The Wristwatch, Part 2

I still miss the look of the old Phasar watch.  And I'm keeping it in case I find a good repair site.  Not that I expect to, but the little watch doesn't take up much space in a drawer I keep weird stuff in.

Here is a picture of the new watch from the selling site...


Ignore the resin watchband; that's what I tore off.  But do note that the display shows time to seconds, day and date above, and 'PM" to the left of the time (not shown).  I don't have to push any buttons to know everything I want from a watch.

There is still too much unnecessary junk wording around the top and bottom,  but that was the simplest I could find.

The new band is a double velcro type that is hard to find.  But it is also black, and that suits me.

I expect to have to change the battery soon.  Very oddly, the watch came with a notice that the installed battery was for testing and evaluation and may not last as long as a new commercial battery.   Somehow, they managed not to mention that on the sales site.   Well, that's OK, I have the tools to replace it.

I am actually quite pleased with the new watch.  Black suits me, the small amount of blue is not especially obvious in daylight, and the replaced velcro is soft and comfortable. 

Here are pictures of the assembled watch and bands...

The Wrist Watch

I have been wearing the same wristwatch for about 40 years.  It is so old, there isn't even one on ebay.  It is a Sears Phasar digital watch.  There is a Phasar 1000 and a Phasar 2000, but not the original unnumbered one. 

I love that watch.  It loses about a second per day, but it does NOTHING other than show time and day/date.  But is a little line at the bottom that underlines the day of week.  There are 2 buttons.  One selects something to change, the other changes it.

Simple, straightforward, and the buttons are so small you can't activate them by accident.  It was a gift from my parents the day I got my first career job in 1975.  I have had the battery replaced about once a year, and every 10 years, the velcro band has worn out and I replace that with my favorite watch band "sharkleash".  It has 2 velcro straps, so working while wearing it, it doesn't loosen.  Watch and band are so part of me.

The watch finally died.  Well, gee, who would imagine a cheap digital watch from 1975 would only last 40 years?  ;)  A jeweler replaced the battery and it only worked when cold; arm-warmth stopped it.  So, time to replace it...

WAAAHHHHH!!!!  I loved that watch...

But everything good goes away eventually, so I looked for a decent replacement.  I learned that I hate all modern watches.  They DO too much.  Alarm features, Stopwatch features.  Even "foreign time zone" features whatever that is.

All I want is time, day, and date.  And small is good.  I don't want some big clunker on my arm.  I would happily wear a "ladies" watch, but they are too small.  Having to put on my reading glasses just to read the watch sort of defeats the purpose.

So I found one that didn't have too many features (and WOW had the sharkleash band), and it arrived a couple of weeks ago.  I struggled for 2 hours to program it.  The manual was only on line and deciding which manual to use was iffy.  No specific model identifications on any of the manuals.   Utter frustration.

I barely got it to show time, but every time I touched the darn thing, it seemed to change displays.  I got permission to return it to Amazon.

But before I did that, I really had to find a better one.  I found one that seemed better at Sears, a Casio Illuminator with a simple resin watch band.  It had fewer features and one less side button.  I went to Sears and bought it.  But I hate the watchband.  Its a buckle type and I LOVE the velcro type.  But it just takes popping the watchband pins and replacing the band.

Wrong!  This watchband doesn't have the old removable pins.  The pin is solid and would not be removed.  Internet searches suggested you could just push the pins out, but these were unpushable.

I DON'T GIVE UP EASILY!

I have a set of watch repair tools.  They didn't get the solid non-spring pins out.  OK, I have bigger tools.  With a small slot screwdriver, I bent the damned pins and pulled them loose with a vise-grip plier.  I was only risking $16 if I destroyed the watch anyway.

The watch repair tool kit has, among other things, a bag of dozens of spring watch pins.  I found 2 that would fit in place of the solid rod pins.

So I ripped the damned solid pins loose and that got the stupid resin buckle band off.  My sharkleash band was wider than the watch so I used a pair of surgical scissors I got from the doctor who removed my appendix in 1968 (I keep everything that seems useful) and cut a notch in the sharkleash band to fit.

It only took 15 minutes of fighting with the spring-pins to get them in.

But now I have the simple straight-forward cheap digital watch I preferred on the watch band I preferred.  It only took 2 online orders, a trip to the local Sears store, and about 3 total hours of work, but I have what I wanted.

For $16 for the Casio watch and $15 for the watch tool kit, I can return the $49 clunky watch I hated to Amazon for free.  And I don't care about the money.

I'm a persistent type, LOL!  I got what I wanted at the end...

Storm Drain

I have the misfortune to live at the bottom of a gradually-sloping neighborhood.  There are several drainage easements ending on my street.  The major 2 both combine at my yard in deep-well storm drains.  One works fine.  The other brings an unending supply of tree debris and general trash down.

When I chose this lot 30 years ago, I considered many things.  A drainage easement wasn't one of those things I had any knowledge of.  I SAW it, of course.  It seemed to work fine.

I signed the construction contract and moved in on Labor Day 1986.  The month after, the serious Fall rains hit and the drain got covered with loose twigs, branches and debris.  I cleaned the covering grate off each time. 

It got worse as years went by.  After a hurricane, the entire street around my house was covered by drainwater.  I got really tired of cleaning the drain top.  When I called the County office back then, they told me the property owners were responsible for that.  The drainage easement is exactly on the property line, so my neighbors were equally responsible.  But their lawn was 2' higher than mine, so I got all the water; they didn't care.  So I had to keep it clean in self defense.

One year, the drain top got cleaned mysteriously and I thanked my neighbor.  They said they "knew a guy" at the County and he arranged for the cleaning as a favor but only that one time.

They moved out and another couple moved in.  So the County "in" was lost.  I asked the County on several occasions for help in cleaning the drain.  No luck.

3 weeks ago, I asked again, using an online site.  Imagine my surprise when I glanced out my front windows and saw an unfamiliar reflection of the storm grate top!  The County had come by and scraped it clean and made some further digging to improve drainage! 

I didn't even hear them doing it!

Before...

After!

Win!

Absorbant Dish Towels

I bought various types of dish towels over the years.  None of them (100% cotton or not) would wipe water cleanly.  I was frustrated.

But I knew something that would!  Old cotton t-shirts.  Cleaned every drop of water in a single wipe!  So I decided to convert them.  And you can too!

Tools:  Pinking shears, 2 identical sized pieces of plywood, 4 clamps, old worn cotton t shirts.

The pinking shears were a laugh.  I recalled my mom decades ago mentioning to me that they were for making cloth cuts that didn't fray.  So I went to a craft store and asked for one.  They had no idea what I was describing.  The clerk brought me to the fabric expert.  She thought they were for decorative cuts.  I actually had to demand to know where the scissors were.

I found a pinking shear (Fiskars, good brand).  It said right on the package :for non-fraying cuts".  I showed it to the "expert".  She was surprised.

Where do they find these people?  It was a specialty store!

Anyway, I went home with the pinking shears.

I cut 2 pieces of plywood (plywood stays flat) smaller than the T shirts. The identical size is important.

So, I placed a plywood board on a bench (raised for easy rotation).

Placed a T shirt on top

And the other plywood board on top.

Clamped them hard on the corners.

Cut around the edges of the plywood...

Voila' - 2 pieces of non-fraying cotton dishtowels...

I have 12 of them.  Just the first has stayed unfrayed and amazingly absorbent after a week's use.  They aren't for cleaning, just water-wiping.  Use those bad dishtowels for cleaning.

I am quite pleased with myself.

Besides, I hated the grey T shirts, LOL!

My next project is a mailbox delivery notification device.  There are commercial products and some DIY devices I've seen online.  I can do better.

UPDATE:   Megan asked a good question in her comment (as she so often does):  "Why was it so important to you to cut the cloths the same size?"

Answer:  It wasn't; it was only an outcome of my process.  To explain...

I cut a piece of plywood sized to maximize the area of usable T-shirt (4th picture above, avoiding the seams at the arms and neck).  I cut an identical sized piece of plywood in order to hold the T-shirt firmly between the 2 pieces.

I did THAT only so that I could cut cut the cloth easily using the edges of the plywood as a guide.

The result was identical-sized pieces of cloth from each T-shirt .  Not important, just the result...

I hope that clarifies things.  :)

 

Groundhog Day

It's a little late, but I had some thoughts about Groundhog Day.  I know the basics.  It started in Europe with Germanic tribes paying attention to when Bears and Beavers came out of hibernation.

And there were folk-sayings about "If the shadows are bright on Candlemas Day, Winter will be long" (Candlemas Day was halfway through Winter same as Groundhog Day is).

Somewhere along the line, the beavers and the shadows and Candlemas Day 1/2 through Winter got connected.

And let me note that Groundhog Day results are completely random in results.  There is a 33% random chance of the groundhog being "right", and it actually is 37% (no meaningful difference).

But what really confuses me is why bother with the groundhog.  People cast shadows too.  So why not just step outside and see if you have a shadow YOURSELF?  Do people think the groundhog will have a shadow and THEY won't?   LOL!

What?  It's just a fun thing to do?  Oh.  OK, "never mind"...

Computer Software

When I worked, the office used Windows, so I kept my home computer to match it.  When I retired, I switched to Mac software because my home Windows software kept crashing.  At work, the network kept Windows working (mostly).  At home,  it crashed daily.

So I learned the Mac software.  The office-type software (Pages and Numbers) are AWFUL!  Few of the features I was used to on Windows.  Let's just say I am a control-freak about arranging things in documents and Mac software didn't provide what I was accustomed to.

So I bought Windows Office 2008 for Mac (in 2008) and thought I was back in familiar territory.  Wrong!  Windows Office for Mac had more features than Mac software but less than Windows on a Windows computer.  I sufferred with it, setting my old Windows computer up as a stand-alone for special projects.

Then last year, Windows Office for Mac simply stopped working.  It wanted to be re-installed.  Memory said that I downloaded it online, but I checked all my software boxes just in case.  I couldn't find it.

I could have bought a new version, but everything new is now an annual subscription and I resent that.  So I sufferred with Pages and Numbers...

And THEN, I found a dusty box lost behind other stuff at the back of a shelf.  Windows Office for Mac 2008!   Hurray.  I reloaded it.  Now I have it back.  I still can't do all the things I want to, but more than I could with just Mac software.

Example:  One thing I am very used to doing is copying website or word document charts into Excel so I can make changes.  Things like sports schedules or garden-planting documents in column format that have TMI so I can delete the junk.  Copying into Mac Numbers or Pages won't do that; copying into Windows Excel will.  So a chart with teams, dates, TV channel, logos, ratings, site , etc can be reduced to date and channel.  Hurray!

Example:  I love to make cards in Excel.  Excel lets you import pictures, rotate them, draw, add borders, all kinds of stuff.  I missed that.  It's why I didn't send home-made cards this year.  Now I can again!  Hurray.

Mac almost never crashes, but the software I use most does less (I do love iPhoto though).  Windows software on a PC does more, but crashes.  Windows Office for Mac is mostly better parts of both.

I am thrilled to have it back and working.  I changed a 3 page University of Maryland Mens and Women's basketball schedule to a 1/3 page that fits on the refrigerator...  Next up is drawing the framed beds in my garden so I can can print out blanks for writing where the veggies will go in Spring.

It may not matter to anyone but me, but I feel insanely pleased about that right now.  LOL!

Random Thoughts

Sometimes connections occur to me.  Sometimes they make sense, sometimes not.

1.  I watched a new commercial a few days ago for Butterfingers.  It mentioned "crispety, crunchy".  And I immediately thought, no that should be "crispety, chrunchity", for logical verbal balance.  And sure enough, at the end, it said "crispety, chrunchity".  I may have missed my calling in life.

2.  My garden seeds finally arrived in the mail.  I have a boatload of new ones.  Well, my old seeds weren't going to last forever even refrigerated in sealed containers.

Sometimes, you HAVE to buy new ones even when there are still old ones in the fridge.  Germination rate is always important.

3.  I've been designing a new compost bin.  Yeah, any circle of wire actually works, but I like to build things and I put almost ANYTHING that will degrade into the compost.  Some of it attracts pests.  So it is time to make one they can't get into.

It is a 2-bin system.  The sides and back are hardware mesh wire, the front is removable slats.  I made one for a friend in 1992 with dado cuts for angled front slats.  It was amazing (and BTW, I saw it copied in a gardening magazine 6 months later) but it was some unnecessary work.  I figured out a better one.  But it is just the design right now, since I can't actually build it in the frozen soil right now.  But it is good to have all the parts figured out now.

4.  I clipped some azalea stems 3 years ago when I had a ridge leveled.  Some were white, some red, some purple.  They won't grow in the small planter cells, so I need to transplant them to larger ones.  But some bloomed a few days ago.

I have a corner of the back yard where nothing is growing but weeds; they will go there.

5.  The old perennial flower bed is going to become a cottage garden.  Random flowers that self-sow everywhere.  I have NO idea how it will work out, but there will be pictures regardless.

Yard Work

I've been busy outside in the unusually decent January weather.  We went 10 days here without it getting below freezing and THAT is a rare event.  The average low temp is 26F here now.

So I took advantage of the weather and got a trailer-load of compost from a local nursery.  I load the stuff into buckets in a yard cart and use the riding mower to haul it to the destination.  Buckets are easier to dump than shovelfuls...

And spread it out.  There are some weeds poking up, but most will be smothered.

This is where I planted annuals for several years, but this year it will be for heirloom tomatoes.  Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and a few new ones.  The cages are ready to use.

I have been meaning to set up an island planting are in the front yard for 20 years.  I planted that saucer magnolia tree and the big rock there years ago with the island idea in mind.  I FINALLY got around to doing the island edging. 

 I was amazed at how well digging the slot for the edging went.  When I moved here 30 years ago, the soil was all clayish.  Planting crocuses 3" deep in the lawn was a struggle.  But I have been leaving the lawn clippings stay on the lawn all those years.  It really matters!  My edging spade went down 6"with almost no effort.  30 years, 6" of good soil!

The neighbor has a maple tree planted between our houses.  Maples are nice trees, but not next to houses.  They have surface roots and are famously foundation-breakers.   I mentioned that to the previous neighbor and they cut the tree down.  But maples are hard to kill and it came back with multiple trunks.  I should have poured Roundup on it when first cut down to kill it, but I assumed it would die on its own.

Bitter laughter...  It came back as a multiple-trunked tree.  I am going to use my "Saws-All" to cut the roots at the property line this Spring, pour in some Roundup hoping to kill the tree, and put cuttings of leftover edging against the roots hoping to keep then from regrowing to the existing roots in my yard.

But meanwhile, the tree dropped all its leaves.  I had 2 thoughts.  First, the heavy layer of leaves would kill all the grass on my side yard and the neighbors.  The neighbor abandoned the house in foreclosure, BTW...

Second, I would have to look at all the dead grass on the neighbor's lawn (I raked all the leaves from my lawn).  So, I raked up all his leaves too.  He doesn't care; he is gone.  And I could use them...

I filled up the edged area around the Saucer Magnolia after I set in the edging, and I will move the leaves I raked up from my yard to add to that. 

And then I will add 3" of compost from the nursery on top.  Compost on top of decomposing leaves; the worms will love it!

I'll plant some deer-resistant annuals there this Spring, but the main plan is to fill the bed with daffodils, ivy, and any perennials that deer don't like.

And anything that means less mowing is always good!

President Trump

I won't hide the fact that I don't like President Trump.  I don't say that (or anything to follow) to mean that others can't like him or that he has nothing to offer.  Just that *I* can't stand him and will say so for as long as he is in office.  And keep in mind that it is my OPINION, not some absolute fact of his incompetence. 

This past week has proven my fears about him to be correct.  I live in a world of evidence, proof, and fact.  To me, it seems his supporters live in a world of unsupported hopes and promises, decieved by a demagogue.  My apologies to those who like him.  You have the right.

Since President Trump was inaugurated, he has signed many Executive Orders intended to implement policies he promised while campaigning.  I never thought he would actually do that.

They are, so far, both poorly-written and unnecessary. 

The Order to the military to develop a plan within 30 days to defeat ISIS was laughable.  What does he THINK they do all day?  Plan how to stop another attack on Pearl Harbor? 

Proclamation 9570: National Day of Patriotic Devotion - Does the term "Fatherland ring a bell?

Executive Order 13765: Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal - A first step toward eliminating health insurance to millions of needy Americans.

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Regulatory Freeze Pending Review - To stop all Federal Agencies from issuing new regulations.  Never mind emergencies and any good rules to protect the public.  All must stop.


Presidential Memorandum: Withdrawal of the United States From the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Agreement - Oh good, our year's-long effort to create an economic alliance of Asian nations to restrain Chinese expansion shot to Hell!  The Philippines have just given up on us and surrended to China.  Others will soon follow.  The Donald wants to re-negotiate trade agreements with Asian nations one-on-one.  Loser move!

Presidential Memorandum: Mexico City Policy - The US will withhold funds to any nation or organization that assists in abortion services for any reason.  Any reason...

Presidential Memorandum: Hiring Freeze - Both Federal Civil Service and contracting hires are stopped.  This might be OK, contractors have long been used to make up for Federal hiring freezes.  But contractors have historically over-billed the government for services and been free of oversight and produced less than contractually-required.  In my government career, contractors have been scan-artists stealing billions of public dollars.  But freezing both will mean less government services and the public will learn that the "gummint" actually does good things that they will miss.  I always laugh when thinking about some conservative protesters who demanded that the Government "keep your hands off my Medicare".  Who do they think was providing it?

Presidential Memorandum: Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline - Oil from Canada transported to New Orleans to be shipped overseas.  We don't get that oil (we have our own).  But we will get the environmentally bad oil spills (estimated at one per 5 years by the oil companies).  We don't need that. 

Presidential Memorandum: Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline - See above.

Presidential Memorandum: Construction of American Pipelines - All pipes used in the US will be made in the US.  OK.  But "America First" was a rule when I was starting in Government in the 70s and it caused all KINDS of bad problems.  It is one of those things that sound sensible but don't work.

Executive Order 13766: Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects - Every President tries this.  It never seems to have any practical effect.



Presidential Memorandum: Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing - An attempt to allow businesses to do anything they want.  Who cares about the public, anyway?

Proclamation 9571: National School Choice Week, 2017 - A strictly ceremonial proclamation, but it represents anti-public-school thinking. 

Executive Order 13767: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements - BUILd THE WALL.  Only the US will actually pay for it.  It can't really be built, and it won't stop anyone from getting past it.  Ask the Chinese about their Great Wall.  It didn't work.  BTW, if you like investments, consider Mexican ladder and tunneling equipment companies.  There might be a boom in sales.

Executive Order 13768: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States - This is an attempt to force local police departments to enforce Federal laws at their own expense.  That isn't their job, and they don't have the resources to do it anyway.  The idea seems to be that harassing illegal immigrants will cause them to leave.  That doesn't work.

Executive Order: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States - This is the cause of recent and ongoing protests in the US and internationally.  The Order was so BADLY written that even naturalized citizens and Green-Carders from the 7 designated nations could not return from US military duty or legitimate business abroad.  IDIOTS!  And the Trump administration is backing off (screaming and kicking) about it.  They are still trying to hold on to the basic idea of keeping all Moslems out of the US though.

National Security Presidential Memorandum 1: Rebuilding the U.S. Armed Forces​ - Some plan to "bolster the military" but I can't figure out what the purpose is yet.  Something about the Office of Management and Budget helping to restructure military pay?

Executive Order: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Employees - A lifetime ban on lobbyists joining the Trump Administration and then becoming lobbyists again.  Only it applies to those who weren't lobbyists before.  So it seems this is some restriction on media, military, and scientists from ever becoming lobbyists later.  The purpose seems to be to prevent non-politicians from lobbying for general causes (like say science or environmental funding) efforts later in life.  Might even apply to protest organizers or people like Al Gore.  Not sure.

National Security Presidential Memorandum 2: Organization of the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council - Trump has kicked several Security officials off the National Security Council and added a political ideological representative (Steve Bannon) to it.  Obvious watchdog/approval move.  This is unprecedented.  Does the phrase "Politburo" ring a bell?

National Security Presidential Memorandum 3: Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - A repeat of a previous Order, but with some recommended changes to any United States rules of engagement" additions.  Meaning water-boarding and other internationally-forbidden forms of torture.  Yes, Trump has approved torture as a means of collecting information.

Executive Order:  Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs - Agencies would have to eliminate 2 regulations for each new one.  This could be silly or it could be horrible.  The main problem is that most regulations exist for a reason.  Business routinely cheat for profit and regulations exist to eliminate or at least reduce that.  If you want your chicken to be 100% contaminated with bacteria or your car tires to "only" blow out 10% of the time, you will love this one.

And that's just the first 10 days!  Get ready for illegal abortions, illegal protests, guns in every school and bar, and a super-conservative Supreme Court. 

Sorry For Being Away

I haven't posted for 3 weeks.  Not that I had nothing to say, but being on the computer, typing, thinking, typing, thinking is hard without cigarettes.  It's like writer's block.  I've been smoking for 47 years.  And when I smoke, I stay up late.  When I smoke and stay up late, I keep sipping at the wine glass.  That doesn't usually lead to brilliant posts, but I have become skilled at correcting for that.  Delayed postings and some editing the next day...

The annoying thing is that I don't seem to be chemically addicted to the cigarettes.  I didn't have a cigarette since Jan 3rd and physically, it didn't bother me a bit.  I'm habituated to the process of smoking.  Without a cigarette, I sit at the keyboard and want to do almost anything else.  THAT is annoying.  So I haven't been posting here much.  I've done fine on the cat blog though.  Writing about the cats isn't writing about me, and I can do THAT.

So yeah, I have a cigarette in hand...  And wine...  I just HAD to post again here and that was the only way.

I don't need advice or suggestions.  After 47 years, I'm pretty sure I've thought of or read about all the ideas.

I'll stop again.  I'm just mentioning all this to explain why I haven't posted.

More normal posts to follow...