Tim’s chili is always scalding hot. It’s always the last thing I manage to finish in a meal.

On October 11th, I got a notification from the university saying that all the main campus roads were open after a 6-week strike. However, as of today, Google Maps still shows those roads as closed, with some closures marked as ‘closed until November 1st.’ So, this afternoon, after reading week, I trusted Google again and took a detour like I’ve been doing for the past six weeks. When I arrived, all the roads I had avoided were actually open, although traffic was slower than usual. I can’t help but wonder why no one in town bothered to update Google about the change.

As inflation keeps dropping, you can now enjoy a somewhat thick slice of watermelon for just $10.15.

But I went for five clementines instead, at $10.30.

I could swear some Amazon worker hand-crafted this push notification.

Looks like I can finally cross-post from my own blog to Threads now, so here’s a test.

I guess something’s wrong with my Apple Watch S6. You just sit there watching Activity rings close. Even Stephen Hawking could have hit three goals by the end of the day if he were wearing it.

During the chaos of my parents’ divorce (when I was around 11), my uncles on my mother’s side (or maybe my grandmother—I can’t quite remember, but it doesn’t really matter since they shared the same values) offered to take me to a theme park out of town. But shortly after, they had a change of heart. They wanted to see who I would end up living with. Basically, if I had chosen to stay with my dad, whom they saw as their sworn enemy, they wouldn’t have bothered with me or the trip. I have to admit, for most of my adult life, I didn’t think anything was wrong with that—it’s kind of like how economics works: your employer is likely to withdraw benefits when they know you’re intent on leaving for another employer, seeing it as a way to avoid needless losses.

However, when I casually mentioned this to my landlord (yes, I’ve had many heart-to-hearts with this older lady), she was surprised, even a bit confused. She was like, “I don’t know what they were thinking, but if you were my grandchild and I knew you were leaving us to live with your dad, I’d want to take you anywhere you wanted and give you the best I could—because I wouldn’t know when I’d see you again.”

My eyes welled up. I was genuinely shocked to hear such a different perspective. Some people strictly prioritize benefits over kindness, while others don’t really care about gains and losses. It really got me thinking a lot about family values and what unconditional love truly meant. At one point, I even felt like I didn’t really know what love was.

I couldn’t choose the family I was born into, but I can choose to carry that conversation with me forever.

“Yeah!” by Usher in Dolby Atmos on the HomePod 🟰 Meh!

I really want to turn Dolby Atmos off for some tracks on certain devices. Before Apple allows me to do so I’d like to create a playlist called SAD! (Spatial Audio Disasters!).

I know the Apple aesthetic doesn’t necessarily grow on everyone, but I kinda like this colour scheme…

It cracks me up when Google Maps pronounces “Family Dr” as “family doctor.”

If you were born in India at 6 a.m. on October 16th and immigrated to the U.S. as an adult, would you register your DOB as October 15th?

When someone leaves me on read or doesn’t follow up like they said they would, I’m honestly relieved. It gives me a chance to hit pause on the conversation. The same goes for last-minute cancelled phone calls or Zoom meetings—it’s such a relief! Ooof, lol.

I always tell anyone I’m dating that I won’t ghost them, and I expect us to keep the conversation consistent – but in the meantime I’d be totally fine if they ghosted me. Isn’t it great when a red flag takes itself out of the equation and gives you another easy day?

That’s basically how we introverts navigate all kinds of interpersonal communication. We put in the effort to be sincere, but we’re really happy when the weight is lifted off our shoulders!

Blueberry rice puddings made from scratch. Sugar cut in half but still delicious.

The Keurig K-Supreme Plus is known for giving up after its first descaling, but mine miraculously pulled through. I was getting ready to part ways with it and take it back to Costco this summer.

Regularly going through your starred or flagged emails definitely has its benefits. I just discovered that I had received a $25 Costco voucher that expires today.

When did Kirkland start making their flushable wipes with jalapeños? Asking for a friend. 🥹

Seeing how every hot track now has a slowed + reverb and a sped-up version, it got me thinking that maybe most music producers aren’t that great at nailing the right tempo.

Imagine you’re a music producer and you find out that a song you made ten years ago has just become a sleeper hit because someone else simply sped it up or slowed it down.

The next evolution in computer programming should be natural languages directly compiling into machine code. The focus of programming education will shift to teaching future developers how to formulate precise prompts in natural languages.

The Clubhouse app seems almost irrelevant now. It’s hard to believe that, back around just 1,400 days ago, having an account on that platform was like finding the holy grail.

I don’t gravitate towards hot people for their good looks.

I only gravitate towards nice people with good vibes.

Most of the time, I don’t block someone online, even if they’ve upset me or vice versa. They’ve paid for their internet and maybe even a membership on the same platform as I’m on. I don’t want their experience to be incomplete—when someone blocks you, you lose access to a tiny bit of the internet.

Dear Apple Music & iTunes Store, I believe I’ve purchased these tracks, haven’t I? At the very least, you should have emailed me a copy before denying me access. I paid for them.

My first podcast episode. Short and melodic. Hope you’ll enjoy.

Transcript

Is there a way for these music streaming platforms to prevent what I call ‘namespace pollution’? This term refers to different artists sharing the same name and being grouped together on a single artist page, especially when they have common names like ‘Dizzy’ or ‘Natalie.’ It’s really frustrating because, despite having the same name, these artists often create music in completely different genres and even languages!

Highly recommend this album!