The Things I Like

One of the benefits of aging is that we get to discover the products that we really like; we’ve had the chance to try out lots of different things and so we can be sure of our preferences. Life brings lots of petty satisfactions from sleeping on your perfect bed or even brushing your teeth with your perfect toothpaste. It’s not about consumerism per se (buying things to be happy) but rather acquiring and actionable taste (knowing which things make you happy). I thought it would be an interesting exercise to try and enumerate all of the things I’ve selected to be mine. Perhaps some of these may inspire you; maybe you’ve got suggestions for things that are even better. I’d love to hear your own take or similar lists; hit me up @dweekly.

Computer

I have a 15” late 2013 Apple MacBook Pro Retina 16GB 2GHz Core i7, with Chrome as my main browser. Dropbox, Drive, OpenVPN, TextMate, Spotify, Skype, XCode, BitTorrent, Android Studio, mSecure, Wireshark, and Firefox Developer Edition are the only OS/X apps I’ve installed, though I have a number of command line dev tools like Perl/CPAN, Python, Ruby+Rails also installed. My main sites include Google, GMail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon, OpenTable, AWS, Engadget, Hipmunk (for travel), Hacker News, Medium (for longer posts) and Intuit Online Payroll (for household employees). My subscriptions are for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Spotify.

Phone

My personal phone is a red Verizon HTC One M8 which looks gorgeous, fast data (yay XLTE), really shockingly good BoomSound (dual speakers on top and bottom) and is comfortable to hold…but which also epitomizes everything wrong with the Android ecosystem. Plagued with a shitty battery life, UI that freezes for a few seconds at random times, a keyboard that occasionally goes on a deleting spree, a camera that forgot how to focus most of the time, and notifications that buzz without telling you why, it’s awful.

I just got a Nexus 6 for work and it’s a hilariously large phablet that’s only barely usable because I have freakishly large hands (due to childhood piano playing?). That said, Android Lollipop is gorgeous and smooth and it doesn’t glitch like the M8 does. It has good battery life and it’s fully rootable. The 6 is definitely a better phone. But I’ll admit gazing longingly at my wife’s iPhone 6 because the damn thing just works.

Apps I installed and actually use include Amazon, Twitter, OpenTable, Facebook+Messenger, Couple, LinkedIn, PG&E, Nest, Chrome, BabyConnect, Bloons TD 5 (the only game I’m hooked on), Drive, Dropcam, Dropbox, EpicMix, Hipmunk, How to Tie a Tie (don’t laugh: gents, this will change your life), Instagram, Yelp, Waze, Starbucks, Nextdoor, and Goodreads. My wife is on our shared Verizon plan with 15GB/mo along with an iPad Air 2, which has wholly replaced her Kindle but which she still calls a Kindle and has worked great for us with a sharp-looking red-and-white Ionic keyboard case.

Clothes

I’ve found wearing a “uniform” (simple, consistent outfit) eliminates choices in the morning, allowing me to focus better on the choices that matter. There’s reasonable evidence that you’ve got a fixed amount of decision-making power in your day, and that it’s possible to drain it with inconsequential decisions. So I wear Lucky Jeans (there’s nothing as comfy but it doesn’t look baggy), Nike Air Pegasus+ in bright orange and red or Ecco shoes if I need something fancier, Hanes Classics Men’s Multicolor Boxers, Banana Republic Pima Cotton Black T-Shirts, and Gold Toe Men’s Athletic Crew Socks.

Suits

When you do need to go fancy, it’s good to be able to go all-in. Having a small number (~3) of nice suits is very handy, so this is an area where it’s worth splurging. Unlike a fancy dress, a man can get fantastic mileage out of a suit, wearing them and having them retailored throughout the course of his life. Any jacket you have you should spend the $30–70 it will take to have it tailored to exactly fit you — a good tailor will make some very small adjustments that will make you look amazing; I took a $30 used jacket I got at Goodwill and did $60 of tailoring on it and now it looks like a $300 jacket. I had a pinstripe suit made bespoke at Dung Tailor in Vietnam (total cost ~$350), and bought a Canali three-piece Italian silk suit at Nordstrom’s ($1000) and had it tailored. All of these suits have latest years and have years left in them.

Banking

After years of getting stiffed by random fees at Wells Fargo ($15/mo just to download transactions??), I use Charles Schwab Bank Investor Checking, which has no fees and refunds ATM charges from other banks. They’re fantastic. For savings and retirement I’m using Wealthfront to manage a balanced portfolio of ETFs with very low fees (~0.4% management + ETF). I make angel investments via my AngelList syndicate, drone.vc, and am a lender on LendingClub (which makes ~9% APR in a semi-orthogonalized asset class from stocks & bonds). We recently refinanced our home with Sebonic Financial which gave us a way better rate than pretty much everyone and had a near all electronic document pipeline.

Toiletries

For my morning routine, I use a Colgate 360 toothbrush with Crest Complete+Scope toothpaste, Sunstar Gum Butler, Orabrush, Johnson & Johnson REACH Mint Waxed Floss (I’ve been a crazy fan of this since I was a kid). To not smell like a dead mule: Bleu de Chanel cologne, and Axe Dry Kilo deodorant. For shaving, I use a Gilette Fusion Proglide Power, Jack Black Face Buff & Beard Lube (on the road, Barbasol Soothing Aloe), and Nivea Post-Shave Balm. In the shower for shampoo & conditioner (simple, but having separate shampoo & conditioner is way better than a 2-in-1) Head & Shoulders Dry Scalp Care w/Almond Oil, for soap Irish Spring w/Aloe, and Bliss fabulous foaming facewash, drying with Superior by Luxor Treasures Finest Egyptian Cotton Collection. Then I see how fat I am with the Fitbit Aria. ☺

Sleep

Investing in a really nice bed is a great idea once you are sure you’ll be in a place for a few years. Think of how much you would pay per night to get really nice sleep, then multiply by a thousand. I’m semi-tall at 6’1” so a somewhat longer than usual bed I find extra-cozy, which is why I opted for a California King European Sleep Works Calico HDM w/flexible slats and Latex Oxygen Pillows. I’m going to sleep on this for a decade. Maybe straight. Hilariously enough I still wake to the Zeo alarm clock (now defunct), though I never really used its brainwave measurement functions its graduated birdsong alarm is quite nice. A Marpac DOHM-DS allows us (and the baby) to sleep through almost anything. Our sheets are high thread count something but I forget what.

Baby

If you have a baby, you’ll find yourself bombarded with an insane array of equipment all of the sudden, so this list will not be comprehensive, but some of the choice finds include a Graco Pack & Play Crib, Leachcco sleep pillow, Pampers Sensitives Butt Wipes, A&D Original Ointment (avoiding diaper rash), Pampers Swaddlers (if the stripe turns blue, they’ve peed! Someone should have told me this at the hospital). The Fisher-Price W2621 Play Mat keeps Max entertained for surprisingly long periods of time, and their T1457 baby swing is also good for keeping him soothed. The Ergo Baby has been great as a carrier and we’ve been happy with the Chico KeyFit car seats / bases / stroller.

Car

When looking for a car, I wanted something fun and vibrant, comfortable, safe, and not too expensive, so I ended up with a 2012 Chevy Sonic LTZ turbo automatic w/sunroof & heated leather seats, bright orange — there was only exactly one available in California when I wanted to buy it so I used Cartelligent to get it and at a good price. They were great. I’m looking for a better head unit, so would love a recommendation here.

Laundry

We use a washer/dryer pair of the enormous Kenmore Elites, which we got on a Black Friday special. We don’t use much of the fancy functions like steaming, but being able to throw a giant pile in all at once and water-and-time efficiently clean everything is great. For adult clothes, we use Tide with Febreze Freshness HE Sport Active Fresh Scent Detergent, for baby stuff Dreft HE, and for everything in the dryer, Bounce free & sensitive fabric softener sheets.

Household

Around the house we use Quilted Northern UltraPlush TP, Glad garbage bags, Brawny paper towels, SoftSoap Milk & Honey Hand Soap, and Kleenex tissues. For our dishwasher, we use Cascade Complete All-in-1 ActionPacs.

Coffee

Our morning coffee has gotten unbelievably good. We use Philz “Sooo Good” light roast whole beans, ground in a Mr. Coffee Automatic Burr Mill grinder, brewed with a Cuisinart 12-cup Extreme Brew, with a splash of Horizon Organic Heavy Whipping Cream microwaved for 30 seconds and a bit of brown sugar.

Pantry

The best butter in the world is Kerrygold salted Irish. Seriously, once you try it you will realize you’ve never had butter before. It’s that good. Horizon Organic 2% with DHA is my milk of choice. I get my eggs from my boss’ boss (!) via LocalYolks when possible.

Entertainment

I have a PS3 that I use sometimes for games but mainly as my BluRay and Amazon Prime player. An AppleTV is what’s used most of the time, and both are routed through a Yamaha RX-V467 to NewWave 5 channel speakers, BIC AMERICA Eviction Series RTR-EV1200 subwoofer, and Epson Home Cinema 8350 HD projector. We have a Wii and Xbox 360 that haven’t been turned on in maybe a year. I have yet to find a reason to buy a PS4 or XboxOne. We have a gaming PC with 4K monitor that we use for some light gaming; Kentucky Route Zero has been pretty interesting to play, while the latest SimCity was a disappointment.

Internet

We have Comcast Business 55/11 which somewhat embarrassingly costs $110/mo. When my friends in Vilnius inform me that multi-hundred megabit connections cost them ~$20/mo, this makes me feel like I live in a third world country. We use an ASUS RT-68U 802.11c 3x3 to provide WiFi throughout the house, which generally works well, and far better than earlier APs I had tried.

Booze

We keep our booze in a Hoot Judkins Sunny Designs Savannah Bar Armoire, which might be my favorite piece of furniture in the house.

Whiskey

Johnny Walker Blue is almost unbeatable as a blended but Dewar’s is very good at a much, much lower price point. The Dalwhinnie 25 year is about as good as a single malt gets, and their distillery-only Friends of the Classic Malts release is also superb. Also of note are the Talisker Port Ruighe (matured in port casks), the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, Speyburn 10 year, and Cragganmore Distiller’s Edition Double Matured. Yes, I have a thing for port matured single malts. The Laphroaig 10 Year is a love-it-or-hate-it Islay that is super smoky, like sticking your head above a campfire burning wet leaves. I happened to like that as a kid and I happen to like it now. So, yeah.

Tequila

Patrón Añejo is delightful both as a sipping tequila and in a margarita made with RIPE Agave Margarita Bar Juice (which is just craycray good; you won’t want to leave the house for margaritas!). Since you’ll perceive I like the smokey, it should be unsurprising that I’ve grown to love Mezcal, the Islay cousin of tequila, made by smoking agave instead of steaming it. El Recuerdo de Oaxaca Mezcal Joven makes for a mysteriously lovely margarita. For just sipping, nothing I’ve found can top Don Julio 1942. (Okay, I haven’t tried the Real yet.)

Rum ‘n Things

Captain Morgan’s Private Stock is a very accessible sipping rum (maybe too accessible!) and Ketel One makes for a superb vodka mixer. I haven’t found a gin that I’m deeply in love with yet, but Tanquery or Bombay does the trick for a tonic. (Got recommendations?)

Aged

I have a weird habit of wanting to drink things older than me on my birthday, which is getting to be a more and more expensive habit. I’ve put down some bottles of 1976 Poças Colheita and 1978 Chateau de Pellehaut Armagnac as port and armagnacs both age pretty well.

Beer

I have an odd palate, preferring generally strong, dark, sweet, low-hop beers. (Here’s a tasting I did of about forty beers for my wedding.) Some of my very favorites include Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Ballast Point Longfin Lager, Allegash Curieux, Brother Thelonius, Angry Orchard Traditional Cider, and the Tripel Karmeliet.

Wine

We installed a bunch of True Fabrications Wall Mount Wine Racks to create a “wine wall” in our dining room for easy access (though we have to figure out how to kid-proof it!). Benziger & Imagery are my favorite go-to wines; they are near-infallible — substantially every wine I’ve ever had from them has been superb and you can get their Syrah or Cabernet on special for as low as $10. It is a lovely vineyard as well for a road trip to wine country. Duckhorn makes the best pinots IMHO (e.g. the Migration). If you have friends who can’t/don’t drink alcohol, the Navarro Gewürztraminer Juice & Pinot Noir Juice are astonishingly good. I’m a big fan of ports and I think the best are the Vi Sattui 1998 Vintage Port and the Brutocao Zinfandel Port. Most Americans haven’t experimented with sherries, but the Pedro Ximinez ones are lovely.