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Self-Emptying Robot Vacuums are a Game Changer

Self-Emptying Robot Vacuums are a Game Changer

Over the past decade, I’ve had a few versions of the robot vacuum. I’ve never been very impressed with them. They got stuck, they’d stop because the bin was full, they never seemed to get the carpets and rugs clean. But I’d see one on Woot and think, maybe this time will be different. It never was. Then, iRobot debuted the clean base. A thing that allowed the Roomba to empty itself. And it’s…

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My Evolving Smart Home

My Evolving Smart Home

Back in 2015 I gave a bit of insight into my home automation system using SmartThings….and then never said another word about it. It’s time I corrected that.

The Limits of SmartThings

Truth is, I didn’t stick with SmartThings for terribly long. SmartThings was a great starter system, and one I’d still recommend to someone who wants out of the box functionality as well as more advanced…

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I've Been: Giving My Road Bike A Makeover

I’ve Been: Giving My Road Bike A Makeover

As I’ve written before, play is very important to me, it’s even part of my self-care. And one of my favorite ways to play is on my bike. But as much as I love to bike riding, I didn’t love my actual bike. The fit was a bit off. The brakes were uncomfortable to reach. I felt like I was too stretched out. It never really felt as nimble as I thought it should. It was noisy in certain gears. And…

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Product Review: Garmin Vivoactive 4/4s

After two years, I've upgraded my Garmin watch. See what I think about the Vivoactive 4s.

Two years ago I bought a Garmin Vivoactive on my quest for a smartwatch to replace my Pebble. Shortly after, I upgraded to the Vivoactive 3 when it was released and became entrenched in the Garmin ecosystem. When Garmin released the Vivoactive 4/4s (and I found out about the significant discount through my insurance company) I promptly ordered the smaller sized Vivoactive 4s.

New Features I Love

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Product Review: Goodr Sunglasses

Product Review: Goodr Sunglasses

We all hate ads, and how everything we do online is tracked to feed us more of them. Sometimes, the ads are so laser focused you can’t help but to click. That’s how I found Goodr sunglasses.

Goodr makes sunglasses that are designed for either running, cycling, golfing, or what they call “beast”(which is super vague with a description of those “who don’t mind getting dirty or have scrapes and…

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Watching: Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

Watching: Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

Before Marie Kondo’s show Tidying Up debuted on Netflix on January 1st, the only awareness I had of the KonMari method was watching Emily Gilmore declare her dining room chairs no longer brought her joy. One of my favorite scenes from the Gilmore Girls revival, but not really something that would get me interested in reading Kondo’s book or watching her show.

Then, all hell broke loose.…

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Book Review: Out There: The Wildest Stories from Outside Magazine

Book Review: Out There: The Wildest Stories from Outside Magazine

I’ve never been a reader of Outside Magazine. I’ve read some of their pieces when someone shared them. And I knew it’s where authors like Jon Krakauer got their start. But when I see the magazine on the shelf it seems so focused on gear, which isn’t really an interest of mine. When I saw Out There: The Wildest Stories from Outside Magazineavailable for review on Net Galley I expected it’d be a…

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Stop Exercising. Start Playing.

Have fun out there.

Note: This post talks about exercise, and the pressure put on us to be “fit” to society’s standards. If this is the kind of thing that triggers you, here’s some goats in pajamas to check out instead. Society puts a lot of value on the size and shape of our bodies. Everywhere we look there’s someone telling us we need to cleanse. (as if we didn’t have livers.) Or we need to have a Beachbody. (If…

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Book Review: The Sky is Yours

Well, this was disappointing.

I don’t like to review books I don’t finish. I don’t think it’s fair to the author. It could be their book just wasn’t for me. Or there might be a part further in that brings the whole thing together. But since I received The Sky Is Yours as a review copy, I have to review it. The premise of The Sky Is Yours was interesting. A dystopian world created both by nature and man, where the protagonist…

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Bullet Journal: One Year Later

I started my first bullet journal in October of 2016, making 2017 my first complete year with one. Being able to evolve the system to meet my needs is the primary reason I’ve actually stuck with it. I started with the original format, moved on something more elaborate and time-consuming, and now I’m using something in-between. Over this past year (and a few months) I discovered what does and does…

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Fitness Trackers are Inaccurate. And it Doesn't Matter.

Fitness Trackers are Inaccurate. It Doesn't Matter.

“Fitness Trackers are Inaccurate” is a headline you’ll see frequently in the coming months. It is New Year’s Resolution time, and people are resolving to “get in shape” or “lose weight.” (A better resolution is “be healthier,” without the focus on appearance. But that’s a different topic.) Fitness tracker manufacturers love to cash in on people’s hopes and dreams. And the media will respond by…

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Book Review: Fire on the Track

The story of the first women's track and field team.

Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women by Roseanne Montillo was a book that caught my eye instantly when I saw it on Blogging For Books. A story about women changing what being feminine means? While they did something previously reserved for men? A tale of disaster and recovery and perseverance? Sign me up! I wanted to love Fire on the Track. But the way the…

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What is Geek Culture?

This week, it seems everyone is excited about Star Wars: The Last Jedi. There’s merchandise everywhere ranging from t-shirts and toys to razors and shower heads. And for the first time, it’s really struck me. Geek culture is now just pop culture. This has been years in the making of course. The MCU in theaters. The Arrowverse taking over the CW. ThinkGeek having retail stores. ESports on ESPN.…

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I've Been: Trail Running

Turns out there's a way for me to not hate running.

I have never liked running. Not even a little bit. It hurts. It’s boring. The treadmill makes me feel like a hamster. And outside it is usually either too hot or too cold. But then for some reason I got the idea that I should go trail running. Basically, running on hiking trails. And it turns out I love it. Trail running feels like playing. When I go out in the woods and run it’s actually fun.…

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Back in July I bought the Garmin Vivoactive smartwatch. I liked the device well enough, but the style was a major drawback. I started referring to it as “Michael Scott’s Plasma” because of how ridiculous it looked like on my wrist.

But as silly as it looked, I liked the device for what it was, a first generation smartwatch with a fitness focus. I liked it enough that further bought into the Garmin ecosystem with their smart scale. So when Garmin announced the Vivoactive 3, a smartwatch that actually looks like watch, I was very interested.

Vivoactive 3 vs Vivoactive

The Vivoactive 3 is a huge step up from the Vivoactive style-wise. It’s still a pretty big device on my 5.5″ wrist, but since it’s round it doesn’t look as ridiculous. There’s no big Garmin logo, or smartwatch looking buttons. The band the watch ships with is no longer stiff silicone, and is a much more comfortable and more flexible silicone. The watch band no longer uses proprietary screws, but instead uses standard watch pins.

The Vivoactive 3 also adds a heart rate monitor. It’s flush to the back of the watch which is really nice. Because it has a heart rate monitor, it can monitor your stress throughout the day. I have no idea how this calculates though, and I can’t seem to find a pattern to it. There is also a meditation mode to help lower the stress. I never remember to do it though. I wish it’d prompt me to take a moment to relax like it prompts me to move.

One downside to the Vivoactive 3 is the vibration. It’s not nearly as strong as it was on my Vivoactive. It’s not strong enough to wake me in the morning, so I can’t use it as a silent alarm, which is a big downside for me.

The Vivoactive 3 is also buggy. SMS messages don’t always dismiss from the watch when you dismiss them from your phone. If you have a watch face with weather, the GPS doesn’t turn off during an indoor activity (leading to battery drain). And for some reason your step goal resets when you get a new device. This isn’t unique to the Vivoactive 3 (my husband had the same issue going from a Vivosmart HR to a Vivoactive HR), but it’s a really ridiculous problem.

Vivoactive, Vivoactive HR, and Vivoactive 3

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 on my 5.5″ wrist

  Vivoactive 3 vs Pebble Time Round

Beating the old version of the product is pretty easy. But the big question is how the Vivoactive 3 compares to my old Pebble Time Round. That’s the unicorn I’ve been chasing since Pebble was shuttered . And while the Vivoactive 3 is closer, it’s still not there.

The messaging isn’t nearly as robust as Pebble. I can respond to SMS messages from my Vivoactive 3, but that’s it. With my Pebble I could respond to messages from any messaging app. Those SMS responses aren’t customizable either. I can’t set up my own canned responses to send.

The biggest issue though is the Garmin software just isn’t intuitive. It seems every time I want to change a setting I find myself looking at the manual, and still usually having to Google for it. Pebble had a great interface, and that’s one of the biggest things I miss. That, and the app store. But I can’t really fault Garmin for that.

The Vivoactive 3 does have some features the Pebble Time round didn’t have. It’s waterproof, has GPS, and has a heart rate monitor. It has NFC and I’ll eventually be able to use it for payments. The battery life is a huge step up as well.

The Pebble Time Round next to the larger Vivoactive 3.

The devices side by side on my wrist.

Overall

The Vivoactive 3 is a huge improvement from my Vivoactive, but for me it still isn’t as good as my old Pebble. It’s still a fitness first device, which isn’t exactly what I want. But I also don’t want something that’s like a phone on my wrist.  The Vivoactive 3 comes the closest to hitting all my use case criteria at the moment, so I’m happy with the device. But I’ll still be watching this space going forward.

Disclaimer: Garmin gave me a discount code for the Vivoactive 3, which had no impact on my review. (If I were worried about anything, it’d be that I’m already in the ecosystem.) All Amazon links are affiliate links.

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is out. Is it the Pebble replacement I've been looking for? Back in July I bought the Garmin Vivoactive smartwatch. I liked the device well enough, but the style was a major drawback.

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I am not a Xennial.

Enough with the sub-generations already.

Once again the term “Xennial” is being tossed around. It’s supposed to be a term for those born between 1977 and 1985 (I was born in ’86. Close enough). Basically if you didn’t get the internet until high school or college, then you’re “Xennial.” I’m seeing my peers share articles like the one above all over social media. And the message is basically the same: See we’re not like those “other…

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When I saw the “A Record of My Vinyl” journal on Blogging For Books I was skeptical. I keep track of my collection in Discogs, which makes it very easy to search on the go. But, sometimes it can be slow if my phone is acting up or my data signal isn’t strong. I thought this might be a nice physical copy to have on hand in that case. Plus, the design is super cute.

When I received the “A Record of My Vinyl” journal though, I realized this wouldn’t be the case. The journal is an awkward size at roughly 10″x 6″. It’s too big to carry around easily. I’d rather see it in a nice A5 size (like a medium Moleskine) or make it bigger to fit in with my collection itself. The journal gets around this issue by having a section of perforated pages for your “wish list.” These pages will tear out very easily, the action of opening the book caused one to fall out immediately in my copy.

The other big issue I had with “A Record of My Vinyl” is it would be hard to find anything in the journal. There are no page numbers. The only page you could use as an index page is the title page, the other pages are black. You could use stick-in tabs, but you would have to buy those separately.

I just can’t see a scenario where using this journal would be helpful. I think you’d be better off using a regular notebook and making the notes yourself.

Disclaimer: I got a review copy of a “A Record of My Vinyl” from BloggingForBooks.com.

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The front of the journal

Maybe this can be an index?

The page spread.

The wishlist that fell out instantly.

An analog way to track your records. When I saw the "A Record of My Vinyl" journal on Blogging For Books I was skeptical.