Simple Living

Embarking on a 3 night road trip to Waco, Austin and San Antonio.  Riding in the 2016 Toyota Highlander V6. Planned Itinerary: Day 1 - Monday - Waco, Austin 10:30 am - Dallas to Waco 1 pm - Waco (2.5 hrs drive) 1:15 pm - Magnolia Market 1:30 pm - Lunch - Club Sandwich Food Truck 2:30 pm - Waco to Austin (3 hrs drive) 5:40 pm - Austin 6 pm - Dinner - Ramen Tatsu-ya Day 2 - Tuesday - Austin, San Antonio 7:30 am - Breakfast Hotel 9 am - Umlauf & Downtown 11 am - Domain Shopping Center 12:30 pm - Lunch - Miyo Sushi 1:30 pm - Chi Cha Boba Tea 2:30 pm - Austin to San Antonio (2 hrs drive) 4:30 pm San Antonio 5 pm - Riverwalk Mall 5:30 pm - Dinner - Dave & Buster 6:30 pm - River Walk Day 3 - Wednesday - San Antonio 7:30 am - Breakfast Hotel 9:30 am - Alamo 11 am - River Walk Boat Tour 12:30 pm - Lunch - El Castillo 1:30 pm - River Walk Mall 4:30 pm - Dinner - Ostra 6 pm - River Walk Day 4 - Thursday - Austin, Dallas 7:30 am - Breakfast Hotel 9:30 am - San Antonio to New Braunfels - Bu

I have 7 jackets thus far: Track Jackets (60-70 degrees) Adidas - Red - DUO454 - 2019 Adidas - Navy - DUO461 - 2019 Adidas - Black - 2020 Light Jackets (50-60 degrees) North Face - Venture 2 Raincoat - Navy - 2021 Generic - Bomber - Green - 2023 Middle Jackets (40-50 degrees) Uniqlo - Puffer - Navy - 2021 Winter Jackets (0-40 degrees) North Face - Ski Jacket - Brown/Green - 2023 Temperature ratings also depend on other factors including if it’s raining, windy, sunny or overcast.  I could get away with a track jacket on a sunny day with no wind even if it’s 50 degrees. I typically layer and can wear a hoodie or sweater with my light jackets to add 10 degrees of warmth.  Winters don’t get colder than 0-10 degrees so I typically am fine with the puffer over a hoodie inner layer.  The North Face Ski jacket affords me options as it includes a puffer inner layer and a hard outer shell. Future Changes - 2025 After some thought.  I’m gonna hold off on purchasing new jackets until 2025.

Couldn’t resist and picked up a pair of Air Force 1 ‘07 in larger Size 10 on sale for $65.  These feel so much better on my feet than the cramp Size 9’s and the mid sole support is a lot better than the Air Jordan 1’s. I’d prefer all white AF1’s but these are fine and will become my daily wear rotation with the AJ1’s 10.5  Next year I’ll pick up another pair of AJ1’s in Size 10.5 to complete my rotation set and leaning towards a pair of black & white’s or another two colorway combo.

Enjoyed the 22 oz Cowboy Ribeye at Al Biernat’s Steakhouse in Dallas, Texas.  Ordered it medium rare and for $70 it was worth the price. Was cooked to perfection and every bite was phenomenal.

Practicing with more white wines and champagnes and picked up for New Years a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. Tasting - Dec 2023 This was my first real champagne I’ve enjoyed outside of a wedding or major celebration and I’m liking it.  I can see now why people love it. For me it was dry like a sake or Pinot Grigio, yet had enough sweetness to make it pleasant.  It has to be served cold and a bit faster on consumption to enjoy the bubbly. Still much to learn but will add more champagne’s into rotation.

I’m going to stick to a budget around $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 - $141 Air Jordan 1 Low 10.5M - $86 -  Done Stan Smith White/Green 10M - $55 -  Done Clothes - $310 Bomber Jacket - $200 Polo Letterman Navy - $160 -  Done Uniqlo T-Shirts 5x - $100 Blue Jeans - $50 Watches - $40 Casio A168WG - $40 -  Done Tech - $240 iPhone 16 - $200 - Done Anker 10k - $40  -  Done 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 sho

Enjoying a nice coffee weekend and stopped by the newest Summer Moon location in North Texas.  It’s getting chillier and enjoyed a very decent cappuccino.  Giving it a 7 out of 10.  Nice to find something like this outside of Deep Ellum. Another good option is Pax & Beneficia in Plano near Alma.

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

Giving the $10 Taco Bell Pass a try and it’s supposed to allow me 1 Taco per day for 30 days.  Sounds like a deal as it includes Taco Supreme’s for basically 33 cents each. Day 2 - Confirmed it works Not that I doubted it as it’s from their official app and have enjoyed my second discounted Taco Supreme.  By Day 4, I’ll have broken even. Day 23 - This was such a good deal! I’ve eaten too many discounted tacos 🌮.  It’s point of ridiculous.  Entering final week. I also scored at least 6 more free tacos from welcome gifts and other events.  By my estimate I’ve spent $10 to get about $90 worth of Taco Bell… Day 30 - And it’s done. Kinda sad but also relieved it’s over.  Getting tired of eating Taco Bell everyday.  I got my money’s worth.

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.

I’m liking the Huntsman Victorinox 4 layer more and more.  I thought I’d prefer a Deluxe Climber/Tinker but the added height from the pliers make it debatable.  I also am oddly enjoying the Champion Plus for EDC pocket carry…it’s even larger than any 4 layer. I think what’s making me prefer the Huntsman is the wood saw.  It makes it ideal for true EDC. Outside of a Mountaineer, Angler, Fisherman and Deluxe Tinker.  I have most common 4 layers to choose from.  Doubtful beyond collectible only would I EDC the Fisherman/Angler.  Mountaineer sounds cool, but I’d prefer a discontinued Passenger or a Ranger instead.

Picked up another discontinued model that’s a bit more uncommon, a Deluxe Climber.  It’s almost identical to a current model Deluxe Tinker, except it has a corkscrew instead of a phillips. I’m debating on whether to sell this and get a Deluxe Tinker instead, but for now will pocket EDC this as I do like the pliers. This was a fair price of $26. Truthfully, this needs only the bit driver and it’s a Cybertool M.  If all I want is a phillips, I should splurge for the Cybertool.

Picked up a Champion Plus.  It’s a discontinued Victorinox Swiss Army knife model and the predecessor of the current Swiss Champ.  The one big difference it lacks the Pliers. I kinda like this 6 layer tool set, although it feels impractical for pocket EDC, I’ll try it.  Otherwise I’ll stick to my Huntsman or Deluxe Climber. As opportunities present themselves I’ll pick up discontinued models in good condition to add to my collection. Paid only $45 for this one, a decent price.

My secret vice… cheap iced coffee in a can from Mr Brown.  My absolute favorite is Cappuccino, but the others have their moments. The flavors I’ve had or know of: Cappuccino Blue Mountain Ice Coffee Iced Coffee Black Black - No Sugar Macadamia Nut Caramel Latte Vanilla Mandheling There are other sizes, but these the ones I know of in the states.  Some other flavors in this 8 oz can are: Chocolate Columbian Espresso (but this might be the sugar free Black Coffee)