Prius Accessory Tray, Floor Mats, and Seat Covers

Time for more reviews. This concerns three items I have added to my 2012 Prius that seem to have made a difference to me.

An insert for the accessory tray, heavy duty floor mats, and seat covers.

Early in my ownership of this Prius, I purchased an insert for the lower front center console. I didn't like just having the open space for things to roll about in down there. So I ordered this:

It is pretty simple and provides two cup holders and a storage bin. Now, there is little space over the tray to place a beverage in the cup holder, but the cup pockets are fine for collecting small items or coins that you may want to contain and easily find at a later time. I have a cleaned out "Go Cup" from KFC that fits perfectly in one of the holders and I keep a small pocket knife, gum, OBD-II Bluetooth connector, moist towelettes, etc. in there. The other side can easily hold a cup-holder sized 12 volt "two-fer" and USB charger or a power inverter if you so desire.
The main portion is sized for holding items such as my hairbrush, a can of Ozium, and such. On the side of the tray, I have found the slight space good for accommodating membership and club cards at the ready so that I don't have to keep them all in my wallet.

Another purchase was a set of heavy duty floor mats.

We purchased a second Prius recently, a better runaround for my wife than the minivan when she didn't need to be hauling around all of the grand-kids. It did not have the floor mats when we purchased it so I ordered these and split them between the two cars. I gave her the factory front mats from mine, and the heavy duty mats for the back. Where I put the heavy duty mats in the front of my car and left the original in the back, as I don't usually carry people in the back and she does. The all weather mats are Toyota factory produced and retain the proper mounting holes for the driver's side mat to prevent slippage and have the Prius branding. The all weather mats are holding up very well and showing no signs of wear after 4 months of daily use. I am no longer worried about wearing out the carpet of the original mats or the floor carpet of the car.

Finally seat covers:

I am a person of generous size, an understatement to say the least, and I know I put a lot of wear on the upholstery in my vehicles. So I picked up these seat covers for the Prius as well.
They are easy to fit and it took me only about 5 minutes each with no tools. The main advantage to having a seat cover for me is that it is much easier to replace when it starts showing wear than the seat itself. When the cover wears through, I replace it, instead of adding the cover to a worn out seat. A preemptive strike you could say. Being black, I know that they will be hot when I get into the car, but they cool quickly enough for me in the summer. I no longer have to be concerned with a spill staining the seat or my wearing through the seat back on the left side as I get into the car two or more times a day. The seating surface is the "wetsuit" material whereas the sides and back are a much lighter weight spandex. The back of the cover is open and does not prevent using the pockets on the back of the seats.
The fit is a little sloppy, as they are generic covers, but it really doesn't look that bad once he adjustment straps are in. due to the molding on the bottom of the seats, you have to put one of the bottom straps below the slider rail, and the forward strap will be in front of the slider rail. I expect that they will not last more than a year with my daily use, but that would be acceptable for me.

Cleaning Up

I have a hopeless garage. We have never put a car in it for the last 20+ years. It is provisionally a "Workshop", but there is too much of my stuff in there for it to function as such.

I had a little space at one point, then a table was put in for "Temporary" storage. it is now about a foot deep in stuff.

That's it. I am doing something about it this next week.
My order of operations are:

• Toss broken stuff and "future fixes". 
• I know it is in there, but I haven't done it yet and likely will not.
• Toss "Spare Parts"
• It is easier to pick up the right bolt/screw/nut from Tacoma Screw or Home Depot than to find it in this mess.
• I will keep a small collection of screws and such, but not nearly of the scale I have in there now.
• Toss "Home Repair Supplies"
• Same thing, easier to buy than find. 
• I do intend on keeping a small amount of wire nuts and some such, but not much.
• Possibly toss the oversize vice I have mounted on the end of my workbench. 
• It must weigh at least 50 pounds. 
• I have never used it except to hold another, smaller, vice.
• My brother gave it to me when he moved.
• The scrap yard will pay me for it.
• Remove old shelving from the North wall.
• It is decent stuff, just not suited to my storage needs.
• Replacement shelving will be open below for parking roll carts.
• I may just remove the bottom 3 shelves, leaving a single shelf across the top for now.
• Build a roll cart for some parts bins I have but cannot use well as they are long and bulky. 
• They do stack, but are not easy to access.
• A simple rolling cart will do to store them as drawers.

• Build flipper roll carts for bench-top tools that I don't use much.
• These are a great idea, as they take up the same space they would if they were sitting on a shelf, but are much easier to pull out and use.
• Scroll saw, Planer, Band Saw, etc.
• They can park under the new shelves that I will be placing on the North Wall.
• If I have an odd number of these, I will leave one table empty.
• Clear out the area under the main workbench for more rolling storage.
• Currently there is a shelf under there built from an old door that is not that useful.
• Rolling carts would be better for access, the back of the cart could be used for less often accessed tools.

• Remove the pegboard from over the main workbench.
• To me pegboard is not that useful.
• Perhaps replace it with a french cleat system, they appeal to me. And you can make the bins to fit what you need.

If I can manage the first 5 points on this list before my weekend is over, I will call it a victory. 

I have nearly a week off with my brother in law hanging out with a need to do something. I think he would like to help with this job. We have a couple of other small projects to do as well. He runs on beer and loves to do small (or large) projects when he comes out. A couple of summers ago he helped me replace our back deck with composite decking.

I am, bravely, including a couple of before photos. It shouldn't be hard to improve on this.

Road Food and a Diet

I know, they really don't go together. It is always better to shop and make your food from scratch, as you can get a better price and better nutrition.

Nonetheless sometimes you just want something "bad".

I fit these into my diet plan and do appreciate stopping for a Fresco Chicken Soft Taco at Taco Bell, or a breakfast burrito at McDonald's. There are a couple of tricks to keeping your calorie count low when you make these stops.

The main one for me is to have a ready choice when you arrive. Where I live, menu boards have to have the calorie count posted if a restaurant is of a certain size, if it not, you have to go by an educated guess, so sometimes larger chains are easier. I created a small spreadsheet of common fast food joints and their low calorie options, linked below. It is by no means complete, as I did not include much over 300 calories and nothing I don't care for.
Please note, there are no fast food salads worth mentioning. Either they are too high in calories, or will be once you put anything on them. If I wanted rabbit food, I would get a bag and packet of dressing at the supermarket for far less than the cost of a fast food salad. I really like the single serving packets of dressing you can find at WinCo and I will add a Carl Budding 100 calorie turkey package to make it more interesting.

My favorite fast food go to is the McDonalds Sausage Breakfast Burrito. For only a buck, you get a decent amount of food and only 300 calories. (If you are counting where the calories are coming from, forget fast food anyway.)

Here is the result of my short research:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Oh1ukF4mSpqHtyjZb4W3XoUJUhdoddJJBqqABDWIk6Q/edit?usp=sharing

Most of the data was gleaned from https://fastfoodnutrition.org/.
What they did not have I used the company web site.

Other great resources are Calorie King and Eat This, Not That. (Both are also available in book form.)

On a related note, I suggest keeping a calorie log. There are apps for them out there, I use the one that is part of my FitBit app. But I have used My Fitness Pal in the past.

How Am I Feeling?

Pretty good, thank you for asking.

I am optimistic about actually getting to my long term goal. Here are the facts:

• I started this diet on the 12th of June.
• My long term goal is to make it to a 22% body fat measurement.
• For me, as currently calculated, that would be a weight of 208 lbs.
• I am 22% towards that goal.
• I have been loosing 5.5 lbs per week average since starting this.
• That puts my long term goal projected date before the end of the year.
• An interim goal for me is getting to 280 lbs.
• This is half way to the finish line. 
• I should hit that in mid September, based on my average weight loss numbers.
• My other goal is to get below 250 lbs before our big trip in late October. 
• That puts be below a BMI of 35. I will still be fat.
• It will be close, based on projections. But I can try.
• I know that I will gain a couple on the trip, but I will do my best not to.

I was thinking that, once I make it to my long term goal, I will re-create this photo.
Yes, that is Penn Jillette, before his big weight loss.

A Couple of Days Into the New Plan.

Well, I have gone for two days, now into the third, on my lower calorie plan.

There is always the low level hunger. But I can deal with it. Tuesday, my first day was basically an oatmeal breakfast, some catfish for lunch and a couple of meal replacement drinks throughout the day for a total of just under 1,000 calories. Wednesday, It was the oatmeal, a couple of meal replacement drinks and a large salad with a grilled pork chop for about 1,300 calories. I did fill up on salad, but I did not feel well after eating so much.

Today the plan is oatmeal, meal replacement drink, salad, another meal replacement drink, and some ham. This should put me just under 1,000 calories. There is plenty of wiggle room at this calorie level. I could splurge and get a small hamburger if I need it this evening, but it would be better if I did not.

Temptation is always around. Today a co-worker is retiring, so there is cake. It is far enough away that I won't be tempted too much.

I have noticed that I am not as easily sleeping since dropping the calorie count so far, But I expect that will pass.

QI Charging and You.

I am a techie.

My current personal phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5. A good phone when I bought it, just as the 6 was released, and I am not about to splurge on another one just yet. I use the Rokform mount system in my car, and love the security and versatility of it. This is relevant to this post.

A year ago my employer issued us Galaxy S7 phones. These are equipped with a Qi wireless charging interface. At the time I jumped into it head first. My first purchase was a Belkin Boost Up QI charging pad and a Qi Wireless Charging Receiver Card for the S5, which does not include a wireless charging interface as delivered.

The S7 was easy to drop and charge on the Belkin pad. The S5 with the receiver card had it's difficulties, as I had added a Rokform universal mount to my existing case and the added thickness made the wireless charging very picky about placement. I cannot recommend the custom Rokform case more, as now there is no added thickness to the case and with the magnet removed the wireless charging is perfect and it it now truly drop and charge. It appears that the S5 case is much more difficult to find now.

A note on both charging pads, they are limited to a 1 amp charging rate. This will be slower than plugging directly into the cable, but for a charging opportunity it is sufficient.

The QI Wireless Charging Card for the S5 is very easy to install, but there are a couple of issues.

• First, you will loose the NFC functionality from your phone. This will not affect most users, but you must know that it will happen.
• Secondly, it does add a little thickness to the phone that MAY compromise it's waterproof seal. This doesn't affect me much as I only have to deal with rain and am not likely to immerse the phone. 

It is a great solution for easy charging and saving wear and tear on the charging port on your S5 with the above caveats.
For phones that don't have a custom method for adding a Qi receiver there are generic options that plug into your USB port, but I have no experience with them so have no recommendations.

This year I decided that I needed a second charging pad as the first one is now in regular use at my home desk. The new one would be a shared use pad for my workstation. I found the Yootech Qi Wireless Charging Pad at Amazon and decided that it was worth the small investment. It works as well as the Belkin for a third of the price. Neither charging pad included the power supply, the best recommendation is to use the factory included charger for your phone which will supply the 2 amps that the pad requires for charging your phone at 1 amp.

In summary:

• Qi charging is a great thing for ease of use, but it is slower than plugging the charging cable into the phone. 
• A case may interfere with the drop and charge functionality of wireless charging. 
• Upgrades are available for older phones, but may degrade the phone's integrity and other features.

It is a neat add on if your phone comes with the option. If you have to add the functionality to your phone, I would recommend against it.

Items reviewed in this post:

Minimalist Front Pocket Wallet

I would like to introduce to you my wallet for the last several years:

A photo taken early in my years of using it, and here it is now. Notice how little wear is noticeable after five and a half years.

This is a HuMn Mini minimalist wallet. Just larger than a credit card in size and as thin or thick as you need it to be. As you see it here, I have 7 cards and 10 bills in it and it is about 1/2 inch thick. The standard ones come with 2 plates, but I have added a third as in internal divider. I chose the aluminum plates for the outer shell for the RFID protection and durability, the internal plate is plastic and serves to divide my credit cards from my ID. The whole conglomeration is held together with a strong elastic strap. I originally purchased it in 2012 and my first strap lasted for about 4 years. They changed the design of the strap when I replaced it, so I now have the newer version that seems to work better than the original.

I front pocket carry my wallet so the size is important to me. It sits very flat and slides easily into my pocket. When I am travelling I remove a couple of the cards, but this is basically what I carry all of the time.

Accessing the cards is done by wedging the case open from the top and selecting the card you want. Since you can open it from either of the long edges there is no up or down. Nothing will slide out of it. Here is the manufacturer's video on it's use.

They can be purchased from Amazon and from the manufacturer.


The orange sticker in the older photo is a dosimeter tag that I decided to put on it, it has expired since then. I cannot seem to find the sticker versions now, but there is a card version available.

My Next Diet Stage

I think I am about ready to start the next phase of my diet plan, taking my caloric intake down near 1,000 calories a day. Still closely monitoring my glucose levels.

I am now able to deal with a 1,200 calorie diet and am not really that hungry. I was at 1,100 calories yesterday, and a projected 1,200 today. Last week averaged 1,700. I am getting used to carrying my test kit with me every day and having something available for raising my glucose levels if I find them too low.

Early in the diet I had some serious craving for carbs, particularly chocolate. That seems to have subsided and I only eat chocolate if I am below a glucose level of 50 mg/dl.

My current meal plan is still:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with honey.
• Snack: Berries
• Lunch: Garden salad with low cal dressing and some "Carl Budding" meats.
• Dinner: Another salad or, today, and Avacado.
• Evening snack: Low calorie fast food. (It hits the spot, don't judge.)

I plan on keeping the oatmeal. It is very satisfying and I need something through my colon. Likely I will keep the berries, they are like candy and very satisfying. But my other meals I plan on replacing with protein shakes. That should get my calories down to about 1,000 for a daily deficit of about 2,000, this should get me a loss rate of about 4 pounds a week if I keep up my exercise levels.

I am keeping in contact with my physician via e-mail, and expect him to be concerned about my blood glucose levels and happy about my dedication.


Follow up:
I did it for Tuesday. Less than 1,000 calories for the day. I can feel the hunger now, Wednesday afternoon, but I like the results I am getting.

An Accurate Pocket Watch

As you would guess, an accurate timepiece is necessary for running the trains. I like to go beyond that. In the control room we have a large clock that is regularly set to the NIST standard. Our policy is that everyone's personal timepiece needs to be set to this clock, within a set tolerance. This is fine, as a few seconds is a tolerable variance.

There are a few ways to avoid having to set your watch every day.
One is to have a watch that sets itself to the radio synchronization signal in Boulder Colorado. There are many that will do this, the better ones are charged by light and you don't even have to change the battery.
Another is to have an accurate timepiece. Most quartz watches, both analog and digital face, are rated as accurate to +-30 seconds per month and I would guess that most fall into the +-10 seconds per month range. Setting these would be somewhere around the once a week range. Acceptable for most people.
I happen to like mechanical watches, and most of mine are in the +-5 seconds per day accuracy. This is considered to be extremely good for a mechanical timepiece, but I have to check it about twice a week to be sure that it is correct enough for work.
There is also the "Smart Watch" solution, however they are forbidden to be worn by people operating the trains. These watches can be as accurate as your phone is.

The solution I am using is a quartz driven pocket watch by Bulova.

I have last set it at the Daylight Savings Time change in March. 132 days later, it has gained 1.7 seconds. It has been in my pants pocket every work day and most others for all of that time. At this point it is not worth setting again until Daylight Savings time ends in 108 days. Atop this amazing accuracy, the second hand sweeps smoother than any other timepiece out there, including high end automatic watches. It is just a very pleasing aesthetic, the watch face is well done with large raised hour numerals and individual minutes enumerated. It also has a chronograph function that displays elapsed time up to 12 hours with resolution in 1/1000 seconds. Granted, this accuracy is just a gimmick as anything less than a photo trigger resolves no better than 1/100 second, but it is a neat feature. The watch weighs about a pound, most of which is the back case, but it gives it a very solid feel.

Since purchasing the watch for myself, I have gotten 3 co-workers interested enough to purchase them for themselves.

Finding Content, A Little Rail Talk

I'm striving to fill the month of July with daily posts here. It helps fill the void of not posting my opinions somewhere else. I know nobody is reading them, but that doesn't deter me, as I am doing this for myself, not you, the imaginary reader.

I am kind of at a loss for today though. I have some new stuff from Amazon, but I'm not at the point where I can review it yet. I am still striving to shed more pounds, but I don't have anything new on that front, as I am still eating less and trying to exercise more.

There is little of interest from the job front, except that we had to break a restroom door down due to a faulty door catch. I managed to put a decent sized dent in the door. The security guard who was stuck inside was eventually able to pull the hinge pins, but the door still required a couple of "mule kicks" to get it open. This is a fire door and would have been impossible to just break open without removing the pins or the fire department using breaching tools. Management didn't want the fire department to get a shot at it and we lucked out.

Another new development at work is the closure of the Convention Place Station to passenger traffic. This is part of removing the buses from the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel next year. As far as we at rail are concerned, it is making very little difference. But I am sure the bus operators are more than a little sore about it. They no longer get to take their breaks out of view of the public.

Shedding Pounds and SMART Goals

There is a philosophy out there that you should never "Loose" weight. Something lost can be found again. Psychologically a person may feel deprived at loosing something. So it helps sometimes to consider that you are not loosing anything, but gaining health benefits, fitness, energy, etc.

It's something to keep in mind when you are craving that bag of chips.

On goals: An accepted strategy for setting any goal is to make it "S.M.A.R.T."

• Simple
• Measureable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

Two examples of SMART goals would be "I want to loose 5 pounds this month" or "I want to get 10,000 steps a day for a full week." 

• It can be stated in one sentence.
• It has a measurable goal.
• It is reasonably attainable.
• It accomplishes what you want.
• And it has a time limit in the near future.

A few examples that do not meet these criteria would be the following:

• I want to loose weight.
• Not specific.
• No time boundary.
• I want to be skinny.
• Not specific.
• No real metric for "skinny."
• I want to loose 150 pounds.
• Too big.
• Not timely, even if you give it a deadline.
• I want to fit into my college clothes.
• Seriously, do you even have them anymore?
• Is it actually reasonable to think you could?

I try to keep a couple of goals on the horizon in my strive for a lower weight.

• Short term:
• Can I loose 10% of my initial weight before my wife's birthday? 
• Yes, I have 2.5 weeks before then, and only 10 lbs. It will be a push, but I believe I can do it.
• Mid term:
• Reduce my body fat percentage to 45%.
• This would be a loss of 105 lbs. It isn't likely I will get all the way to this goal in a set time frame. And I will be re-adjusting this goal over time as I reach my short term goals.
• Long term:
• Reduce my body fat percentage to 22%.
• Very long term, but I keep it on the horizon in my charts. At my current rate, it would happen next summer. I am not sure I can manage that and it is a long time away. Between now and then, I have a 2 week cruise and the holidays.

Of these, only the short term goal meets the SMART guidelines. I know this and don't stress over the mid and long term ones, I just look at the projected dates when I enter data into my logs. It is nice to see a projected "Finish line" for this work.

I'm Not Really Missing it Much.

Well, I am now more than halfway through my "Month Without Facebook."

It was a bit of an adjustment at first. My job is primarily waiting for something to happen. I monitor operators signing in on one day, I wait for problems to come to me on another, and the remainder I just wait for emergencies.
I have a hard time figuring out how to keep busy. Facebook was filling that gap for years. Eventually I was just spending my time there, reading posts from friends, joining special interest groups, playing silly games.

Reading posts from friends is what I am missing most. I am looking forward to returning to Facebook for pretty much that only.

The SIGs are kind of nice. Most of them were hobby oriented, and they would incite me to spend money. The others invariably ended up politically oriented and served too much as an echo chamber. I learned nothing from them and the information presented was not always useful.

The silly games are self explanatory. I still play Angry Birds, as it was pretty much the only one I played anyway. Years ago I played Mafia Wars and Farmville, but I grew bored with them and it became tedious to play them for no return.

As I said, I do miss posts by my friends. The SIGs, I can get from Reddit, but I haven't gone there but maybe once since the beginning of the month. I am able to save up money for a large purchase in the sometime future, but I have no pressure to spend it. News I now get from Reuters.com or News.Google.com. Reuters is one of the leading neutral news sources, no opinion, and little bias. Just the facts. Google is more of an aggregate, taking news from other sources that you have to decide on for yourself.

As for a place to vent my opinions, that's what this blog is for. I intend to continue create content for it, even if nobody ever reads it. I have ads, but I won't be concerned if nothing ever comes from them either.

Insulin and Dieting

Like my other recent post, "Diabetes and Dieting", this one will focus on the implications of a hard diet and my blood glucose levels.

The main thing is: You have to test more often, and, under the supervision of your physician, adjust your insulin appropriately.

As a diabetic who takes insulin, you have two methods of controlling your blood sugar levels.

• Changing sugar intake.
• Changing insulin intake.

When your glucose levels are high, lowering glucose levels is usually just done with reducing your sugar intake, with your doctor's recommendation for your NPH insulin. If your sugar levels are too varying, you may have a fast acting insulin you adjust to your intake of sugars. If you are on insulin, this should be not be news to you, if you didn't know this, get more educated about your program.

When dieting, especially one as hard as I am working at, you are more concerned with keeping your glucose levels above 75 than you are with them being high. I have had only one reading above 150 in the last month, four below 55. When on a restricted calorie diet, such as I am using, correcting a low glucose level can add 300 calories to what you were hoping was a 1,500 calorie day. The best way to prevent this is by adjusting your insulin over the course of the day and checking your glucose levels when appropriate.

For different insulin types there are different time ranges. The two I use are:

• NPH

• Intermediate acting.
• Onset in 1-2 hours.
• Peak in 4-12 hours.
• Lasts up to 24 hours.

• Lispro

• Rapid acting.
• Onset in 15-30 minutes.
• Peak in 30-90 minutes.
• Lasts 3-5 hours.

(charts are from https://sites.google.com/site/diabetesmapp/insulin-action-curves)

I take the NPH twice a day, morning and evening, to maintain a consistent level of available insulin in my body. I am now reducing my dosage to 40 units, down from 50, on the advise of my physician based on my glucose levels. Per my doctor, if after a week, my glucose levels are stable, or a little low in the mornings, I will reduce it more. The up side to this is that, with the lowered insulin levels, I will not have to be as concerned with dropping too low during the overnight.

The Lispro, on the other hand was initially prescribed at 10 units after dinner. This seems to have been the culprit in my recent low glucose crashes at night. so, now I test about an hour after eating, before taking the Lispro. If my glucose levels are acceptable, I have been told to not take it. If they are a little high, I am taking 5 units, if really high, I take 10. The real trick here is to re-test 2 hours later and see what the levels are at. If I end up dropping too far, I have to change my program, maybe reduce the dose, maybe increase the glucose threshold.

I have found an app that helps me remember to test my glucose. I am still learning it, and it doesn't have the best interface. But if you are determined, you can get some good use out of it. It is called Diabetic Insulin Log/Alert. It is free, but they also have a $2 version that I cannot seem to find. Support the author if you find it useful. When you use it, you enter your glucose level and press the "Log Glucose" button. When you take insulin, enter the dose and press the type of insulin. That's it. a reminder is automatically set for your next test.

Another app I encountered was Diabetes diary. I much preferred the interface on this one, but it is set for mmol/l instead of mg/dl, so not as useful to me for logging my glucose levels. It also wanted a lot more permissions for just a log.

On a side note. I am finally free of the pepperoni sticks I was consuming on my drive. I worked the last ones into my plan and they are now gone. I also took advantage of a shorter than normal commute and cleaned out the car of my non-appropriate snacks. If it isn't there, I cannot eat it right?

LED Headlight Upgrades

Well, it finally happened. It is now nearly as cheap to replace your incandescent or halogen headlight lamps with DOT approved LED lights. I am referencing H11 bulbs specifically in this review.

At under $35 for a pair, the Marsauto LED Bulbs are comparable in price to SYLVANIA XtraVision Halogen Bulbs, but with several advantages: (Manufacturer's ratings)

• 40W compared to 55W per bulb, more efficient.
• 6,000 lumens vs. 1350 lumens, brighter.
• 6,000K vs. 3,200K color temperature, whiter light.
• 10,000 hour vs 150 hour service life, lower lifetime cost.

I will admit that the service life may be a little deceiving, as it is the LED life that is being quoted here. LEDs do loose some brilliance over time, but even if you only get 1/10th of the quoted service life, you are still ahead of the halogen bulbs.

These were literally a drop in replacement for the low beam bulbs in my 2012 Prius. After removing my watch and FitBit, even my large hands could fit in the space to make the replacement. No boot modifications were necessary, truly just plug and play. After installing them and plugging them in, you MUST test them. There is a 25% chance you got them both right on the first try. If either one or both fail to light up, just turn the plug around and reconnect them. The connection pigtail makes this very easy to do, no need to take the bulb out. On my first try, neither one came on. That's my luck.

It being summer, I get home just after dusk, so the difference in lighting is not as apparent at first glance. However I did notice the difference in the color of the lights and a much sharper light pattern compared to the old halogen lights.

 Above is the original headlights, note the definite hot spot in the center and the square of extra light above each.

Here are the LED lights, note the more even spread of light across the range. The extra square is not as prevalent here, but it still illuminates the road signage.

As strange as it may sound, one of the reasons I have made the changeover is for better nighttime fuel economy. Granted, at 20% efficiency, the standard efficiency for internal combustion engines, the difference will be 1 gallon in 235 hours (30 watts difference) or 0.4% improvement, but it will make a cumulative difference. 

Hmm, doing the actual math on this it really doesn't make much difference, it comes to just under 1/4 MPG for me, but I will live with my rationalization anyway.

There are many drop in replacements on the market at this point in time. With prices from $15 a pair to well over $150 a pair there are a lot of choices. Read the reviews and make your decision from there. Some have built in fans that may be necessary in an enclosed housing or rubber boot but can cause radio interference. I did not feel it was necessary for my application, where the back of the bulb had plenty of air flow available. The word "CREE" is a key for finding the better LEDs. You will also want to be certain that they are DOT rated, as that ensures that the light pattern will be correct for your car.

I will likely not replace my high beam bulbs until one of them goes out, as I don't use high beams very often. I will be replacing my parking lights with LEDs when I make my next order, as I noticed that one is burned out. I found a highly rated set of 10 of the "T-10" bulbs for a very reasonable price. I like using these in dome lighting, door courtesy lights, and for my license plate light as they seem to last forever and are much brighter than incandescent versions. 

There are two disadvantages of using LED drop in bulbs though. 

• First, they do not dim well, they are either on or off, there is no medium ground. For this reason I have used a red LED for the driver's side map light instead of the traditional white.
• Secondly, on some cars, an LED lamp doesn't draw enough current to trip the "I'm working" sensor in the car, this is primarily on European cars and is due to the "CANBUS" system. So the car will show a warning that the light is out when it is working fine. Similarly, your turn signal blinker relay will flash fast unless you have a retrofit relay to prevent this.

Keeping these points in mind, you can easily retrofit a car's interior lighting with more efficient bulbs that you will likely never have to change again.

Items mentioned in this review:

Advantages of a Long Commute and Construction Work

Yes, I do find a long commute has it's advantages. I live 54 miles from my main place of work. It also has it's disadvantages, so I will address those first.

• It takes time to get to and from work. The drive itself is about an hour, traffic permitting. This is how long it usually takes me to get home after work. To get to work, I allow myself about 1.5 to 2 hours. 
• My employer only gives me a 1 minute window for being "On Time" and there is no real leeway on this. 
• I also have to park and walk from the lot to my office. I allow myself a couple of minutes for this. 
• I do not like sitting in the hot seat "Cold" and want to observe the flow for a couple of minutes. 
• There is always the chance of construction and delays therefrom. For example, this last weekend they completely shut down I-5 in Seattle for badly needed roadwork.
• Every week I need to get fuel for the car. And wash it if the lines at Costco are permitting.
• Stuff happens. I have had to change a tire more than once and have not had it make me late, yet.
• It puts a LOT of miles on my cars. 500 miles a week just for the commute, not including detours and other shopping.
• Fuel wise it isn't that bad, only about 10-11 gallons a week, $35. One important reason why I drive a hybrid. A person living much closer can go through more fuel if they are driving a conventional vehicle.
• It is all freeway, and regardless of what they tell you, I still get better fuel economy on the freeway than in town with my Prius, about 60 MPG freeway and 48 MPG city. The tank average is about 55 MPG of late.
• I have little sleep when I take an overtime shift. It's workable, but not something I want to do on a daily basis.
• I want to eat in my car. I really am working on this.

For the advantages, I see them as:

• I see nobody that has anything to do with my job when I am not working except on very rare occasions. I can actually get away from work.
• I also have a disconnect between work and home life. An hour is plenty of time to chill out from a bad day. I can listen to my music or an audio book on the drive.
• I pay less in fuel for a month than the difference in living space costs. My mortgage is less than half of what I would be paying for anything in Seattle. $150 a month in fuel costs is peanuts compared to an extra grand a month for a smaller space.
• When traffic is in my favor, I can stop at Costco and restock the coffee bar for work. Or actually clean out my car of the inevitable accumulating junk. Or just sit in the car and listen to my music or audio book.
• It keeps me from overworking myself on overtime. Yes, I like the money, but having time with the family is important.

I should point out that my shifts are not your normal "Nine to Five" shifts. I work Thursday through Monday from around noon to 8 p.m. There is little traffic during my commute and I actually like having weekdays off. You can get stuff done. Movies are cheaper on Tuesdays. The stores are less crowded.

So, you can see that, with a little planning and Google maps, a long commute can actually help your overall well being and you can live a more relaxed lifestyle. 

I keep telling myself this.

And, it's only for 14 more years...

Diabetes and Dieting

Whew, it happened again.

My internal low blood sugar "Alarm" woke me up this time. At least this time I had the sense to get up and verify it. Down to 49 mg/dl. A hand full of chocolate covered granola, and 20 minutes later it is back up to 90 and I felt comfortable going back to bed, as the strange feeling and sweats were absent. My morning blood sugar was at 79, about where it should be. When I took my evening blood sugar level, before taking my 'fast' insulin, it was at about 120. I cut my dose in half per my doctor's instructions but it still dropped me too low.
This

A few days earlier, I had a similar experience and so I can recognize the symptoms a lot better now.

I think the main trigger for last night's episode was a 1 day "Crash" diet, just over 1,000 calories, in an attempt to overcome my perceived plateau. I ended up at 1480 calories for the day. The crash did force a downward plunge in the weight, but I will have to be more careful of what and when I eat and medicate.

Today's plan will be:

• Breakfast: 210 calories
• Quick oats: 150 calories
• Honey: 60 calories
• Snack: 160 calories
• 16 oz Strawberries: 160 calories
• Lunch: 333 calories
• Salad: 53 calories (Just bagged lettuce mix)
• Sesame Ginger dressing: 100 calories
• Carl Budding Turkey (2): 180calories
• Afternoon caffeine: 30 calories
• Wired energy: 30 calories
• Dinner: 140 calories
• Protein shake: 140 calories
• Drive home snack:
• Pepperoni sticks: 375 calories

A total of 1,248 calories for the day. Or a deficit of 780 calories from my calculated BMR. And 2250 below my expected actual burn according to Fitbit. As long as I am careful of my blood sugar levels, I should be able to keep up this plan.

The trick, for me at least, is that I could have whatever I want. But, I have to account for it. A 16 minute mile accounts for about 275 calories. If I want that slice of cheesecake, I have to work it off, or skimp elsewhere in my daily intake. Frankly, I am lazy and will eat a pound of strawberries instead, to me they taste better, don't upset my blood sugar level as much, and I am lazy besides. I would rather that walking be done to remove weight than to compensate for a momentary pleasure.

By strictly measuring my intake I am also less likely to graze. Absent minded eating while doing other things. I can have that cup of chips, but I have to measure it out first and record it. Meanwhile I am trying to get my wife to start monitoring her intake as she was complaining that her progress is stagnating. 

Weight Loss Plateaus Suck.

Well, I officially calling this a weight loss plateau. I am at the same weight I was a week ago. A half pound higher, a half pound lower over the week. But all the same, I am calling it.

Yeah, over a week, it doesn't sound like I really got stuck. But it can be discouraging. I am taking it as a reminder to more closely watch what I am eating. I think I know the culprit though, beef pepperoni. Each one isn't that bad, 130 calories each, but it is really easy to just keep eating them when you buy them in bulk. So, no more buying them. Damn, I liked those things. Tomorrow I will be sorting through the stash I have in my car and will be disposing of bad things, i.e. sending them to the grand kids. I don't think there is much to get rid of, but it doesn't hurt to check.

So, recognizing this as a barrier to overcome, I am redoubling my efforts. Today's intake plan is as follows:

• Breakfast: 300 calories
• McDonald's sausage breakfast burrito: 300 calories.
• Morning Snack: 289 calories
• Fresh blueberries, 510 g: 289 calories.
• Caffeine kick: 30 calories
• Wired sugar free drink: 30 calories
• Lunch: 230 calories
• Winco garden salad: 90 calories
• Sesame ginger dressing: 50 calories
• Carl Budding chicken: 90 calories
• Dinner: 230 calories
• Same as lunch, just before leaving work.

My logger shows it at 1,079 calories. I will likely have a little something on the way home, but will keep it under 300 calories. This should keep my deficit at least at 700 calories under my base metabolic rate of 2,031 calories as calculated by my scale, with any exercise as an added bonus to that deficit. I have a second BMR value of 2,461 calories from another source. I will use the lower value for now. Yes, I am of the belief that as long as (calories in) < (calories out) = (weight loss). I know it is more complex than that, but the calories have to come from somewhere, as long as I am getting exercise, it shouldn't be from muscle mass. There is some interesting graphing software on this from fourmilab.ch called "The Hacker's Diet". Note the subtitle for the program, the plan is entertaining as well as informative, taking an engineering approach to the problem.

I found an article last week saying that fitness trackers are not that great for actually getting healthier, even the ones with heart rate monitoring can be incorrect with the number of calories used over the course of a day. So I am changing my focus from the calorie deficit that my Fitbit Charge 2 is reporting to an actual deficit from my calculated BMR instead. This should at least get me over the plateau, then I can bring it back up when the weight loss is showing again.

On a side note, I get to do a cardiac stress test on Tuesday. I am not looking forward to it.

Postscript: I ended the day at 1480 calories after having to rescue my blood sugar level at 4 in the morning.

Items mentioned in this post:

Vacations and Weight Loss

Two concepts that don't go well together, Vacation and Weight Loss.

I did take a week off of work. This included Independence Day and a 2 night camp out at the coast. I am really glad I had already been working on the diet before the trips. I feel that I was able to make smarter choices than I had in the past. I drank a lot of water and managed not to gorge on camp food. Marshmallows don't count anyway, right?

All in all, my blood sugars were managed OK enough, waking numbers below 100, no bedtime crashes. A couple of days before, I experienced my first low blood sugar episode since I was diagnosed as diabetic. I was having sweats at bed time and started not thinking right. My wife asked me to check my glucose level and it was below 50. I self medicated with chocolate and a half hour later was up to around 100. Not a fun experience, it could have gone badly, as I had just taken my slow acting insulin and my blood sugar level could have gotten pretty low by morning.

The truth of my week off of work is in the numbers, I lost 3.5 pounds from the 3rd to the 12th. I think it is going OK.

Here is a startrail image I tried to make from the campsite. One of these days I want to try to stack images to get a single image instead of a trail image.

This was created using a free software for Windows called Startrails. Images were taken with my GoPro 4 Silver with an external battery pack.

Home automation with SmartThings

I am on a camping trip this week with the kids, so I am throwing some reviews on here while I am away.
As the title says, I am going to address using the SmartThings hub for home automation and security. I would say that SmartThings is one of the better systems out there for automation for a couple of reasons.

• It is compatible with both Z-wave and ZigBee home automation systems giving you a wide selection of devices.
• There is a large customer community providing drivers and programming assistance.
• It can be user programmed if you want to take the time to learn it.

I don't have as much faith in it for home security as I would in a wired system, but that's just my opinion. It works well enough for me in that regard. 

Here are some examples of home automation that I use on a regular basis:

• Notification of my mail arriving at the mailbox.
• Front yard post light on before sunset until a set time in the evening, also when arriving home later.
• Some interior lights on before dusk, turning off at a random time in the evening if nobody is home.
• When I turn on the entertainment system, the room lighting changes for better viewing.
• Turn on the lights in the attic stairs and garage when presence is detected.

For most of these tasks I use a SmartThings app called WebCoRE. WebCoRE is a web based Community Rules Engine, hence the name. Your rules, known as "Pistons" in the app, are easily created using an interactive if-then rule set. Here is an example piston that I use:

You should be able to see how the piston works. The "IF" statement waits for the conditions to occur, either of the motion sensors sensing movement or the garage door closing. After that, the "THEN" statements checking the time and setting lights to a level depending on the time of day. Building the piston consists of choosing items from a drop down list and applying rules to them.

There is another piston for turning them off when motion is no longer detected.

There are other apps available within the SmartThings app that can:

• Notify you if rain is forecast and selected windows are open.
• Turn your thermostat off if doors are left open.
• Notify you when the laundry has finished.

The actions performed by the system are not limited to your smart devices, for example, a SMS can be sent based on the weather forecast.

The SmartThings system also integrates with Amazon's Alexa voice interface for voice control of lights and other settings. I can ask Alexa what the thermostat temperature is at the moment, or ask for her to turn off all of the lights. More on my Alexa experience in a later post.

As far as security goes, it primarily notifies me if there is a door opening when nobody is supposed to be in the house. For me, setting the "Away" mode is manual, as I have not been able to get the kids to use their phones in a way to disable it when they arrive. But for vacations it is very useful. I get the notification and I can remotely check my cameras to see if it is just a family member checking on the cats or something more serious. I will also get a notification whenever the safe door is opened so that I may make a similar check. It would be easy to place an alarm siren on a switched outlet if I wanted a local indication of a door or window opening when we have the system armed. I also have a connected smoke and CO2 detector that can alert me remotely if there is an issue. 

My main issue with SmartThings as a security system is that it is mostly cloud based and a loss of power or internet service would disable the system unless provisions were made.

Items in this post:

Yet another flashlight review

A nice little flashlight I discovered last year:

This is one of the handiest little lights I have had the pleasure of owning. It is about the size of a car's remote fob.
Points that I really appreciate about this light:

• Micro USB rechargeable, use your phone charger.
• Very bright, 350 lumens, and will run for 90 minutes at that setting.
• Long battery life, up to 48 hours in low intensity mode.
• UV emitter, check for refrigerant leaks, animal urine, check currency, or charge your glow in the dark stuff.
• Small enough for every day carry. I wear it with my ID badge and office keys.

Cons:

• Sometimes I find it has no charge on the battery. I think this is due to it being left on accidentally when I toss my badge in my bag. It may be due to a light green glow around the power button when it has been charged, this will shut off if you use the UV light.
• The light is not focused, but a bare LED emitter, great for close up, not so good for distance.
• It claims IP65 water resistance, in my opinion, with the USB port cover in place, it would be splash proof, but I wouldn't submerge it.
• I had to replace 3 of the cover screws within a year of purchase, they had worked themselves loose and gone walkabout. The replacements were secured with LocTite purple, they won't be escaping anymore.
• The single button control works fine for turning it on and off of the bright white setting, however, after having this light for more than a year, I still have trouble getting it to cycle through it's modes. I think the trick is a fast double click to get the UV mode.

If you have need for a small light with UV option, this may be the one for you.

(As of this writing it is not available, but it may be back.)

Link to Loctite Purple, mentioned above. It's the best one for small screws.

Key finders

They only work if they are attached to the keys. And most of the ones out there are limited in that you need to know where the caller unit is to find the keys.
I cannot help with the first issue, mine were hanging together on the key rack for nearly a year before I put them with the keys. The second issue is covered with these:

Not your ordinary key finders here, nopity nope. first thing you will notice is a warning that they are loud. They easily double as a panic screamer, it is part of how they work. Secondly, they call each other or can be called with a sound produced from your phone or computer through their web site. Granted, the range isn't the same, as your phone doesn't have the volume necessary to call the finder at 100 yards, claimed ideal condition range. So, in effect, you are getting 2 finders in one order. If you cannot find either one, use your phone to scream for them.
The XL in their name means Extra Loud, they weren't kidding. There is also a light that will blink when the finder is sounding its alarm.
Through the web page interface, you can also set the finder volume and assign them to a channel. The channel function can be useful to choose which ones respond to which paging tone.
They are encased in a no nonsense poly-carbonate shell that can withstand anything you can throw it at. Batteries are user replaceable and last about 18 months per the company web site.

Strike Anywhere Matches

Apparently they are no longer considered "Safe".

We are taking the kids camping this week and I was in search of matches for camping. The ones we had in storage were beyond usefulness. Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Big 5 sports and the local drug store didn't have them. I ended up doing a search for them online and found them at Kroger (Fred Meyers). It was quite the hunt. I had looked at REI the day before, but they didn't have quite what I was looking for as I did not have a need for 3 inch long hurricane proof matches at $10 for 25, and they were still strike on box.

I found these at Fred Meyer, for a slightly lower price than through Amazon. But the value is still there. Good old Strike Anywhere Matches. I already had waterproof containers for storing them, much like the other link. The containers hold the contents of one little box of the pack, I cut off the striking surface from the empty boxes and stored one inside of each match bottle. It never hurts to be a little extra prepared.

I suppose that I may be a little choosy about the kind of matches I get, but for camping, I prefer the old standard. I guess I am a little old fashioned. I also am taking a lighter and 3 means of making a spark.

Living in a Voice Activated World.

My name is Glenn and I am a technology addict.
This is one reason I am taking a month off of Facebook.
Back to the story.

In January of 2015, I had the opportunity to get in early for an Amazon Echo. So, I can rightfully say I have been with it from the start. I now have 5 Echo devices in my home, pretty much one per room, all but the original are the Dot versions, more on the difference later. I could say that it has changed my life, but I won't. What it has done is made life easier in several ways and I still do not use it to it's fullest potential.

Lets get some terminology out of the way first. The device is called the Echo, there are several variants from original, compact, wireless, and 2 new video variants. The voice interface is referred to as Alexa and you can choose between several "Wake words" for addressing the device.

Yes, there is potential for abuse of the device, but I weighed the benefits against the risks and have decided that I have nothing to worry about.

Of all of the devices, the Dot is the most affordable and often drops to $35. The sound with the Dot is passable but it can be connected to either a $10 pair of wired speakers or a set of Bluetooth speakers and the results are terrific.

Let me just get what I think of as the big shortcoming out of the way first:
You cannot get it to announce anything without giving it a command.
I would love for it to be able to announce when the mail arrives at the mailbox, or that the greenhouse is in danger of freezing, but that is not yet supported.

Now, on to what I use it for:

• Turn on or off lighting in my house, with the assistance of smart lighting.
• Play music from:
• Pandora.
• I Heart Radio.
• Amazon Prime, requires a subscription, more later.
• Timed alarms.
• Kitchen timer.
• Morning news briefings.
• Weather forecast.
• Drive time report for my commute.
• Simple information lookup, more on this later.
• Jokes.
• Sleep sounds with timer.
• Interactive games.
• Calling family members.

There are more uses that I have not mentioned, these are just the ones I have experience with.

Of the music skills, I have found I Heart Radio to be the most useful, I can ask "Alexa, play KNDD in Living room", or "Play KING FM everywhere." Pandora is almost as good, with deeper wanderings into a genre of your choice, but you can tailor it as you listen. 

Prime music is different. First, it requires a membership with Amazon Prime to be used at all, and then only one device at a time may be using it. The basic Prime music package, included with your Amazon Prime annual fee, is one device at a time with a limited music selection. There are higher tiers for Prime music allowing for a larger selection of music. Known as Prime Music Unlimited, you can subscribe to the larger collection of music for one device at $4/month, one player at a time for $8/Month or up to 6 players at a time for $15/month. Note that this is on top of the price for your Amazon Prime. There is good music to be listened to in the basic Prime list, plus any that you have purchased through Amazon.

The Morning Briefing is configurable, but I find a lot of stories repeated when going from global to national. I prefer to read my news anyhow.

The search function is limited by two factors; it only reports the first found item, and it uses Bing as the search engine. For many things it works well enough, such as "What is the proper temperature for a medium rare steak?" or "What is the cube root of 125?" If you wanted a funny answer, ask her the value of pi, or ask her to open the pod bay doors.

The jokes can range from bad to worse. But it can be fun to ask for them.

The calling feature is an interesting newer addition, you can call another person from your contacts list, if they have the option turned on. The difficulty I have with it is that it can be difficult to turn off the connection. It will also act as an answering machine for Echo to Echo calls.

Other skills I have not explored include:

• Calling an Uber or taxi.
• Ordering a pizza.
• Finding your phone.
• 7 minute workout.
• Cooking recipe reference.
• Shopping list.
• Amazon ordering.

While these appear useful, I have not had the inclination or need to try them yet. I do, on occasion ask her for her deals and sometimes you can get some good values around the holidays.

Items mentioned in this post:

Pacific Science Center

Get the membership for the special event, come back for the regular exhibits.

Last year, we visited the Pacific Science Center for the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. When doing so, we purchased a family membership. The economics of this are great. Firstly, you are supporting a great facility. Secondly, it is a better deal.
Here is how we managed ours:

Family Membership: $139

• 2 named adults
• 1 unnamed adult (+$20 must be accompanied by a named adult)
• 6 children (must be accompanied by a named adult)
• 8 guest passes
• 15 IMAX tickets

For a single visit we would have been paying:

• 3 Adults @ $23.95 = $71.85
• 5 Youth @ $17.95 = $89.75

As you can see, the price is already above that of a membership. Add into that the discount for event tickets such as the Terracotta Warriors exhibit plus the included IMAX and guest passes and you have saved more than half of the price. 

Even if you were to only want to visit one time with two friends, your admission would be $71.85 for three adults and no IMAX or $98.10 with the IMAX, where you could get a single membership for $89 including the IMAX and 2 guest passes. The value gets better if you come back.

The IMAX tickets are for documentaries, but they are very nicely done and worth catching.

On the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, I will say that it was amazing. In Seattle, early in the American tour, there was only a rope barrier between us and the items on display. Later a sturdier barrier was added due to an incident of theft.

So, our return yesterday was just to take advantage of the last day of our annual membership, free but for parking and fuel. Total bonus. I got to visit the planetarium for the first time in more than a decade. Some of the exhibits are aging, I remember a couple of them from when I was a child. But they are adding some new items on a regular basis. 

If you live in Western Washington, or are visiting Seattle, make it a part of the tour especially if you have younger folk in tow. There are a lot of interactive displays and can be fun for young and old alike. If you do the math, it is usually worth a membership

What a difference a scale can make.

I know I mentioned this scale last week, but I kinda hit a plateau and the extra features of the scale are making a difference in attitude.

This is the scale I am referring to. Using the app, it can report many things. I believe they are based on body capacitance, and a number of them are inferred by other measurements. but here they are as reported by the app:

• Weight
• BMI
• Body Fat %
• Fat Free Body Weight 
• Subcutaneous Fat %
• Visceral Fat
• Body Water %
• Skeletal Muscle %
• Muscle Mass
• Bone Mass
• Protein %
• BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) Kcal
• Metabolic Age

As I said, most are calculated by the BMI and Body Fat % numbers. I did have to enter my height, frame size, and gender.

Back to the difference it is making in monitoring my progress. While, I can see that the weight is wavering at this first plateau, I can see than the fat % is decreasing while the muscle mass is increasing. This is to be expected as I am exercising more, and it shows in my waist size and not my weight. I am two notches smaller on my belt than I was 3 weeks ago.

If you are at a plateau in your weight loss struggle, try using a scale that measures more than just weight, you may be turning fat into muscle.

Happy Independence day

It's the 4th of July, A celebration of our country's declaration of independence from England in 1776. We celebrate this by purchasing fireworks, made in China, from the indigenous people that we kicked off of their historical lands to build our nation on, and making our neighborhoods sound like miniature war zones.
Basically funding other nations with stuff we are going to burn. Sounds fun doesn't it.
The cats have been, rightfully, worried at the noises of late, being more localized than the howitzers  and rockets from the army base 8 miles away. So, we are staying in this evening.
For the day, we tried to go out to Ocean Shores for hanging with the family, it didn't go as planned. A third party we were going to meet with was having communication issues and when we did find them, everyone eventually ended up getting stuck in the soft sand where they had chosen to park. I was the first one to get bogged down in the minivan, we got rocked free and made it to the packed sand, about half a mile away. Apparently the other 2 minivans and the pickup with our group ended up also getting bogged down. Everyone escaped unharmed, but there was a bumper pulled off in the shuffle. So it was almost 2 hours after arriving on the beach that we got our site chosen. The weather inland is almost 80 f and rather humid. At the beach, it was closer to 65 f with a 20 mph wind. Sand in everything. Nothing quite like gritty corn on the cob.
Such is life. We ended up leaving a little earlier than planned,
The steak kebabs were great and people appreciated them. Take one roast, sous-vide at 140 for about 3 hours, and ice it down in the fridge. In the morning, cut into 1 inch cubes and put in the cooler. On site, skewer them and brown on the grill. Tender, quick, and cooked through.

Fitness trackers

Well, as I said in my last post I started down another weight loss trail on the 12th on June of this year. I was finding that my shirts were not fitting well anymore and I was just getting tired of it all.
I was walking through Costco and saw a deal on the Fitbit Charge 2. I decided to grab it up and start taking charge of my life. (See what I did there?)

Now, I wear a watch and really don't want a "Connected" timepiece, so I have notifications turned off as well as having the auto display turned off via the app. I do wear both it and my regular watch.
The battery life seems to stay true to it's forecast 5 days, I will see it at a medium level two days after charging it. I bring the charger cable in my lunch bag so that I may charge it when I am sitting at my desk and not at risk of taking a walk.
I appreciate the hourly "Move it" reminder. I have my walks set out at my various work sites so that I can just go on a "round" when the alert goes off. Every little bit helps.
I am nowhere near the 10,000 steps per day, but the tracking helps me move toward that goal. My friends list also helps to motivate me so that at least I am not at the bottom of the list.
I have my connected scale linked to the app, so that is one less thing to enter in the morning.
The app also is good for tracking calorie intake, my favorite part of this is being able to scan the bar code of an item and easily enter the item in my meal counts.
I used to use a Fitbit One. A similar device, but without the pulse rate monitor. I like the pulse rate monitor on the Charge, as it does a better job of monitoring my sleep habits and calculating my exercise levels. However the One is better suited as a device you keep in your pocket, so it is more appropriate for some dress options.

I am going to add, If you do get the Charge 2, it is always nice to protect the display. I found these and found it very easy to install and you have plenty if you need to replace it later.