TJGladeRaider

I don't know, I just see what I see, and I try to be towards others as I would have others treat my children. As for my belief that gender itself is more sliding scale than black and white, the prison system is a place where I think this is most apparent, second to contact sports and the military. The vast majority of "real men" who found themselves cast into the prison system would soon discover that absent the protections of civilized society, where the law of the jungle prevails, they would not rise to the top of the pecking order. Instead, the most "masculine" of their species would scare them to death, and many "biological" men will deliberately adopt a most unmasculine role in the interest of survival. Similarly, football, boxing, the Marine Corps . . . all separate the men who are more masculine from those who are less so - and it isn't necessarily related to physique because, if it was, you could pick winners by their physical stats. Therefore, it seems to me that "Masculine" v "Feminine" is a sliding scale of a lot of things, mental, emotional as physical - much of which you cannot see. Anyone who doubts that, should take a long look at Oscar De La Hoya. The "Golden Boy" of boxing is perilously close to "pretty," he has delicate features (for a fighter), a gentle disposition (for a fighter), and he sings almost as beautifully as he fights - but where jungle rules prevail, he's right at the top. If he's not a real man, there never was one. Personally, I'm real clear on who and what I am, but I never had the day that I decided any of it. Fetal development happened, biology happened, puberty happened . . . all with no deliberate input from me. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to grow us as one of the children, that the vermin amongst us ridiculed as "sissies." Worse yet, is the thought of finding myself with the physique of a girl. (All jokes and snickering aside) Given the choice to have the beautiful young body of the girl we are talking about, or my tired old carcass, I'd have to stay me because that slipper simply would not fit, and every moment of my waking life would be war between me as I know me, and that physical me. I can also tell you, with absolute conviction, that were that the case, and someone could change it, I'd do whatever it took, and pay whatever it cost to have my old worn down ass back. I don't know, but I think most guys would feel that same way. In other words, and frankly admitting that I really don't know what I am talking about, I don't think men just choose to become women, or vice versa. I believe that there's something a lot more involved here than that. I am blessed to have five wonderful, healthy children - the eldest of with the Navy SEALS doing whatever they do, and the youngest just four months young; they are the center of my world and I love them mor than life. I can say, with absolute clarity of mind, that if this young lady was a child of mine, it would be most unwise for any man to talk about her like she belonged in a carnival sideshow, or treat her as a sexual novelty, and let me find out about it. We'd find out how "masculine and manly" he is when things get primitive. Thank you Linder for seeing what I was trying to say. Bill

Complete BS - I have tested the Subs/SDs from EL and Joshua 9in a pressure tester and they all test to 132 feet. My MBW Vintage isn't waterproof at all Bill

The one thing I do know is, she is a REAL person. Somehow, that concept seems to have gotten lost in this discussion. As for what I think, or anyone else thinks, I am quite sure that she has heard enough opinions to last her a lifetime, and I have no doubt that the slimeballs of the world have caused her grief and pain. There are a great many things in this world that I do not understand, but it is my observation and belief that Male vs Female is not a black and white thing - it's more like a sliding scale and the little knowledge about fetal development that I acquired over the course of having five children seems to explain that. The young lady is truly beautiful, and I am sure she has been thru a lot to get to where she is, but you only go around once in this life, and you owe it to yourself to be happy if you can. I hope she is happy, and I pray that life is kind to her. Bill

I would say the bicycle. Bill

Dear Neil, I would gently and respectfully suggest that you seek competent psychiatric help; it is my observation and belief that you have trouble expressing your feelings, and some support and encouragement in asserting yourself might be beneficial. You cannot expect miracles, but in a matter of weeks with the right therapist, you might very well find yourself able to look a waitress in the eye and protest that your steak was not cooked to your request. Although you may find it difficult to imagine as you stifle your objections while home alone in front of the TV, within a few short months, you could hope to attend live sporting events, vocally protesting bad calls as you boldly root for your favorite team. There's hope Neil, truly there is. Bill

I compared this to my fiddy from Josh and I don't see an improvement. My movement is all engraved, the swan neck works, the screws are all blue and the crystals are sapphire - front and back. Bill

That is totally hilarious. Lord how I love that! Bill

There's two sides to every story and I'm glad you came forward with yours. The problem is, one of you is full of [censored]. He claims that there were no communications whatsoever, and you claim a littany of e-mails and PMs. Frankly, absent proof one way or the other, a reasonable person would find it difficult to believe that he would lie, leaving you free to forward copies of your e-mails to list members exposing him, and demanding that the admins verify the PMs. That being said, IF you made a diligent effort to communicate via EMail and PM, and IF he ignored your efforts, that means he outright lied to us so I'm on your side - $5 or $500, a buyer has a right to expect a seller to communicate and an effort to communicate thru PayPal is no big deal - unless you said something about reps, which you apparently did not. That's a big "IF," and I cannot help wondering why you're not waiving those e-mails around if they exist. If they do not exist, you probably ought to take your toys and go home because you are not going to be very popular around here. Bill Bill

I wondered when that was going to happen. Bill

Well my pugnacious friend, I have searched thru Joshua's site and I see that he has a number of watches that are advertised as having synthetic sapphire crystals - and judging by the price of the few I looked at, I would expect them to be the "bottom of the food chain." Evidently, you got me there - I must admit that I was mistaken. The thing that sticks in my mind, is when so many people were complaining that their Fiddy from other dealers came with a mineral crystal, I had a 127 on the way so I asked J to clarify and he assured me that mine was sapphire - and it is. Bill

I don't know what 1:1 means, but I can assure you that Joshua sells nothing with mineralglass as sapphire - synthetic or otherwise. I would expect that all "real" sapphire crystals are actually synthetic. Bill

USSS Counterfeits 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Be sure and put "Counterfeits Wanted" on the envelope. Bill BTW, I hear they have the best Subs too. Bill

I'm in the US and I always buy several at a time. Three different Rolexes would be a lot less suspicious to Customs than three identical watches - that looks like a dealer as opposed to a collector. Bill

Mine is from Medelin, CO Wife With My Boat Bill

At his suggestion, I bought a couple of bands from Joshua with the Omega deployment clasp. I don't know whether these look like anything gen or not, but the quality of strap and clasp is very impressive and they certainly look like something gen. Omega Straps via Josh One thing - the way the clasp works should be obvious, but for some reason it took me a while to realize that the male end fit down between the little guides and if you don't put them in there, the clasp won't close right. It is really stupid obvious, but I mention it anyway. These really are a very nice touch. Bill

I'm sorry that you see it that way. I don't knoiw Andrew, and I never bought a thing from him, but I know the Gospel truth when I see it. I think you are missing the point of this post - there is no reason to suggest that we see this from the buyer's perspective - we are buyers, how else would we percieve it but for the effort of a dealer to share with us theirs. As for the assertion that the Customs story doesn't wash, I find that incredible. The best dealers do replace watches that are seized, and that number is a variable they can neither predict, nor control. Enforcement efforts are on the rise, and I suspect they will continue to rise, so let's not pass off an effort to be frank about a problem as a sob story. Bill

OK Faker, since it can be hard to read the intention behind typed words, let's be clear that I am being completely serious. I agree with you in that I do believe that some of the replies you got were from people who took seriously something that you intended to be in jest - and with that in mind, I want you to take a deep breath and consider the dynamic involved here, and "dynamic" is a word detectives use to reference the flow of events and interactions attendant to a given set of facts and circumstances. Bear in mind, that when I wrote my post, the thread was just "you and me" from my perspective which is to say, you wrote a post I took as being humorous and I replied to it in the same vein . . . hence the emoticon. Now, unbeknownst to me at the time I wrote my post, other readers interpreted your post differently and responded accordingly. Their posts were not intended to be humorous, and I am sure they hurt your feelings as that was their apparent intent, and you are an unusually sensitive person - probably due to the fact that you don't communicate this way very often. You read their posts before reading mine, and after reading a series of negative posts, interpretted mine to be going along with that flow. A person who rarely communicates via message board could easily fail to realize that the fourth, or fortieth, reply in a series may well have been written by someone who read nothing other than the post they replied to. By the time I read your reply to my post, I too had read thru the others, so I made it clear that my post was intended to be funny, and I agreed with you that their comments were unwarranted which you, as a somewhat "self-sensitive" person percieved to be a pitiful attempt on my part to "make nice" with you and you further flatter yourself to percieve that you have forced from me some sort of admission. These are the sorts of conclusions that only an overly "self-sensitive" person could reach -- anyone else would find it highly unlikely that a sycophantile "suck-up" would be critical of posts by several people who are known here, in support of one person who is not, and one does not admit anything by acknowledging the obvious. I have been a criminal investigator for about thirty years; I have dealt with a lot of people and seen a lot of life which has, on various occaions, been neither kind nor gentle. Were you to crack wise about the size of my "wee wee," I can assure you that it would not pierce my delicate psyche, and shatter my self esteem. Enjoy your watch. Bill

I'll leave it to others to speak for themselves as to their interpretation of my post, perhaps I should have included a smiley emoticon cartoon character to make my intention . . . oh wait, I did that didn't I. By "e-mails," I was referring to your follow up rant here which, for all I know, you may have sent via Pony Express. If anyone construed that to mean that you were communicating with me directly, while I was replying here, I should have been more clear as I am pleased to report that this is not the case. This petulant purveyor of pustulent prose has not seen fit to afflict me elsewhere. As for "protecting your name," let me see, that would be what, "Faker." Ah yes, a name that you have no doubt felt blessed to wear proudly, for all it is and means. Why do I see a vision of a little old fat bald guy, sitting in his Momma's single-wide in sweat stained BVD's, sucking down cheap suds and popping lithium? When your Momma finds out what you bought with her Social Security check, Im betting that she's gonna be really mad. Rant on Sir Troll, tossing you beenie weenies has been fun, but I've grown bored with it. Ciao, Bill

I gotta jump on Randy's bandwagon here as I didn't realize that you were in the US. As I posted sometime bank, Congress recently (last May I believe) amended the statute that applies to trafficking in counterfeits and one of their findings was that the trade in counterfeit goods finances terrorism -- whoaa now, before anybody starts arguing. The reason that this is significant is that their "finding" provides the link that will bring these cases within the jurisdiction of Homeland Security - even if your efforts do not result in the sale of a single watch, you could be charged with an inchoate offense (like conspiracy) and the sale of just one watch would be enough to support the charge for the substantive offense. Randy is giving you some good advice here - buy all the reps you want to, and there's no US law against it, but as for this marketing idea - don't even think about it. Bill

No, as I am sure anyone with the intellect of the average house plant could tell, my post was intended to be a joke, but upon later reflection, and in light of your subsequent e-mails, I can see that you have some serious issues and my comments must have struck closer to home than I intended. Unlike you, I do post a lot and I believe our regulars will bear witness that if I was out to insult you, the difference would be readily apparent - even to you - and there would be nothing apologetic about it. Enjoy your watch, I am sure it's a fine piece, but if you are going to post I would suggest that you try and keep in mind that this is about watches - and whether you are talking about your wonderful new gen or the sorriest junk Rolex rep that ever was, it's still just a watch and nobody with a life, and any sense, gets all worked up over them. Bill

I got it from Joshua. It seems like a pretty nice piece. Mostly, I just wanted it because I didn't have anything like it in my box. Bill

I gotta agree with ya - Wow. I took it as a humorous post and intended mine to be funny. Even re-reading the post, it still seems humorous to me so I cannot see why the hostility. Maybe others are privy to info I am not - would you mind shaving your head and telling me if you see any numbers there? Bill

I have two MBWs I bought second hand, I tired to buy a new one recently but had a terribly unlucky experience, and I am currently trying to obtain two new vintage MBWs thru other channels. I have a large box of Rolex reps including some of the TW Best from EL, and all that Joshua sells, as well as some from Ms. King. I also have three other boxes of reps and gens - the point being, I have plenty of things to compare here. While I am sure some may feel differently, I don't see any reason to buy the new style MBWs when Joshua, EL and now Andrew are selling a virtually identical watch, and both Joshua and Andrew offer it fully serviced with none of the worry about being screwed that has been the problem with some MBW sources. The vintage MBWs are special, but the thing that makes them special is the fact that they can be modded using gen parts. $380 is a lot to pay for a watch just so you can pour money into it but it's worth that to me as a collector, but $500 is WAY to expensive for me to justify - although, as I said, I am sure some will see it differently. A reasonably priced source that accepts PayPal and can be counted on would be a great thing. Bill

Don't worry, in a few weeks you'll realize that most people are not really impressed by a watch, and the few that are, were the same ones who were impressed by your rep. Bar stool babes will still ignore you, your taylor will report that you really haven't gotten any taller, and your doctor . . . he'll still smirk and shake his head. Bill

I have a PVD Pam28 that I bought from Joshua with the 2892 and his service package. It keeps time as well as anything I have, gaining somewhere between 2 and 5 seconds a day. I also have a 2892 in a FM Conquistador that keeps time almost as well but I do not believe I paid to have it serviced. Bill