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Hey There Newsletter Readers! Welcome to another edition of the DC Rainmaker newsletter. We are already at half November, and the craziness of the holidays are rapidly approaching! So this weeks newsletter is a pretty quick round up of all your shopping goodness. But first. Are you new around here? You might want to take a peek at the Newsletter archives and catch up on some of the historical goodness of this publication.
Just like last week, first up is super important! The biggest semi-annual sale is still happening now. The Clever Training VIP Sale is here just till Saturday night! It’s 20% off pretty much anything, including trainers and power meters. Plus some of the newer gear like the Polar Vantage and Suunto 9 series watches. Be sure to click using the link from Ray’s post and go find the deal of your 2018 dreams. I know some of you are super clever shoppers, and you like to price check and all, but this is your jam right here, and there are only a few hours left. So get going, and fill your holiday gift wishes now. The sale ends November 17th, 11:59pm (23:59) Eastern Standard Time.
You might be in panic mode that there is a major sale happening, but you are not up to speed on what’s the 2018 top picks! So fret no more, Ray’s 2018 Smart Trainer Buyer Guide, 2018 Power Meter Buyers Guide, and complete 2018 Sports Technology Buyers Guide are up on the blog now. You can do some quick reading and scrolling to see if the product you thought was your go-to made it to the top of Ray’s pile, and if not, who did! Are you still a little stressed out that this sale is happening and you don’t know what to buy? Maybe you’re not a cyclist? (I have to say, I can’t fault you there!) Or maybe you’re buying for someone else in your life? Remember that both Ray and I updated our “Gear I Use Posts” earlier this fall. You can check out both the The Girl’s Gear I Use Post and Ray’s Gear I use Post, to see if anything there strikes your fancy! Okay, so for those of you who have already done due diligence on sale thing, or are simply giving your loved ones coal this year, let’s move on.
Last week WatTeam made a big announcement. They will be halting production of power meters and focusing on finding an investor. Until then, if you already have a WatTeam power meter, fear not. They are continuing support to their current users, just not moving forward on anything new things, until they can find some more cha-ching. There’s plenty of discussion on that over on the blog, go check it out. And finally, I have to make my first official apology to all of you as Newsletter readers. Last week a reader sent an email my way, bringing to attention some of my use of language and calling you all “fools”. It was regarding the YouTube live Q&A that Ray hosted, and I took part in. In the newsletter the following day I said something to the exent of you can't be mad if you missed the live stream because “I have told you fools”… to subscribe to Ray’s YouTube Channel… Never was it my intention to have that phrase sound offensive or even aggressive. I use that phrase regularly around the house asking “what are you fools up to”, and “look at those fools out there running around”, and so on. You get the point. So I do apologize if that struck anyone else the wrong way. It was meant with the best intentions. I also tell Ray all the time to “Use your brain”. Maybe I just have a weird sense of humor? Either way, I very much appreciated receiving that email. It will keep me on my toes for my use of language, sarcasm, and just a general reminder that sometimes what I’m thinking in my head, doesn’t always come across the way I intended in print. In the meantime, please also give me a little benefit of the doubt that I’m a pretty happy go lucky kinda gal. I’m not here to stir the pot or poke any bears. Maybe just a little bit of giving Ray a hard time. So if something sounds a little of off or a little rude, it probably didn’t sound like that in my quirky brain while I was writing to you. In the meantime, I have told you readers for the last 25 straight newsletters, that you can subscribe to the DC Rainmaker YouTube Channel. So if you still aren’t subscribed, please know you are missing out on being the first to know when Ray posts something new. Last week Ray did knock out another video for all to see. Keeping with the holiday sales theme this one is Big Sales (US) Details and Analysis. Anyway, that’s all for this week’s round up of sales and buyers guides. If you still have time, swing down past all of those not so many blog thumbnails and find out what is new in our world! |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl Hey! Thanks for making your way down to my neck of the woods. This week I want to brag a little bit about how much we are loving the Netherlands, and the two fun new family traditions we are learning about and trying acclimate to. First up was the Sint-Maarten celebration on November 11th. If you want to know all of the history behind the holiday, you can check out the Wikkipedia link. But from the Maker family stand point, here is what we did.
The daycare has been instrumental in keeping us up to speed on what is happening in the community. Both of the Peanuts painted and created lanterns in preperations for the November 11th festivities. During the school day, the older kids even did a practice parade singing the songs and visited the baby rooms. Then on the evening of the 11th children go door to door with their lanterns and sing the Sint Maarten song and receive candy. You might compare it to the North American Halloween, but instead of kiddos dressing up in hilarious costumes, they sing songs at the doors. Sadly, not even one single kid from the neighborhood came knocking, though was pouring down rain after all. So instead we just turned off the lights in the girls bedroom, clicked their lanterns on, and sang songs. It might not have been the Dutch tradition, but we had some fun. Next year kiddos, next year.
Now looking ahead, we get to research and discover Sinterklaas! From what we have pieced together, this is Santa Clause’s cousin… sorta. The story is similar in that this old man, with a big white beard, and beautiful red costume comes to town with his helpers. It differs in that he comes via steamboat form Spain, and his helpers, “Black Peters”, come with some controversy. But all the same, the Peters know who has been naughty and nice, and Sint brings presents. The rest I am sure we will learn as we go over the next few weeks.
(Picture from www.eenvandaag.avrotros.nl) This is important because Sinterklass and the Peters come to Amsterdam this weekend! Similar to a Santa Clause parade in North America. It is a huge production/ parade with floats in the canals, and we will 100% be in attendance to check it all out! Then, I think, we are supposed to leave shoes by the door each night and the kiddos will get a very small present, if they are good, leading all of the way up to the eve of December 5th. On the eve of December 5th is when all the “big” present giving happens.
(Photo from www.Sintinamsterdam.nl) I can’t tell you how thankful we are as parents to be learning all of this while the kiddos are still small. At this point they don't really understand what’s happening. Ray and I are going to have to have a pow-wow on how we handle the presentation of the Dutch Sinterklass vs Santa Clause as the kids get older! I am sure there are massive expat forums on how other parents explain/ justify the two stories to keep the magic of the holidays genuine. Even though I am not a big fan of all of the gift giving, as personally I would be just as happy if we wiped out presents and gave everyone a week of mandatory down time between Christmas and New Years. I am a big supporter of having these types of stories for the kids to believe in. To use their imaginations and have something to look forward to. And now, I’m even a bigger fan of having two stories to tell as I feel we now have (yet another) really cool moment to teach the girls about how different cultures observe and celebrate things differently. Expat parenting is certianly growing on us! That's enough gabbing from me. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Keep an eye out for Ray’s 5 Random Things next week, or for sure my newsletter. I am sure we will have some great shots of the Sinterklass float parade. Thanks for reading, ~The Girl. |
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