I got a new phone. The old Moto G6 was beginning to show signs of failure, it was out of storage space, and it had become slower than dial-up to get anything done over wi-fi. I should have retired it earlier.
My frugal, "you don't need that" upbringing prevents me from buying a flagship phone, although I desperately lust after a Z Fold. I take pains to limit the amount of Apple and Google in my life, or at least bias myself against adding any more, so I skipped iPhones and Pixels even though, in the strictest sense, they would have been #1 and #2 respectively in a purely practical decision.
In the end, I settled on a superseded, sub-flagship phone: the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G. Essentially, it's the flagship phone circa 2020. It is a revelation in comparison to ye Olde Moto. I was surprised to find I actually had 5G service in most places. (I was under the impression that 5G was still in slow roll out and rare beyond key cities). It's fast enough that I have to remind myself to check for wifi wherever I go…yes, I still don't have an unlimited plan.
It's a sweet phone. Recommended. Mine is a lovely shade of red so I had to spring for a clear Otterbox to show it off.
Next, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't time to get into the car market. I know prices are through the roof, but hear me out. My Acura has been occasionally frustrating, but mostly astonishing.
In its life it has left me stranded twice. The first time was an Electronic Power Steering failure. I had purchased an extended warranty so it didn't cost me anything but the tow to the dealer. Interestingly, this turned out to be such an issue with my model that Acrua extended the manufacturer's warranty to cover it. The second time it seems some water got into the battery and froze it -- if you know anything about modern cars, you know everything is dependent on the electrical system, even brakes and transmission, so a dead battery is a dead car. Had I known it was the battery I could have replaced it myself, but there was no telling and frankly, if your electrical system is down, you'll be lucky to get your car out of Park.
Still, whenever I drive it I am impressed with its overall excellence. It has 135k miles and it is as tight and rattle-free as when I bought it 7 years ago. The engine is strong and responsive. I gather it is the same engine you could find in a V-6 Accord, but slightly more displacement and a more aggressive tuning. It's a real joy -- smooth and powerful and refined at all times. Handling and steering and dead on precise. Honestly, I think a skilled driver (not me) could really do amazing things with it. It is utterly rock solid and wonderful to drive. But…
The user interface is waaay out of date. No Android auto. Navigation and phone interfaces from 20 years ago. It gets good mileage; mid-twenties overall, but requires premium fuel (I just filled the tank at $4+/gal). It is not particularly roomy, certainly less roomy than my old Camrys, and low on storage. Bags for three travelers at most, anything more and someone will have a bag on their lap. Trips to Lowes are nearly pointless.
Frankly, I think if I had Android Auto I would readily accept the other issues. At the moment the key is that with prices up where they are, I will likely never get as much money for a trade-in. Anything new will be correspondingly expensive to buy but there is an alternative I'm twirling around in my brain.
Suppose I was to do a one-pay lease. A one-pay lease is where you lease a car, but you pay the entire lease up front. You save on your lease this way because you get out of all the interest payments baked into it. You should still pay less than an outright purchase and you can gamble that when it comes time to turn in in 2 or 3 years cars will be more plentiful and available and prices may have come down to reasonable levels.
I haven't pulled the trigger yet but I am pursuing this line of thought.
The last piece of stuff I need to replace is my laptop. Keys are starting to fail, there is power supply weirdness, and bluetooth has become dubious. I have no thoughts on this at the moment other than the Surfaces look appealing, so I guess I'll spare you a third rant in this post. Lucky you. For now.
