Month: October 2021 (Page 1 of 4)

–Got the new Samsung S10e running. Turns out NO android phone works directly through hearing aids–you always need an intermediate device, like a Phone Clip (Resound) or AirComp (Phonak). I hooked up the Phone Clip. It paired, and after some fiddling I got it to work. Seems louder than the iPhone (both through hearing aids), but we’ll see. Also seems loud enough just with speaker, but that’s an N of one.

–Chopped up some branches for greenwaste and firewood.

–Sent Lee Elliott another $1,000. What a train wreck…

–Went to the Folsom farmers market for corn, squash. No mandarins yet (“they’re turning color now”).

–Barbecued some Bel Air pork chops. They were a little dry, and corn was a little chewy. Okay, so it’s the official end of barbecue season.

–Got pool shock at Leslie’s, apples/oranges/cheese/decaf beans at Raley’s, quarter-pounder at McDonald’s, sesame bagels at Noah’s.

–Squale blue/red GMT came in. Red is nice, but hands and dial markers (to my shock) are again gilt (gold). I put in an offer for a Mondia GMT in Italy. Looks to me like Squale might even make it.

–Wolbrook new “old style” dive watch came. I was wowed in the photos, but it totally left me cold in person. Too big, unbalanced, I don’t know. Seems like that’s the second time that’s happened recently.

–38mm “Batman” bezel insert came in. Has a nice “wet” look, but colors aren’t spectacular. Haven’t tried hard yet to fit it in (mangled) Squale bezel.

–The absurdly overpriced Rolex 14060 I bought on eBay from Japan ($19,000+) was rejected by the authenticators because they didn’t receive the “pamphlets” shown in the listing (the listing showed a Rolex warranty–was that also missing?). Seller tried to talk me back into it, but I declined. Whew! Gorgeous watch, but $5,000 too much.

–Stouffer’s for dinner. Good stuff. The new Marie, I guess.

–Mowed the lawn; swept up outside; trimmed some dead branches.

–The Squale blue/red GMT I bought on eBay yesterday shows as “out of stock” on my watch list, but doesn’t appear under “completed” or “sold” listings. Strange.

–Roasted some Brazilian coffee from Sweet Maria’s. Went from dark to burnt really fast.

–Bought a Wolfman titanium handle (plus razor and stand) and a vintage black-dialed Omega.

–Soaking a Squale watch in golf club grip solvent to see if I can easily remove the bezel insert. Tried to remove the bezel with the Bergeon tool and the new “gripper” tool: no dice. Those things are absurdly tight. Best bet MIGHT be the four-blade tool used very carefully to avoid bending the insert. Problem: that tool scratches things. Solution: polyimide tape. Maybe. [Edit: nope. Ended up destroying another case and bezel. There was a hint the grip solvent was working, but to change an insert would likely require drilling it in order to have something to grab on to to pull it off. The fit seems tight, even if the glue has been softened.]

–Rain stopped. Pool is actually too low now, after Grace’s panic draining.

–Made pesto pasta for dinner. Yummy of course.

–Squale Dark Knight stopped running. Took the movement out of the case then returned it. Best I can figure, what happened was I hadn’t perfectly replaced the stem before, so all it likely needed was stem jiggling. Anyway, seems to be fine now.

–Took a shower. Finding the Tabac a tad flowery, but not bad. The Gibbs razor continues to excel.

–Swapped the Squale watches back to original. Turns out all 40mm Squales have matte dials, whereas the 42mm watches have glossy dials; glossy is far better. I’ll keep the Batman and Dark Knight, sell everything else.

–Went to Panera for lunch, then Food Maxx for apples and oranges (no tangerines).

–Squale GMT Tropic came in. Great bezel, but dial was underwhelming–so I swapped it with the Dusky dial. Much better. Don’t know what I’m going to do now with the Dusky.