Month: December 2021

–Bread basket came in early: eBay fulfilled by Amazon. Steinhart Ocean 39 Explorer also came in early. ((% sure I had one of these in La Selva Beach and tossed it (gilt dial and hands). I like this one now, but who knows? Peter Carey knife came in from Monterey Bay Knives. Nice enough, but like Laconico knives from MBK, it’s quite hard to start the flipping action.

–Did two loads of laundry: underwear and such, then sheets. Changed the sheets on my bed for the first time in…a long time.

–Went to Home Depot/Lowe’s for washing soda. Turns out I had some from last electrolysis. Tried it on the Erie skillet. Nothing. Don’t know if the skillet has to be rusty for it to work; there were no bubbles or anything indicating a reaction was occurring. Gave up and sprayed some more EZ-Off on it.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 4 PM.

–Not much going on today. Drizzly, cold.

–Ordered a Random Fabrications Mini Thicc fidget spinner, $197.06.

–Blue Datejust dial came in. I swapped it in successfully; it looks great.

–New neighbors’ dog started barking. Crap.

–Thought I had ordered a second cheap bezel from wholesaleoutlet1990. PayPal only shows the first. There’s an unknown package floating around the postal system, but I think it might just be a bogus interim number that somebody used. Crap.

–Successfully baked some bread using the new book. Didn’t follow it completely, and had to fake it here and there because the dough was so wet, but it turned out fat and gorgeous. I ordered a proofing basket to (possibly) help with the last step of getting the dough neatly into the dutch oven.

–Took a shower.

–Tried to build a fire last night. Couldn’t (kindling not small enough, wrapping paper not flammable enough). Gave up on the fireplace–cleaned it out today and closed it up.

–Played with watches some more. Decided (maybe) to sell the two Watchcos and keep the Helson Sharkmaster. Also (maybe) will go with the two 42mm Squale Batmen and the 40mm Mondia Batman.

–Grace has been in a bad for mood for a couple of days now.

–Opened presents.

–Watched two vintage Christmas specials: Bert and Ernie, and Disney. Nope.

–Got Grace’s Christmas presents wrapped.

–Set up Christmas music and video stuff–even got the cassette deck going so we can listen to “St. Olaf Christmas.”

–Rolex 16610 came in. Very nice: sharp crown guards, clean. I removed the bezel because it was a little hard-turning. Not really dirty. I managed to reinstall it with the click spring, so another skill mastered. Still kind of hard-turning, but that’s okay.

–Finished cleaning the Erie spider skillet with EZ-Off. Looks better, but may have some pitting on the bottom. Was it always there? Beats me. I think I will zap it with electrolysis and then start building up again with Crisco.

–Went around and around with Squale watches. Ended up (for now) with the two 42mm Batmen [edit] and the 40mm blue/red GMT.

–Took a shower.

–Got coffee at Peet’s, groceries from Safeway that I missed yesterday. No Pillsbury rolls at Safeway or Raley’s. Got some First Street rolls at Smart and Final.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 6 o’clock.

–Woke up cold this morning. Thermostat was set for 76, temp was 71. This happened a year ago: our heating system just isn’t sufficient to keep my bedroom as warm as I’d like when it gets fairly cold outside. I might try (again, or harder) to set the lead-in temperature higher.

–Rolex 14060 crystal came in. Played around with stuff last night and realized that the Rolex bezel resizing tool really wouldn’t do anything for me. There are different size bezels for different models, and (so far) the bezel always goes on and off the watch okay. It’s fitting the insert into the bezel that still mystifies me: when they go in, they go in fairly easily; when they don’t, they really don’t–I’ve broken a couple trying to force them. I THINK I’m trying to mate correct insert and bezel, but who actually knows?

–Really slow day. Tried to reset the pool controller. We’ll see.

–Tried again to reconcile all Rolex watches/parts. I believe I have it down: Menta 14060 is ready after case refurbishment; 5513 has a nice (maybe original, maybe service) bezel/insert waiting for when Phil Ridley returns it; made an offer on eBay for a nice service bezel for when the 1680 comes back from Rolliworks.

–Finished charging the new Honda battery. Turns out I had hooked up the charger backwards yesterday. Wow……..

–Went late to the Folsom farmers market (12:30). Google said open until 1:00; famers said 12:00. Stopped at Bel Air for some Sumo oranges and bear claws.

–Made a pizza for dinner.

–Cleaned up the cacti a little; re-potted the barrel cactus.

–Cut the (already-pruned) branches off the tree in the lawn; they’ll be firewood.

–Everest strap came in for the (sold) Daytona. Really not impressed: Couple of small pieces of not-very-supple leather. Tossed it.

–Ordered a Rolex 16610 from Tropical Watch via Lunar Oyster.

–Another slow day. Dropped off the Nourse’s package at UPS for USPS.

–Had a terrible time last night trying to verify my identity at Coinbase (after I thought I already had). Finally uploaded driver’s license photos (webcam didn’t do it well enough to allow verification) and all seems to be good now.

–Got a smaller rain shower head at Home Depot. Looking forward to using it.

–Presents arrived from Susi and (I’m guessing) Tom and Kati.

–Finalized my crypto portfolio (bitcoin, ethereum, solano) with $10k of algorand. I’ll be rich soon.

–Still no word from NAPA Auto Parts on the battery. Really pisses me off.

–Slow day, though sunny.

–Got bagels (4 sesame, 9 plain) at Noah’s.

–SIM tray for Samsung came in. Finally a match to the Prism Black color (my fault for not reading listings carefully enough).

–14060 bezel/insert from Italy came in. Insert has luminova pip, to my dismay. And after a lot of confusing playing around, it looks like all of my 14060 inserts (real and fake) only snap into the fake bezel from wholesaleoutlet990 on eBay. I ordered another (too expensive) bezel from them. I also ordered the Rolex bezel expansion/shrinking tool from Star Time Supply. Though: even if it allows me to snap in an insert, the bezel will then be too loose on the watch.

–Set up my account on Coinbase, preparatory to buying $10k each of bitcoin, ethereum, algo and ada.

–Google tells me I have patulous (open) eustachian tube, likely due to the radiation therapy. There are treatments, but it doesn’t sound promising.

–Made pizza for dinner.

–Got clementines, cauliflower, jam at the Folsom farmers mrket.

–My right ear has been driving me crazy for a couple of weeks. The crinkly noise made when blowing my nose (“equalizing pressure”) is constant, not brief, and never goes away. Hearing is affected too–right ear makes my voice sound weird, and my head sound hollow on that side. I fear something is loose or broken that can’t be fixed.

–Took the Yuzh black Daytona to FedEx for consignment.

–Later took the champagne two-tone Daytona to FedEx for consignmentat Craft and tailored (or something like that). They offered $19,500, so I’m taking a $5,000 loss, but maybe it will teach me something. Unlikely.

–Speaking of which, I been playing around with them. Really extreme differences in fitting inserts: some just pop out and in, others (measuring the same) won’t go in on a bet. I would have thought that aluminum is soft enough that any right-size insert could be persuaded to fit, but that one I mangled (at least) just ain’t going in.

–Stopped at Bel Air for more soup, cream cheese, cheese, dessert.

–Rolex Daytona 116503 two-tone came in. Not usually a fan of two-tone, but the dial is awesome. Hope it’s a keeper.

–Dropped a couple of USPS packages off for Grace at UPS.

–Second Squale Batman came in. Not bad.

–Rolex 14060 from Jacek came in. Pretty nice. Runs well, so I don’t need to swap movements with the POS Menta 14060. Will send the Menta case to Rolliworks for refurbishing. Ordered a complete 14060 bezel/insert on eBay from Italy (expensive, but it obviates all the problems I’ve had putting inserts into bezels). Will rebuild the Menta watch with case, new (fake) crystal, new bezel, and likely swap in the Jacek movement where the dial has a bit better patina, then sell the other watch.

–Super-fine Scotch-Brite belt came in, allowing me to put the final (re)finish on the Daytona caseback so I can send it off to Kirill Yuzh.

–Watchco Seamasters came in from Tim Mackrain. Super nice. Will keep non-date and sell date.

–Big showerhead came in. Had to use the new (duplicate) arm to mount it, as the old one wouldn’t hold the weight.

–Had a can of Progresso chicken-sausage gumbo for dinner. Good stuff.

–Third (or fourth?) portafilter gasket came in. I sanded it down .2-.3mm and it seems pretty close to perfect: handle comes almost to 6 o’clock. It could probably stand another .1-.2mm shaved off (especially when the machine is hot), but I’m taking this one slow.

–Went to Target for wrapping paper/ribbon, eye drops, shampoo, bottled water (not Crystal Geyser–I think I’ve been over-paranoid about using only Crystal Geyser).

–Polished up the caseback on the black Daytona. What a nightmare. Ended up with a combo (bastard) sandpaper/satin wheel finish. Praying that Kirill Yuzh won’t catch it.

–Phil Ridley wrote: in addition to selling me the super-dome crystal, he wants to sell a set of genuine tritium hands. I fear the price…

–Took Grace shopping at Brainy Zoo Toys in Folsom, then Green Acres Nursery. Lunch at Burger King. Grace is in a tizzy because of Christmas.

–Went to put a (fake) ceramic bezel on my black Daytona. Following a video, I tried to hammer in a razor blade between case and bezel. Not only did it fail to penetrate, but somehow the blade put a significant scratch on the case. Sweating bullets, I managed to polish it out satisfactorily. Will sell the Daytona now. Too much money to tie up in a watch I’m not thrilled by.

–My face hurts and itches like crazy.

–Got Clementines, broccoli, giant radishes at the Folsom framers market.

–14060 came in from Menta Watch. Chip in the crystal, unpolishable dent in the case, broken pip. On the plus side, nice dial and it’s running exceedingly well. Removed bezel, then insert for cleaning; could not get insert back into bezel. Bent the bezel and broke the insert trying. Tried a couple of other inserts, no luck. This has happened before, and it’s incredibly frustrating. There doesn’t seem to be a tool for it, and people’s “tips” are useless: press against the edge of a table, use soft pliers, etc. I really don’t see how practice could improve this–it just seems like the insert is the wrong size when I try to put it back in. So: I ordered an aftermarket crystal, bezel and insert on eBay; may order a genuine insert and let someone else try to install it (who?), then sell the watch. Meanwhile, bought another 14060 from Tropical Watch via Kirill Yuzh.

–Got a Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner, and some apple strudel for dessert, since Grace is pulling her hair out looking for Christmas gifts.

–Bread book I ordered yesterday on eBay came today. eBay fulfilled by Amazon is pretty amazing. It would be nice if you knew in advance which items would ship this way.

–Spent some time (re)organizing watch stuff. As usual, I discovered things I had forgotten I had. Time to start selling.

–Tim McKrain (Omega Addict) called. He actually finished building out the two Watchco Seamasters I sent him, and will ship soon. He said the delay was due to cancer. The cost was $700 per watch–which includes the movements. Really looking forward to these.

–Bought a Rolex 14060 from Menta Watch last night; it shipped today. Tritium dial, described as (and looked) unpolished. Kind of redundant, but it’s only money…

–Sent the 5513 to Phil Ridley so he could (hopefully) install the minute hand properly.

–Missed out on a really nice red Submariner on eBay. Winning bid wasn’t much higher than my max, but (of course) one never knows how high other bidders’ snipes were.

–Mowed the lawn.

–Green Samsung S10e came in. Better in some lights than others. Like the black one, the SIM tray is not perfectly flush. Tried to sand down one of the trays, phone would no longer see the SIM. Ordered a replacement SIM tray.

–Rolex VC (1978) clasp came in. Took some doing, but I managed to swap it onto a 93150. Good thing I ordered two of the rivet pins…

–A neighbor named Bill George dropped by and chatted about grinder/buffer. Heard I was into watches, and later dropped off two fake Rolexes (quartz) from the ’80s. One is trashed and without bracelet, the other is not bad, with a two-tone bracelet. I’ll put batteries in and figure out what to do with them. Bill is moving to Arizona–so much for that budding friendship.

–Neighbor boy Ryan (12ish) dropped by to retrieve tennis ball that had gone over the fence. Seems like a nice kid, based on four seconds of conversation.

–Tried to get rid of some grayed-out files in iCloud storage; gave up. Moved to Microsoft OneDrive. Took a long time to get the Art folder uploaded, but I finally did and the app seems pretty bulletproof–syncing is automatic, for example, and files are easily accessible in Finder under OneDrive. 100 gigabytes for $2/month. Probably not enough space for all my movies; I think those are fine on the thumb drive. Syncing may not actually be all that necessary: it’s so easy to access/edit files like Contacts and Humor on OneDrive, there’s no need to keep copies on the Mac. Same with the Excel files for Shave, Watch, etc., which I never kept on the Mac anyway, but instead edited them on iCloud. It might be useful though if I add something to Books or Old Friends on the Mac to have it auto sync in the cloud. Although as I think about it, syncing may work only for files that already exist on Mac and cloud. Will test.