Modern Simple Living

Travel Journal 1st Epic California Coast Road Trip San Diego → Los Angeles → San Francisco 13 Days ~1,400 Miles 12 Nights 4 Cities 1 National Park Will fly into San Diego and embark on a California road trip — really taking time to enjoy things. 13 days, a full loop from San Diego to LA and San Francisco, with stops in Yosemite, Napa Valley, Monterey, and the Pacific Coast Highway. While I've been to California countless times, I never really attempted to take in many of the famous landmarks and destinations at a more leisurely pace — it was always a quick 5-minute snapshot and, in hindsight, not an efficient way to truly appreciate things. Table of Contents ①  The Route ②  Los Angeles — 1 Night (Marina Del Rey) ③  Yosemite — 2 Nights (Curry Village via Merced) ④  San Francisco — 2 Nights (Nob Hill, The Marker Un...

Gear & EDC Flashlights The Right Light for Every Spot 5 Lights in Collection 700 Max Lumens $2.60 Lowest Per-Unit Cost 2 Power Types Once you start thinking about where you actually need a light, the list grows fast. The glove box. The work bag. The crossbody. The garage shelf. The answer isn't finding one perfect torch — it's accepting that different situations call for different tools, and that some situations call for a light that doesn't depend on a working outlet. For most part I've not needed anything particularly brighter than 300 or 400 lumens and found that sufficient for everyday needs, including occasional camping and outdoors. For future, I'll pivot and focus on headlamps and likely pick up the Fenix HM50R as I ended up using my headlamps more than the flashlights when camping, they were more convenient, but when I needed to t...

✦ ⚙ ✦ ⚙ ✦ ⚙ ✦ Watches & Horology Fossil DE-5009 Chronograph Back Again, Different This Time ⚙ ◆ ⚙ $23 Secondary Market 3 Subdials 2× Times Owned I owned a Fossil DE-5009 before and let it go. That was a mistake. A deal came up and I grabbed another one — $23 on the secondary market, which is almost embarrassing considering what I paid at full MSRP years ago. There is something about this watch that makes it more compelling now than it was then. It doesn't follow the mainstream, currently dominated by Apple smartwatches and digital Casio G-Shocks. A vintage-inspired bronze case, cream chronograph dial. The kind of watch that looks like it belongs on someone's wrist in a Jules Verne novel. Table of Contents ① Why Another One ② The Bronze & Cream Combination ③ The Trade-Offs ...

Carry Review Daiso Robbi Round Wallet with MagSafe Mod Section I The Experiment I wanted to evaluate a closed clamshell wallet design, and using my regular wallet first confirmed why I prefer something smaller like my Coach card wallet. This led me to try a cheaper option to test the concept before committing to something more premium. I picked up the Navy Blue Daiso Robbi Round Wallet to see if a fully enclosed design would solve my issues with card wear and my messy rubber band cash setup. It did—cards and ID are now protected from friction, and cash is stored cleanly and out of sight. Section II Tradeoffs Downside — Thickness The main downside is thickness. It's about twice as thick as my Coach card wallet, so it's not as sleek in-pocket. Still, the trade-off is better protection and a more discreet carry. The MagSafe Mod I added a metal MagSafe plate, which lets it attach to my iPhone Air and ...

$ claude --mode vibe-coding Vibe Coding with Claude Code + Azure Web App Full-stack solo development, AI-assisted $17 / month 1 Developer 4 Stack Layers ∞ Auto-Deploys As a single developer, I'm now able to own the entire lifecycle of a web application — cloud infrastructure, version control, CI/CD, and full-stack development — all using AI as a co-pilot. It's quite impressive how far we've come. I signed up for Claude Code Pro ($200/year at ~$17/month) and paired it with an Azure Web App to stand up an ASP.Net MVC web app with auto-deployment from GitHub. Running Claude Code directly inside VS Code keeps everything in one place — no context switching, the AI is right where the code lives. // table of contents 01  What I'm Practicing 02  The Stack 03  Why It Works 04  Concerns ...

Gear Review Upgrading My Everyday Bag Adidas Foundations V vs North Face Recon vs Borealis 3 Bags Compared $39 Recon Outlet Price $100 Recon Retail Value Table of Contents ① First Impressions ② Value & Pricing ③ Feature Comparison ④ What's Next Section I First Impressions I was looking for a better bag for work and travel and initially considered the North Face Borealis Backpack. While comparing options, I came across the North Face Recon Backpack and after digging into the differences, decided the Recon was the better fit. Almost immediately, I noticed the extra attention to detail. The organization, structure, and overall design of the Recon made my Adidas Foundations V Backpack feel more limited by comparison. The biggest advantage of the Recon is its more rigid structure, which helps the bag hold its shape w...