Ring Doorbell For the Win

Looking at my last post regarding my Ring doorbell, I believe I have a love-hate relationship with the device. Today it came to my aid and kept from interrupting me while doing important work. Of course in order for that to happen, I had to have my smartphone connected to it so I could use the camera.

Lately my neighborhood has had a string of door-to-door salespeople ringing doorbells and interrupting my work. Normally it is too much of a hassle to open the Ring app on my phone and see who is at the door so I walk from my basement office up to the door only to get upset about being interrupted. Due to large bombs being exploded out in the Utah desert this week, I have been logged into my Ring app to see what others in my neighborhood are saying about the loud noises we are all hearing.

Today when I got the doorbell notification while working on something very important, I just pulled up my phone and quickly spied my front porch. When I saw 2 people I didn't recognize nor expected, I continued working. About 10 minutes later I finished my task and checked the door to see if they left something. Sure enough they left a brochure about something I am not interested in learning more about.

My Ring doorbell doesn't always work the way I want it to. Sometimes I have to go through and extensive login process just to get access to the camera and that can be frustrating. Fortunately today the stars aligned and it kept me working when I didn't need to get up. Today I like the device. 

Time for a New Exercise-Focused Smartwatch

I have loved my Suunto 9 Baro watch and use many of the features on it almost daily. Towards the end of ski season, I noticed the barometer in the watch stopped working. I would ski multiple runs but the device couldn't keep track of them. Instead I would have to look at my GPS path and count how many times I rode the chairlift. Then I started training for a trip my wife and I plan to take this fall: the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike. The amount of vertical feet I hike is a very important metric and so I decided to get a new watch.

I am a fan of Apple products as I have an iPhone and am typing this on a Mac computer. However I am not a fan of their smartwatches for one simple reason: short battery life. I need something I can use for multiple days without having to worry about charging my watch. With that in mind, I started researching a replacement watch.

When it comes to exercise-focused smartwatches there are 4 major brands: Suunto, Garmin, Fitbit, and Coros. I have not had much experience with Coros and so I wondered if I should take a chance and try one out. They seem to provide a lot of features at a low price point. After reading a number of reviews and comparing features, I decided to pass. I also passed on a Fitbit as my experience with the brand is not positive.

I am a sailor and when it comes to the most accurate GPS devices for sailing, Garmin wins every time. One of the people I ski with has a Garmin smartwatch and so I could compare notes. My wife also has a Garmin watch but unfortunately it does not have a built-in GPS and is very cumbersome to use. Ultimately I would have been willing to give a Garmin watch consideration except for one thing: I am invested in the Suunto ecosystem and wanted to continue using the same app on my smartphone.

Another factor that played into my decision is price. As an Eagle Scout, I get a 35% discount on Suunto watches and a 25% discount on Garmin. For those interested in how to get such a discount, comment and I will be sure to get back to you on details. Just make sure you have your certificate proving the accomplishment.

After weeks of looking, I narrowed my watch choice down to the Suunto 9 Peak Pro, the Race S, or the Vertical. I liked the 9 Peak Pro because is the follow-on to the watch I already have and I assumed it would be similar enough I wouldn't have to learn how to use it. I liked the battery life but it is a couple years old and is probably due for a refresh soon. I liked the battery life on the Vertical and all of the features specific to mountain climbing and hiking uphill on skis. Unfortunately it is also a few years old and the most expensive of the 3. Ultimately I decided on the Race S. It does not have the greatest battery life but is the newest and has some fixes that I wanted. The heart-rate monitor on my 9 Baro is very inaccurate and will double count heartbeats. This makes my fitness level rank with the worst of couch potatoes. The Race S has fixed that. It also had the best price of the 3.

I received the watch a week or so ago and my wife saved it for me to give as a gift for Father's Day. The first thing I noticed is how much smaller the new watch is vs. my old one. I used to have trouble wearing dress shirts because the size of the watch. The new one is very nice and will fit under the sleeves of my shirts. The second thing is how much more accurate the heart-rate monitor is. I went for a run and didn't spend the whole time with a heart rate of 212 beats per minute, which is well above my maximum.

Unfortunately I have only had a couple of days to test the watch but so far I really like it. Ski season is over so I won't be able to test that functionality for 4 or 5 months but I prefer the Suunto features over the Garmin so I am sure I won't be disappointed. While the Garmin does track alpine skiing, the Suunto has separate ski touring and alpine skiing settings and it is helpful to have both. If the watch doesn't live up to my expectations, I'll be sure to provide an update here.  

A Low-Tech Gift with High-Tech Uses

June is the birthday month of my oldest grandchild and so I need to think of an appropriate gift to get him. This morning my son reached out to me and suggested I get the same thing my wife's father got him when my son turned this age: a genuine Swiss-army knife. Thinking about the gift, I think it is a great gift for someone of my grandson's age and so I immediately ordered it from Amazon.

Now a pocket knife is controversial gift for a young boy. Some might say it is too young for such a dangerous weapon. My youngest son was slightly older when we decided to core apples while camping and he seriously cut the palm of his hand and required stitches. With the knowledge of that event now, I might have taken the time to do a bit more teaching on the proper use of knives and my son might not have required a late-night doctor's visit.

Looking at the picture of the knife on my computer, I doubt the knife blade will ever get used that much. I have a lot of adult friends that carry knives daily because of all the other tools they contain. The one I have chosen has both Philips and flat-head screwdriver blades. I am always using mine to remove covers off electronic equipment to replace batteries or scrape corroded connectors. Carrying a multi-purpose knife has its benefits. I'm sure it will get used.

One important thing I will have to stress to my grandson is not to ever bring it to school. While that is something I could do when I was his age, we are all a little paranoid when children bring weapons to school. Rather than have to deal with severe consequences it is best if he leaves the useful tool at home.