[1056] Material Things

I'll be doing a "daydream" post where I'll be listing down some "small" material things I'd love to buy if I had the disposable income to actually get them. Technically I could probably afford some of these, but considering the price they're being sold here I'd rather look for a cheaper, more bang for the buck alternative.

• Uniqlo clothes. Don't get me wrong, I have a good amount of Uniqlo branded clothes, but I usually only buy them when they drop below a certain amount. The shorts I saw yesterday are way over that amount. I'd also love to get a few of their Airism and DRY-EX shirts as well as some athletic shorts.
• A mid-level mirrorless camera with two lenses. One would be a prime lens and the other would be a decent zoom lens. Most likely use the prime more often and maybe the zoom when needed. I honestly would be happy with a high end point-and-shoot camera, but when I saw how much the Fujifilm X100VI was being sold I think it would be more practical to get a good mirrorless camera. Something like the Fujifilm X-E4.
• A great pair of sneakers. Low cut basketball shoes that I can wear when I go out. I don't play basketball anymore but I still like the shoes. Who knows, maybe I'll try shooting if I get another pair.
• A new work table. I've been seeing those posts on reddit's battlestation subreddit and most of the nice work tables are just a few Ikea drawers and a heavy, wooden board as the table itself. One Alex drawer unit and another Alex storage unit as the "legs" and find a nice board for the table. Isn't Ikea supposed to be this budget brand in other countries? It's a luxury brand here in the Philippines.

That's it. I think I can actually buy these things but it would definitely take a long time since I'd need to save for a few months (or even years) before being able to purchase whatever it is I want to purchase.

Out.

[1055] Blender's Video Editor

I've recently started dabbling with Blender's video editor again, for personal stuff.

I think it's still not as easy to use as Adobe After Effects, but Blender's video editor does get the job done. I guess experience using it has helped me also figure some things out, as well as thinking outside the box.

One thing is for sure, if I do plan on heavily using this moving forward I do need more tools aside both in and out of Blender. A tool to make sure all source video and audio are at the same fps, for one thing. Another thing I need to learn is how to mask things in Blender.

So hopefully I get the motivation and the time to learn these things.

Out.

[1054] Another n+1 Bicycle Idea

I recently saw some videos on youtube about long tail cargo bikes, specifically the Surly Big Dummy. Now if you know me you know I'm not a fan of Surly for personal reasons I'd rather not tell you, but may include price.

Anyway I saw this video from Berm Peak about how he customized his Big Dummy and it got me thinking about it. A cargo bike would be a nice n+1 bike if you can ride to the grocery or market and safely park it somewhere. It got me thinking what I would do if I managed to get a long tail cargo bike frame.

I'll most likely stick to a 1x with low gearing since speed isn't a necessity for this. I'm guessing I'll need better gearing for climbs or heavy loads. So maybe an 11-speed 1x with a 36T chainring and 11-42 cassette would be a good compromise. Gear jumps would be a bit big but hopefully the ratios would be enough to handle said heavy loads and possible climbs.

Actually the only component I'm sure I want to place on this theoretical cargo bike would be the Velo Orange Klunker handlebars. Everything else I haven't given much thought.

So now my n+1 bike list consists of my main (gravel/cx) bike, a folding drop bar bicycle, and now this long tail cargo bike.

Out.

[1053] Journaling

I recently spoke with a good friend of mine and he suggested to me, among other things, to start journaling. So I'm trying to.

This is not the same as blogging, at least not anymore. I'm keeping my thoughts private and whatever stuff I share here are things I don't mind letting out in public.

It's only been one day so hopefully I can make a habit out of it. Plus it gives my really old college notebooks a second lease in life. What will I do with the notebooks when they're filled up? Most likely throw them, to be honest. I just need an outlet for my private thoughts.

Out.

[1052] Leap Year Post

This will only happen once every four years, and I have no idea if this blog or myself will still be around in four years so let's do a random blog post on this day, the 29th of February. These are the hot topics in my head as of this moment, either because I'm talking about it with my friends or because I've been reading about it online.

• The Fujifilm X100VI that costs over PhP100k as a pre-order locally. I've been getting the photography itch lately and to be honest these high end P&S cameras are really something that might fit my needs. It's either that or a cheaper mirrorless camera body with a decent, all-around lens. Not that I have any money at the moment.
• Doozy UI for Unity. I've been tasked with helping out different art teams and so I'm trying to learn a few things about this to help our UI/UX artist to animate. It's pretty challenging because the only videos on youtube are from the actual team and the way they present isn't for me. I'm more a Brackey's guy with how he presents stuff. Also the online documentation isn't the same as the one I'm using in our version of Unity. Still, a fun challenge.
• Sensah SRX Pro 1x11 hydraulic brifters. It's relatively expensive for me, and I'm not really sure if it's worth replacing my brifters just to get hydraulic brakes or just get some Juin Tech R1 post mount hybrid calipers. I'm using some "cheap" hybrid calipers but I've read great things about Juin Tech, specifically that they're almost similar to Yokozuna brakes if not rebrands.
• Speaking of bicycles, I've been torn between going 1x or 2x and my last crazy idea was to get a 2x 10-speed Microshift sword with a 46/29T chainring and 11-34T cassette. This would go hand-in-hand with the Juin Tech brake caliper upgrade.
• I'm still torn between a heavily customized Japan surplus DA17V and a locally sold second-hand car. Not that I can afford either but both have pros and cons. What I can agree on is that both options should have great fuel economy, like 8 to 9 km/L consumption in city driving with heavy traffic and three to four passengers with cargo.
• I'm also starting to get curious about the hybrid and EV cars being sold here locally. The Toyota Yaris Cross HEV and the Jetour Ice Cream, to be more specific. The former is more expensive but is also more versatile, while the latter wouldn't work if you lived in a condominium where finding a power outlet would be a challenge.

Those are the things on my mind (that I don't mind blogging about, obviously). I do have more personal stuff I'd rather not let you know.

Out.