New watch?

[KenK]

My old Casio watch, on its second battery, was a half hour slow when I woke
up this moring. New battery or new watch? In the past, when battery failed
the watches stopped.

TIA


--
You know it's time to clean the refrigerator
when something closes the door from the inside.

[Michael Black]

On Mon, 29 Aug 2016, KenK wrote:

> My old Casio watch, on its second battery, was a half hour slow when I woke
> up this moring. New battery or new watch? In the past, when battery failed
> the watches stopped.
>

How much was the watch, how much is a new watch?

I had a Casio, and I had to replace the battery, but somehow it was never
back to watertight. I didn't go swimming with it, but it was handy not to
have to remember to take it off when washing dishes. But the strap broke
around the same time, so I got a new watch.

A decade ago, I ended up with a Casio Waveceptor, plastic cased but it was
only about twenty or thirty dollars here in Canada. So it's never the
wrong time, and if I travelled, it would sync up to "foreign" time
stations. But maybe most important, it included a solar cell. So while
the battery level has decreased at times, it's generally been fully topped
off, and ten years is a good time for a watch battery, from my experience.

So you might look into one of the Casio watches with solar cells, they
have them without the "atomic watch" bit.

Michael

[wilm...@gmail.com]

On Monday, August 29, 2016 at 6:52:45 AM UTC-7, Michael Black wrote:

> >
> How much was the watch, how much is a new watch?
>

I just got a new Casio watch. Mine was $14, but they are as cheap as $9, Amazon Prime. They come with a 10 year battery, but the instructions recommend replacing the "gasket" every 2-3 years.

[The Real Bev]

I LOVE the 'atomic watch' bit. We got ours at Costco years ago for $25
and they're as good as new. Always correct and the strap hasn't broken
yet.


--
Cheers, Bev
The early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese.

[Michael Black]

Yes. This one has held up better than my previous Casios. I was never
sure what the deal was, but there was some special flyer by one of the
chains here just before Easter a decade ago. I went to the nearest store,
no luck, went to another one and found one. It was a very good deal in
terms of price, but considering it's held up with no battery change, a
generally good deal. The Christmas previously, I'd been thinking of
getting one, but what they had were the more expensive Waveceptors, but
which seemed to only have a fancier body (and metal strap). The same
modules are used in more than one watch, so after a certain price, the
rest is just gloss.

I have a few "atomic clocks" and it's fun to watch them all change numbers
at the same time. Any difference is not noticeable to the eye.

And yes, no fussing over setting them. Back when there was only one or
two clocks in a house, nobody fussed. But now that clocks are built into
everything, suddenly you're stuck with lots of clocks that are never quite
the same. But the atomic clocks, so long as they sync up, you know they
are right.

Michael

[The Real Bev]

On 08/29/2016 05:30 PM, Michael Black wrote:

> I have a few "atomic clocks" and it's fun to watch them all change numbers
> at the same time. Any difference is not noticeable to the eye.

Ours get hits while we're asleep. NOT going to stay up to watch.

> And yes, no fussing over setting them. Back when there was only one or
> two clocks in a house, nobody fussed. But now that clocks are built into
> everything, suddenly you're stuck with lots of clocks that are never quite
> the same. But the atomic clocks, so long as they sync up, you know they
> are right.

There's nothing quite like owning a truly accurate timepiece. Those
Swiss jerks have to make up for it with precious metal.


--
Cheers, Bev
Segal's Law: A man with one watch knows the time.
A man with two is never sure.

[BigDog811]

Couldn't agree more. But don't sell those "Swiss jerks" short.

I own a Rolex GMT Master that I bought in 1970 (that's 46 years ago for the arithmetically impaired out there). I've worn it almost every day since I bought it. It's never been serviced and keeps dead accurate time. The only time I need to adjust the time is twice a year when we spring forward and fall back. And a few times a year I have to run it forward to keep the date accurate.

Before the misers who read this group go apoplectic about the cost of a Rolex; I paid $165 for it at a PX in Vietnam. That translates to a little over $3 a year so far, and going down each year I wear it.

[The Real Bev]

On 08/30/2016 07:31 AM, BigDog811 wrote:
> On Monday, August 29, 2016 at 10:39:23 PM UTC-4, The Real Bev wrote:
>>
>> There's nothing quite like owning a truly accurate timepiece.
>> Those Swiss jerks have to make up for it with precious metal.
>

> Couldn't agree more. But don't sell those "Swiss jerks" short.
>
> I own a Rolex GMT Master that I bought in 1970 (that's 46 years ago
> for the arithmetically impaired out there). I've worn it almost
> every day since I bought it. It's never been serviced and keeps dead
> accurate time. The only time I need to adjust the time is twice a
> year when we spring forward and fall back. And a few times a year I
> have to run it forward to keep the date accurate.

I have an Omega Seamaster. It's a lovely thing, but it needed to be
cleaned every couple of years. Ultimately it was cheaper (but a bigger
nuisance) to send it to Switzerland to be cleaned than to have it done
locally. I wondered how a waterproof watch got dirty inside and was
told that the lubricant hardens/wears out/deteriorates. That's just WRONG.

> Before the misers who read this group go apoplectic about the cost of
> a Rolex; I paid $165 for it at a PX in Vietnam. That translates to a
> little over $3 a year so far, and going down each year I wear it.

That's probably about what the Casio has cost...

--
Cheers, Bev
"History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people
maintaining a free civil government."
-- letter from Thomas Jefferson to Baron vonHumboldt, 1813

[barbie gee]

This is exactly the watch I would recommend, as well. Solar, so there's
never any fussing with batteries. If you live in a cave, you can put it
under a desk lamp for awhile, but I've never had it go low on power.
Secondly, that it syncs the time every night means it's the one clock I
can trust, to always be right. I got one with an analog face and a little
digital readout box. I still really like looking at a clockface, not a
digital readout.

I think I got mine on sale via woot.com many years ago, think it was in
the $49.99 range. For a watch that is waterproof, needs no batteries and
is accurate, I don't know how you could do any better than that.

<http://www.casio-usa.com/products/Watches/wave_ceptor/>

[Michael Black]

And the analog watches of this kind do tend to be somewhat more expensive,
so I think that price sounds decent.

I've been tempted to get one of the analog watches, but watches have now
become status symbols.

Michael

[The Real Bev]

I thought like that too until I actually got a digital watch :-)

>> I think I got mine on sale via woot.com many years ago, think it was in the
>> $49.99 range. For a watch that is waterproof, needs no batteries and is
>> accurate, I don't know how you could do any better than that.
>>
>> <http://www.casio-usa.com/products/Watches/wave_ceptor/>

The ones we bought have three tiny round dials above the time-number.
Absolutely useless unless you're a -5 myope, and even then 2/3 of the
info is useless.

> And the analog watches of this kind do tend to be somewhat more expensive,
> so I think that price sounds decent.
>
> I've been tempted to get one of the analog watches, but watches have now
> become status symbols.

I once saw a digital watch that would switch to look like analog if
that's what you want. Can't remember the brand.


--
Cheers, Bev
You need only three tools: WD-40, duct tape and a hammer. If it doesn't
move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use duct tape.
If you can't fix it with a hammer you've got an electrical problem.

[John Weiss]

On 9/2/2016 15:55, Michael Black wrote:

>>> So you might look into one of the Casio watches with solar cells,
>>> they have them without the "atomic watch" bit.
>>
>> This is exactly the watch I would recommend, as well. Solar, so
>> there's never any fussing with batteries. If you live in a cave, you
>> can put it under a desk lamp for awhile, but I've never had it go low
>> on power.

> And the analog watches of this kind do tend to be somewhat more
> expensive, so I think that price sounds decent.
>
> I've been tempted to get one of the analog watches, but watches have now
> become status symbols.

I'm on my second Citizen "Eco Drive" solar watch. The first one lasted
about 15 years before the battery wouldn't take a charge any more, and I
decided not to invest more $$ in it. The local shops wouldn't touch it,
so I would have had to send it back to the factory repair center.

Instead I spent about $100 more than a new battery for a new Eco Drive
with an analog face. It was the only titanium model that I liked. A
steel cased version would have been much cheaper, but I like the [lack
of] weight of the titanium.

[Michael Black]

I've seen those. They are neat in themselves, but somehow lack that
impressiveness that some analog watches now give off.

I still wear a watch, but they say that many people have abandoned them,
they have cellphones and other things to keep track of time. So for many,
the reason to have a watch is to show off wealth. I got a free
subscription to like GQ in 2010, and not only was it full of watch ads,
but the articles kept telling us the "discerning" man needed an expensive
watch.

I haven't had an analog watch since 1977, when I got my TI LED watch.
Wait, I have my grandfather's gold pocket watch, but I've never really
used it, it doesn't have a cover so I worry about damaging the crystal. I
don't think it's anything special, just a watch from when pocket watches
were more still common. I was given an analog watch a few years back, it
was attached to a carabiner. It was actually nice, as was the built in
red LED light (for seeing in the dark, not as a backlight to the watch),
but the battery died, and in opening it up, I lost a piece of the battery
holder, so there it sits, waiting for something that isn't likely to ever
appear. I liked that, it had a solid feel.

Michael

[hchi...@hotmail.com]

On Sat, 3 Sep 2016 17:30:49 -0400, Michael Black <et...@ncf.ca> wrote:

>but the articles kept telling us the "discerning" man needed an expensive
>watch.

That is yet another example of the media and advertisers either not
understanding the meaning of words or twisting them to their own purposes.

I'm probably one of the most "discerning" individuals you would ever meet. I
"discerned" as a child that I didn't need to wear a watch.

Moreover, there is a subtle psychological entrainment that submitting to wearing
a watch encourages. The importance of measured time is a side effect of the
culture of "class" and the subservience of the worker class.

The chime of church bells or calls to prayer at matins and other natural times
of the day were subverted into the chimes and clocks located in positions of
power, such as courthouses and town halls, built at some expense to tell workers
when to start and stop work, so as to give their "betters" a full day of labor.

The transfer of power from that to a pocket watch inferred that the owner of the
pocket watch was a representative of the power of the upper class. Hence, the
train conductor image, or the foppery that included special watch pockets and
fobs as further indication of power and wealth.

When the mass produced and more crude wristwatch was introduced, the band around
the wrist -in effect a handcuff - indicated subserviance and the open
willingness of the wearer to comply with time - but with the slightly daring
attitude - "Don't try to manipulate the time on your pocket watch to cheat me."

To me, the people who wear the ostentatious Rolexes or other watches are
declaring their allegience to nouveu riche fetishes and a culture that has no
clue that it is making a statement of voluntary enslavement.

When I was a teen, I wore a pocket watch, along with my keys to the state
hospital locked wards. The only time I have ever worn a wristwatch was when a
child's cheap mickey mouse watch was given in swag at a movie convention, and I
found the juxtaposition of cheap, small, "mickey mouse", and the idea of
subservience to that just too amusing to pass up for a couple of weeks. Nobody
understood, but I'm used to that.

[KenK]

Michael Black <et...@ncf.ca> wrote in
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1...@darkstar.example.org:

>>>>> A decade ago, I ended up with a Casio Waveceptor, plastic cased
>>>>> but it was
>>>>> only about twenty or thirty dollars here in Canada. So it's never
>>>>> the wrong time, and if I travelled, it would sync up to "foreign"
>>>>> time stations. But maybe most important, it included a solar
>>>>> cell. So while the battery level has decreased at times, it's
>>>>> generally been fully topped
>>>>> off, and ten years is a good time for a watch battery, from my
>>>>> experience.
>>>>>
>>>>> So you might look into one of the Casio watches with solar cells,
>>>>> they have
>>>>> them without the "atomic watch" bit.
>>>>
>>>> This is exactly the watch I would recommend, as well. Solar, so
>>>> there's never any fussing with batteries. If you live in a cave,
>>>> you can put it under a desk lamp for awhile, but I've never had it
>>>> go low on power. Secondly, that it syncs the time every night means
>>>> it's the one clock I can
>>>> trust, to always be right. I got one with an analog face and a
>>>> little digital readout box. I still really like looking at a
>>>> clockface, not a digital readout.
>

I got a watch at Walmart last Saturday. A Casio. Found one at $20 with a
ten year battery but that's the best I could do. No solar cells. No
automatic time set. I'll just have to set it myself, which in my
experience is very rarely. The battery will probably outlast me. It's a
digital and includes a stopwatch and dual time zone displays, neither of
which I'll likely ever use.