Author: georgefattell

Product Review: Synapse 25 Backpack by Tom Bihn

Posted on by georgefattell

Back in January I bought a new backpack and it was a long overdue purchase because my old backpack was literally falling apart after about 10 years of hard use. My old backpack was an Oakley model that I bought in San Diego and it served me well over the years, but it wasn’t exactly state of the art. After a lot of research, looking at backpacks from a variety of different companies I finally settled on buying a Synapse 25 from the Seattle based Tom Bihn company.

Last year I purchased a Ristretto Laptop bag from Tom Bihn and I was really impressed by how sturdy and well designed the bag was. That made me lean toward buying another Tom Bihn product, but I did seriously consider a number of other high end backpacks before pulling the trigger on the Synapse 25. After having used the Synapse 25 on a nearly daily basis since I received it in late January I can unequivocally say that I am very happy with my decision. Once you use it for a few weeks you really appreciate how well designed the Synapse 25 is. The pack has 5 external pockets and those are extremely useful. The main compartment is spacious and the overall capacity of the backpack is 25 Liters.

TB Syn25 topTB Syn25 SS viewTB Syn25 Open Pockets

You can’t go to a store and buy Tom Bihn products. You have to order Tom Bihn products straight from the factory via the company website. This backpack does not have a bombproof laptop compartment and some might consider that a drawback. No big deal to me. I store my MacBook Air in a sleeve anyway. Tom Bihn also sells sleeves for laptops and a variety of other accessories right on the website. You can also select from a wide variety of exterior and interior colors for the backpack. The model I purchased is Black Halcyon/Iberian

I highly recommend this backpack. At $200.00, it is at the upper end of the price scale for a backpack of this size, but I think it is well worth it because it is so well made that I anticipate that I will get many years of use out of it. I also love the fact that it is an American made product.

Here are the Spec’s:

Dimensions: 20″ x 13.4″ x 9″ / 508 x 340 x 230 mm
Weight:
400d Halcyon®/420d nylon ripstop: 1 lb 11 oz / 770 grams
1000 denier Cordura®: 1 lb 13 oz / 820 grams
Volume: 1526 cubic inches / 25 liters (ASTM Standard Measure)
Removable 1″ / 25 mm waist strap included
.375″ / 10 mm padded and contoured backpack straps with .75″ / 20 mm removable sternum strap
Total O-rings: 9 (2 in the main compartment; 1 in the top center pocket, 1 in the small center pocket, 3 in the bottom front pocket; 1 in the left side pocket; 1 in the right side pocket)

 

NBA Playoffs – 2017

Posted on by georgefattell

I really should have published my NBA playoff prediction post right before the playoffs started, but things have pretty much played out as I thought they would and it looks like the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavs are headed to a rematch in the Finals. That is what a predicted in the pre-season and I’m sticking with that, although I would concede that each team could face some serious challenges along the way. However, baring the loss of a key player to injury, I don’t see either teams being defeated within their own conference.

Mt. San Jacinto State Park

Posted on by georgefattell

Here a few pictures that I recently dug up from trip I made to Mt San Jacinto State Park, CA back in 2006, which predates the start of this blog, which I started in 2009. Mt San Jacinto is located immediately west of Palm Springs. At a height of 10,834 it is the second hight peak in Southern California.

From the Palm Springs side of the mountain the only way up is via Palm Springs Aerial Tram. The ride up is really breathtaking.

 

 

The NCCA Men’s Basketball Finals: North Carolina vs Gonzaga

Posted on by georgefattell

University of North Carolina -1.5 over Gonzaga University

I am truly looking forward to NCAA Finals tomorrow night. The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament is one my favorite events in all of sports. I always find this event extremely interesting because of the high level of the competition in the tourney and all the interesting subplots that develop as tournament narrows to just two teams.

This year my Final Four were comprised of Kansas, Duke, UCLA  and Gonzaga. I picked UCLA to make it to the Finals and face Gonzaga. Well, as we now know only the Bulldogs of Gonzaga made it to the Final Four. However, am I still feeling pretty good about my selections because I picked Gonzaga to win the whole thing this year and they stand poised to do just that. Overall, my bracket is in pretty good shape.  I have picked 41 out of 62 games correctly so far.

I recognize that fellow #1 seed UNC will pose a great challenge to Gonzaga. Clearly the oddsmakers think that as well, with Vegas installing the Tar Heels as a 1.5 point favorite. I really like Gonzaga ‘s chance in this game. I think Gonzaga is on of the few teams in the tourney that has the size, speed and overall balance to beat the perennial powerhouse Tar Heels.

 

 

 

 

Winter’s Last Blast in March 2017

Posted on by georgefattell

Up until the point when the blizzard hit us here in Easton, Pennsylvania last week I was wondering if were going to have a bona fide major snow storm this winter. I wanted at least one before we entered Spring and Mother Nature certainly delivered. Last week’s storm won’t go down as a record setter, but it did shut everything down for about 24 hours when it arrived on the 14th of March. So, it was

I actually did make my way to work that day. I live about a mile from where I work so I just broke out all my cold weather gear and marched through the snow. It was fun.

Here are a few pictures a took during and after the storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Podcast Listening: 03-12-17 to 03-19-17

Posted on by georgefattell

In a few prior posts on this blog I have written brief reviews for Podcasts that I listen to regularly and enjoy. I haven’t published a Podcast related post recently, but remain a avid fan of podcasts. I now listen to more podcasts now than I ever have have previously. Going forward I am going recommend specific podcasts from my favorite podcast hosts that I have enjoyed and found informativerather than just write a general post about a particular podcast.

Here are two Podcasts from last week that I enjoyed:

March 13, 2017:  The Joe Rogan Experience #930 – Guest: Will MacAskill

March 17, 2017: The Bill Simmons Podcast, Ep 189 – Guest: Steve Ballmer

 

 

 

 

 

App’s I like

Posted on by georgefattell

I haven’t posted a review of iPhone/iPad app’s in a long time, but here are two App’s that I have been using the past couple of months that I am very pleased with and highly recommend:

Dark Sky – Weather

I really like the design of this app. When I first read about that app my initial reaction was, “Well what can it provide that other weather app’s do not?”. However, i found that it really does display weather information in a very unique format that gives you a complete picture of the weather in your area very quickly.. The maps are great and are especially cool when displayed on a tablet

Dark Sky costs a $3.99, but I think it well worth it.

StocksTracker – Financial 

The second app that has become a new favorite of mine is StocksTracker.  Yes, there are hundreds of stock app’s out there, but I think this app is exceptionally well designed and the interface is very well organized.
The bacic app is free, but if you want the full version with all the bell and whistles it costs $15.00. I used the free version at first  and I liked it so much that bought the full version after two  weeks. I think the charts are very good.
It is a great app for the iPhone, but even better on the iPad.

Trip to Boston

Posted on by georgefattell

I made a trip up to Boston last weekend. It was my first trip to Boston in over 5 years. I don’t remember the exact time I was up there last, but I know it was at least 5 or 6 years ago. I went up there by train from NY early Saturday morning and came back Sunday on the Acela, which was my first time on the fastest train in the U.S.  As a train buff I really enjoyed my ride on the Acela. I would definitely like to see more trains like the Acela put in to service in different parts of the USA, where it makes sense.

I really enjoyed seeing seeing some my favorite spots in and around the city. I stayed at a small hotel in Back Bay and I was able get around pretty easily on the T (Boston’s Light Rail & Subway). One of the highlights of the trip was go to see the Boston Bruins play the NJ Devils at TD Garden with a few relatives. That was my first visit to the “new” Boston Garden and I was very impressed by the building.It is a great venue. I would love to see a Celtics game up there one of these days, especially since the C’s are good again. I’m sure the atmosphere at a Celtics game would be electric.

It was very cold (sub 20 degree temp’s)  and windy last weekend in Boston (real winter weather, finally!) so I did not spend as much time walking around the city as I might have in a little bit warmer temp’s. But I did have an opportunity to walk around Back Bay and Boston Common. I also took the T out to Brighton, where I lived for a few years. I always find trips back to places where I have previously lived interesting just to see what has changed. I did notice a few new buildings in downtown Boston, but no radical change, unlike, say, New York City, where the skyline seems to be changing about every 6 months.

Here are a few pictures I took during my 24 hrs in Boston…