Citi Bike Miami

On February 4, 2020February 3, 2020 By Rick McIn cycling, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Surprisingly — for the first time — I used a bike sharing program.

BRILLIANT.

Citi Bike provides locals and visitors with a healthy transportation option. Fun, efficient and convenient.

There are docking stations everywhere close to South Beach. It works.

Often you need a phone app to use these things. But for Citi Bike, instead, you can rent with a credit card (expensive) or travel to their office to purchase a fob.

That fob is only $35 / month for unlimited use. Both for locals and tourists.

By comparison, the Miami electric scooter sharing program is a mess. Scooters abandoned randomly all over town. Companies include Bird, Bolt, Jump, Lime, Lyft and Spin.

Click PLAY or watch GIRLS GONE WILD CITIBIKE on YouTube. 🙂

I’m a Whole Foods buffet guy now

On January 31, 2020January 29, 2020 By Rick McIn food, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Dana always called the snooty grocery chain Whole Paycheque Foods, and I wouldn’t walk in the door.

What?! … No Diet Coke?

But in South Miami Beach where food of any kind costs $10, the best deal I can find is the food court at Whole Foods.

I spend $6-9 dollars for a great, tasty meal. Soups are good too.

Pizza excellent.

For another opinion, read Exposing the dark side of the Whole Foods food court.

For coffee I go to McDonalds.

And Subway is still quite a good alternative for about the same price as my buffet.

My Apple Watch 5 Review

On January 24, 2020January 21, 2020 By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, books, hiking, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

I went decades without a watch ‘cuz TIME ain’t the boss of me.

When I finally got around to trying Apple Watch 3, I was instantly hooked. It’s an essential part of my life now. I can’t live without a smart watch.

LOVE IT.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Having broken two Apple Watch 3 faces already, when I decided to upgrade the 5 I paid the extra for Apple Care. It covers everything for 2 years.

The normal warranty is 1 year and does not cover cracked glass, the most common way to break it.

In addition, for even more protection, I added an OtterBox Exo Edge Rugged Apple Watch Case.

Watch a video on that product.

Initially I thought the much cheaper Apple Watch 3 would do everything I need.

… Until Rene Ritchie convinced me to upgrade to the 5. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

How much does it cost?

If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

Get a Casio. 😀

my 2 travel tripods

On January 14, 2020January 11, 2020 By Rick McIn cycling, photos, product endorsements, travel1 Comment

For 2020 I’ll travel with two lightweight tripods:

miggo splat (GoPro)
Joby GripTight PRO Video mount (camera)

In fact, I can use either for GoPro or camera.

If I want to cut weight and only take one on a hike, it will likely be the more durable splat.

My phone clamps in the past have been plastic and untrustworthy. The GripTight PRO costs CAD$63 and looks super durable. I don’t want my phone falling.

The arm is for panning video up and down, or side to side.

Of course I also have GoPro mounts for helmet and bike.

I switched from Chrome to Brave

On January 7, 2020January 4, 2020 By Rick McIn Google, internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Brave is open-source. Based on the same platform as Google Chrome. HTTPS Everywhere. A much better experience than Chrome.

In fact, many are switching away from Chrome as Google bungled 5-years ago in a decision to make Chrome work on the Android platform. Far ahead at the time, Chrome has fallen behind other browsers.

I was surprised how easy it was to switch.

I recommend you turn off the default Brave Rewards program and notifications. Those are annoying.

My search engine is DuckDuckGo as it was on Chrome.

Brave … is safe, fast, secure and crypto friendly – which Chrome isn’t so much.

According to developers, Brave is trying to fix the internet.They introduceed a system that block ads and ad trackers by default, eliminating the need of ad block extensions. …

The Brave browser is fast. The browser’s impressive speeds are due to lack of default lack of third party ads. …

Brave vs Chrome – Which one’s better and faster?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Otter Box belt clip phone holster

On December 3, 2019December 1, 2019 By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsementsLeave a comment

This (fairly expensive) protection has SAVED my phone dozens of times. It’s nearly indestructible in the Defender case.

Otter Box has not changed it much over the year. Because this design works.

Getting the phone in-and-out can be tricky.

my Nepal ‘Dental Vacation’

On November 13, 2019 By Rick McIn product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Here’s Smilemaker’s Dental Clinic in Pokhara, Nepal.

Oops … that’s actually the Peace Pagoda looking over to my favourite mountain — Fishtail.

Here’s Smilemaker’s.

That’s Dr. Avishek M. Gubhaju. I was very happy with him, personally.

Nepal is much cheaper than Mexico.

I had a 3 tooth bridge put in:

Canada – perhaps $3,000
Mexico – perhaps $1,200

I paid $340 in Nepal.

I did not get zirconia, rather the metal at about $120 / tooth.

I ended up getting a Cantilevered Bridge. That’s not ideal. The fake teeth are only attached to a retainer at one side. It will (hopefully) last 5-7 years. Next would come implants, something I’m trying to avoid. Or possible an old school partial denture.

I liked the dentist so much that I went back after my trekking. He did some cosmetic work on my lower teeth. Cost was $100. No Canadian dentist would be willing to do that at any price. They’d insist on expensive veneers.

YOTEL Istanbul Airport (Airside)

On October 24, 2019October 24, 2019 By Rick McIn product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Bottom line – an excellent option for long distance flights via the Middle East.

It’s a long story how I ended up paying $150 for 12 hours in the ONLY in transit hotel at the NEW Istanbul Airport.

But it was just as good as the Yotel sleeping pod Gatwick, the only other time I’ve used their airport hotels.

YOTEL Istanbul Airport (Airside) has 174 cabins.
“… luxury bedding, rejuvenating rain showers,
relaxing mood lights, numerous charging points …”

Only hand luggage is permitted, which worked for me as I was traveling with only carry-on.

Landside they have 277 hotel rooms in total, or cabins

Istanbul’s New Airport (IST) became operational October 2018 though it’s still expanding. Now one of the largest in the world.

IST is the main hub for Turkish Airlines, one of the big competitors in the region for long distance flights. In fact, Turkish airlines flies to more places in the world than anyone else.

related – a review

More photos.