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Salamander Hunter
Author: Beau
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This is how the morning is going. I feel the same way, computer.
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Nausicaä is the greatest hero of all time. Better than any Jedi or Marvel mensch.
Don’t @ me.
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French
I have been learning French via Duolingo and Pimsleur audio lessons.
I am halfway through the fourth Pimsleur course and have been doing just about one lesson a day like they prescribe. That puts me at about 145 lessons.
I started to watch a movie in French. It opened with some women talking to each other which was easy enough to track.
Then this dude shows up. I couldn't understand a single thing this jerk said. Has he ever pronounced a consonant in his entire life?
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Dangling from a Chair
A family first! We all made it up and down Hogsback in one piece.
Harry thinks turning is boring so he just crashes when he reaches peak speed.
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Under the Tifo
Go Sounders!
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Send Pho
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Dvorak
After my third annual attempt to switch to Dvorak it has finally “stuck”.
By “stuck” I mean I’m stuck in Dvorak because I’ve screwed up my Qwerty so bad that I can’t switch back and be productive.
At this point I think it’s mostly a geek status thing since there’s no hard evidence there’s any ergonomic or speed improvements.
This post took fourty-seven minutes to write (I kid).
At least it would appear my words-per-minute is improving:
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Horological Adventures
I am obsessed with mechanical watches and I blame Apple.
I would have happily walked around watchless for the rest of my life had my interest not been piqued. Funny enough, I have no interest in Apple’s horological offerings.
Great Grandpa’s Ball Pocket Watch
Ball Watch Co. didn’t make any watches but instead devised a standard for watches that were to be used within the Railroad Industry.
Using the serial number on my watch I detemermined it was manufactured by Waltham between 1910 and 1920.
After burning through some YouTube videos on double playback speed (seriously people, you all go too slow on your videos) and receiving some Amazon purchases, I cracked open the case and dove into the clockwork.
I removed the gears plates and screws, dropped everything into some jewelry cleaner, brushed and dried out the parts, applied some grease to the mainspring wire, lubed up the jewels with tiny drops of Moebius, and reassembled it all.
At first it seemed daunting but it became intuitive where all the tiny screws and gears were supposed to go. After it was reassembled I gave the crown a gentle twist and instead of the grinding from before I heard a satisfying click of miniature machinery storing up potential energy.
After a few more winds the balance wheel kicked into action and the second hand started ticking away. It was a proud moment.
I found that the watch would stop intermittently and I had to put additional pressure on the second wheel and free the pallet fork to get it going again. After a few rounds of this over the day I noticed this happened only when the second hand crossed below the hour hand. I popped the hands off the dial, straightened them out, and reinstalled. Not a problem since.
Mechanical debugging and software debugging feel like a very similar activity.
Antiquing
My wife is encouraging my obsession. We dropped into one of her favorite antique warehouses.
I got lost in the maze of displays. Each section its own shrine to a departed soul. I started making up stories about the people based on the things they had left behind. Then I started wondering what my shrine would look like. A stack of antique mobile computing devices most likely.
I was giving up hope that I would find anything interesting. The only watches I came across featured Marvin the Martian or Ren and Stimpy dials powered by quartz movements.
It was time to meet back up so I checked my phone. My wife had struck gold! She had sent a photo with a collection of watches she found.
The shopkeeper let me examine them all. I opened up each case and looked at the movements. Upon seeing the machines within the shopkeeper commented on how it was like popping the hood on an old car. “Not like the watches you buy these days,” she said. I suspect she doesn’t visit the same websites I do.
No purchases were made but I walked away feeling like a kid on a treasure hunt who found a little stash tucked away behind a display case in a store I had driven by hundreds of times over the years.
The game is afoot.
Seiko 5
My obsession with watches is being stoked with daily visits to Hodinkee.
After getting the Ball running I found myself wasting time staring at the clockwork. I want to waste time everywhere I go! So why not get a wristwatch?
I quickly fell in love with the Nomos Metro Nachtblau but I could never justify walking around with a cool $4K USD on my wrist (let alone afford it).
The compromise is a Seiko 5 at $55 USD. With an autamatic mechanical movement and a glass back plate I’ll have instant viewing access everywhere I go. I plan to ditch the nylon strap and fashion a leather one from some supplies I have.
Time to go stare at the Ball movement for a few minutes.
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Accidental Watch Enthusiast
The watch had been hanging there under the glass for just about a year. It was given to me the Christmas before by grandpa. It belonged to his father before him.
He told me he had it serviced once and it had worked but it does not wind anymore and certainly does not run. I unscrewed the glass and fiddled with the case but became anxious at the thought of breaking it so I placed it back in the display case. It remained there on the fireplace mantle with its pointing at ten past two.
I was never one to wear a watch. I signed up for my first cell phone when I was eighteen so always had a timekeeping device in my pocket. With Apple getting into the watch business I decided I would see if I could handle wearing a watch everyday so I bought a Timex Weekender. It looked nice and was cheap. I even fashioned my own watch strap out of some leather scraps.
I found that I quiet liked wearing a watch after all. The biggest benefit I found was that I took my phone out less which meant I used Twitter and Instagram less. I soon silenced all notifications on my phone which was also freeing.
Who would have thought that strapping the time to my wrist would free it up.
I pulled the pocket watch back off the mantle and started fiddling with it again.
I could just about get the movement to swing on the case hinge and maybe get a look inside. The stem the crown was on was preventing it from moving any further. I wanted to get inside this watch!
It was time to apply force. I gripped the case in one hand, grabbed the crown with my fingers and yanked.
Pop
The crown moved a little. The movement swung out and I caught my first glance behind the white, enameled face.
It was beautiful. I couldn’t look away. The tiny gems and gears intricately placed between polished metal pieces.
Trademark Ball Watch Company
21 Jewels
Sapphire Pallets
My new mission in life is to get this watch ticking again.