days? I certainly don’t. On the rare times I want to send a letter the traditional way, I have to make a trip to the post office. You would think then I would buy a book of stamps to keep at home, but I never seem to learn the lesson. The frequency is rare enough. Besides, I can use the walk.

Something else I don’t have readily on hand these days is cash. No, I have money, but hard cash is something I never carry with me. I can’t remember the last time I touched coins. Your restaurant is cash only? I guess I won’t be patronizing it. Sorry, nothing personal.

Unless of course a friend invites you to a luncheon celebrating his graduation, and it’s at a cafe that only accepts cash. Worse, we didn’t find out until we’ve sat down and ordered. Everybody in our table only carried credit cards. When said friend came around to our table to say hi, my first remark was jokingly, “Do you have cash?” Fortunately there was a Chase branch a few blocks away. While I never carry cash, I do at least have a debit card with me for (let’s call it) emergencies.

Will I start carrying some cash, and have a few stamps stashed at home? Yeah… Probably not.

Not out of the woods yet

You may think the supply chain crunch from the pandemic is over, but it’s not really in reality. Two evenings ago I was at the local Target to buy milk, and there were zero whole milks on the shelf. Organic or inorganic, grass-fed or corn-fed, didn’t matter. The only milks on the shelf were the 2% and 1% variety. I guess most people, like myself, do not consider low-fat milk to be milk at all. Honestly, you might as well just drink water.

In my job, computer components break, and we have to call Dell or Apple for replacements. Recently a brand new Dell laptop had a faulty AC adapter. No big deal, right? It’s under warranty, Dell will replace the adapter no problem. Well, the problem is the supply chain. As of writing, we’ve been waiting for the replacement adapter for three weeks now - supply of which is severely backordered. Obviously, being a proper IT department, we had spares on hand for the user. Imagine if you’re a regular customer, though: your newly purchased Dell laptop cannot function going on three weeks. Hugely unacceptable.

And that’s why I recommend Apple. At least you can go to a local Apple Store to complain!

I’ve read that if you bought a new Land Rover sports-utility vehicle, and were unlucky enough to need a windshield replacement, you might be shit out of luck. There’s a supply shortage of windshields, and Land Rover rather concentrate on what little stock they have towards making whole vehicles (more profit in that enterprise). So what does the owner of a six-figure Range Rover to do? Apparently, Land Rover dealerships are buying back the cars, presumably enough compensated for owners to get another new Range Rover.