But now it appears be working for my unyielding tweet sent from Bridgy. Hmm.

Been using the Apple Watch's haptic alarm to wake up at 4:30am. Having a regular wake up time helps me feel better.

My lunches these days consists of 5 minutes of eating and 40 minutes of trains with the boy :)

Brid.gy is saying my site doesn't support webmentions, but the indiewebify.me says all is well. GET/HEAD 200 in my logs. Used to work..hrmm..

Found out that the #indieweb plugin Bridgy (posts/backfeeds replies/likes from twitter into my site) will attach the featured image of a post to Twitter. Now I want a dedicated "Tweet-through-your-blog Wordpress client" app.

I went on my first run with my Apple Watch yesterday. It was a short run as I haven’t run in a while and need to build my capacity back up. First impression is that running without my phone is so nice. Losing the extra weight, not needing to worry about accidentally setting off the SoS to call the cops while blindly fiddling with volume control at 5am (true story), and not needing my SPI belt are all great. 

I usually run listening to music (the Anjunabeats Worldwide Podcast) via Overcast and Runkeeper set to announce times / pace / no music (because Overcast is in control). I imagine it’s because a lack of processing power on the Watch, but Runkeeper will pause music to announce times every 5 minutes, but it doesn’t resume immediately afterwards. I have to manually press the dock button and hit play to start music again. Not sure if this is a bug with Runkeeper or not.

The other issue I ran into was my AirPods disconnected from my watch mid-run when my Watch realized my iPhone was out of range. This caused me to loose all audio as I couldn’t get them to reconnect.

After my run, I usually share immediately on twitter and then look at my phone while cooling down on the way home. No phone means no immediate twitter sharing and no staring at a cell phone. Walking home without feeling the urge to look at my phone and just look around was a nice change of pace I could get used to.

Rainy and stormy for the next week. Saw a bunch of downed trees in a forest nearby.

Bringing a new piece of internet-connected technology into your life requires an adequate amount of thought. And after a couple years of thinking about it, I finally decided to get an Apple Watch. Usually there’s no need to blog about a consumer electronics purchase, but I feel like the Apple Watch is different. Its capabilities and role are more intimate.

That is, I’m not getting one to tell me the time – I have a couple of great watches that work fine. No, I’m getting the Watch because it can help remind me to focus on me and the long term. If properly utilized it can aid me in my quest for a simpler, healthier life.

The promised sleep tracking, combined with the package of simpler features is what finally pushed me over the edge to purchase one. I’d love to be able to use the EKG feature, but it’s not enabled (yet) on Watches sold in Japan.

Sleep Tracking

Reading about the sleep tracking feature online, it seems that it’s less focused on the minutia and more focused on the big picture. Get you to bed on time as planned, so you get your hours in, and the rest will work itself out. Focus on the basics.

While I usually get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, with a toddler, my sleep or wake time are not entirely in my control. Having a record of my hours slept and then being able to corollate it over time to how I feel will be powerful.

Haptic Alarms

One part of my sleep schedule that is partially in control is my wake time. Ideally I’d like to get up around 4am consistently. This is easier in the summer in Japan because the sun rises around 4:30am and it’s hot by 6am. However, I’m unable to use an alarm that makes noise, as it’ll wake everyone else in the house up. Using an alarm that doesn’t make noise, but just vibrates so I can feel it is a game changer for controlling when I rise each day.

AirPods + GPS

Having a built in GPS and being able to sync music / podcasts to my watch will make it easier to go for a run in the morning. No more fiddling with my phone, wearing a bag to hold it or anything. Just grab my keys/id and go.

ApplePay

Full support for ApplePay on the Watch means when I’m out for a run, I can stop by 7-11 to get an iced coffee without fiddling with cash or my phone. It also means that even if I forget my phone (or choose to leave it at home), I still have my credit cards / transit cards, everything with me.

Even if I manage to wake consistently at 4am, I’ve still got to use that time efficiently. Waking up by my iPhone next to me is a quick way to lose my faith in humanity before getting out of bed each day.

I’ll end with a few things that I hope the Watch will encourage.

• Consistent wake and sleep times. I’m shooting for an 8pm ~ 4am schedule. When my son is gone, the 8pm bedtime goes out the window.


• Increase Water Consumption: I tend to slip on coffee for too long and not drink enough water. Simple reminders to nag me to drink my water.


• Increase movement during the day: I’m a programmer and when I get in the zone I don’t get up unless I have two. Fortunately my workplace lets me get in the zone pretty good almost everyday. Unfortunately, I’ll realize sat down after lunch and haven’t gotten up once until quitting time.


• Running: My eternal goal - become a regular runner. I was a regular runner for 3 months just after Leo was born. It may have been because I was sleep deprived and my brain couldn’t talk it’s way out of running. But it also may have been that I was always up at 4am anyways.

It arrives tomorrow and I am giddy.

First time driving the highway in Japan/ downtown Yokohama. Lane keep assist rules.