I know this is for laughs but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a watchOS update at some point that learns your routines and understands what you’re doing.
Also, the icons you created fit in so well with the rest of the workouts. Kudos
I wonder how specific it could get. Something like "loosening the corroded, frozen roller assembly on a vintage push mower" would be pretty funny to see. My forearms were still burning the day after!
My favorite anecdote (so far) from working at Fitbit is that until 2017 or so you could log "Starting a fire, indoors" as an activity.
In the early days the web app allowed you log arbitrary activities; it would tote up the calorie value of all of them. Where did they get the activities? From a public domain list of activities and their caloric value--compiled by U.S. government economists starting in the 1930s when they wanted to estimate the caloric needs of Americans to make sure there was enough food for all the hungry farm workers and factory laborers during the Depression.
I was there the day we removed that database and ceremonially typed in "starting a..." and there was no longer an autocomplete for it.
Wow, that's pretty fascinating, I love little history details like that, too.
I find it interesting just how many calorie-estimation models there are for different purposes. I once lost at least a week and a half of weight loss effort when I inadvertently changed the TDEE estimation model from So-and-So's Model over to Whozit's Model. I remember it being really annoying to troubleshoot that...anyway thanks for sharing your experience.
The scary realization I had recently, is that compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy. Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing.
My new measure of "wealthy" also switched to buying furniture that doesn't need to be assembled, or the assembly is included in the delivery.
> The scary realization I had recently, is that compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy.
1,000% this. I can only assume the people who complain about IKEA instructions and/or quality have never purchased a flat-pack furniture product from any other big stores. The assembly and quality-per-dollar are both almost always much worse.
> Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing.
You mean like Allen wrench heads? I expect they strip too easily, under the kind of torque even a very-tame electric driver delivers.
> Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing
Huh? In my experience everything that describes itself as electric screwdriver comes with hex bits in its bit set. IKEA's own drill (Fixa [1]) has a somewhat limited bit set, but also includes two (presumably the two you need to assemble IKEA products).
I'd understand if drills without torque limiter would leave them out, after all the bits are already pretty close to round. But then again, why would those come with bits at all?
You absolutely can get hex bits for drill/drivers. Do yourself a favor and pick some up at the hardware store; I refuse to set up knockdown furniture without one.
That said, be careful to set the torque fairly low. (Invest in a driver with a clutch if you don't have one!) It's way too easy to overdrive the fasteners.
This screwdriver is KEY to assembling ikea furniture. Not only does it have a clutch, but the twist action gives you the finesse to tighten without spinning the screw and stripping the soft ikea woodlike substances.
I think it preserves your "mechanics feel"[1] you normally only get from hand tools.
"There’s what’s called “mechanic’s feel,” which is very obvious to those who know what it is, but hard to describe to those who don’t; and when you see someone working on a machine who doesn’t have it, you tend to suffer with the machine.
The mechanic’s feel comes from a deep inner kinesthetic feeling for the elasticity of materials." ... [read the book for more]
> compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy
Oh, absolutely. I've assembled other stuff where the parts didn't match the illustrations, similar-but-not-identical parts weren't labelled, and the order of operations led to impossible steps and I literally had to undo several to change the order. Nothing I've assembled has been as easy as IKEA.
That said, my daughter and I (mostly her) just assembled a dresser from IKEA that took ~6 hours. It had something like 60 steps.
IKEA sells (or used to at least) a battery powered screwdriver/drill with all of the common bits for ikea furniture, including the hex ones. It’s pretty good quality for the price, even has an adjustable clutch for not stripping screws.
Yeah I've honestly never gotten those jokey complaints, IKEA furniture is no more difficult, if not easier, than putting together a middling LEGO set1.
1barring the extra physical requirements for unwieldy pieces of pressed particle board
Some are worse than others. Every time I have to dis/re-assemble our IKEA bedframe, it's a struggle to figure out how the weird spinny locks work - which way to turn them, are they actually engaging? did I strip something? why don't I just go buy a real bed frame?
The basic stuff like bookshelves, coffee tables, chairs, maybe desks are pretty easy. But I put together a metal filing cabinet from IKEA once, and it was like a 2 hour ordeal for a piece of junk.
I think a lot of the complaints come from people who never experienced LEGO and haven't heard of the idea that the manufacturer might include spare parts. So when they've got something left over, they feel like they failed.
It is still an annoying issue, but we have Apple Watch Ultra now. If I were to guess, this problem goes away for most models in the next generation of Apple Watches
From personal experience, I can say that outrunning a swarm of bees is serious exercise. You’re running as fast as you can, swinging your arms randomly to try and ward off the bees that got close and are stinging (or trying to sting) you; all that while dodging obstacles in the way.
Sprinting a quarter mile to outrun killer bees would be a hell of a workout. If I could even hold a sprint that long without keeling over from a heart attack. By the end of the quarter mile I'd probably just give up and let the little bastards take me.
In my case the bees (Africanized bees) were really aggressive. Some kids were throwing rocks in their beehive a few seconds before my sister and I passed by (that was in an almost deserted public street).
The bees were really angry and we got stung multiple times. Luckily we’re not allergic and were able to run away. They stopped attacking after we were out of range (my guess), about 70 meters away.
I had to explain to folks in the Department of Defense the unintended privacy implications of the unit data. Two smartwatch wearers doing certain exercises together can land both in military jail. Sex as a team workout is no surprise not one of the supported workouts…
While presumably most meant to be humorous the dog walking was a real struggle. I would use outdoor walk, but the main issue, is when trying to look at my walking progress (getting faster, lower heart rates, longer walks etc), hard to compared apples to oranges since the pace with dog is always different as having to stop or when someone walks by affects things, etc. So wish there was a "solo walk" maybe that is just me and meant for imrpoving performance etc, vs regular walk that could be with dog or with friends etc, which will have various metrics etc.
Anyone else wear your watch in the shower and get a minute or two of exercise time as a result? But then I go on a 5-minute jog and forget to tell it what I’m doing and I get zero exercise minutes…
I can relate. Just yesterday I’m halfway through a treadmill workout, heart rate is up, and I’m sweating good. I feel a tap on my wrist and the watch is asking me if I’m done with my workout.
Other times it’ll ask if I’m working out at the most random times, when activity levels are much lower. Like last night I was rewiring the underside of my standing desk and it asked if I was working out.
The auto stop reminder is really annoying on hikes. It always asks me if I’m finished on the steepest sections when I’m working hardest but moving slowest. Come on Apple - if my heart rate is 150 BPM, I’m probably still moving!
Apple's paid Fitness+ service is excellent. You can filter workout by the equipment you have available. So far you've needed an Apple Watch to use it, but you can use it with just your iPhone when iOS 16.1 comes out later this month.
The reddit community body weight fitness and their recommended starting routine[1] were a really great resource for me getting started. There are a couple adult fitness parks nearby my area that have related equipment (pull-up / dip bars, inclined planks with handholds, etc), and one also has it's own very similar fitness routine recommendations printed on a sign. I now do my own more customized routine, but I wouldn't have been able to get started or figure it out without those initial resources.
The Couch to 5k program is a great place to start if you're interested in more cardio / running for beginners, and there are a bunch of free apps to help you time and track your progress.
TrainingPeaks was nice when I was training for a specific cycling event. But it’s a little too expensive for me to pay for the premium version year-round. Does anyone have any alternative suggestions for planning/tracking workouts by TSS?
Zwift makes indoor cycling tolerable for me in the winter months.
Unfortunately no. It’s a very simple app that doesn’t get in the way. I tried using others that were bloated and it was hard to do simple things. I basically need to create multiple routines and have a timer between sets.
Also, the icons you created fit in so well with the rest of the workouts. Kudos