A Geek Goes Flying

I was intrigued by the Ridge pack ¹  that can also charge an Apple Watch, but at $80 it wasn’t an impulse buy. But then I saw this Energizer SKU (QM10010PQ) selling for $35 and it was a no-brainer. 10,000 mAh battery pack (38.5 Wh) with MagSafe charging for an iPhone or an Apple Watch (the latter is the killer app feature), plus two USB-C cables on the back for charging an iPad or MacBook Air, plus another USB-C port that can be used for charging the device (or you can hook up its built-in USB-C cable, USB 1, to charge - and I confirmed, it charged – albeit slowly, at ~10W – off the built in USB-C ports on the Solterra. Built in kickstand. It doesn’t have a ton of capacity and it’s not the fastest charger, but as an all-around device I’m likely to actually have with me, it’s the most flexible thing I have in my arsenal. Now I don’t have to lug around a separate watch charger device (though this Belkin has served me well), and/or I can somewhat declutter my pencil case , maybe......

This little $9 case is the perfect thing to throw in a tote bag and keep all the expensive little nick-knacks from wandering off. Mine’s holding: AirPods Pro 2 in their charging case  Apple Pencil (I still have Lightning iPads, so...) USB C to Pencil Adapter Stylus pen and a rOtring disposable USB C to C data + power cable (also useful for, e.g., side loading my Kindle on the go) USB C to Lightning adapter Short USB A to USB C cable USB A to USB C adapter USB C to USB A adapter USB C to micro USB B adapter Watch charger

So, your humble narrator is a bit of a n00b when it comes to ... Well, um, moving. With an Apple Watch connected to my iPhone and a copy of Cyclemeter , I have some solid insight into my commute to/from the office. Heart rate info from Cyclemeter Now, my maximum heartrate should be somewhere roughly in the range of 170–185 (the back of napkin formula is 220 - your age in years, so if you were, say, 37, max heart rate should be about 183). And for moderate intensity exercise they ‡ say you should be shooting for 50-70% of that maximum. So, according to a cardiologist I know, that hypothetical 37 year old person should “try to stay close to 70% of max ~128 bpm. There is no advantage conditioning to push further and risk of injury goes up.” Even if training for a zombie apocalypse , I asked? “Won’t help.” So, there we have it. I never even thought about it, really, before. I pushed to what felt “right” and like a workout, and my heart rate was an interesting bit of trivia. Now I’m ...

In between Storms of the Century ™, I’m back to bicycle commuting to the office. (For not the best reasons: Weight loss (again, sigh), and, my senior mutt can’t make it up the stairs anymore, so she hasn’t been coming in with me, so I don’t need to accommodate her with my Jeep and a ramp [1] and ... But at least I feel better on the bike.) Revant lenses for the Bose Frames Tempo sunglasses: 👍 I’ve been using the Bose Frames Tempo sunglasses again, an xmas present from my mom back in 2020.  They still work incredibly well, audio is good all things considered, and they don’t isolate me from the environment when I’m cycling. (I mostly stick to bike paths, with some limited time spent in traffic.) I’ve even been able to participate in Zoom conferences with vendors, boards of directors meetings, etc., while on my commute, and no one has complained about wind noise or said they’ve had any issues hearing me. Impressive. The lenses are too dark for riding at dusk, though, and with sunse...

The fewer things on my wrist, the better. At a recent trip to Disneyland, we all broke down and bought MagicBand+ devices, which have some kinda cool (the first time) interactivity with things like World of Color and Fantasmic! ( RIP Murphy ), but also just generally make life easier with things like Lightning Lane. (Oh, and, there’s apparently some sort of Batuu bounty hunter thing at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? We saw it and meant to participate but it didn’t happen. But Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Nite is coming up...) So. For my Apple Watch Series 6 , I have a nice-ish metal bracelet that I actually really like a lot. Makes the base model watch feel a lot more premium. But, not compatible with the MagicBand+ holders I’ve found. (Incidentally, check the descriptions carefully, I didn’t find many solutions on Amazon for the MagicBand+, most of them are for the original MagicBand...) So I picked up this Archer Canvas Watch Strap , which I like a lot so far. It’s a bit more c...