random thoughts – Day 1,499 – (Wednesday) – moods and weather

Mother Nature had a bit of a mood swing today. The morning was a bit chilly, but not awful, just enough to make we walk faster. It got cloudier and by late morning, the rain rapped sharply on the skylights in the roof over the suite. The rain came and left quickly and the clouds lingered for a while, but at 1:00, as we gathered for the monthly S&M team meeting (Sales & Marketing, pervs), the sun was shining against a spectacular blue sky.

Sunny and cloudy at 3:00.

By 3:00, sunshine splashed on brick buildings against a cloudy sky tinged with gray. By 3:30, rain slammed against the half circle window from which I often monitor the weather and the world outside, and a brisk wind whipped the flag down the block. The closed deck umbrellas at Cobblestones across the street flapped in the wind. And then the wind died down (for a while) and the rain let up.

The weather was calm outside at 5:15, the traffic was an unpleasant cluster. When I finally arrived at home after a 20-minute, two-mile crawl along the cluttered streets, the wind seemed to be reactivating and the teenage across the street neighbors were tossing a basketball at the hoop, blocking access to my driveway. They moved, they always move, and overall, they are decent kids, and there are far worse things they could be doing than tossing a basketball. After changing for the gym, I interrupted the game again by exiting the driveway.

Training mode isn't so great.

The gym included a test of the Training mode on the fitness watch, which seems to depict a person running on a treadmill. It was mostly a failure. The readout on the treadmill was 1.5 miles. Most of the first mile was done at a pace of 4.0 mph (about 15.5 minutes) and the remainder was at 3.5 mph before the five minute cool down slowed things.

The total readout on the watch after 25 minutes on the treadmill, the half-mile round-trip trek between garage and office, a trip to the coffee shop, and countless trips to the water machine and the restroom at the office is 1.85. The heart rate readout was the only thing that matched with the treadmill.

I posted a review on Amazon a couple days ago about the pros and cons of the watch, including the scant product info. Yesterday, I received two emails from the company. 

One included an apology for the shortcomings and pointed out the user manual located on the Amazon sales page – a link found way, way, way down on the page. Silly me, I had looked on the company website for info, as noted in the tiny guide in the watch box about how to charge the battery and turn it on and where to go for "more info." 

The second email offered both an apology and a full refund, my feelings about which have vacillated like the day's weather. I think I would find more satisfaction revising and expanding their skimpy info to make it more accurate. The watch works great for walking the streets, so there is that.