i'm not normally going to be in the habit of reviewing tech that i haven't used personally. however, i came across the klydoclock, and it looks pretty cool. i looked at a few youtube videos to check out the build quality and functionality, and it seems pretty legit. here's a youtube video to check out if you'd like. i think tech that delights people is the best kind of tech, and this product definitely seems to accomplish that. 🫰

i've been wearing the sand-colored izipizi journey sunglasses for the last few months, and i really like them. the material has a pleasant tactility; the lenses are 100% uv category 3 and are polarized; the design looks good; and they have held up well. the brand tries to be sustainable by using as much bio-sourced materials in their products as possible. if you're looking for some new sunglasses, i highly recommend these. 😎

i really love carbonated beverages, and one of my favorites -- besides diet coke -- is sanzo's calamansi flavor. it's made with real calamansi juice, and it's pleasantly tart, yet refreshing. you can purchase it here. ✌️😊✌️

i went to costco today to get some groceries, and decided to walk around all the snack aisles to see what was there. i always like trying new foods and snacks just in the off-chance that i actually like a snack. this fails more often than not, but i found an exception today – irvins salted egg salmon skin. it doesn't taste too salty and contains hardly any sugar. i also almost got these strawberry and yogurt pretzels from costco as well, but decided not to because i'm trying to be mindful of my sugar intake. they look really good and i want to try them in the future. as an aside, i always find it funny when products say 'flavored with other natural flavors'. 😎

a longstanding favorite ice cream of mine is phish food from ben and jerry's. if you've never had it before, do yourself a favor and try it out.

a few years back i discovered the sriracha spice thai rice chips by dang, and they are pretty addictive. i don't really enjoy spicy food, and these are pretty tame in the spice department. the flavor is nicely balanced with a bit of tanginess, and it's hard to not eat the whole bag in one go.

one of the things i find the most irritating about socks is the stitching near the toes. if i can feel the stitching, i find it extremely distracting and uncomfortable. the socks i had previously had this issue.

so after reading some reviews, i decided to try out bombas marl ankle socks. i received them today, and i can say that they don't have the internal stitching issue.

the fit is good, and the styling isn't bad either. i'm confident in recommending these if you're looking for some new socks.

also, it seems like they do a lot of good and donate a pair for every purchase. business for good is how i like doing things, so i feel better giving them my money.

i recently purchased a new umbrella, since i was tired of umbrellas that are poorly made and break easily.

i did some research and came across 'metro' by blunt umbrellas, as they seemed to have the most positive reviews. i got mine in black, of course.

the criteria i had were that the umbrella needed to be small enough to travel with, but large enough to keep the rain off.

the materials and build quality are excellent, and the canopy has uv protection (if you use an umbrella to protect yourself from sun exposure).

it has a nice auto-open button for fast opening -- which these days is a fairly standard feature. the only thing that would make the product better is if the same button closed the canopy as well. however, the closing mechanism is simple and works well enough.

i will update this post when i have used it more, and will detail how it performs and functions in daily use.

UPDATE: there's been fairly inclement weather in the bay area the past few days, so the umbrella has been put to good use. i'm pretty impressed with the build quality of the umbrella, and it has held up well under different conditions. there have been wind gusts up to 20 mph, and it handled it easily with no canopy buckling or any other issues that come with higher winds. the canopy opening mechanism opens the canopy every time without issue. the handle rotates on the stem of the umbrella, which reduces any torque tension from canopy rotation -- a well-thought-out feature. the canopy itself repels water nicely, and doesn't absorb it into the material. however, this was only moderate rain -- it's yet to be determined if absorption happens with higher volumes of precipitation. for a travel-size umbrella canopy, it's quite good. however, if i were to have one for non-travel use, i would definitely get the classic or a model with a larger canopy.

overall, i'm very pleased with the quality and functionality of this umbrella.