Pebble Watch

The Pebble watch has landed. Finally. Well, it landed for me on July 15. So now, after more than a month with the Pebble, here's my review.

I was going to do the good, the bad, and the ugly, but there's really only the good and the bad.

First, what is the Pebble Watch?

The Pebble Watch is a digital watch that interacts with iPhone and Android smartphones. In May 2012, Pebble successfully funded their Kickstarter project with over $10,000,000 from over 68,000 backers. Kickstarter is a website where companies and individuals can get funding for their projects from all over the world, normally by giving incentives to those that "back" them. (side note: I had the honor of making the Kickstarter video for the successful "Amazing Fist" project, a comic book written by my friend Adam Messinger, illustrated by Matthew Farnsworth, and inked by Frank Stone.)

First, the bad.

I missed backing the campaign by just  weeks and ended up pre-ordering instead. I pre-ordered in June 2012. At the time, they estimated a late 2012 launch. The company hadn't officially been launched and they had only built prototypes before the massively successful Kickstarter campaign. They still hadn't determined who would manufacture the watch, or how it would be manufactured.

The updates started to come in. With each of them came a later launch date. First 2012 was a no-go, then early 2013, then Spring 2013. While the early updates seemed to have some details, time eroded not only my hopes, but also any concrete date when my wrist would actually meet my Pebble.

I was finally charged for my Pebble in January 2013 and was promised that my watch would soon be ready.

Then nearly all communications ceased. No responses to my Facebook messages or e-mails for months. They had originally promised that they would send regular updates via e-mail so it was disappointing that after I paid I heard nothing from them.

Then, in late May 2013 I received the message that I had been waiting for: my Pebble would be shipping SOON!

Pebble then announced that they would be selling black Pebbles in Best Buy stores across the country. They assured backers and pre-order customers that this was in the best interest of everyone, and that this move would mean we would get our Pebbles sooner - easing the stress off the supply chain or something like that. My pre-order was for a grey watch, but I was invited to request a refund from the company and then could go buy a black one in a Best Buy.

The salt in the wound came from the CEO and founder, Eric Migicovsky. On July 4, 2013, Forbes.com featured a piece titled , "Deconstructing Pebble's Mainstream Push", where the CEO said he was unfazed by complaints.

"Migicovsky is unfazed with the complaints. Because Pebble charges a customer’s credit card only after their watch is ready to ship, he says that those who pre-ordered Pebble have not paid in advance. Availability of Pebble at a local Best Buy, thus, makes it quicker and easier for such customers to buy the watch, he adds."

Unfazed with the complaints. That is something no company should ever aspire to be.

Clearly, the second sentence was factually incorrect; I had paid for my watch six months before.

And what did "shipping soon" mean? Six weeks. On July 12, my Pebble shipped. I received it just a few days later.

The good

Thankfully, once I received the Pebble watch, the story began to improve. That is, after I unpacked the watch from the box. No aesthetically pleasing packaging here. Just a watch stuck in a box. Stuck to a box that was also the shipping container to be more precise.

Within a couple of minutes of getting the watch out of the box it was on my wrist and working. It didn't require much setup other than discovering it as a bluetooth device from my iPhone.

Text notifications work great. I have always preferred getting no alerts for e-mail, no buzz, no sound, no dancing paper-clip or other animation on my computer, nothing. I have, though, used the built-in VIP feature within iOS to get notified when I receive e-mail from certain people. That works great because my family and close friends don't often e-mail me, but when they do, I can get a notification on my watch.

I don't carry my iPhone with my all day long. I usually throw it on my desk when I get to work (well, more like slide it on the desk) and only rarely look at it. Now, if I am within bluetooth range of my phone I'll get my text and e-mail alerts to my Pebble. I like that it gives a short vibration, but somedays I turn that off.

I really like having caller ID on my watch. My phone doesn't ring when I get a call (or make any noise for anything) and only sometimes do I have it vibrate when I get a call. That means I actually miss a lot of calls. Well, I miss a lot fewer calls now that my Pebble tells me I am getting a call. Although it is supposed to work with the latest version of the Pebble OS, it doesn't always give me the name of the caller (from my contact list), but the number is fine.

I really wanted the watch because I like the changeable watch faces, and those are great! Pebble doesn't offer many watch faces, but a third party site, mypebblefaces.com, has a lot. I rotate through several throughout the week depending on what I'm doing.

There are apps, but it is still pretty limited. The RunKeeper app is great and works flawlessly. I hope someday they'll let me change the display to show current split pace rather than entire workout pace, but for a free app it works great. Plus, it convinced me to move from Strava to RunKeeper.

FreeCaddie is a great free golf app that I recently downloaded. I have never used my iPhone to get the distances while playing golf, but having it sent to my Pebble is nice.

I also really like being able to control my music from the Pebble. Works perfectly when I'm out on a bike ride, especially since I no longer have to ask Siri, "who sings this song?". The small added bonus of seeing the album name is cool, too.

Overall? Awesome first generation product! The lack of display colors is fine... but I'm sure that will evolve, if not by Pebble than likely by Apple or Google. I really, really, like having a watch that I can wear to work, as well as on a run, or a bike ride, or a swim (did I mention that it is waterproof - up to 5 ATM, which is great for wearing it while I swim or water the lawn, or get hit with an errant water balloon). The battery life is great, only having to charge it every few days or so.

For the price, $150, I have been very pleased with it. Every once in a while someone will compliment the watch, and then when I show them all the stuff it can do they usually have a very surprised reaction. I'm happy to have been an original pre-order customer.

I still can't seem to get the foul taste completely out of my mouth about how they treated me as a customer. They surely didn't treat me in a way that would cause me to be loyal to them. The Pebble watch is a great product but I'd feel a lot better about owning it if the company seemed to care about its customers.

Did you get one? What do you think? What do you think is next in the "wearable" market"

Check out GetPebble.com for more details on the watch.

Podcast Stockton versus California Rays

originally published on Podcast Stockton, August 10, 2013

This morning, the Podcast Stockton team challenged the California Rays Beep Baseball team. The home team has a new name (they were formerly known as the Stockton Stingrays) but the result was exactly the same as every other time these two teams have squared off. In case you don't know about beep baseball, here's a brief primer: Beep baseball is an adaptive version of baseball played by athletes that are visually impaired where all players wear blindfolds.

We started off with a two-run lead in the first inning with runs from Shawn (our most consistent hitter and scorer) and me (yes, Matt actually scored a run, his first one ever). The Rays blanked out in the bottom of the first inning and we all thought this was our year!

But then, fresh off her trip to the 2013 NBBA World Series in Columbus, Georgia, team captain Jennifer Boylan connected on her second pitch and had no problem scoring.

Jennifer scored another run and Luke came out of retirement to add two runs as well. Rays rookie, Miguel, who has shown incredible skills during practice this year, scored his first run.

The final score was 2-5. But for those that have heard us talk about beep baseball before you know that is not the end of the story.

In the sixth and final inning, the Rays allowed us to hit sighted (did I mention that we play with blindfolds) . This tradition of allowing the sighted team to hit without blindfolds has yet to change the result of the game, but this year we felt different. Although our first three batters were able to connect with the ball, none were able to get to the base before being fielded out by our opponents. Shawn even knocked the BEEP out of the ball, and I'm not censoring, he literally knocked the BEEP out of the ball! They even gave us go through our entire rotation and still, none of us were able to score. Eric, who also played in the 2013 NBBA World Series, made a few putouts look easy. Jennifer and Terrence also helped ensure we'd score no more runs, and Miguel, gets his first putout!

Stay up to date on the California Rays by liking them on Facebook at facebook.com/blindbaseball.

Thank you to the California Rays for taking the field with us: Jennifer, Eric, Luke, David, Miguel, and Terrence. And thank you to the wonderful volunteers: Robert, Rosemary, Josie, Araceli, and Terrence Jr.

And thank you to the rest of our team: Manny, Greg, Missy, Rod, Shawn, Shawn Jr., and to everyone that came out and watched us.

Check out the pictures at Facebook.com/PodcastStockton.

The New Phonebook is Here!

That's right, the new phonebook is here! And I'm on it. I'm not in it, but I'm on it. My photo of downtown Stockton was selected to be the cover shot of Stockton's Valley Yellow Pages.

I realize that most people don't use the phone book anymore, but every now and then I see it at a local business. It's still pretty cool to see my pic on the cover.

If you want to actually use the phonebook online, you can go here.

And did I mention, THE NEW PHONEBOOK IS HERE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7aIf1YnbbU

Tough Mudder Tahoe Summer 2013

Tough Mudder is billed by the organizers as "Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet".

I will be the judge of that.

It is. It is the the toughest event on the planet. At least it was the toughest event I have ever done.

On July 13, my brother Ken and I participated in our first Tough Mudder. The local mud run at Dell'Osso was not really a preparation for the Tough Mudder, but for both of us, it served as the inspiration for what we wanted to accomplish.

The starting gate is like nothing else I had ever experienced before. The starting line emcee, Sean Corvelle, gets the crowd psyched like no other. His inspirational opening really got me jazzed to start the challenge. Even though he gives the speech all weekend long and throughout the year he delivered it in a way that showed true passion for this event.

He reminded us that the challenge was just that, a challenge, and gave some pretty cool shout-outs to Tough Mudders from the military. He also reminded us of our pledge as Tough Mudders:

As a Tough Mudder I pledge that…

I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.

I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.

I do not whine – kids whine.

I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.

I overcome all fears.

And then we were  off!

Tough Mudder Tahoe Sumer 2013 was a 10 mile course at Northstar California Resort. We climbed over 8,000 feet over the first 5 miles of the course. Within the first mile, we experienced the first two obstacles: Glory Blades and Kiss of Mud.

 

And then, just after the first mile, the obstacle that would prove to be the hardest one of the day: THE ARCTIC ENEMA. Yes, it is nearly exactly what it sounds like. After you've ran up a steep incline and you're really starting to sweat you have to jump in a tank of ice water. Although it seemed to me that it was nearly all ice. And there was no skimping on this one... in order to get through the obstacle you have to go underwater (notice the wood divider with barbed wire in the pic below... that is half-way through the obstacle). The most challenging part of this obstacle was catching my breathe afterward. I was already short of breathe because of the elevation, the cold water dunk just made it worse. I thought about quitting right then. I'm glad I didn't. But I truly didn't think I could keep going after that.

After a few more obstacles we reached the summit and went through the Electric Eel: crawling through mud and water where wires are hanging down ready to jolt you with 10,000 volts of electricity. Sounds like a lot, and although it certainly gets your attention, it is not as bad as I was afraid it would be.

There were a total of 19 obstacles, and I'll spare you the details for the rest of them.

Here are some of pics they snapped of me. If you want a better idea of what the obstacles look like, visit their Facebook album for that day - Tough Mudder Tahoe Summer 2013, Saturday, July 13

At the end of the Mud Mile obstacle, grateful it wasn't actually a mile:

The obstacle that I was the most worried about, Walk the Plank, a 15 foot jump into cold water (thankfully there was no ice):

The last obstacle, Electroshock Therapy, was painful, but at least I had some idea of what to expect after having gone through the Electric Eel at the summit:

  

At the end...

Overall, it was an incredible event. Lots of excitement and energy before and after (not to mention all of the Tough Mudder branded stuff you can buy).

As I mentioned, it was the toughest event I've ever done, mentally and physically. Did I mention that I had to carry Ken on my back for part of it? Not that he needed it, it was just part of the Warrior Carry obstacle.

Already looking forward to Tough Mudder Tahoe 2014. I'll be there with my orange headband!

Canyon Classic Century 2013

Or, a better title would be, Incomplete Canyon Classic Century. With temperatures forecasted to be over 100 degrees I knew it was going to be a tough day.

And that would prove to be an understatement.

I had planned on doing the full century, 110 miles and over 10,000 feet of climbing.

I headed of Patterson about 6:30 AM and it was already starting to get warm. After a couple of miles through town, I started up Del Puerto Canyon Road. There was a little breeze and the sun was out and casting long shadows. There was a tad bit of chill in the air as the small little climb started, but it was clear that it was going to be a hot day.

I rode easy up to Frank Raines Park before heading up toward the junction. There's 8 miles from Frank Raines Park to the junction. The last 3 miles of that isn't much... the first 5 miles, however, is tough! I had forgotten just how tough this climb was. Five miles, climbing 1,400 feet, in the heat, was about all I was going to muster this day.

I stopped at the top before the last 3 miles to the junction and decided I would turn around at that point. Maybe I'll head up to Diablo Grande when I get to the bottom of the canyon. There wasn't going to be a full century in me today. And I was okay with it. Did I mention it was hot?

I did not do Diablo Grande. I just headed back to Patterson. I was starting to feel ill.

The ride back to town was tough and getting tougher with every single degree of temperature increase. SAG seemed to be taking loads of riders back to the start.

Back at the school, I got back in the car, turned on the AC and drank all the water in the ice chest. Once again, they served an amazing lunch! They also had towels in ice water and were handing them out to riders. I talked to many of the other riders. Interestingly, there were a lot of similar stories. Almost everyone I spoke with rode less than they intended and many had to wait a long time for SAG to pick them up.

55.6 miles

3,667 feet of climbing

04:23:54

14 bottles of water

Next year? Well, if it's 90 degrees or below, maybe.

Avenue of the Vines

After just a couple of weeks since the Pleasanton half-marathon, I ran another one one Sunday, the Avenue of the Vines. This race started at Woodbridge Winery in Acampo. Interestingly, the same starting location as my first century almost 10 years ago.

We got started about 20 minutes late. There had been an accident on highway 99 and the race organizers were kind enough to delay the start so everyone could get there.

The course wasn't very interesting and there was very little shade. There were a lot of very friendly volunteers and a great turnout.

Not my favorite of the races I've done so far but still a fun race.

 

I still didn't reach my goal of a sub-2 hour half-marathon. In fact, it was my slowest half-marathons of the 4 I have done. At 2:09, I am just glad I finished. I know that sounds cliché but there were a few miles during the race when I thought there was no way I'd be able to finish the 13 miles.

At around mile 10, Ken came riding his bike down the road... he took this shot. Thanks to Ken, Kenny, Megen, Dawn and Mak for being there at the finish.

Pleasanton Half Marathon

On Sunday, I completed my third half-marathon, the Pleasanton Half Marathon. It was a great day for a run! A little overcast, start time temps in the high 50s with just a hint of a breeze. Dawn, Makenzy, and I got to Dublin early to pick up Mike and Rachel before heading out to Pleasanton Sports Park.

Before the first mile, Mike was in front of me. Although I could still see him up ahead, he wouldn't see me until I crossed the finish line five minutes after him.

The route was great. For nearly the entire race, I had no idea where I was. I worked in Pleasanton for many years, but didn't recognize any of these streets. The unfamiliarity made it very interesting. The path parallel to I-680 was as close to looking familiar as I would get.

The course was along a few different surfaces. The loose dirt and other surfaces of some of the trails were a cool change to pavement.

I started off feeling pretty good. I hadn't added any bike or running miles all week so I was plenty rested. My first five miles were pretty fast for me, 8:41 pace. I first tried to hang out with the 1:55 pace group but only lasted a few miles. I then tried to stick with the 2:00 pacer but only managed to hang on for a few more miles. After mile 8 I was starting to slow down and was really starting to hurt. My knees (and ITB) were fine, just my quads were hurting.

Just before mile 10 I looked behind me and saw the 2:05 pacer running by himself. He passed me but I pushed until I caught back up. This was my first experience running with a pacer. He proved to be just what I needed. He kept me focused and I was able to push through the pain for the last few miles. He slowed a bit near the end to get back on pace and told me kick it up a gear and finish strong.

I finished at 2:01:47. Still looking for the sub-2 time, but was pretty happy with how I did, and very thankful to that pacer. I couldn't help doing the math afterward. Based on my pre-pacer pace and trend, I think I would have finished at 2:07 or so. So, thanks pacer!

Not too long after the race it started to rain. Just for a couple of minutes, but enough of it that I was even more happier that I finished when I did.

Looking forward to my next half in Lodi in a couple of weeks.

George Jones

I feel tears welling up. Goodbye George Jones.

I always knew the day would come. I had been dreading it a lot lately.

On Friday morning, just as I was leaving for work, my brother Tony texted me the news. I went to my computer, did a google search and listened to "He Stopped Loving Her Today", the saddest country song of all time. I listened to it a couple of times and just cried. That song was one of my mom's favorites.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved the rumbling majestic voice of George Jones. I love rock, I love pop, but I really love country music, especially the classic stuff from the 50s and 60s. I grew up listening to Willie and Waylon, as well as Kenny Rogers and The Oak Ridge Boys, depending on what mood I was in. I was always in the mood for George Jones.

I have never been this sad about the death of a celebrity. I don't fully understand it, but, at times, it feels as if I've lost a close personal friend.

I never had the chance to meet the Possum, but I did get to see him in concert. Twice, in fact. Twice in one week. I shared George Jones with my Auntie Kelly, which made those two concerts even more meaningful.

The concerts were amazing! I have great memories of those shows, and of this picture that I snapped at Konocti the last time I saw him in concert in 2002. I was standing a foot or two in front of him and he was smiling right at me. Wow.

George Jones had a unique vocal style. There will never be another like him. Now I wonder, who's going to fill his shoes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PODFOF8rmSE

Thanks for the memories. Thanks for the melodies.

Yabba dabba doo, the king is gone and so are you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6j2YBD--1U

Rest in peace George Glenn Jones.

The Best Ride Ever Ride

This metric-ish century, put on by the San Joaquin Bike Coalition, was named The Best Ride Ever Ride. With a name like that, what could wrong?

Nothing.

It was a perfect morning for a bike ride. A little chilly in the morning but a forecast of clear skies and warm temps were ahead. The best ride took off from Cycles Gladiator Winery on Woodbridge Road in Acampo and headed east toward Camanche. It didn't take long for the temperature to get close to 90. Thankfully, the head wind on the return wasn't as bad as it can be.

Most of the climbs on the way out were subtle, but there were a couple of attention getters, especially for the first climbs of the year.

The course was marked very well and the rest stops were placed in great spots with great volunteers. It was cool that they had Gu gel packs available as well as good snacks.

The post ride meal of pulled pork sandwiches was a great end to the best ride ever.

Definitely doing this ride again.

58.7 miles 3:51:29

Goodbye Sashi Noir

Our beloved dog, Sashi Noir, passed away on Friday. Our hearts have broken. She got sick on Tuesday and, after a trip to the vet, it seemed like she'd be sick for a couple of days and then come out of it. She did not. On Friday, she passed away. She left us knowing she was loved, I'm sure of it.

Sashi joined our family when she was just two months old. She was tiny and full of energy. She quickly got big and always had more energy than a dog of her size should. She behaved daintily as often as she acted like a big girl. She was a great protector and liked to play, especially hide-and-seek and basketball. I will always miss her excitement when I'd come home from work.

There may be more dogs in our lives, but there will never be another quite like you, girl.

Sashi Noir 04/04/04 - 04/12/13