Simple Living

I picked up a Samsung A15 5G.  It’s a decent budget phone and is about the same as my older A32 5G, but with a better 90hz OLED screen, nice 5,000 mah battery and 128gb memory.  It’s also a plus to have 3.5mm headphone jack. Initial Review.   The screen is awesome and resolution beats the A32 hands down and is actually better marginally than my iPhone 14 Pro.  What sucks is performance after sleep mode.  UI and apps are functional and decent, where you may encounter problems is when you let apps go into sleep mode.  But I got it to watch streaming shows and it’s awesome. Overall it’s a budget phone but nicely done to make it feel comparable to an iPhone 15 Pro Max, but obviously not the same performance. This is great for streaming videos and for single applications, heavier lift apps and any multitasking will be limited.  It's almost like a phablet and I plan to use it as such for travel.   Specs: Release - Dec 16, 2023 Android 14 | One UNI 6 Screen 6.5" screen (1080 x 2340 p

Took the plunge and bought an Apple iMac M3.  Opted for the larger 16GB / 512GB HHD configuration.  So far it’s been pretty good and once I learn more of the OS and keyboard shortcuts the easier it’s going.  This orange version cost me about $2.1k (California Tax Rates). Why an iMac? I’ve been Windows and Linux for many years and for a few years in college did own an older MacBook.  For most of this time I’ve managed with cheap laptops.  Although I debated a MacBook, the price was too much and I figured why not a desktop computer again?

For 2016 Toyota Highlanders that use a key ignition to reset the oil change maintenance light do the following: Power off the car. Insert the key and turn it 2 positions to ‘on’. Press odometer button to Trip A. Turn key to off position. Hold odometer button and keep holding then turn key to ‘on’ position. It’ll flash maintenance resetting and when done you can let go of odometer button. Car maintenance light is now reset.

My first watch in 2 years…for 2024 picking up a gold Casio A168WG to complement my silver one.  After much consideration I’ve decided to grow my digital Casio collection and this will be my 3rd Casio to join my 5600 G-Shock and silver A168. Why Casio?  The value proposition as the price and functionality are perfect.  I’m also finding it a lot more convenient as I’ve grown self conscious at times with the Rolex and bored of the Apple Watch.  Both still are nice and I’ll wear the Apple Watch for workouts and the Rolex when I’m feeling nostalgic. Initial impressions .  The clasp is rock hard and requires effort to open and adjust, but it feels solid and durable.  The gold resin case really pops and shines, exuding some confidence. It’s true though that the display is harder to read and the buttons are also harder to push than the silver A168.  But otherwise this is a great watch.  I’ll need to wear it for a few weeks to get a better feel for the gold version. One week review.  It’s a

Got into gardening thanks to Covid lockdown and have 7 plants so far in my home with a plan to increase it to a total of 8. My Sansaviera is my oldest plant at 3 years since I’ve had it and it’s grown so much I had to repot it to a larger 8 inch pot and also was able to propagate part of it in its original 5 inch pot. I’m keeping it simple and have them only in my living room and bedroom.  Most of my plants are 2-3 years old now so I’m repotting to larger pots and refreshing the soil. 8 inch Sansaviera Parlor Palm 6 inch Xanthosoma - Elephant’s Ear 5 inch Sansaviera x2 Epipremnum aureum - Golden Pothos Phalaenopsis - Orchid Update - 1/13/23 - Xanthosoma Picked up my 7th plant for $14.99 at Lowe’s a Xanthasoma or Elephant’s ear.  I was debating that or a Monstera but wanted to try this one.  It’s quite nice and look forward to it growing to double its size; if that’s feasible. I’m going to reserve my 8th and final plant to be a larger 10-12 inch pot and really considering a parlor palm

Another year, another review of my personal collections.  My last review was in 2021.  I've dropped the Whisky collection as I'll treat it as consumables. Headphones -- 10 Tech -- 9 Watches -- 6 Swiss Army Knives -- 34 Sneakers -- 6 Fountain Pens -- 4 I. Total Value ~ $10,700 The value of my collections is actually modest as only a few items make up the bulk of the monetary value primarly my Rolex, Omega and iPhone 14 Pro.  Remove those and its about ~$2,400 value of rest of my 'stuff'.   This may change as I'm contemplating a major purchase in 2025 and finally acquire either a Rolex Submariner 14060 or an Omega Speedmaster Professional budgeting ~$4,000 to $8,000 for such a major acquisition.  This would double the value of my collections.   II. Full Collection 1. Headphones -- 10 Decreased by -1 as I chucked the AKG’s and can’t find a 3rd pair of old Apple earbuds, while same time adding several wireless options as well as a Lightning Apple Earbuds. I also cleared

I want to increase my cash on hand to $840.  I presently have $430.  This is separate from my regular savings and retirement accounts.  I just like having some physical cash on hand. I squirrel it away in several locations and rarely keep more than $150-200 in my wallet.  Most stashes are small about $40-60. Goal are 7 stashes: Wallet - $200 Safe - $300 Med Stash - $100 Med Stash - $100 Med Stash - $100 Small Stash - $20 Small Stash - $20 I like to grow them slowly about $20 per week so it’ll take me half a year to reach $840.  I should reach my goal by July 7, 2024 (28 weeks @ $20 per week). If this goes to plan, I’ll do this for 3 more years adding $400 per year until I max out at $2,080 physical cash by 2027 with: Wallet - $400 Safe - $1,000 Med Stash - $200 Med Stash - $200 Med Stash - $200 Small Stash - $40 Small Stash - $40

I’m going to stick to a budget of $500 for 2024.  I’m getting better as I’m on track to hit $740 for 2023. My planned items will be mostly clothes and shoes: Shoes - $225 Air Jordan 1 Low 10.5M - $125 Stan Smith White/Green 10M - $100 Clothes - $260 Bomber Jacket - $200 Polo Letterman Navy - $160 -  Done Uniqlo T-Shirts 5x - $100 Watches - $40 Casio A168WG - $40 Tech iPhone 16 -TBD That’s basically it.  I may kick it up a bit to $800 if I need to replace other clothing items, but don’t anticipate needing much more. The only unknown is I may upgrade to the iPhone 16, if it turns out to be worth a swap from my 14 Pro.  I kinda want to standardize to Type C. Future Budgets - $300 As I near completion of my wardrobe and finish upgrading to higher quality items, I can slow down my purchases to replacement items only.  I’ll consider $175 for clothing essentials like new shirts and $125 for a new pair of shoes each year. If not for the $200 Bomber Jacket, this would have met the $300 threshol

Hit 100k miles today on my 2015 Camry.  Granted it had 88k miles when I bought it in 2022, so really I only added 12k miles in last 22 months or about 600 miles per month. I’m driving about half the rate of the previous owner who would have to hit 1k miles per month to reach 88k in 7 years. Decade more to go…2032 Ideally, I want this car to last me an additional 70-90k miles or 10-13 more years if I continue to drive 7k miles per year. 170-190k seems reasonable as I test drove another 2015 Camry before buying this one that had that much mileage and it drove effortlessly.  I opted for the 88k mile Camry for obvious reasons.  My greater concern is not the mileage, but the number of years and it’ll hit 8 years of age in 2023 and 15 years by 2030.  That seems to be the max age for a typical Camry…and that was about when I sold my Lexus (2007-2022) so it’s plausible. Maybe 2 Decades…2042 I’m willing to be ambitious and go for 20 years or 2042 with 233k miles.  The Camry would be pushing 27

The Casio A168 has a certain charisma and charm that once it hits, you can’t get enough of this inexpensive gem.  I’m debating rocking this again as my daily driver. Update - 10/14/23 So I tried wearing the A168 for several days and I’ve learned I actually rely on the Apple Watch for quick updates on the weather and other information that required me pulling out my iPhone to check. While at home, the A168 is ideal as I just need to know the date and time.  But when outdoors the Apple Watch is useful. At least I gave it a go and while it messed up my 3 rings and exercise records, does it actually matter if it’s logged on my Apple Watch so long as I keep doing the exercise routines?  Of course not.

Starting a maintenance log for my 2016 Toyota Highlander. 10/10/2020 - New Tires - $750 04/02/2021 - Oil Change & Tire Rotation - $120 09/03/2021 - Oil Change & Air Filter - $259 02/03/2022 - Oil Change - $126 06/01/2022 - Oil Change, New Brakes & Rotors - $1200 They did a terrible job on the brakes.  Had to go back 5 times until they finally fixed most of it.  Still squeals, so never going back to this shop. 10/05/2022 - New Battery - $122 Car died and suspected the battery so got a new one at Costco and installed it myself. Part# 852154 Group# 24F 07/07/2023 - Oil Change - $140 Standard oil change and asked to check the brakes. 09/03/2023 - New Tires - Michelin - $900 Didn’t realize I need to perform a wheel alignment and never did it when I bought tires back in 2020.  So I learned  the hard way to do an alignment. 09/09/2023 - Trans Flush, Coolant Flush, Wheel Alignment - $650 Did the wheel alignment as well as trans and coolant flush as I hit 70.8k miles. 11/04/2023 - O

I’ve owned various iPhones starting with the iPhone 5 in 2012 and now in my 12th year enjoying my current model the iPhone 14 Pro. 2012 - iPhone 5 2016 - iPhone 6s 2020 - iPhone 11 2022 - iPhone 14 Pro 2027 - ? I was upgrading every 4 years until the iPhone 14 Pro was released and picked it up only 2 years after buying the 11.  I decided to do so as I was previously buying older models  2 years past their original release date so I figured buy the latest and greatest so I can enjoy it for 4-5 years. I will likely save money in the long run by changing my iPhone less often if I upgrade to the latest model available.  So on that theory I won’t upgrade until 2026-2027.  But I may buy iPhone's every 2 years if there are good deals, so who knows. My hunch is to wait 5 years til 2027 as that’ll be the 20th anniversary iPhone. Favorite iPhone?  iPhone 5 In terms of favorite?  I really loved my iPhone 5.  It was the perfect size and design wise was why I wanted the 14 Pro as it looks so m

I hit my weight goal of 170 and decided to splurge on a pair of Airpod 2nd Gen.  They were on sale and got them for $60.  I also scored a free pair of PowerBeats 2 from a friend so I wanted to compare them after several weeks of use. In short, they are very different form factors so hard to really compare them as they serve different purposes.  The PowerBeats are more rugged and designed for outdoors and exercise, while the Airpods are more for casual and indoor use.  Airpods are packaged nicely in their carrying case making them easy to slip into a pocket or backpack. The Power Beats are more substantial in size, but that is the benefit of having it on a wired cable that you can hang around your neck and also manual inline controls.  Perfect for outdoor exercise, especially my daily morning walking sessions. 1. Battery Life - Power Beats wins I only use the Power Beats for 30-60 minutes at a time, but don't charge them for several days and know they outlast the Airpods that requir