Askhole, Know Any?
Saw this shirt at The Refinery in Kahala Mall that defines an “askhole.” Do you know any?
A person who constantly asks for your advice, yet always does the exact opposite.
Where Were You?
Where were you when the (thankfully) false ballistic missile launch sounded?
Me – eating breakfast waffles at home.
Although a mistake, I’m sure awareness of what to do in this situation is definitely heightened and more people will get prepared
Mentioned by The Verge.
Yahoo News also reported on Twitter but with a mismatching image.
iPhone Battery Replacement Update
Update 1/5/2018: Battery changed out after making a return “appointment.” Servicing took about 90 minutes. Store is full of customers wanting to check out their iPhone battery condition. iPhone 6 feels noticeably faster with the battery replacement.
Update 1/4/2018: Battery has arrived in store and need to schedule an appointment when to bring the phone in. I also got an email stating stop by anything (within 7 days), but it’s better to call back and actually set a time for the repair (1 to 2 hours).
After hearing that Apple updated its iPhone battery replacement program to begin immediately rather than late January, I made an appointment for Sunday, December 31, 2017. Unfortunately, the Kahala Apple Store Genius Bar had already exhausted its supply of in-house batteries on Saturday.
The Genius did run through a hardware diagnostic as a formality but didn’t find anything wrong with the iPhone 6 or its battery. He did say that we could change the battery for $30 regardless of the battery condition. We now have to wait about three to five days for a battery shipment then return to the Apple Store when notified.
From that point, it’s a one-hour service to swap out the battery. Not bad for $30.
And while you’re at the Apple Store, don’t look at different bands for the Apple Watch. Otherwise you might give in and get something like this deceiptively multi-colored “black” Sport Loop. Although described as black, the band has iridescent qualities showing off red, blue, green, and even more colors. It’s super nice and actually very comfortable!
Found My Next Court Shoe
For the badminton court that is. Yeah, tennis shoes are a better match for badminton, but we both know my love for basketball shoes runs deep. Gotta blame Nike and that guy named Jordan for this continued love affair. And besides, some tennis shoes look good but not as good as the variety of basketball shoes out there.
For over a year, I’ve been playing in the Adidas Crazy Light Boost 2016. At the time, this shoe was probably the cheapest entry point for full length Boost, and they’ve served me well. Great cushioning and a comfortable fit. Its only drawback is the number of lace eyelets. With essentially only three eyelets per side, tightening the shoe seemed harder than it should’ve been. But still, a great performer on the badminton court at my level.
Over time I’ve noticed that the Crazy Light Boost cushioning isn’t as good where I feel the wear and tear of playing afterwards. A sign to get new shoes right? Only thing is I couldn’t really find a good replacement. I was thinking of using the Adidas Dame 3 featuring Bounce instead of Boost. However, the Dame’s one piece upper has a small opening for your foot, and since I wear an ankle brace, getting my protected ankle in the Dame 3 is just about impossible.
While doing a routine #rossfinds, I came across the Under Armour Curry 2.5. Overall, I’ve heard good things about UA’s Curry line so while on the high end of Ross prices at $65, I got the blacked out 2.5. Sadly, these didn’t work for me as a badminton shoe. The design needs for SC30 are different from mine, and this shoe while comfortable doesn’t provide enough impact protection.
The Charged Cushioning does feel interestingly good (though it took me awhile to get used to that foamy feel), but there’s nothing else to absorb impact. That burrito-style wrap also doesn’t really work for me either. I wear the same Zamst ankle brace that Steph Curry wears, but I couldn’t get the burrito upper to close around my brace. Steph Curry must have super skinny ankles to get the proper fit for his shoes and brace. So the Curry 2.5 has been designated as a casual shoe, but with the recent rainy weather, these high tops with a synthetic upper has been great at repelling water.
So where does that leave me in my search for a replacement badminton shoe? My own collection. A while back during a Nike clearance, I picked up the low version of the Air Jordan 31. While I was spying the black and pink color way, I just couldn’t do it and instead got what I thought was black and white. The colors actually were Navy blue and white but still a good looking shoe. Unfortunately as a casual pair of kicks, they aren’t very comfortable due to a snug toe box. But Jordans are always performance shoes, so I figured why not try these on the badminton court. And perform they did!
Supposedly the lightest Air Jordan ever made, they are ultra comfortable to play in, and I had no issues from the start. The snug toe box problem went away as the Flyweave construction stretched out I guess. I don’t recall every owning a shoe with full length unlocked Zoom Air but whatever the case, these just felt great while moving in them. From a mediocre casual shoe, I found my next badminton shoe going back to my roots with the Air Jordan line.
See more pictures of the Air Jordan 31.
Slow Shipping This Holiday Season
I’m sure it can’t only be me, but has shipping packages this holiday season been slower than previous years? I don’t ever recall having so many parcels delayed or even damaged. I even thought one of my UPS packages was stolen only to find it delivered five days after it was reported. Must be the sheer number of online orders is putting a huge strain on USPS, FedEx, and UPS. Almost every delivery service seemed to have suffered this season.
In years past, purchases with Amazon Prime shipping to Hawaii arrived in 2-3 days, really unheard of compared to the typical 5-7 days of free shipping. But this year, I was lucky to get my Amazon deliveries on time. One order was literally destroyed with only the box label delivered. Yup, just the box label, no actual contents of the box.
Like I said, I had thought a UPS delivery was stolen since it was reported as delivered. I couldn’t find the said-delivered package so reported a lost package and started a claim over the Christmas weekend. Nothing came of it during the weekend and by the time I received a response, the package showed up even though the reported delivery date was five days prior.
I was supposed to have received another Amazon order on Wednesday by 8pm (via USPS by the way). At 8:11pm, I checked the delivery status and saw this.
How was your shipping experiences this holiday season?
Waiting for Yeezys…
Waiting to buy Yeezys from the Adidas web site on launch day be like…
Over and over and over…
Skipped the Undefeated X Adidas Prophere
While I considered the new Adidas Prophere done up in tiger camo in collaboration with Undefeated, I ultimately passed. There was an online release on Saturday after being released at select Undefeated locations. Anyways, there was still stock when I checked but not in my ideal size. Remember, these Prophere run big and the Undefeated site even mentions sizing down.
While my normal size 10 was still in stock, size 9.5 was already gone. I had the 10 in my cart, but the final hurdle when checking out was the $25 shipping charge. The normally priced $120 Prophere already had a $40 premium, retailing for $160. Then on top of that, add $25 for a total of $185?!? Compared to other collaborations, $185 is not bad, but I’m guessing it’ll be available on Adidas at some point, or there are many more colorways to follow.
The Adidas Prophere Is Heavy
Adidas’ latest silhouette, the Prophere, debuted today, and I did a quick try on at Champs Sports. First thing you’ll notice is its weight. Very heavy compared to the Ultra Boost and AlphaBounce lines. Then I noticed the nubs on the midsole. They really are pronounced and the entire midsole has a sheen to it. Think a matte finish would be better.
Lastly, there’s that odd Adidas sizing. My true-to-size fit felt way too big, and I had thicker socks on as well. Space in the toebox and wiggle room in the width. Probaby could have gone down half a size. So pass on the Prophere for now…maybe that camo version though…
A Waste of Paper?
Why do I have the feeling that these raffle tickets for the upcoming Yeezy Boost 350 “Blue Tint” are a waste of paper?
Do I trust that Foot Locker and Foot Action will hold legitimate raffles for these shoes or will “associates” of employees coincidentally be rocking them Blue Tints?
Update: Yup, waste of time. Got no call back and sadly, the Foot Action reservation system via its mobile app was invalidated, changing to a first come, first served system. I kinda liked the mobile app reservation system since it felt less prone to human tampering.
Is Cyberweek Better than Black Friday?
Somewhere over the years Cyber Monday became Cyber Week with sales going on through the entire week following the shopping madness of Black Friday. Sure Black Friday has all the deals and sales… or maybe not.
Stopping by Ala Moana today, I noticed that many stores with Black Friday discounts still had sales for Cyber Week. And it seemed like these deals were better than those from Black Friday. I guess the main difference is that inventory of popular items would be wiped out from Black Friday. But of the remaining items, their prices now are better than what I remeber from Black Friday.
Anyone else notice this?
My Greatest Pickup Ever!
Truthfully, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. On Instagram, I was seeing a lot of images of resdesigned, classic Nike silhouettes with that telltale red zip tie. These images were tagged #offwhite and #theten. Then I learned “The Ten” was a collaboration with designer Virgil Abloh. But as soon as Nike announced the launch of The Ten on the SNKRS app, the hype went into overdrive. Every few hours Nike would release a few models of the Off White collaboration starting with the Presto and ending with the Jordan 1.
Had to try, right? But also had to expect disappointment when taking the loss. But then I didn’t. Instead of “taking the L,” I got a confirmation from Nike for my Presto order. Despite online ordering delays caused by invalid payment types (yes, my credit card is not a debit card, Nike), my order went through quickly. Too easy so must be a wide spread release I guessed. Then I checked the demand at Stockx and was amazed.
After getting the Prestos, I knew why. It’s the details and the amazing number of details in this collaboration remix.
The laces, the stitching, the folds, every aspect of the shoe appears to be tailored to be different yet the same as the classic Presto. I can understand why there’s banter that this model could be one of the top releases of 2017 and easily my greatest pickup. Alas, I didn’t luck out with any other members of The Ten. But these Prestos… 
Scored Yeezys with the Foot Locker App
The second lucky pickup of the week was thanks to the Foot Locker mobile app. For the launch of the Yeezy Boost 350 Beluga v2.0, Foot Locker was promoting their Launch Locator and reservation system in the mobile app. Being a super duper old school member of the Foot Locker VIP club, I signed up for the Yeezy launch and was given a 6-minute headstart.
Then I forgot all about this. On the afternoon of Black Friday, I got this notification.
Checking the FL app, I stopped as I saw this.
But wait, pickup was set for Friday by 3pm?!? It was already 1pm, and I still had time but in my mind, I thought I was misinterrepting this message. Only one way to find out!
Surprisingly getting to Waikiki in the middle of the day on Black Friday was super easy. No traffic or slowdowns whatsoever. At Foot Locker, there was a line for the Yeezy reservation, but guess what? It seemingly meant nothing since you couldn’t actually pickup the Yeezys that were officially launching on Saturday, November 25. The FL employee had a (long) list of reservation winners, and he simply made sure your name was on the list. He didn’t cross off or mark your name indicating you showed up by 3pm as the app instructed. Why I had to go down there I still don’t know and neither did a lot of other irate Yeezy fans who wanted their shoes then and there.
Anyways, being on the list meant my pair was reserved, right? I didn’t want to take a chance of pairs running out, so I came back early-ish on the 25th. Others had the same idea with a queue about 10 deep.
The line moved along as pedestrians asked what the line was for. After about half an hour, I had my first pair of Yeezys.
Thanks Foot Locker!