This Sunday I got the pleasure of seeing TINA – The Tina Turner Musical. It was a fun show at Fair Park in Dallas. Some of the audio was difficult to hear but I still had a blast. Her life story is a reminder that just because you have setbacks early on doesn’t mean you can’t overcome them to lead a rich fulfilling life. I went with my bf, the tickets were quite reasonable around $105 per person after ticketmaster’s outrageous fees and taxes.

Earlier in the month we saw the musical Jagged Little Pill through free tickets a friend gave to me. The singing of Alanis Morissettes’s classics were nicely done, but the undertones of r*pe, and drug addiction were sort of heavy topics. Also saw a movie called Origin to a mostly empty theater that tackles the topics of racism and the caste system. The story was great as was the casting but in my opinion most don’t want to be reminded of all of modern society’s injustices.

The Macintosh computer has has a profound impact on my life. Last week it turned 40 years old, the same age of me. It’s fascinating to me how much the platform has advanced over the decades, even in the last 10 years. Completely new CPU and GPU architecture, new designs, mini-LED technology, touch ID, AI, spatial audio, etc. I think my life would’ve taken a much different path without the platform, from the decision to go to grad school to choosing a career in marketing. Not to mention some of my hobbies.

My 15 year old 2009 M-Audio Studio AV-40 speakers finally kicked the can, emitting a loud buzzing noise. I bought a pair to replace them and those had a hissing noise even with the audio low and speakers not even plugged into a sound source. I returned them in less than 24 hours, highly disappointed. Instead I bought the Edifier R1280Ts pictured in the gallery for about $108.

I know it’s not a BMW M5, but… with every new car purchase comes the need to keep that car looking as pristine as possible. Unfortunately for me there was a roughly 9″ long curved scratch on the bottom of the front door. No idea how it got there. Did try to buff it out on my own to mostly no success. You can see about 1/3 of it in this picture. I took it to a local body shop and they fixed it for $100 in the top picture, can’t tell it was every scratched to begin with.

My passport is up for expiration in May so I decided to renew it. $130… It only had one stamp in it during my 2017 Puerto Vallarta trip. I hate the picture I took at CVS but it was acceptable. It’s currently being processed but once it is I hope to book my first travel destination of the year in the not too distant future.

On YouTube I was watching videos about how high the cost of living has become lately. Came to a realization that I’ve been in this same 1br/1ba apartment since December 2014 and working home since March 2020. I need a change of pace. A few days later the house a stone’s throw from my childhood home was listed for literally over $700k. Still boggles my mind how people with modest incomes can afford these.

I’m still concerned about layoffs, there have been a slew of them in my industry and at companies either we work with or friends work with. Try to make myself as useful as possible, work on skills when I have time. Beyond that there isn’t a ton that I can do. Just thankful for what I have and it’s been a journey through hell and back at times. A whole 5 years after getting my MBA before I started earning a decent salary. Some are lucky to get six figures out of college, that took me well over a decade.

	1/31/2024	12/31/2023	Difference	%Change
401K	$232,746	$227,680	$4,796	+2.1%
Roth IRA	$34,506	$33,551	$955	+2.8%
M1 Acct	$2,031	$1,863	$168	+9%
Cash	$4,448	$2,739	$1,709	+62.4%
HSA	$2,725	$2,637	$88	+3.3%
Total	$276,186	$268,470	$7,716	+2.9%
Credit Cards	$87	$336	($249)	-74%
Auto Loan	$16,536	$17,746	($1,210)	-6.8%
Net Total	$259,563	$250,389	9,174	+3.7%

Up to $260k, that’s good progress in a month. Keep chipping away and invest whenever I have something extra leftover. The market has been up the past few weeks aside from yesterday so that helps.

Update while typing this up. My Passport Application Status is now approved. Time to head to bed for my dental cleaning in the morning. Hoping no cavities and I’m not a zombie. Filing my taxes in the next 2 weeks. Lost weight then gained it back when I got used to eating carbs again. Weather has been great so I can get more outdoor time. Trying to overcome time going by way quicker than I’d like to but not sure what the solution is. Keep investing and best of luck to you out there. Ok I’m out… 😀