Month: November 2021

–Got bagels at Noah’s.

–Went to Jack’s Urban Eats for dinner.

–Succeeded in getting insert and bezel off of a Squale 42mm GMT. Replaced the ceramic insert with an aluminum Batman insert. Works fine, but not exactly a knockout watch, especially given how many Squales I’ve destroyed chasing this dream.

–Went back to large group on Maximatic. Portafilter insertion is fussy with small group, but worse is that the small group somehow causes these really long slooshes from the exhaust valve.

–Went to Bel Air for milk, dessert, cheese.

–FU5 is starting to make a mess of my face. I really don’t understand it: there’s a huge lesion (for example) above my right eyebrow–a place that bike helmets and hats totally shield from the sun. Where are these things coming from?

–Went to Home Depot, then Lowe’s for a Christmas tree. Got a 7′ Asheville Pine at Lowe’s. Lunch at McDonald’s in the car.

–Replaced hearing batteries around 4 PM.

–Thanksgiving: HoneyBaked ham, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry jam, crescent rolls, fired Brussels sprouts. Really good.

–Took the Sea-Dweller apart to look into sticky date wheel. I didn’t do much, but managed to get it back together in decent shape. It passed several tests (changing the date while running on its own, as opposed to when I’m rapidly moving the hands). We’ll see.

–Spent a LOT of time looking into 1978 93150 bracelets for the 1680 which is so complete it came with a “big crown” SWIMPRUF tag!). Put an offer in at eBay on a VC (1978) clasp that lacks a “93150” stamp. Possible it’s from a 9315, but I found (and saved) several no-stamp VC clasps that were undoubtedly 93150s.

–Took Grace to the dentist on Sunrise–and missed a FedEx delivery. Apparently she doesn’t want to drive ever again.

–Went back to the white iPhone SE 2020. The battery on the Samsung S10e just seems to drain too quickly, even when the phone is inactive. I don’t know what’s going on–I tried to delete/disable all non-essential apps.

–Took a shower. Used the Black Mamba razor. Looking at blade position in the razor, it’s painfully obvious why all Wolfman razors are so aggressive. The Mamba has such a tiny gap and steep angle it looks like it wouldn’t even shave. It does fine.

–Went with Grace to Barnes & Noble to get the latest Jack Reacher and America’s Best Mysteries (now America’s Best Mystery and Suspense Stories, with a new series editor). Grace got a puzzle for Rick.

–Got a Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner.

–Went to Folsom farmers market, got mandarins, broccoli, squash. Then Bel Air for apples, milk, cream, dessert.

–Discovered by accident that Kirill Yuzh had tried in March 2021 to sell a Rolex Sea-Dweller on Rolex Forums for $18,500. Luminova hands and insert pip, really worn case. I bought the same one from his website in September, with non-glow hands and pip and a recut case (all via LAWW) for $20,000. Answers once and for all the question of whether LAWW does laser welding to restore cases: they do. I asked Rolliworks to “crisp up” the crown guards on my 1680; wondering if they’ll weld or just polish a bit. I’m hoping to catch James Hyman, who will be replacing luminova with color-matched no-glow lume in the hands, and get him to touch up the small brown spot in the 9 o’clock hour marker lume. I’m also trying to restore the 5513 that RSC refurbished to its vintage state. These could end up being a couple of killer watches.

–Again played with phones. The new white iPhone SE (Coconut Battery App says it was built in October 2021, though this is extremely unlikely) is a really slick piece now, but I STILL revert to the Samsung.

–Rubberset brush came in. More pitting than I had hoped. Working on it.

–Pundits say Biden won’t run in ’24 (too old) and Kamala Harris has terrible approval ratings. Trump vs. Buttigieg here we go…

–Picked up HoneyBaked ham–along with several other folks.

–Played with watches/bezels a bit. Decided I’ll be selling the 5512 as is. Before long I’ll need to choose between 1680 with original dial and bezel, color-matched hands, crisped-up case and complete full set; 5513 with replacement gilt dial/matching hands/tritium service bezel, great case and almost-full set; and Sea-Dweller with stellar dial/bezel, probable color-matched hands and recut case (plus trippy “Original Helium Escape Valve” caseback).

–Ordered a white iPhone SE. Did some battery testing and, at first glance, it appears the Samsung battery goes down faster than the SE battery–correcting for SIM presence. Could be other factors involved, could be my imagination. I’m just so torn over Samsung (great build, good earpiece volume) vs. iPhone (smaller form factor, hearing aid-friendly).

–Started fluorouracil treatment.

–Feeling better, somewhat.

–Finally got the ceramic insert off the Squale bezel. The grip solvent really did loosen it up so it spun freely in the bezel, but I had to break it to get it out. Bonus: with the insert gone I could view the spring that retains the bezel, and even remove it intact, so the bezel itself could then be removed. Problem 1: There was a tiny piece of rubber inside the case after soaking in solvent, which looked suspiciously like part of a stem gasket that had melted. Problem 2: Neither of the 2 (TWO) replacement inserts I had bought came close to fitting in the bezel. The inserts were about 38mm, while the bezel was closer to 37.5mm. And the ceramic inserts don’t bend for fitting.

–Still feel like crap.

–Took a shower and shaved with the LA Shaving Soap Company BBS-1 razor. Harshest shave ever. Crap.

–Got bagels at Noah’s.

–Bottomless portafilter for the Maximatic came. I had a super-hard time putting (and adjusting) a spring in the groove that would keep the basket from falling out. Now it’s really hard to get the basket out. Shouldn’t matter, as I rarely need to take it out anyway. Had a fear the portafilter wasn’t going to go in with the basket in place, but finally sort of got the hang of it. All good now.

–Squale black 30 Atmos Ceramica came in. Movement is spot on, dial is glossy and gorgeous. Hour hand is really small, which was my complaint with the Mondia Batman. Watch case was so severely dinged up I put a groove in it trying to polish stuff out. Another one bites the dust. I put the movement/dial into my Squale Pepsi (version 1), and it looks nice. I have the ruined case soaking in grip solvent to test for removability of the insert. The black insert is nice, so I’d like to be able to get it out intact, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible. I suspect these things are snapped in, in addition to being glued.

–Did a load of laundry.

–Went through my watch bracelets. I’d forgotten what I had. (a) Omegas that look about as good as 1450s, albeit with straight end pieces; (b) a really nice Gay Freres Kon Tiki; (c) a 2001 Rolex from a Daytona, really scratched up–I need to send that out for polish, as it ‘s beyond my skills; (d) an Omega 1035 near-NOS–came with a couple of straight endlinks, and I only have one proper 630 endlink. I bought one on eBay, couldn’t find another, tossed it (or lost it), bought a second one on eBay from the same guy, haven’t seen another since in many months of looking.

–Sold my 165mm Shig kitaeji santoku at KKF in 5 minutes.

–Finally getting the Samsung S10e dialed in (heh heh). Beautifully-finished hardware, and I’m zeroing in on a nice setup.

–Epiphany: I used to think Rolex bezel pearls had thin (older) or thick (newer) metal surrounds. After looking at hundreds, and a bezel I bought thinking it was older, and my after-market bezel pearls, I now realize older ones have NO metal surround. It looks sort of like a surround because it’s clear plastic that sits above the bezel surface and shows the silvery metal beneath. Eureka!

–J-knife came in. Cherry branch handle is absurdly large–my fault I guess, for having exaggerated my hand size. Knife is okay, but not thrilling.

–Took a quick bike ride to the Folsom light rail parking lot. Found the mother of all long-acorn trees. Loaded up.

–Played with phones.

–Niello called. For the second time, I couldn’t answer on the Samsung. It answers Grace’s calls fine, but not “outside” calls. Can’t find a reasonable app that will call me so I can experiment with this. Called Niello back to find out about the Mini Cooper. “It’s being built this month, and we’ll have more info next month.” Great.

–Played with phones. Turns out: to use earphones on the Samsung, you have to plug them in while the call is connected, not before. It does work if you turn your hearing aids off (mechanically) before making a call, but that’s a little drastic. Doesn’t even work if you plug in earphones, start a call, then hit “speaker.” Call will come out of the speaker until you unplug/replug the earphones. Grrr….. I may look for a quick way to disable/enable HAs in software.

–Google Pixel 4a came in. It feels bigger than the Samsung, the back feels (and is) plastic, and it seems to me to come with a lot of factory apps installed. I didn’t even bother setting it up all the way to see if it (for example) would work over earphones without the gyrations mentioned above. Bummer. I fear the Samsung 10e is the last phone (a) of reasonable size (b) that’s all glass and metal (c) that doesn’t have five large camera lenses on the back (d) and that works with hearing aids.

–Fiddled with watch bracelets.

–Continued playing with the Samsung. It’s pretty much perfect now. It apparently doesn’t allow me to set in advance how calls are routed, but does seem to “remember” the last choice and use it. Should be okay, if I can figure out how to bring up the audio screen and switch to speaker (say) when the hearing aids aren’t sufficiently clear.

–Took a shower. Tried the last feasible head on the Wolfman titanium handle. Nope. Felt like a lawn mower and caused a bleeder. Maybe I should try to trade one of my heads for a super-mild head. I don’t know.

–Bergeon medium satin wheel came in.

–Apple iPhone 13 Mini came in. Off-putting in every way. Obtrusive cameras, sharp edges (I’m spoiled by the Samsung), no wall outlet charger, etc. Big disappointment.

–Mondia Batman came in. Very nice, better-finished than Squale perhaps (and perhaps made by Squale).

–Got a Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner–pretty darn good.

–Played with the Galaxy S10e a bit. Still couldn’t get it to stream a phone call I initiated to the hearing aids. Not sure what the issue is, though I’m suspecting the hearing aids themselves are limited.

–Tried to organize watches/cameras a bit for eventual sale. Did a showdown between the Sony AR7 and the Leica Q2. The Leica won. The lens on that camera is astonishing. A preview I saw of the Smart 3D app (while I was reinstalling the HAs) showed, in addition to All-Around and Restaurant, settings for Music, Outdoors, and maybe more. I’m sure I had Outdoors (at least) on a previous set of HAs. We’ll see what happens with the Pixel 4a. I really don’t want to delve into (and spend another $3k on) the arcane world of hearing aids.

–Slow day, not much happening. Did find a machine called the Tremblr which seems sort of compelling.

–GOT THE HEARING AIDS CONNECTED TO THE SAMSUNG S10e AND SMART 3D!! As usual, reddit gave the only hint: turn off nearby bluetooth devices before pairing. Whenever I had tried before, I always had the iPhone nearby with bluetooth and Smart 3D running. Duh. Turned off the iPhone, went into bluetooth FIRST on the Samsung (which is the opposite of what internet wisdom says), quickly paired the hearing aids, and when I started Smart 3D it picked them up instantly. Unbelievable. Now I have an iPhone 13 Mini and a Google Pixel 4a coming that I don’t need. Can’t have too many phones I guess.

–Got a haircut from my favorite (Samantha) at Supercuts, Greenback at Hazel.

–Maximatic with the thick gasket that I sanded down gave a tiny hint it was leaking, so I went back to the thin one. That will work. Questions are (a) how long before it compresses too much to be useful, and (b) will it require a dose even lower than the 14g I used today. We’ll see.

–Tried to get Kirill Yuzh to drop $300 from the price of a 16610; no go. He did sell the GMT however and wired the money today. I found what MIGHT be a nice 14060 at a random jeweler in Miami. “Fully serviced,” it says. We’ll see.

–Ground off Wolbrook logo from ugly oversize “vintage” dive watch beads of rice bracelet. Tried it on Helson Sharkmaster, but spring pins/lug holes wouldn’t line up. Put a Squale BOR on the Helson instead; looks great.

–$200 Batman bezel insert came in. Definitely different from the $20 insert I have (which has a couple of tiny nicks in it), and certainly not worth $180 more. Not sure what I’ll put either insert on. The most appropriate would be a (discontinued) Squale Giramondo GMT: right size, Mercedes hands. There’s only available–at chrono24 for $1,000+. Maybe.

–Played with the two portafilter gaskets again. The thick one (OE) really is too thick, and the thin one (Cerini) really is too thin. I put the thick one on the belt grinder for a while, and now it’s perfect: portafilter locks in just past six o’clock. I’m praying that my uneven grind job will be compensated for by the pliability of the gasket.

–Took a shower. Tried the Wolfman again: titanium handle, WR2 satin head, custom 1.20mm gap. Got a couple of non-self-healing chin nicks. Guess I could try ONCE more with a .80mm WR1 head. I don’t want to lose the titanium handle, but the nicks are getting old.

–Black-dial Omega Constellation came in. Not perfect, but darn nice. And the accessories: box, original receipt from 1964 ($600 Hong Kong dollars), warranty in envelope, AND the COSC certificate!

–Portafilter + gasket came in from Cerini. Very strange: the new portafilter (theoretically identical to the one I mangled) works with both gaskets. It moves .5″ with the thick gasket from Orphan Espresso, and 4″ with the thin gasket from Cerini. The thin gasket seems to be the same as the gasket that came in the 54mm grouphead–from Cerini. It may be “correct,” but that’s the one that started leaking unless I really whanged it over. I’m going with the thicker OE gasket for now. That the portafilter goes in at all with this gasket suggests that the previous portafilter (also from Cerini) had different lugs, which I had file down to get things working. I think the OE gasket will be fine, especially as it wears in. Further: a 15g dose of espresso was hitting the dispersion screen seriously with the thin Cerini gasket. Hopefully this won’t happen with the OE gasket since the portafilter isn’t going in nearly as far.

–Polished the Squale Batman case to a fare-thee-well then put it back together. Noticed (a) the date number 2 was only halfway in, and (b) the watch wasn’t running. Tried all sorts of things, but it’s dead. Tossed it, kept the bezel.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Bought an iPhone 13 Mini, after hours of trying (and failing) to get Android to work with Resound. It works with the Phone Clip, but that’s less than ideal (cannot control wind noise, for example). Was ready to pay $1,029 on eBay, then did a quick google search and found one for $729 at Apple. I’m pretty sure most of the stuff I buy on eBay is just not sold elsewhere (older watches, phones, cameras, etc.), but it sure doesn’t hurt to check.

–Made appointments at Rite-Aid for flu and COVID shots.