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Hello, and happiest of New Year’s to you! Wow wow wow, I know I say this way too often, but where is the time going! I haven’t even processed that Christmas has happened, that alone NYE, and now we are getting geared up to ship Ray off to Vegas for the annual CES adventure. If anyone has any tips on how to slow it all down, please let me know!
So, what do we have ahead? Lots! I have high hopes for 2019, but I’ll save that for the section you all seem to like the most-est further down the newsletter. Before we look into the future, we need to reflect on the past! So what was Ray up to since the last time I graced your inbox?
First up was his First Look at the SufferFest App Revamp. I am going to be honest here, I’m sure SufferFest is on to something good here for Ray to have spent the amount of time on it as he did, BUT… I noticed Ray working on this post with the look of “I just did something ridiculous” and chuckling to himself. With a raised eyebrow I asked what’s up? To which I was shown screen shot from 50 Shades of Grey and I just walked away laughing. So that was all the recon I did on that post before the newsletter. Sorry.
Then Ray posted the 2018 Sports Tech Year in Review. A 12 minute video recapping 12 months of tech releases and notable happenings. One thing that Ray highlights in the video, and I would like to as well, is remembering one member of the sports media that we lost in 2018. Andrew Tilin wrote, amongst many other publications, an awesome Outside Magazine article on Ray and “The Man Behind the DC Rainmaker Gear Review Empire”. We are still remembering Andrew and the time we spent with him in Paris prepping for this publication. You will forever be missed. Next up was the last Week in Review for 2018. Annnnd I had a huge Whhhhhhhaaat moment when checking out this post. Ray linked to a pair of yoga pants that can detect if you’re in correct position or not! Ummmm, I’m not sure I’m allowed to do this or not, but I’ll test those puppies out! SEND ME A PAIR! Let’s be honest, none of you want to see Ray attempt anything yoga (or maybe you do for comical purposes). Yoga is a long time love of mine, but I am out of practice lately. Could this be the key to my yoga come back? We then saw the In-Depth Review of the TreadTracker Treadmill accessory. Here Ray takes a poke at the rabbit hole of the treadmill world and how this nifty piece of equipment hopes to put some confidence back in you workouts.
And then, we get to the post that made me squirm. Apple's Beddit 3.5 Sleep Tracker- In Depth Review….. I don’t know why, but I find there is something really invasive to having a device slipped under my bedsheets to monitor my sleep and quality of rest. Note to those reading, it is ill advised to not inform the other person sleeping in your bed that there is such a device present, and thus that person discovers it while changing the sheets. Ill advised at best. Finally, incase you missed it. Santa-Ray also delivered one more present to a lucky blog reader. The results of the “You Didn’t Get What You Wanted Give Away” have been posted. YouTube As always, if you think reading is faux-pas and audio-visual is more your style, be sure to check out the DC Rainmaker YouTube Channel. It’s a big help to the site if you click the subscribe button or “like” a video… just saying! Also by doing so, you will be “in the know” for future new videos by Ray. · First Look SufferFest’s Revamped App · 2018 Year in Sports Tech Review · TreadTracker Treadmill Sensor – Treadmill Accuracy Testing Fun That’s the round up from this past week. Now if you have time, keep it moving to below the fold for the “In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl”. |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl Hey there, and thanks for making it down here to the fun section! Who can believe it’s 2019?? Hard to believe it was almost 20 years ago that I stood at the Newfoundland Harbor Front to ring in the new millennium! Back when “Getting Jiggy With It” was both a hot song and a socially acceptable phrase. But that was then, and this is now. So what are we doing and looking forward to in 2019?
Soon we will be boarding an airplane that takes us to warmer weather! Yes, this year we are headed south again to chase another winterless year! We have changed it up this year; while we are sad not to head back to Australia, we are very excited to explore as a family what Cape Town, South Africa has to offer. This year we have restructured how we will enjoy our time in the sun. Ray and I will be working shorter weeks and enjoying some real vacation time with our girls. It might seem that we travel a lot with the family, and that is true, but travel does not always equal “vacation”, especially for Ray.
For example, last summer when we traveled to Florida for two weeks to spend time with family. Ray ended up building a temporary man-cave in the AirBnB garage while we were there. Companies even came to our vacation rental to show off new equipment to get ahead of the Eurobike announcements. It is very difficult for Ray to take real time off during the summer months, as that is when there is a lot of events, announcements, and testing to be done. We are often feeling guilty for not taking traditional summer vacations with the kiddos. But being the busy season, summer vacations have started to feel a bit more of an obligation than like a much-needed break. Ray might be sitting on a beach, but his mind is on the work you should be doing instead.
Last January through March we experimented with relocating south so Ray could maximize working somewhere warm. Which, in fact just created a very long work year for him. Burning the candle on both ends would be a good description of 2018. We had a lot of fun in Australia, but I don’t think Ray and I did a good job of outlining what each person’s expectation was for each day: work vs. family. So that led to some confusion and ultimately frustrations. So, this is our attempt to create some family-work balance. We already have a calendar set. A mix of quality time with the Peanuts (aka, Ray will gives up access to his laptop), and other days we can both take advantage of the warmer temps to test sports tech goodness and write about it! I promise to continue the weekly newsletter, and rest assured we could never really keep Ray away from his laptop for too long. So there should be a scheduled 4+ posts each week while we are there! Albeit some of them might just be a little less about tech, and a little bit more about diving with Great White Sharks! “Baby Shark Doo-Doo-Doo”… sorry, I couldn’t resist! Anyone reading from Cape Town? Maybe we will organize a group run or ride! Please feel free to send some info our way regarding favorite restaurants, races, or fun family ideas? Hit up the email button below! As always, thanks for reading… that was a long one! ~The Girl |
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