Farewell Jawbone UP24

I purchased a fitness tracker by Jawbone called the UP24. It was like a chunky orange bracelet, but I don't like the watch ones, so I went with Jawbone. It just died it's third and final time in the last week and a half.

It was only fifty bucks, since I purchased it after it had been discontinued by the manufacturer. They came out with an equivalent but newer version for $100, and I just wanted to try out having a fitness tracker while waiting for Jawbone to get their head in the game and get active heart rate tracking like Fitbit has.

Honestly, if it were just a functionality thing, I would go Fitbit Charge HR, but I can't stand how Fitbits look. And their only colors are black and plum. And I've heard their step tracking can be way off.

Since the warranty for my product expired in March (before I purchased it), they won't replace it. The best they can offer is a 25% discount code for their website. The UP2, their current band, is $100. I would be paying $75 to replace my $50 band.

And I asked if I could use the code at Best Buy, but no, it's just for their website. And since my band freaked out after three months, I want Geek Squad protection. They'd replace it for the next two years.

Dang it. I'm more frustrated by this than I thought I would be. I've read bad reviews on the UP2. None of the other fitness trackers look good.

And apparently I've become addicted to having something track all my steps and workouts, like I'm working toward something, even just my 10,000 step daily goal.

I have a lightweight app on my phone called Google Fit, and it can track steps and actually is smart enough to tell when I'm biking. But I don't want to have to carry my phone everywhere, or if I want credit for that dance exercise I did in my basement, have to have it on me.

Really, the takeaway from all this is 1) I love fitness trackers, and 2) get them from Best Buy and get Geek Squad protection.

Oooooh, I've wasted my life.

Props to anyone who can tell me where the quote in my title came from. Largely because I can't remember it. Someone says it right before being squashed in an amusing way, so I'm guessing cartoon. Simpsons maybe?

Anyway, I was quoting it because I am feeling the guilt of having too many interests and then squandering my time on computer games.

Time Sink #1: Computer games. And when I get bored of computer games... different computer games.

Time Sink #2: Work. I'm listing this as a time sink because, while productive, I don't generally like it. Or more specifically, I like about two of my potential five jobs.

Interest #1: Working out. This is number #1 because I actually do it. Usually. I have a certain level of self-motivating guilt going on. I blame My Fitness Pal app. Which I highly recommend for the same reason. Nothing is as effective as noticing you are spending 700+ calories on that pizza tonight, so you should probably go run today. It's also what encouraged me to give up soda for the second time, largely by me realizing that it's 150 calories and like half my sugar allowance for the day. Did you know a tiny bag of Cheetos was 310 calories? And if that doesn't sound like a lot to you, try keeping track of calories with the goal of staying under 1200. Which meal are you giving up for those Cheetos?

Interest #2: Reading. I had a goal of 100 books this year. That's two a week. I've been playing computer games. I am 13 books behind schedule. Time to go read children's books...

Interest #3: Writing. I've been playing with a story in my head labeled "epic space odyssey," joining the collection of "chanters' fantasy," "steampunk gang," and "angsty-music-stagehand" and half a dozen other half-baked ideas. That don't get written. And I need to actually write things because if I leave them alone too long, I forget them, or at least major plot points.

Interest #4: Steampunk. I have a costume. There are tons of DIY ideas out there and I know people and I want to go to events. And I don't. Steampunk's problem is that even DIY stuff tends to cost money. Maybe I should get a sixth job just for Steampunk.

Interest #5: Playing a musical instrument. I have a recorder, penny whistle, guitar, and piano. I want to play fiddle. I don't play any. Usually I hit a wall pretty early in where it doesn't seem like I get any better and that demotivates me.

Interest #6: Learning another language. I have an app called Duolingo, set for Turkish. It's free. My goal was 20 minutes a day. Hah.

Interest #7: Misc self-improvement. Basically there are a lot of little things I want to learn, like bike maintenance, ham radio operation, Krav Maga, homebrewing, etc. And I don't.

And I should.

But I liiiiiiiike computer games.