Happy New Year! It's 2020, the start of a new decade. It is a clean slate for everyone of us to chart what is our next decade going to be!
I think I would like to go independent in this coming decade. I am not sure what I will be doing, but I probably do not forsee myself being in a 9-5 job anymore. Maybe it will take me additional 5 more years as a salaried worker while I prepare myself.. but, I think after working for almost 24 years non-stop, it's about time I think of something I would like to do, simply because I LIKE doing it. So, I am also re-looking at my family's expenses and hopefully, able to adjust the spending while still considering the kids college funds, the mortgage, the car loan and looking to extending the life of my current computer gears.
More importantly for me is to reflect on my strength and also sharpening the saw on areas I am lacking - reeducating myself so that I can be independent.
However, let's talk about what gear I am going into the new decade:
1. I am still using my good old Core i7-7700K PC with my delightful LG 38WK95C ultrawide monitor. I have two slight additions: a Dell 23" secondary monitor in portrait mode which was passed down to me by @ZipD. Another delightful additions I have added is a Elgato Stream Deck, a 15 keys device which allow me to program shortcuts. I am still using a very slow graphics card, GTX 1060, so it's not able to drive my ultra wide when gaming. I probably need to upgrade this gfx card or buying a used 1080Ti.
The nice thing about dual monitor and having software like DisplayFusion, is that you can have one beautiful wallpaper that span across two monitors.
2. I have a Razer Mamba wireless mouse on its way. I hope I will enjoy this wireless life. I have no confidence that wireless is going to be lag-less - I am really sensitive to slight lag and my Apple wireless trackpad connecting to a MacBook is a proof that even Apple products, with their integrated everything, have slight lags.
3. On the Mac side, I am still using the company issued MacBook Air 2018, with my old trusty MacBook Air 2013 as my backup computer upstairs.
4. I didn't change the iPhone - still very pleased with the iPhone Xs Max but somehow, the battery health is now reaching 90%, which means, it has degraded much faster than I expected. I think in the next 2-3 years, I probably need to change the battery, ouch! I am equally pleased with the old iPad Air 2, also issued by work. In reality, I don't find much use for the iPad and it's very unlikely that I will buy an iPad when I returned it to the company.
I wonder how productive my gear is going to make me when I go independent. So far, the PC is an entertainment system while the Mac is a production system. Will the PC ever be productive to me? I hope so as I cannot afford a Mac anymore.
These are things that are on my mind these days as the days start ticking in 2020.
I think I would like to go independent in this coming decade. I am not sure what I will be doing, but I probably do not forsee myself being in a 9-5 job anymore. Maybe it will take me additional 5 more years as a salaried worker while I prepare myself.. but, I think after working for almost 24 years non-stop, it's about time I think of something I would like to do, simply because I LIKE doing it. So, I am also re-looking at my family's expenses and hopefully, able to adjust the spending while still considering the kids college funds, the mortgage, the car loan and looking to extending the life of my current computer gears.
More importantly for me is to reflect on my strength and also sharpening the saw on areas I am lacking - reeducating myself so that I can be independent.
However, let's talk about what gear I am going into the new decade:
1. I am still using my good old Core i7-7700K PC with my delightful LG 38WK95C ultrawide monitor. I have two slight additions: a Dell 23" secondary monitor in portrait mode which was passed down to me by @ZipD. Another delightful additions I have added is a Elgato Stream Deck, a 15 keys device which allow me to program shortcuts. I am still using a very slow graphics card, GTX 1060, so it's not able to drive my ultra wide when gaming. I probably need to upgrade this gfx card or buying a used 1080Ti.
The nice thing about dual monitor and having software like DisplayFusion, is that you can have one beautiful wallpaper that span across two monitors.
2. I have a Razer Mamba wireless mouse on its way. I hope I will enjoy this wireless life. I have no confidence that wireless is going to be lag-less - I am really sensitive to slight lag and my Apple wireless trackpad connecting to a MacBook is a proof that even Apple products, with their integrated everything, have slight lags.
3. On the Mac side, I am still using the company issued MacBook Air 2018, with my old trusty MacBook Air 2013 as my backup computer upstairs.
4. I didn't change the iPhone - still very pleased with the iPhone Xs Max but somehow, the battery health is now reaching 90%, which means, it has degraded much faster than I expected. I think in the next 2-3 years, I probably need to change the battery, ouch! I am equally pleased with the old iPad Air 2, also issued by work. In reality, I don't find much use for the iPad and it's very unlikely that I will buy an iPad when I returned it to the company.
I wonder how productive my gear is going to make me when I go independent. So far, the PC is an entertainment system while the Mac is a production system. Will the PC ever be productive to me? I hope so as I cannot afford a Mac anymore.
These are things that are on my mind these days as the days start ticking in 2020.
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