Archive - Sep 2008

I got a Polar RS200sd heart rate monitor for my birthday back in 2007. Love the watch / HRM and have used it a lot. I liked the look and feel of it enough that I wore it as my primary watch, and not just when I was training. It has never let me down, but just a short while ago, when I went to put it on one morning, the strap broke. It didn't break off completely and the watch was still wearable, but the broken strap meant that it would have to be worn too loose, and it would only be a matter of time before the strap broke completely off, leaving the watch unwearable. Have a look at the picture below and you'll see what I mean.

At the time I had had the watch for about a year and a half or so and I figured that the warranty must be up - believing that most items usually have only a one year warranty. Since the strap on this unit was completely integrated with the watch, it wouldn't be an easy task to replace the strap myself - I would definitely have to send it back to Polar. I sent an email off to Polar support asking what my options were, and hoping that maybe they'd view this as a defective strap (or potentially bad design) and would offer to replace it for me even if the warranty was up. I was extremely happy to get a response back from Polar very quickly stating that the unit actually had a 2 year warranty and that they would indeed replace the strap free of charge - all I had to do was ship it to them in Montreal.

I figured I'd try pushing my luck a bit and informed the girl that had responded to me that the battery in the watch was low and asked if maybe they could replace that too. She was quick to respond and told me that I could purchase a new battery from them for $25, which would include the return shipping costs. I was a little confused with that answer (especially the bit about the return shipping costs since presumably they were going to be shipping the watch back to me after the strap was replaced) and responded back to her telling her not to worry about it - that I figured I could replace the battery myself for cheaper than that. She didn't like that idea, and in fact told me not to do it since it would void my warranty. I finally relented and decided that $25 for a new battery wasn't that bad (considering I'd pay close to that myself for the battery alone), especially since the watch would again be 'factory sealed', and included a note in the shipment asking that they call me so I could pay them over the phone when they received the watch.

Well as you can see from the image above, they ended up replacing the battery for free! Have a look at that invoice: they replaced the strap, replaced the face plate (it had a few scratches on it, and yes, maybe the strap and faceplate were all one unit but still...), replaced the battery and did a couple of tests (functionality, water resistance) all for free! I was without the watch for maybe a week and a half total. I sent the watch to them via regular mail, but they sent it back to me via Purolator.

When it comes to HRMs, you can't beat Polar, and I've always been happy with the products I've bought from them. This excellent service I just received significantly reinforces the fact that I will only be buying Polar HRMs in the future and will certainly recommend them to anyone. Thank you Polar Canada!

I was on my way home the other day and my cell phone rang. I took a look at the display and it said that it was home calling. Naturally I assumed it was Amy calling, wondering when I'd be home, but much to my surprise (and delight) the first thing I heard after I said hello was Liam saying "Hi Daddy!". Amy had put the call on handsfree and I was able to hear Liam clear as a bell. It wasn't the longest conversation in the world...in fact I'm not sure if he said much beyond the hello, but it was definitely a great experience for me - my first call from my son. He's taken quite a bit more interest in the telephone lately so I anticipate I'll be getting more and more calls as time goes on. :)

Wow! I ranted previously about how long it took to get a birth certificate for Liam from the time I applied online until we actually got it. This time around I'm pleased to say that I've noticed a BIG TIME improvement. Last time it took between 3 and 4 months I think; this time - under a month! I didn't do anything differently this time either. I filled everything out online again, and mailed the cheque to the city just like last time. Today, less than a month after filling out the forms online, we received Grace's birth certificate! Fantastic! Her SIN should be arriving shortly...

I'm not sure what changed, but somebody, somewhere, is actually working to improve things and that is certainly appreciated!

I've been thinking a lot lately about sleep. I can't complain at all about a lack of sleep due to the new baby - Amy has been absolutely amazing in taking care of Grace pretty much exclusively, leaving me to 'sleep through the night'. Have I been sleeping through the night? Sadly no - not for a long time.

I've never, ever, had a problem falling asleep. It generally only takes me a few minutes to fall asleep after laying down. Add alcohol into the mix and that drops from a few minutes to a few seconds. :) However, just because I fall asleep easily doesn't mean that I necessarily stay asleep or that I will wake up feeling rested. I can't remember the last time I actually slept through the night. I typically get up at least once in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and generally speaking, when I get up in the morning, I normally feel quite beat instead of rested.

Things were actually worse just before Grace was born - I was getting up in the morning feeling absolutely exhausted for some reason. I attributed this mostly to the fact that my activity level had dropped off significantly (pretty much completely actually) - I wasn't running or cycling at all and was generally being quite lazy. I started to get back on track shortly after Grace was born, getting out for runs with Ellie, but then I got hit with seasonal allergies and that has essentially taken me out of commission. I went to the doctor (for an unrelated reason) and she pretty much confirmed what I was thinking - that I needed to get off my ass and start exercising regularily again.

And while I'm talking about sleeping, I have to mention my son Liam, who has always been a really good sleeper. Liam started sleeping through the night (from about 2130 until 0500 I think) when he was about 6 weeks old. As he got older, he would sleep for longer periods until he got to where he is now - sleeping 11 to 12 hours a night. I compare this to friends of Amy's who have kids that are the same age as Liam who still don't sleep through the night. Liam is a very active young boy - pretty much on the go the whole time he is awake - and I hope he stays that way for the rest of his life. Thinking along the same lines as above, I'm sure his activity level contributes to how well he sleeps. I can't explain why he started sleeping so well when he was just a baby though, since he wasn't very active at the time. I guess it's just one contributing factor - I'm sure there are many.

I'll tell you one thing, I'm very grateful that Liam sleeps the way he does...I don't think I could handle it any other way. Here's hoping that Grace will pick up on Liam's good habits. :)