On July 16, 2009, I received an email from Nikon, Inc., alerting me about a “service advisory” (aka, recall, see here) regarding my camera. Nikon requested that D5000 owners with particular serial numbers send their cameras in to get checked for a problem with the power switch not actually turning the camera on. I had not experienced any of these problems, so I was a bit hesitant to send my camera in for service basically due to the sheer annoyance of me having to be without a camera for an extended period of time (insert ominous music here). I finally decided that I [probably] wouldn’t need my camera for a decently long period of time (two weeks…Nikon shouldn’t need more time than that, right?), so I packed the thing up in a box, slapped my prepaid UPS label on it, and sent the D5000 to Connecticut. I should note that the only thing Nikon ever stated when referencing to the amount of time that it would take to get the camera fixed was: “Nikon will return serviced cameras to customers promptly, employing (whenever possible) transportation that limits transit time to two days.”

This is where you laugh and say “I know what’s going to happen next. Lepolt is going to need/want his camera before it’s fixed!” You and Murphy would be correct…almost as soon as I sent the camera in, I wanted to use it.

A little background: Seapine Software has purchased tickets to the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters Open for the past few years, and has graciously offered tickets to employees. I have graciously accepted said tickets, and have been able to see the likes of Roger Federer (Pics from 2007) smacking that little yellow ball around on a court in Mason, OH. I figured this year would be no different, so I put in my request for tickets. Again, Murphy’s interference: I wasn’t able to get tickets at the end of the tournament like I expected, but more toward the middle.

At this point I knew I was in trouble. My camera was in transit to Connecticut, I was in Cincinnati, and the tennis tournament was in a little over a week.

What do I do? I NEED my camera by Saturday! Let’s call Nikon. I’m sure by calling their 1-800 number I’ll be able to speak with someone that can tell me the whereabouts of my camera and when I can expect it to return. Right? RIGHT?!

<insert laughter>

This is where the fun begins…I called Nikon on Sunday evening and talked to Cynthia. I asked her where my camera was. She told me “it was out of her hands.” I asked how I was supposed to find my camera, and how I could get it back by Saturday. She had no idea. She did tell me that she would email the service facility, and she would email me their response by Tuesday.

It’s Tuesday. I’ve heard nothing from Cynthia. I’ll call back. This time I talked to a guy and had to explain the whole situation to him again. He told me right away that “it was out of his hands,” and “we (customer service) are not handling that.” I asked him if he knew where my camera was and he said, “it’s in Connecticut!” I calmly asked if he knew for certain that my camera was in Connecticut, or if someone else’s camera was in Connecticut. “Well, that’s where all the D5000 cameras are going.” I asked again where MY camera was. “Well, we don’t have access to that information.” I called BS and said there had to be someone there that knew what was going on. He put me on hold for five minutes…then hung up. Intentional? Probably. At least that’s the way I’ll spin it.

So I called back. This time I got to talk to Vinnie. I told Vinnie my sob story (for the third time) and mentioned how the previous support representative had just hung up on me, and how the first support representative had failed to follow through on her commitment. Vinnie really felt my pain. “It’s not funny,” he said. “I understand your inconvenience.” At this point I could pretty much recite Nikon’s whole script of how to deal with a frustrated/angry/jackass customer and knew that no one at 1-800-645-6678 would be able to do a damn thing for me. I told Vinnie that this whole situation was unacceptable, and that I was really starting to get angry due to lack of communication between Nikon and its customers, and Nikon between customer service and the repair facility. We spoke for about 25 minutes while I tried to get a loaner camera from Nikon and he read from the script which was full of “I’m sorry’s” and “I understand’s.” Probably to get me to shut up, he finally told me he was pretty sure (although he wouldn’t guarantee anything) that I would have my camera back in time. He was going to email yet ANOTHER department to see if I could get a loaner camera by Saturday. Again, he was “pretty sure” that I could get a loaner camera (but wouldn’t guarantee anything).

I’m not buying it for a second. No chance. Zero. I’m not getting my camera back or a loaner by Saturday. They’ll have to kick the thing out the door first thing Wednesday morning to have any chance of me getting it.

One interesting tidbit that I did manage to extract from Vinnie was that it could take five business days once they received the camera to generate a service order number, and they could work with me from there. Hmmmm. Five business days. This information would certainly have been useful BEFORE I sent the camera in! Stupid Nikon!!!

I realize that this whole situation is a little bit my fault…but when it really comes down to it, I feel like Nikon should have done a better job of everything! They obviously know how long it will take to repair a single camera, how many cameras they have sold, and how many cameras they could expect to receive at their repair facility. They could have provided me with a rough estimate of how long I should expect to be without my camera! All they told me was they would try to ship it back within two days wherever possible. That’s worthless to me. Unbelievable. I can send something in the mail and tell you that it will take 2-3 days to get there! The useful information is how long it will take them to fix once they have it…information they neglected to share. Oh well.

So, I guess we’ll just wait and see. Hopefully I have something to use come Saturday…Federer is in town.

Most people have heard of Garmin. They’re the ones that make the GPS devices for your car so you don’t get lost looking for some specialty store that you’ve never been to in an area of town you’re unfamiliar with. What you probably are not aware of is that Garmin makes other GPS-enabled devices that aren’t designed for use in your car. For instance, Garmin also makes devices for running, hiking, biking, fishing, phoning, flying, and others that I choose not to list here. This post will focus on the running aspect of the aforementioned list.

Upon initially taking the Forerunner 305 watch out of the box the first thing I noticed was it’s size. It is one of the larger watches that I have come across, but considering the fact that it’s a small computer that communicates with satellites in outer space it’s really not that ridiculous. Putting the thing on my wrist didn’t look nearly as bad as Abi’s, but she has tiny girl wrists and I have thick, hairy manly wrists. In either case if you make the comparison between cell phones in 2009 to the Zach Morris Phone in those old ‘Saved by the Bell’ episodes, the Garmin watch really isn’t all that bad.

After charging up the internal lithium ion battery, we were ready to go for a run. The one crappy thing about any GPS device is that it must communicate with satellites that are very, very far away. Like 12,000 miles away. Sometimes it takes a while to get a signal from one or more of these satellites. Once the watch is turned on, it immediately begins searching for available GPS signals. Depending on the surroundings, these signals may be found more quickly than others. For instance, if you’re in a large, open field it will be easier to find a signal than if you’re hiding in the woods somewhere. After a signal is found, you’re ready to go.

Pressing the start/stop button does just that: it starts the timer and begins tracking your run. The Forerunner 305 has a whole slew of items that you can display on the main screen at any given time. Anywhere from 1-4 items can be viewed simultaneously, including but not limited to your time, current pace, your average pace for the run, your current/average speed, the total distance traveled, the distance traveled since the last split, and even a small map of where you have been in case you get lost in a neighborhood (it’s been done before…thank goodness for the map). There are other nifty fields that we don’t use very often like elevation, GPS accuracy, grade, heading, sunrise, and sunset (for a complete list of everything, check out the user guide).

The Forerunner 305 also includes a heart monitor, which is useful [and entertaining] to see how hard your body is actually working during a run. I’ve heard that some people actually think that running by heart rate is better than running by pace/speed, but I don’t have any research or links to back that up. All I know is the better in shape I am in, the less work my heart has to do to keep me at a reasonable pace.

Perhaps one of my favorite features about the watch is being able to download runs onto a computer by attaching the watch to the computer via USB cable. From within the Garmin Training Center software, you are able to track your run on a map, as well and view detailed statistics about each lap. Below I offer a few screenshots of a run Abi and I completed last summer:

This is the breakdown of each lap from this particular run. We had the watch setup to automatically split after each mile.

This is the map of the run. Each dot represents a transmission from a satellite. The watch updates every one second or so. The further you zoom in, the more dots you see.

This is a graph of pace vs. time, and heart rate vs. time. Other items can be graphed such as speed, elevation, distance, and cadence (for biking). The Windows version of this software enables you to smooth out the line a little so you don’t get the constant up/down rocky line. This probably has a little something to do with the accuracy of the watch, and the lack of support for the Mac.

Overall I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with this purchase. At first I wasn’t a believer, but now I tell everyone about how cool this watch is and constantly recommend it. There is a new model of the watch out, the Forerunner 405, which I know very little about. I looked at the specs of the 405 versus the 305, and it looks like very little has actually changed, but it does come in green. The 405 is slightly smaller, and can wirelessly transmit data to your computer instead of using the provided USB cable…but other than that it doesn’t look like the price jump is worth it. I would buy another 305 if I were purchasing a new GPS watch tomorrow.

Let’s recap

Pros
Accuracy – I was running down a standard residential street and just for fun ran back and forth from curb to curb on either side of the street. The results of my zig-zag run were recorded.

Features – There are 32 different pieces of data that you can put on the main display of the watch, up to four at a time. The display is large enough to read all four.

Size – For a GPS communicator it’s quite small, especially compared to GPS watches from a few years ago or the devices most people are used to seeing in cars.

Cons
Cost – Last check on walmart.com, the watch was still $215. It’s still pretty expensive, but if you use it regularly I think it’s worth it.

Size – For a wristwatch it’s still pretty big.

Difficulty finding satellites – Sometimes it takes five minutes or so to find a signal strong enough to use before you can start your run. Personally I use the extra time to stretch out a little more.

Mac support – Software support on the Mac is mediocre, at best. Windows support is much better…but I refuse to use it!

I hope you have found this review somewhat useful. If you are a serious runner, I would highly recommend using a watch like this for training. If you are a recreational runner training for a race, it will definitely be helpful, but might not be worth spending this much money on a watch. If are someone that goes out running right now without any watch at all, the Forerunner 305 probably isn’t for you!

I’m not expecting fans to ignore these feats. I won’t do it myself. I went to a number of UC games as an undergrad and was treated to some of the best basketball games I have ever seen. No, don’t forget about those. What we need to do however, is keep moving forward.

I understand that there is a big game on campus tonight. It’s a big game for both teams. UC and WV are both middle-of-the-road teams in the Big East, both fighting for that first (and second) round bye in the Big East Tournament. What’s not a big deal is the relationship of Huggs and Cincinnati for ANY player on EITHER team. Huggins’ last season with UC was in 2005. It is now 2009. No player on Cincinnati’s roster in 2008-09 was on the roster in 2004-05. Zero. There’s a chance that most of the players on WV’s team don’t even know where Cincinnati is. These players don’t care about the drama; all they want to do is win a basketball game tonight and move up in the Big East standings.

Most current students at UC weren’t around in 2004-05 either. All they want to do is watch the Bearcats win a basketball game tonight and move up in the Big East standings.

The UC athletic department decided that tonight would provide a great opportunity to recognize Bob Huggins for his exceptional efforts from 1989 to 2005. There will be a short video before the game tonight highlighting some of the great years Huggins had at UC. I feel that doing something like that TONIGHT is probably dumber than hiring Nancy Zimpher to begin with! In case you missed the first paragraph, Huggins is the opposing coach! He is coming to the Shoemaker Center tonight with plans on BEATING Cincinnati! We’re not friends tonight! Tonight we’re enemies! Why are Earth would UC take time out of pregame to say, “Huggs, you’re okay! Let’s be friends! Thanks for everything you’ve done for this program even though we suck right now thanks to controversy from your days of coaching!”

I am a Bob Huggins fan. I liked the guy from 2001-2005 when we were both at UC, and I like the guy today at West Virgina. It’s weird for me to see Huggs on the sideline at a different school, but I still want to see him get smoked by the ‘Cats tonight. Today is not the day to praise Bob Huggins and thank him for what he once did for the basketball program. That day will come…like, say, on another day when West Virginia isn’t in town? Or maybe after Huggins retires from coaching college basketball?

Come on, UC. I know ticket sales are down, but it’s a really shady thing to use controversy to sell tickets. Use excitement! Use pride! Use lower prices!

I will be watching the game tonight, cheering for the Bearcats. I am, and forever shall be, a Bearcat.

C—I—N—C—I—N   N-A-T-I!!! (N-A-T-IIIIIIII!!!)

Jonathan Lepolt
College of Engineering ‘06
RallyCats ‘02-06