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Like my dear diary moment but less embarrassing

October 11, 2023

So I finally got the Z Fold5 after making a big fuss earlier about not going to get one. Why did I get it? The Z Fold3 was just too slow. It’s not like it is extremely necessary that I get a new phone after an older phone becomes slower, but I just felt like it in the morning, and placed the order. Let me start by saying this: the new phone really is so much faster, but I can see how it will be just as slow as my Fold3 in the next 3 years.

After I decided to buy the phone, it takes a week to get it delivered which I am not totally satisfied with; or it can be picked up in Glendale, which is a 35 minute drive for me. After seeing the discount I could get from samsung.com, I decided to pick it up myself. After a 35 minute drive, I arrived at the Americana Mall in Glendale, and it completely ticked me off after seeing that the parking lots here charges $5 an hour. I thought time was under control, I mean, how long can picking up a phone take. After I slowly found a parking space all the way up to the 4th floor, I walked to the Samsung store. The sales associate there took my information down, and told me that it is going to take 30 minutes to retrieve my order because of something wrong from their end. I waited 30 minutes. After that, another more managerial person came and told me that it is going to take another 30 minutes. I was low-key freaking out a bit because I wasn’t prepared to pay a $10 parking ticket just for picking up a phone. After that 30 minutes, they got my phone, and I fast-walked to the parking lot, located the nearest pay station, and stuffed the ticket in. Turns out, I was 1 minute early. On the screen of the pay station, it said my parking time was “00:59:00”, exactly 59 minutes. So yay me.

Got Shin-sen-gumi ramen afterwards. It is not as good. The last time I had it was 2 years ago, and it was take-out. I had much better memories with it then than now. They used to have real Japanese waiters and waitresses, now they’re all Chinese. I can tell because of their accent. At the end, I tried to ask for the check in Japanese to a waiter, and he just didn’t understand what I said despite being able to say “thank you very much” and “welcome” in Japanese. I tried twice, he just couldn’t understand me. I gave up and just asked for the check in English. Not returning.

But with the phone though, it is exactly what I expected, nothing less. I really do like the color. I got the black color for my Fold3 because my friend Kihyun told me to get the black one. I am a gold kinda guy, very tacky I know, but that’s my color. The cream color that I got is not as “gold” as what they offered with the Fold4, but under the right light conditions it looks very “gold”, if you know what I mean. The new phone is significantly less choppy, and as long as it does that, it should be fine. Let’s hope this goes for another 3 years!

August 14, 2023

Went to a Led Zeppelin cover band concert at Corona with my Uncle John of the Tiedt family 2 days ago. I was supposed to meet him at his vineyard, but because of LSAC’s major boo boo on Friday, I told him I might not be able to go. However I was able to go because the test was delayed even further, but I forgot to tell him that. So when I arrived at his vineyard after a 2 hour and 30 minute drive, he told me he wasn’t there anymore. However, he bought me a ticket at this concert that he and his lovely wife, Gina, were in attendance. After driving another 50 minutes, I got there and we went inside.

The band that was playing was a Led Zeppelin cover band, i.e., they are just playing Led Zeppelin songs. As a quite sedentary Gen Z, I am afraid to say that I have never heard of even one of Led Zeppelin’s songs, which is a damn shame. The band was pretty good; but I am not a very big fan of the concert environment. It is TOO LOUD!!! I am a more slow rock kinda guy, that’s why I love Queen so much, but Led Zeppelin’s songs are way too heavy metal for me, and my ears are still ringing today. But the people really enjoyed themselves listening. They are all above 50 years old, and I am the only Asian there, and the only young person there that isn’t a toddler, which really tells you what the crowd is.

Anyways, the cover band’s existence got me thinking. The whole purpose of this cover band’s existence is to replay Led Zeppelin’s songs. They might put their spin onto some of the songs, but it didn’t change the fact that it is still Led Zeppelin’s song. During the concert, the lead singer and the MC always talked about how great Led Zeppelin was, how the band used to really hang out with Led Zeppelin, and how today is the how many years anniversary of when the group Led Zeppelin formed. They are there just to celebrate Led Zeppelin, and I thought that is kinda sad.

I get their sentiment, don’t get me wrong. I can see why they would love something so much to the point that their whole existence is to celebrate that thing they worship, and there is nothing wrong with that. I am just saying that, as a band, when you are only playing someone else’s work, then you will forever live in the shadow of that entity. People will never recognize them for who they are, because they will only recognize them as someone who does pretty rad covers of Led Zeppelin.

I think I may be projecting. I am not talented enough to write songs that have people’s voices in them, and that’s why all my original songs are voiceless. But a band of four or more people should be able to come up with something together that sets them apart and make them recognizable as who they are, not who other people think they resemble. But that’s just me.

August 11, 2023

Today was supposed to be the final destination of my two year struggle with that little bitch called LSAT. What could go wrong!

Yep, didn’t get to take the test today because Prometric, the official proctoring service for the Law School Admission Council, did a major number 2 on this one. I was stuck on “Proctor will be with you shortly” page for 4 hours before finally giving up. With that, I waited in their customer support line for 3 hours, and by the end of that 3 hour wait in queue, all I got was “there are no available agents”. A serious “haha fuck you” vibe I am getting from them.

Apparently I am not the only one with this problem. This screw-up that Prometric got was so pervasive, that LSAC had to issue a public apology on its website and through its emails. To be honest I wasn’t too surprised. After all, when I tried to register for the test at 5 AM in the morning in China, I couldn’t get anywhere for 3 hours, yes, till breakfast time. LSAC had to apologize then, so why not just cut the cord huh?!

A lot of people would be mad, for obvious reasons like they can’t reschedule due to obvious obligations from real world problems. I do feel disappointed, but not mad. Last time it was ProctorU who fed shit to me by delaying the test and stopping my streak with a test that starts at 9:40 at night and made me finish it at 2:30 in the morning. At least this time Prometric didn’t let me do the test and watch me open my eyelids miserably.

July 31st, 2023

I recently started watching The Office and was fascinated with the storytelling and the mockumentary style that they have. After flipping through “Dunderpedia”, I discovered that there is a podcast called “Office Ladies”, which is a podcast comprised of Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) and Jenna Fischer (Pam Beasley). Each week, the two of them recount their stories when working on an each episode of The Office, and a podcast would last around 60-90 minutes. While I obviously enjoyed myself listening to them reminiscing (I’m on season 7 already), I can’t help but think that this job that both of them are doing right now, is a place for actors whose career has crapped out and they have nothing better to do.

Hear me out. If an actor is still playing an active role in the acting community, shouldn’t their job focus be on acting itself? Have you seen any other hit TV series that had its main actors starting podcasts discussing their past experiences. Friends? No, they all wanted nothing to do with that show and wanted something new, well, with the exception of Joey which tanked. How I Met Your Mother? I don’t see anyone from that show starting any podcasts just recounting their time on the show. They clearly don’t have acting jobs stable enough in the effect that they no longer have time to do side gigs like podcasts. I didn’t realize this until Jenna and Angela are advertising their new book Office BFFs. So now they have both a new book recounting their time on The Office, and now they have a podcast, recounting their time on The Office. You don’t see Mindy Kaling or BJ Novak penning a book or starting a podcast on this subject. Why? They actually have a good career going on and they don’t need to make money this way.

For professional actors, they sure aren’t acting much. But I might be too cynical.

July 26th, 2023

The Samsung Z Fold 5 made its debut today. Can’t say that I am not disappointed about the final result. As a proud Z Fold 3 owner, there is just nothing dashing about the fact that after 5 iterations, the Z Fold 5 still looks the same! To be honest, if I have the Fold 2 now, I would still not upgrade to the Fold 5.

I upgraded from Fold 2 to Fold 3 when Asurion (Samsung Care) did not have a replacement for my broken device, so they refunded me money and I got a Fold 3 basically for free. The upgrade from 2 to 3 was minimal, with the exception of the under-display camera, which looked sick. Other than that, I had no problems with my Fold 2 and would still use it if I have to, and this is coming from someone that loves new stuff so much that I must have them. I sat out on the Fold 4 because there basically are no changes from the Fold 3 (it should be called Fold 3+), and the Fold 5, apart from the fact that it can fold shut, is basically the same exact phone as the Fold 3 (should just be called the Fold 4). Not buying into their saying how this is a “brand new phone”!

My Fold 3’s battery is basically nonexistent now, and I have been withholding getting a replacement from Samsung Care because I didn’t want to waste time and money when the Fold 5 is coming out. Not anymore. Smh.

July 20th, 2023

Received the brand new (albeit a few months old since launch) MacBook Pro 16 inch with M2 Pro today. If you know me, you’d be surprised that I got the M2 Pro and not the top spec M2 Max, which is really not my style. I tend to get the highest specced model available, because I am just extra that way. However, as one matures, one sees through the reality behind the expensive upgrades and will actively try to save a few bucks by selecting the tech that best fits them. In my case, I don’t need the extra GPU cores from the M2 Max because my livelihood does not depend on content creation, so I do not need the extra GPU power to make my video rendering a few minutes shorter. I’ve grown haven’t I.

I just picked the middle one of the three pre-selected M2 MacBook Pro models on Apple’s website and checked out using my Apple Card. My first purchase on that card of an Apple product. I usually have fun with the configurator and get a model that needs more time to be assembled; but growth, duh.

My Late 2016 (bought in 2017) MacBook Pro 15 inch is getting really old. It is now 6 years old. Even though it still runs and does mundane tasks smoothly, it is losing some basic functionalities that a power-user like me expects. For example, the keyboard tends to double-type, and all of that happens on the vowels, so I can’t type at all without a wireless keyboard. The battery is complete crap now, so it won’t stay alive for more than an hour away from the charger. But I still love it, and since it only equates to $90 from Apple’s Trade-in calculator (mind you, it was the top spec at the time), I am going to keep it forever as a cherished momento forever.

I still don’t like the design of the refreshed MacBook Pros with Apple Silicons look, I especially despise the notch that has a camera that could easily be fitted within the bezels. Long gone is Jony Ive’s beautiful designs. At least the MacBook Pro is really good at the Pro part now. Since I can’t live without macOS, this is the best thing I can get.