Mea culpa. That's Latin for "I'm a moron." Actually, it means "my bad" or something close.
The moral of this story I'll put up front: if Nike Watch Repair responds to your e-mail and asks you to call, you should do so.
The story: as I wrote Saturday, I accidentally torture tested my Nike HRM by letting a car run over it. (See "Torture testing my heart rate monitor.") Despondently, I checked the Nike Watch Repair website, saw that the HRM was out of stock and placed a backorder. I was sure I wouldn't get it in time for my marathon the following Sunday.
On Monday morning (six days to the marathon), I got a phone call from a nice woman named Marguerite at Nike Watch Repair. She told me that I had ordered the European model of my HRM, which she thought might be a mistake. She told me that I probably wanted the American model, which was $10 cheaper, and was in stock. She agreed to send it 2nd day air. I should receive it by Thursday.
This explains a lot. I probably was looking at the wrong strap for the past year or so. I probably waited needlessly for a new strap. I probably should have called when I got the e-mail from Nike Watch Repair last June.
Don't make my mistake. If Nike Watch Repair asks you to call, just do it.
Showing posts with label gadgets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gadgets. Show all posts
Monday, January 29, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Torture testing my heart rate monitor
I'm a gadget guy. My friends make fun of me, but I figure if gadgets motivate me to run, that's a good thing. My current gadget is the Nike Triax Elite HRM/SDM. It's a watch, heart rate monitor (HRM) strap and speed/distance monitor (SDM) foot pod. I've been using it since December 2004.
In late 2005, I lost the HRM. I don't know what happened to it. I finished a long run, took it off while stretching to conserve the battery, and couldn't find it the next day. I started to look for a replacement.
Only the Nike Watch Repair site carried replacement parts. They were out of stock and didn't allow backorders. I checked occasionally for over six months. No dice.
I e-mailed them and their response was, "please call us." My feeling was if I wanted to call, I would have. [Edit: I should have called. See my blog entry "Nike Watch Repair Customer Service.] So I waited, checking occasionally. This past November, they had them in stock. For a reasonable price ($35 + $6.95 shipping), I got the strap in a few days.
I never did figure out how I lost the first strap, but after a year without, it was nice to have one again. Today when I finished my long run, I took off my wet shirt and my HRM strap. I put them on my friend's truck bumper. You can see where this is going.
As I drove home, I noticed my shirt and HRM were missing. Almost simultaneously, I saw them lying in one of the busiest 4-lane streets in my city. Of course they didn't land in the side street where we parked our cars.
I made the first possible U-turn, then turned around again to get my stuff. I got out of my car and ran toward the strap. I was several feet away when I stopped to wait for a passing car. The car ran over the HRM, sending the thing three feet in the air and separating the monitor from the elastic band. Argh! Of course, the $5 shirt, for which I have plenty of replacements, lay untouched.
I grabbed the monitor. It was cracked and had some big gouges from the asphalt. Maybe the damage was only cosmetic. I picked up the rest of my stuff and hoped for the best.
When I got home, I checked the HRM. It was dead.
I checked the replacement part website. They're temporarily out of stock again, and the price is up to $45. [Edit: this was totally wrong. See "Nike Watch Repair Customer Service."] I was able to place a backorder, but I doubt I'll get it in the next 8 days before the race. [Edit: Again, I should have called. See "Nike Watch Repair Customer Service."] My wife suggested that I order two. I don't know if she was joking.
The silver lining to this little black cloud? I think I know how I lost the first strap.
In late 2005, I lost the HRM. I don't know what happened to it. I finished a long run, took it off while stretching to conserve the battery, and couldn't find it the next day. I started to look for a replacement.
Only the Nike Watch Repair site carried replacement parts. They were out of stock and didn't allow backorders. I checked occasionally for over six months. No dice.
I e-mailed them and their response was, "please call us." My feeling was if I wanted to call, I would have. [Edit: I should have called. See my blog entry "Nike Watch Repair Customer Service.] So I waited, checking occasionally. This past November, they had them in stock. For a reasonable price ($35 + $6.95 shipping), I got the strap in a few days.
I never did figure out how I lost the first strap, but after a year without, it was nice to have one again. Today when I finished my long run, I took off my wet shirt and my HRM strap. I put them on my friend's truck bumper. You can see where this is going.
As I drove home, I noticed my shirt and HRM were missing. Almost simultaneously, I saw them lying in one of the busiest 4-lane streets in my city. Of course they didn't land in the side street where we parked our cars.
I made the first possible U-turn, then turned around again to get my stuff. I got out of my car and ran toward the strap. I was several feet away when I stopped to wait for a passing car. The car ran over the HRM, sending the thing three feet in the air and separating the monitor from the elastic band. Argh! Of course, the $5 shirt, for which I have plenty of replacements, lay untouched.
I grabbed the monitor. It was cracked and had some big gouges from the asphalt. Maybe the damage was only cosmetic. I picked up the rest of my stuff and hoped for the best.
When I got home, I checked the HRM. It was dead.
I checked the replacement part website. They're temporarily out of stock again, and the price is up to $45. [Edit: this was totally wrong. See "Nike Watch Repair Customer Service."] I was able to place a backorder, but I doubt I'll get it in the next 8 days before the race. [Edit: Again, I should have called. See "Nike Watch Repair Customer Service."] My wife suggested that I order two. I don't know if she was joking.
The silver lining to this little black cloud? I think I know how I lost the first strap.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Battle with the body fat scale
I read in a magazine about body fat scales. My wife saw one on sale and bought it. Instructions say that the body fat meter works by electrical impedance. By measuring the conductivity of your feet, it estimates your body fat. Pretty neat.
Except we're fighting right now. I mean the scale and me, not my wife.
Our beef: you're supposed to measure yourself early in the evening. This is because the scale is calibrated to make accurate body fat measurements when you've been on your feet all day and gravity has caused your blood to concentrate in your lower extremities.
This is a problem for me because I weigh myself in the morning before breakfast. Weighing in first thing in the morning gives me consistent weight readings. But it "increases" my body-fat percentage by about 2%. This is not good for the ego. On the flip side, weighing myself in the evenings makes my body fat reading lower (and hopefully more accurate), but my weight is all over the map depending on when I can squeeze in meals.
I guess I could weigh myself in the morning and measure my body fat at night. But what a pain in the ass that is. I see the irony: a guy who runs 30 miles per week complains about taking ten lousy steps to his scale in the evenings. It's the principle.
Sigh.
Except we're fighting right now. I mean the scale and me, not my wife.
Our beef: you're supposed to measure yourself early in the evening. This is because the scale is calibrated to make accurate body fat measurements when you've been on your feet all day and gravity has caused your blood to concentrate in your lower extremities.
This is a problem for me because I weigh myself in the morning before breakfast. Weighing in first thing in the morning gives me consistent weight readings. But it "increases" my body-fat percentage by about 2%. This is not good for the ego. On the flip side, weighing myself in the evenings makes my body fat reading lower (and hopefully more accurate), but my weight is all over the map depending on when I can squeeze in meals.
I guess I could weigh myself in the morning and measure my body fat at night. But what a pain in the ass that is. I see the irony: a guy who runs 30 miles per week complains about taking ten lousy steps to his scale in the evenings. It's the principle.
Sigh.
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