I've joined the Dark Side

[Spooky]

Just ordered an Ultra 2 Black today. Wife ordered a 42mm Series 10.

Obviously my love of G-Shock doesn't make me a purist, but I've resisted the smart watch world for a long time. Simply put, I want the Activity Tracker and health features. The ability to send/receive calls and listen to music independent of my phone is a bonus. Maybe I'll look into the Sinn Dual Watch system? Though the reviews are lukewarm at best.

Next items on the list for our outdoor health adventures:



Friend of mine has one. Even with a beard (which he also has) they work great. I love living in the future.

Freyja ran a mile at the "Pumpkin Run" yesterday in 12:29. It's do or die time. And once my Backpacking training is done, we're all signed up for the "Turkey Trot" in November. I have to switch gears and start jogging, as my goal will be at least to keep up with her.

Wish me luck.

[Mediocre]

This makes a lot of sense for the hiking

[Spooky]

This makes a lot of sense for the hiking

True. Though for any trip lasting more than 48 hours the Mudmaster still wins with the solar charging.

For a few day trip I might be able to explore an external battery. I’ll have to do some experimenting.







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[Spooky]

Very neat. I can see why people like them.


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[Spooky]

Packaging definitely felt like a luxury item. If I'm being honest, I've always been somewhat impressed with Apple's Packaging. It doesn't "matter" to me, but I like it. (IE: ESEE Knives, the plainest packaging they can get away with with a fantastic product inside. I'm cool with that too. )

Setup wasn't exactly a breeze. We both have iPhone 15 Pros. Both of us got an "iPhone is out of date" error. We've both got updates set to automatic, and they do, but for some reason we had to update to IOS 17.06.1 (I think) and then IOS 18.00.01 or whatever. After that it went pretty smoothly.

Tested calling from it with a couple friends. Both with and without a headset. Works great. Pandora was already loaded I think because it was on my phone. Had to update the password and my 90's Techno Station was instantly available.

Honestly, coming from the tech I remember when I was Freyja's age, these things are properly miraculous. Maybe I need to dig up a Yellow Trench coat and go as Dick Tracy for Halloween?



At least some of our hopes came true. Though I'm pretty George Orwell would be pissed.

Oh, and speaking of pissed. UPS. I properly hate them. They delivered my Mudmaster to the wrong house, and thankfully this box only contained US Cellular setup paperwork:







Total of 4 boxes. Two with just paperwork, and two containing our watches. Neither watch was damaged. In fact the paperwork ones were weird, they had one of those giant air pillow things in there...to protect the papers?

Still, I asked the UPS guy point blank, "Did it get hit by a car?". His response was *Shrug*.

Ugh. Whatever. I'm tired of shipping companies.


I could have had an Apple watch years ago, had I wanted one. In fact I wasn't sold on my Mudmaster even having Bluetooth because I wanted it 100% self contained and not utilize my phone. Had I known this was coming down the line I may have stayed with the Mudman. Probably. (Sapphire Crystal and analog hands is a huge selling point for me.)

Longines will be the dinner watch, Mudmaster is still the Camping watch. I have my Swimming G-Shock and all the others. I doubt this will replace my enthusiasm for "real" watches. (Still need a hand wind Squelette - Tissot maybe?)

Heck if I know. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a meme I'm going to think about often:

[Spooky]

Oh, and Nicci got the 42mm Series 10. Aluminum instead of Titanium. About a savings of $300.00. Trade off is no Sapphire Crystal. (US Cellular didn't actually have any 42mm Titanium models in stock). But I'm confident this case will work well. A little less tacticool and smaller than mine. But it'll be good for her.