Tick Tock and You Don't Stop

[eggwards]

°Yesterday we ate at Applebee's. Here's a thought...Why the hell do we ever go to Applebee's? The food's not very good, the waitress reminded me of Joan Cusack playing dumb - and perhaps just out of the halo - and the average age in the place was just a few years shy of the 4:30 dinner time at Luby's Cafeteria.

°Chili's on the other hand has pissed me off as they got rid of my favorite burger. Actually the burger has been off the menu for about 15 years, but still, they could make it for you up until this month. Chili's got rid of their chili. The strangest thing. now you can still get chili at Chili's, but it's a different chili, with beans - and that doesn't set well with me. It is also kind of weak - they brought out a little for us to try - and wouldn't stay in a burger very well. So there you go, goodbye Chili's Trip burger - the burger that had been there since day one, but now you can't even get an Oldtimer with chili. It too is off the menu. It's a sad day, indeed.

°Today was President's Day, so I had the day off. I let the dog chase the Roomba around the house and did my taxes, but I also went out to a park and studied on my NASD Series 7 test. I take the exam in May, but the brokerage exam is pretty long, extensive, and detailed, so I probably should have started a long time ago. It was a great day to be outside. It was sunny and in the 60's here. I sat out in the park for a couple of hours reading about Bonds and calls and puts and yields. I also watched several ducks swim around a pond, and that seemed much more interesting than being able to tell how a bonds price raises or lowers given the current interest rates. I've taken the Series 6 before, so I have some knowledge of what I'm in for, but the 7 is a six hour test vs. a three hour one. There's also lots that I've forgotten.

°Seeing posts from Dave (meatybear) talking about how he forgot his watch today, and from Jeb (arthole) talking about the 80's era Swatch watches he had for his costume as he DJ'ed the 80's party at IBR made me think about this story I saw the other day that I saw on Yahoo showing that watches have declined in popularity since everyone's been carrying cell phones and other gadgets that display the time.

Personally, I wear a watch every day, I don't always wear it around the house, but it's certainly a part of me when I go out. Maybe I'm just old, but I tend to rely on my watch for the time more than my cell phone, or iPod or even my computer monitor at work. When I go down to the cafeteria for my thirty minute lunch, it's my watch - a square-faced Fossil I bought at the San Marcos Outlet coming back from the wonderful ACL/Hurricane Rita escape back in 2005 - that tells me that it's been 45 minutes and I need to get back to my desk.

I've owned dozens of watches, including a digital watch with red numbers on a black face back in 1980 to Snoopy, Mickey Mouse and Superman watches, and several Swatches, including my favorite, the clear one that you could see all the gears turn. I had a Pac-Man watch and the ever geeky calculator watch. Most of them have been analog (hands) and many of them from Fossil. i don't think I've ever spent more than $100 for one. My dad has had a Rolex that he's had since before I was born. Perhaps if I invested a bit more cash I could do the same, but like my glasses, I like to change it up every few years.

The strange thing is that this year I didn't "fall back" when we went back to Standard Time this past fall. My watch has been an hour ahead for months - and when someone asks me the time, I have to do the little mental calculation to tell them it's 3:30, not 4:30. I'm not sure why I'm being stubborn about this, but with Daylight Saving Time starting earlier this year, that will be remedied next month. I guess I'll hold out.

Still, like Dave, suddenly finding that you've walked out of the house without your watch makes you feel naked, and then you're constantly in need to know what the time is. It's an insecurity as you can't rely on yourself to know. For some reason the digital clock on your cell won't do. It's a strange and irrational feeling, but we are governed by the construct of time. Our watches are just a way that we try to keep it all under control.

Comments

[cpj.livejournal.com]

Are you dissing Luby's?

Wait, I agree with you 100%.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Luby's is a really happening place. It's the number one place to go for Medicare supplemental insurance seminars. It's also great if you want something vaugely Mexican without any of the flavor of Mexico.

[bendawg.livejournal.com]

Y'all need to find some local hot spots in Dallas now that the chains are letting you down. :-)

I really like my watch too, it was a gifted Fossil to me from my aunt (retail about $80) and I feel weird when it isn't on. I've had the band pop open a few times but a trip to the jeweler will fix it up right away. :)

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

I'm a suburban Texas boy - all we know here are the chains. This area especially is filled with them. Still, every once in a while we'll find something good - mostly itallian, since we all know mom-and pop Itallian always beats the Olive Garden. unfortunately they have a habit of closing forever after we eat there. Is it us?

[metacub.livejournal.com]

I used to wear the same watch every day until something would happen a few years later that would lead to another one, but now I have 5 or 6 that I change depending on my mood. Most I've bought at outlets or received as gifts, but I must say it's fun to have choices. Yes, I carry a cell, but I still feel naked without a watch on, if for no other reason than it needs to cover the pale band on my arm.

[polomex.livejournal.com]

Hehe, it was that very "pale band on my arm" that caused me to stop wearing one every day. I didn't like the way the watch rubbed away the hair that was trying to grow there and the all-too-obvious pale streak it left on my otherwise 'light mocha' skin. Now, I'll only wear one if I'm outside the house, but not if I'm dressing up or chilling with friends.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Especially in the summer you can see my non-tan line. It's not sexy, of course, and my arm-hair does get kind of matted-down underneath my watch.

Why wouldn't you wear one when dressing up? I would think you wouldn't wear one when dressing down?

[polomex.livejournal.com]

I don't wear one when dressing more formally because the watch I have has a casual, if not sporty, look. It would be an eyesore compared to the rest of whatever I'm wearing. I do have other more "mature" watches that I could wear, but they all need some kind of repair. A couple are too big and need to be resized, and probably all of them could use a new battery. I'm too forgetful of course to go out and get them fixed.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

I tried to have a whole bunch of different watches, and even wore multiples back in the Swatch days, but more and more I would just settle on one ald always wear it. I like leather bands, so it's usually brown. Occasionally I worry about wearing a brown wristwatch with black shoes and bets, but I tend to get over the fashion faux pas.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the Series Seven. I studied for it about 7 years ago and then decided I didn't want to work for American Express, so never sat for it. I'm looking at studying and taking the Six and Group 1 next month, just to be more marketable. When I read the words Puts and Calls, I said, oh oh, he's going to take the Seven. In my opinion that's the section that is particularly useless unless you plan to be a stock broker.

Hugs to you in Dallas!

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm lucky that I don't have to take the 7 for my job, but am doing it to better myself. It's a whole different type of pressure there. The 6 wasn't too difficult, the worst was the Regulations, but there's so much more to the 7. It's more math too, which I'm awful at.

Many of the management jobs - if you are trading or not, require the 7, so I'm just setting myself up for better stuff.

Hope the 6 goes easy for you. There's always AIM if you need to work in the big city!

[meatybear.livejournal.com]

I will never ever stop wearing one. I love the fashion statement that they make. :)

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

So you you stick with a particular brand, or just whatever suits your fancy? Do you change watches to go with what you wear, or just wear the same one?

[meatybear.livejournal.com]

I'm not married to a particular brand per se, but two of my three watches are from Diesel. I love Diesel and their style suits me.

I change the watches to go with what I wear. I have three radically different watches that I interchange all of the time.

[joezer.livejournal.com]

I can understand about the watch thing. About a week and a half ago, my current watch died. Kaput. Bupkiss. Finito. I'd be all for replacing the battery in it, but the band would be basically made useless in the process. So...it's chucked in the bin.

I've not spent more than $40 for a watch...and they've usually been donned on the wrist pretty much 24/7 aside from showers/bathing/swimming. While I have used, and do use, my celphone to catch the time I've always liked my watches.

Also, the timer function on my watch was more convenient for timed cooking/baking than having to make sure I don't lose track of my celphone while its timer is running...

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

I like that my current watch has a stopwatch feature. Not all that useful, but it can occasionally entertain.

I've often changed a battery and wristband on a watch. I like leather wristbands, so it's not to expensive to get one at Target. i usually wear one watch for several years now, since i've stopped going through Swatches.

I never see my phone as much of a timepiece. i'm not getting that many calls, so having to fish it out of whatever pocket its in is usually more of a bother than looking at my watch.

I love watches!!

[atxchubbylimits.livejournal.com]

From bottom right, clockwise: Burger King Simpsons watches - Bart ("Cool Your Jets, Man!"), Krusty The Clown ("Hey Kids, It's Story Time! Uh ha,hahahaa!), Homer ("Hmmmmm... Burger.") and of course the Bob's Big Boy in a water bubble on a playground sliding down a slide watch!! I am missing my Simpsons Family ("Are we there yet?" "No!") watch.

Re: I love watches!!

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Ahh yes, only the finest! Do you have a Spongebob Squarepants watch with the nose you can twang to open it?

You also need to move your arms, they are covering up the rest of you!

Re: I love watches!!

[atxchubbylimits.livejournal.com]

I have not the Bob of Sponges watch.

And yes, I was covered... No need to scare off the general public!