Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Ring

I ordered a Chicago Cubs replica ring for $3.95 plus $9.95 shipping from China.  I had seen an ad on Facebook for a while and after reading a bunch of comments and looking at the photos posted by those who had ordered, I figured I would take a chance and see if the ring was any good.

Well, it is!  The disappointing part though is that they sent me the wrong ring and the wrong size!  I had ordered an Anthony Rizzo player's ring in size 11, but was sent a Kris Bryant ring in size 8!  I immediately emailed the company and within 12 hours, I got a reply that they would ship out the correct ring and that I could keep the wrong one too!  So, two rings for $6.95 each isn't too bad!

These rings are shipped from China, so had I needed to return the ring, it would not be worth it.  I'm glad that the company is backing up the mistake and will send the correct one soon.

These rings are very heavy in weight and the quality actually looks really good.  They remind me of the "high school" rings that so many people order.  I never got a high school ring and always wish I had ordered one.  In college, I never ordered one of those either.  But at least, I can remember the 2016 win of the Chicago Cubs after having breaking the billy goat curse!

I used this printable ring sizer to check my ring size: http://www.jewelrycentral.com/ringsizer.html

Chicagoland Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo - 1-26-18

I attended the Chicagoland Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo at the Schaumburg Convention Center today with my friend Gayle.  It was appropriate because Gayle was the one that taught me how to fish!

We went up and down the aisles looking at all the fishing gear, boats and exhibits from fishing guides.  It was great!  We felt proud that we didn't buy anything too since we both have more gear than we know what to do with, but there were plenty of vendors selling goods.  If you are looking to get some discounts on fishing tackle, you won't be disappointed!

The show continues to run another couple of days, so go if you are interested in fishing!

The Moods at Chef Vince's Zeal - Schaumburg Illinois

I haven't seen The Moods in over 11 years!  We had worked a wedding together back in 2006.  I was photographing the wedding and The Moods were hired to be the band.  Great bunch of guys!  But over the years, a couple of the members had either retired or moved on and new guys have been brought in as replacements.  Still good!

They played at Chef Vince's Zeal restaurant in Schaumburg this evening and my wife and I decided to go see them and have dinner.  The bar area that they played in was crowded, so we were lucky to be able to get a table in the back.  The sound was decent considering the size of the venue, but there wasn't enough room in the bar area for all the diners and people who were dancing in the aisles.  Still, we had a good time and I was glad to see the guys and take their photo again!

If you have the opportunity to go see them play, do so!  You won't be disappointed with their sound and act. If you like songs from the Motown era and more, you will love The Moods!  They put on a great show and know how to get the crowd moving!

As for the photography, it was a difficult venue to shoot.  While The Moods had lights on them, most were small overhead bulbs that put harsh lighting on them creating hard shadows on their faces.  The Nikon D4 and Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 had their work cut out for them.  I shot most of the images with Aperture Priority using exposure compensation as much as -2 EV.  The remaining effort to improve the images were done in Adobe Lightroom.

Katana

I always wanted a Japanese Katana (samurai sword), so I finally got one!  Better watch out if you break into my home... and yes, I know how to use it!

This is a high quality sword, unlike the cheap ones you find at many Chinatown gift shops.  Those just aren't worth the money.  Get a good one if you plan to get one!

Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bike

I bought myself an early birthday present to help my diet... a Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bike.   It was on sale at Dick’s Sporting Goods for $399. I remember that during my physical therapy for my knees, I was asked by the physical therapists to ride a recumbent bike for several miles before each therapy session, so I figured maybe I could get my own and continue this to help my knees and to help my diet!

I took my time building the bike so it took me around 2 hours to assemble it.  It's relatively easy to build actually.  Everything you need is included with the bike for the assembly.  It turned out great!  Instructions were nicely detailed and even your screws and nuts and washers are packed in a cardboard that is shrink wrapped and labeled.  That made it really easy to identify the parts!  While some places offer an assembly option for a cost, I think most people could actually build this themselves and save the money.  You might need two people if you are older just to help steady the bike during the first phase of installing the stabilizer bars for the bike, but other than that, you can do the rest yourself.

As for operation, if you download the Schwinn Trainer ap, the machine will bluetooth the workout session data to the ap. The ap in turn will update your burned calories to the MyFitnessPal ap! Nice!  I use the MyFitnessPal ap to track my calorie intake during my diet.  The console is easy to use, but not that intuitive.  If they had thought this part through a little more, perhaps it would have been better, but after fumbling a bit, I was able to figure out how it works to get the various programs to run.  There's no on-off switch, but the console will turn itself off after about 5 minutes with inactivity.

Even after just pedaling just several miles on the bike, I can tell that it seems really smooth and quiet.  I am finding that my hamstring muscles and hamstring tendon are really aching after even just a few sessions!  I suppose I'll have to work up the ability to do several miles at a time.  When you don't use these muscles as often as you should, you are going to ache after exercising!

While I had hoped to keep the bike in the family room so that I could pedal and watch TV, my wife prefers it in my office, so that's where it will stay.  I'll watch Netflix and YouTube on my iPad Mini and plug it into the bike's built-in speakers.  The built-in fan is nice too to help cool you off while riding.

I am 5'10" tall.  For me, I have to put the seat all the way back.  I wonder for those with long legs or taller than I am, would the bike be too small for them?  It's no problem for my wife or daughter as they are shorter than I am.  I like the pedals to be just under the point where my legs are fully extended.  It's less strain on my knees this way.  Even on a regular road bike, you should adjust the seat post and seat so that your knees are just slightly bent.  Too many people pedal with their seat post too low on a bike.  That's not good for your knees.

Overall, I'd say the bike is really good.  It is comfortable and even with my bad knees, I can pedal away safely.  If I ever do get knee replacements, it will be important to have for my rehab as well.  Overall, a good purchase which I hope to use daily!  Highly recommended for those who need some exercise but must limit the impact on their joints.