Deranged Thoughts on Writing with Pencils

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

In my previous post from 2024 I described my lifelong struggle to decide what to write with. I have successfully left the watch hobby and maybe now I can leave this one too.

My Thoughts On Building Out My Wardrobe

Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

I enjoy the simplicity of wearing a uniform. I’ve never got to wear a uniform in school or work before, but there is something satisfying about knowing what exactly I’m going to wear once I decide on a jacket. I will not be doing a complete overhaul. In fact I’m going to try and use as much of my existing wardrobe as possible and only buy missing pieces that can be used in multiple outfits. Currently I probably have one too many pairs of shoes but I can use that as the more “fun” aspect of my outfit. I also have no dress shirts that fit and and I’m probably a couple pairs of trousers or chinos short.

Tea Wanderer Tea Ongoing Thoughts

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

I’ve decided to take a deeper dive into black teas after trying some new vendors recommended by TeaDB, a Youtube Channel and Tea Blog. One of my favorite vendors is The Tea Wanderer which actually caught my attention because of the dark roasted oolong teas. The rankings for these teas are just to help me when I eventually go back to buy teas. Some other tea drinkers might rank based on how interesting the flavor is, preference for a particular texture, or the endurance of a tea during a long session. However, I simply rank based on how much I want to reach for the tea in the morning. I actually still have more unopened black teas from The Tea Wanderer to try in my cupboard and they gave me a few freebie samples to try as well. I will keep coming back to this post to add more teas from The Tea Wanderer.

Atmos Summit Card User Review

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

This is NOT Financial Advice

Atmos Summit Card

Basic Information

I’ve been procrastinating getting the Alaska card for so long they finally released a new card after they bought out Hawaiian Airlines. I think it’s a solid offering and probably an S+ Tier card if you are a couple living in Seattle or San Diego. If you want to optimize more you can refer each other to get more points. The main multipliers are 3X Atmos Points on Dining 3X Atmos Points on Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines 3X Atmos Points on any spend outside of the United States 1 status point for every $2 spent on net purchases

Deranged Thoughts of an Overthinker

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

This is NOT Financial Advice

In the theme of giving up value for simplification, I’ve decided in 2026 to not frontload all my investing in the beginning of the year. I have three main reasons that made me reconsider this strategy.

Simplifying My Financial Setup and Giving Up Value

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

This is NOT Financial Advice

I’ve decided to give myself new financial rules to try and simplify my setup and reduce the amount of fiddling I have to do.

Credit Cards

This is still NOT Financial Advice

Update on Speedrunning Retirement 2025 August

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

This is NOT Financial Advice

In my previous post “Insane Strategy to Speed Run Retirement” I talked about how I’m investing my income. Even though it seemed like I was joking for the whole post, I am actually doing everything in there and I’ve just maxed out all my tax advantage accounts today with the exception of the HSA which will be finished in December through payroll. I’ve reached a nice milestone and I hope I can do this again next year.

2025 June 10th Reading List

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

After reading Three Days of Happiness by Sugaru Miaki a few years ago, it sparked my love for reading again. There wasn’t anything clever or surprising about it. In fact, it’s one of those books where you can tell exactly what is going to happen and what it wants you to feel a few pages in. It doesn’t have the most memorable style either. It doesn’t try to hide what it is and executes a simple idea well. But after I was finished with the novel I realized the author’s other books have not been officially translated to English which made me want to read other stuff. After reading some of the novels and manga in the list below, I took a break to catch up on reading classic but boring financial and psychology books. Now I have the itch again to try and buy some stuff towards the end of June 2025.

Shoji Works Shoe Brushes

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Japan’s Championship of Shoe Shining allows competitors to use their own brushes. The most commonly used brushes are made by Edoya. Both Brift H and The Way Things Go sell custom Edoya brushes that look top notch. I don’t think you can order anything from The Way Things Go without a proxy service and whether or not the online Brift H store has something in stock is hit or miss. So, I looked for alternatives and noticed that some competitors used these small almond shaped brushes made by Shoji Works.

Insane Strategy to Speed Run Retirement

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

This is NOT Financial Advice

Because of my current employer’s retirement plan options, I’ve been aggressively investing. In the United States you are allowed to invest a maximum of 70,000 dollars in 2025 including employer match into the 401k plan. For me this is 23,500 dollars in the traditional 401k, 11,500 employer match, and 35,000 in the taxable bucket which is immediately transferred to the Roth in plan conversion bucket. I also have an HSA account that has a maximum of 4150 and Roth IRA which has a maximum of 7000. 2000 dollars of the HSA is given up front by my employer at the beginning of the year but I can’t max it out immediately because the maximum allowable investment via payroll is very low.