Nanuq

Yeah Dusk, I walk out in my driveway and the Milky Way is a stark band across the sky. With my handheld (image stabilizing) binoculars I can see the moons of Jupiter, and the terrain of the surface of the Moon where the impact craters disappear over its horizon are clear enough you can almost touch them. Then the Northern Lights come out and you can convince yourself you hear them crackling as they dance around. Yep ... stunning!

Ah, there's gonna be one out in the wild here today Mister M!

Argh, don't remind me!

11:30pm and broad daylight. We're making up for winter and the Long Dark!

Holy smokes, an Ivan dial!!

That might work okay for a service dome crystal. I used hockey pucks forever, and decided to get formal about doing this "the right way". So I bought a kit and right away ran into trouble. I prefer Superdome crystals and my kit didn't have a "cup" deep enough to fit over the crystal and push the ring down. The crystal was too tall and the cup was too shallow. So I went to the plumbing supply store and bought some white PVC end caps used to seal pipe. These are the ones with the flat hexagonal heads. I tried a bunch of different sizes, and found the 1-1/4" cap fit best (for a tropic-39 which has ~ the same diameter as a tropic-19). I cut the cap down to an overall height of about 3/4" then drilled a hole in the center of the flat end so it could attach to my tool. All seemed well BUT.... my tool had a little rubber "foot" that pressed against the caseback as I crammed the retaining ring on. A thin caseback (like my 1675) was easily bent, and I did ... I dented in my caseback. So another new approach, I used a "cup" on the top to fit down over the crystal and push on the retaining ring, and I used another "cup" on the back to fit the perimeter of the caseback. With that arrangement I could summon the powers of Thor and install the retaining ring like it's supposed to be. Afterthoughts: two frozen hockey pucks with drilled holes would have worked better and not dented in my caseback.

Keep the movement and the band, there's $125 well spent. The rest? It looks like a 300-yard target for a nice rifle.

I got a chance to mess with the gen in Honolulu, what a beast!

A shapely case, long lean lugs, a nice round bubbleback and a big lurid dome .... hey are we talking about watches, or women?

We got a couple inches of snow this morning so I took the dogs climbing in it. What a spectacular sky!

After a false start, welcome aboard, Doc.

I've got a '96 Discovery since new, and it's seriously been the most reliable car ever for me. I take the Troop out in it in all conditions, in all places, and it's never let us down. Closing in on 200,000 hard miles. The '63 Rover is a joy to work on and drive, everything is accessible and there are only 10 moving parts on the whole thing (all with different fasteners of course!) I know lots of people with horror stories, but these aren't Toyotas. They leak. They're quirky and they have personalities. Get a good one, and you've got a lifetime companion. Get a bad one...... there ain't enough large caliber ammunition in the world to express the frustration!

It's glorious, lovely stuff. And far too slick when your hands are greasy! Which, being a Land Rover owner, is always.

Jesus, Joseph and Mary, that's beautiful.

Yeah try changing out a transfer case on a 60s Land Rover. I've got two rollaround tool boxes full of God's Own Snapon tools, and nothing fits those BSF / BSC bolts and nuts. Oh and the previous owner swapped in some SAE and some Metric. Hand me a pint!

I wore this watch for over 10 years like this: Then Natalie started making aftermarket bezels and I bought one. I would have paid twice her asking price. Much better: Now beat-to-hell gen bezels are over $1,000 if you can find one. A rep bezel for $250 seems like a bargain when your watch is naked without it.

There's the right way to approach this hobby.

This is what I was looking for...

Doc, can you show a picture with the crown unscrewed? That will help.

I think that's a very nice looking plexi. I also think that's a 703 crown.....

That's what we call Steaks on the Hoof. Yum!

Wearing the Mooseflake today.