Simple Living

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 - $86 Air Jordan 1 Low 10.5M - $86 -  Done Stan Smith White/Green 10M - $100 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 - $40 iPhone 16 -TBD 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 shoes each year. If n

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)

J Lohr from Paso Robles has an easy to drink Cabernet Sauvignon.  I tried the 2020 vintage from Costco and paid a mere $11. I wanted to expand my wine experience beyond Trader Joe’s and was happy with this one. It’s easy to drink as a 1st day pour and seems more like a blend between a true Cabernet and a Pinot Noir as it had a lighter color almost translucent like a Pinot. At same time while easy to drink it’s a little bland and lacks much depth or complexity.  I wouldn’t drink this everyday, but when your bored and don’t want to try something uncertain, this is an easy choice.

I was foolishly curious and decided to try 4 Loko for the first time.  Yuck.  It tasted like liquid jolly ranchers.  My teeth were hurting indicating a ton of sugar and wasn’t sure if my head was buzzing from the sugar or the alcohol. It did give a buzz though so I know this is potent, but the sugar rush masks the alcohol and makes this somewhat dangerous as it’s equivalent to 4 servings of beer in a single can. At least I tried it. One benefit of trying 4 Loko - Add to your taste portfolio There is one benefit in trying something like 4 Loko, it expands your taste profile experience so you can recall and compare it with future taste profiles.

Wow.  I didn’t realize the bagels from Einstein Bro’s are great.  I’m used to Starbucks and this place beats them hands down.  Coffee was decent and had a syrupy texture on the simple, unsweetened Americano. For smears, I’ll stick with the spicier jalapeño one vs. chives.  Chives was ok, but jalapeño gave it a little kick.

Had a nice lunch of Seollungtang and Tonkatsu at the Food Court in the Fresh K Market in Carrollton.  The curry was delicious and I could eat just that with the rice.   The Seollungtang beef soup was excellent.

Trying the Victorinox repair service for the 1st time and sent it in to their Monroe Center in Connecticut. Summary Day 1 - Create Repair Order online Day 1 - Mailed to Victorinox - Paid for USPS - $5.85 Day 6 - USPS delivered to Victorinox Day 11 - Victorinox email received knives Day 17 - Victorinox emailed shipping w/ UPS tracking Day 18 - Victorinox charged $5.41 per knife Day 21 - Received my knives back Total Cost $ 16.67 Total time for repair was 3 weeks from printing form to receiving back my knives.  2 weeks (11 days) was for shipping transit time so actual repair was about 1 week (10 days). Overall, quite good.  Huntsman is spectacular.  Explorer is functional again, but due to its age might be better to buy a new one than seek a repair. The new scales alone are wow!  Absolutely stunning like a gleaming gem.  Thank you again Victorinox. For $17 it’s not cheap, but reasonable.