Blog

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

Can't return a house

Not that I could ever afford to buy a house here in the San Francisco Bay Area. But, if I were hypothetically able to, it’s kind of a crap shoot, isn’t it? I’m talking about one thing you cannot change after you’ve bought a house: bad neighbors.

Buying a house in a supposedly “good neighborhood” is no guarantee of good neighbors either. Sure you may not have to content with the constant loud music and occasional robbery shooting. But maybe your new neighbor next door runs a wood-working shop out of his garage. Good luck concentrating with that ruckus whilst trying to work from home. Because you do work from home, right? Who can afford a house around here without a remote software engineering job anyways.

That’s why I am a fan of renting (and not just because I can’t afford a house). The longest I would be ever stuck with a crappy situation is one year. Heck, if it’s truly unbearable, I’d have no problem paying to break the lease and get out of there. You simply cannot do that with a 30-year mortgage! Call up the bank and be like: “Yeah, I would like to return this house…”

It’s too bad you can’t test-live a home. Move in for a month, and if your neighbors happens to be from hell, you have an escape clause.

I actually like the idea of homeowner associations. There’s a clear set of agreeable rules that every homeowner in that subdivision has to abide by. If Jacob next door likes to practice guitar late into the morning, a polite email to the HOA will take care of that quickly. HOA takes care of any potential bad neighbors anxiety because the rules are typically what a civilized society should be: don’t intrude on others.

Buy nothing to save 100%

It is Amazon Prime Day, a sort of Black Friday for those of us with an Amazon Prime membership. A not so elaborate ruse to separate you from your hard-earned money.

Because the item you actually want to buy would never go one sale during Prime Day. That’s not how it works. What do go on sale are things you didn’t even realize you wanted to buy. Take for example the AirPods Pro 2 going for a never before seen low price of $170. This utterly fantastic price creates intense FOMO to hook in customers. Because, what if we never see this price ever again?

Then again, who doesn’t already have a pair? My set of AirPods Pro 2 gets plenty usage on the daily.

In previous economies (as in: not in this economy), I would have bought the AirPods Pro 2 at that rock-bottom price. (True ballers have backup earphones in case their main unit gets lost or craps out.) See how that works? Amazon would have tempted me out of $170 that I had zero plans to spend. People see an item with a tremendous percentage discount, and their minds immediately switch to justifying. I can really use a new Dyson vacuum! Look at how much money I am saving!

Spending money to save money. That’s the essence of Prime Day and Black Friday. Guess what? I saved 100% by not buying anything.

Well, that’s not true. This Prime Day I was able to snag a 50-pound kettlebell for $50. When it comes to gym weights, you want to aim for paying one dollar per pound. I’ve long since progressed from my current 40-pound kettlebell, and have been eyeing a 50-pounder for a few months now. I was not expecting it to be discounted for Prime Day, but I was pleasantly surprised. Well played, Amazon.

Bangkok, Part 10

Traveling to Thailand was my first time ever attending a so called destination wedding. My friend’s now wife resides in Thailand, so I guess he lost the fight as to where the ceremony should be. San Francisco would have been must easier logistically for the friends on his side, obviously. But, we’re all in our late 30s making decent money, so a wedding on the literal other side of the globe is affordable, if not exactly affordable.

Even if I hypothetically had to debt-spend my way to Bangkok, it’s still an easy decision to attend. Money can always be made, debt can always be repaid. Your friend you’ve known since high school is only (hopefully) going to get married this one time. It’s a can’t miss.

And for my friend, a ceremony in Thailand has got to be way cheaper than the equivalent in San Francisco. As I said in previous blogs about Bangkok, the American dollar goes a massively long way when exchanged for the Thai baht. The friend was able to rent hotel rooms for his people, charter a bus to ferry us to and from the venue, and the venue was this amazing compound with everything one can possibly need for a wedding. If it were similarly held in the States, the total bill is likely close to $60,000.

What’s most important when attending a destination wedding is that you actually make it there in one piece. This is especially so if you are in the wedding party. I can see how in a city like Bangkok, one can go fully The Hangover and never make it to the ceremony. Because you’ve broke an ankle, lost all your money, or worst, got arrested and thrown into the Bangkok Hilton. If I’m going to Australia for a wedding, I’d put the over-landing trip through the Outback after the ceremony - not before!

Catch me riding easy

I saw this post on r/sanfranicso of a Muni bus driver reminding others to be alert when riding. Thieves are on the hunt for unsuspecting riders who are nonchalantly using their phones. The perps would snatch the phones and hop off just as buses are arriving at stops. Moral of the story is: don’t sit or stand close to the bus doors?

Tell me you don’t live in the southeastern side of San Francisco, without telling me you don’t live in the southeastern side of San Francisco. Those of us that do (or formerly did for more than two decades) have always had to be on alert whenever we ride public transportation. Never pick a seat where someone can block you in. Always have your heads up, be cognizant of who is getting on. If something doesn’t feel right to the gut, get as much distance from that thing as possible.

And for god’s sake, never have your electronics visible. Back in the day, I used the brokest most ragged looking pair of earphones to go with my iPod. The signature white ones that came with the music player put a giant visible target on you. The iPod never left my jacket pocket ever whilst on the bus. That habit continued into the smartphone era. I never take my phone out when I am riding public transportation.

These are simple basic survival skills on how to avoid being a mugging victim on the bus. Now, one can strongly argue that you shouldn’t have to carry the alertness of an undercover spy just to ride. Indeed in a country where you can have nice things, that should be the reality. I never have to worry about anything when I am riding public transport in Asian cities. The comparative calm is enough to give me PTSD when I have to switch it back on here in the States.

Any hope of change has to start with creating strong incentives against thievery on buses. We need stronger deterrence than slaps on the proverbial wrists. If the perps are minors, then the law should hold their legal guardian(s) responsible. Victims cannot be the only ones with (sometimes literal) skin in the game.

Don't do it!

Recently my uncle asked me what's a good car to buy these days. To which I replied: "None?" Now is absolutely not a good time to buy a car if you absolutely do not need one (my uncle definitely does not). Interest rates are still (relatively) very high. One look at an amortization table is enough to scare me away from committing. I already have a car, and it is paid off. Not being indebted for a car is a great feeling.

But even if you can pay all cash - thereby bypassing any interest concerns, inflation is the next problem. The average price for a new car sold is ~$48,000. That is a thick chunk of change. I detest people who counter with, "Well, if you adjust for inflation, it's actually not that bad." That may pass the math test, but it certainly does not pass the vibe test (as the kids say these days.) Nobody is walking around looking at these inflated prices with a mental inflation calculator. All we see is a high number the only a few years ago was significantly smaller.

Sure, the lucky some of us received raises to compensate. For the plenty that didn't: inflation really sucks.

And it's not like the high prices are ever going back down. The Fed may say inflation is under control, but that doesn't mean prices have gone back down! They've only stopped increasing as quickly. What is now expensive remains expensive. That birthday cake for your kid will forever now be $50 (and above). If I had kids, I'd bake the car myself. A penny saved is a dollar earned, especially if it's in an index fund held for multiple decades.

I think my uncle was disappointed with my answer. Who am I to get in between someone wanting to spend money? So long as you have some saved for emergencies, have at it. Just don't be like the tech workers in this article where getting laid off was immediately catastrophic. We all should have (or start saving up for right now) at least a year's worth of money runway socked away. Hopefully in a high-yield savings account, and not under a mattress.

Bangkok, part 9

Thailand was the first destination I’ve ever travel to that I did not know or understand the language. China and Korea, I know the languages. I only took Japanese for one year back in high school, but there’s a ton of Chinese characters in the Japanese text. In contrast, the Thai written script is completely foreign to me. Without romanization (like written Vietnamese), I can’t even begin to memorize anything.

Obviously, it’s not detrimental to not understand Thai. The country sees plenty of tourist every year, so English - the lingua franca of the world - suffices just fine. However, not knowing any Thai means I couldn’t get too deep into the super local stuff. Imagine going to a restaurant and the menu is only in Thai script - no pictures, no translations. In China and Korea, I can easily go where foreigners don’t.

Speaking of foreigners: there are indeed quite a few older white guys with much younger Thai female “companions” in Bangkok. I encountered at least a couple every single day I was there. This is not a judgement, simply a statement of what I saw. So long as both parties are consenting adults, it’s cool. Are the power dynamics skewed - white guy with money and a poor Thai girl that needs it for survival? Probably. But perhaps it’s hugely assumptive of me to automatically look at the situation that way.

On that other hand, Thailand is indeed notorious for being a destination for pocket-heavy foreign men seeking sex thrills. I was in Soi Cowboy - a street full of bars, clubs, and other things, and it was the largest concentration of white guys in Bangkok I’ve seen. An older white guy was literally shoving his hands down the string bikini of a hostess at the table next to ours. Pretty wild stuff.

Again, no judgement. Consenting adults. Hopefully.

It’s probably good that pictures can’t transmit smell.

We did it!

What I want to know is how is everybody affording these (illegal) fireworks? From what I can gather, a stash of them can easily go into the many hundreds of dollars. Those who have lit 4th of July fireworks since the start of the week is almost literally lighting a ton of money on fire. In this economy?

Or, put it another way: is there anything more American than going into (long-term) debt for some momentary fun?

Frequent readers of this blog (shout-out to the dozens of you) knows that I am hugely price-elastic. The high inflation of recent years has completely taken me out of the dining-out market. Even though I can afford it, I simply cannot in good conscience pay $12 for a meal at McDonald’s. We indeed have food at home, kids.

It seems there are a lot more than a dozen of us price-elastic consumers. I’ve started to see McDonald’s advertising a $5 meal deal: your choice of two sandwiches, four nuggets, a drink, and fries. The only explanation for this new strategy is there’s enough customers balking at the high menu prices. Me the customer do not care about your labor and material costs. If your price is above a certain emotional and rational threshold, we will simply go elsewhere.

Restaurants should at least do two out of these three: cheap, fast, and quality. McDonald’s is not quality (we can all agree), so it must deliver cheap and fast. With the recent outrageous menu prices, the company has failed at being cheap. No wonder people are choosing other options.

It’s too bad that just as this $5 meal thing arrives, my local McDonald’s has shut its doors. Sad!