Victoria

Sorry for that. May you have better luck in future, George.

Maybe you should start a thread asking people how they become interested in watches. We might find out we started younger than we think. I'm sure it is. Thanks, Vlydog. You're such a wonderful member yourself, but you don't get a lot of compliments because you're not a babbling brook unlike me. But just to say that's what makes this forum so great. A LOT of unheralded people go to making it a superb forum. @Kollektor: Great as ever chatting with you, Kollektor. Speaking of forums, I'm glad you're over at Repgeeks too, and the vibe there is growing on me too. Each forum we frequent certainly gives us something different, and worthwhile. @TheDukeZip: When someone can make a grown man cry with the mere power of reading some words on a monitor, that person should be very honoured. And I am, TDZ. Thanks so much for the comment! Perhaps this is TMI, but yeah, I was crying when I wrote the last line. I'm such a softy.

Efharisto, Jkarpas!! Now, I don't want to flood the group with replies the same way I did in the Strap Caper thread; that was, of course, a special debut thread. But I would like to personally thank you below, individually. @By-Tor: Thanks, sweetie. ...not sure I ever told you this, but you are my review benchmark -- all of us who follow your steps, can only hope to approach in terms of expertise and presentation. Sometimes I wish you had more catholic tastes in watches, so you could review more models! @Steve G: When I read your comment earlier, it made me so happy. This forum is also an escape valve for me, though I don't have a stressful job like you and others do. But that we all come here to enjoy and relax is a priority! P.S.: Watch lovers transmit their genes to their offspring, look at By-Tor and me in just a few replies. I'm sure your daughter will be bitten by the bug, with or without Mickey! @SSSurfer: My adorato. ...a nonpareil man on the board like you is one of the reasons I come to this forum, and you're right that it gives me much in terms of knowledge and happiness -- you said a very true word. @TK471: Not at all! I just talk a lot, and in case you haven't noticed (which everyone perhaps now has), I was a born-writer. Writing is like breathing...or sex. @dluddy: Ooh, Powermax password eh? That's like new Prime Ministers being given the secret password to the Tower of London every morning (the only other one having access to it, being the Queen!). @Stephane: As ever, thanks! @Kenberg: I have to remember that, when I become a mother, Ken. If I can bid at auctions without seemingly moving a muscle, I can do the same with shop clerks. (Con't, next post)

Thank you so much, Star! I'm sure you've noticed but I am very close to my parents. There are specific reasons for that at the moment, of which I won't trouble RWG, but let's just say they are ever on my mind. Having good parents is half the battle in life. LOL! You know, he did have an enormous handkerchief collection. I mean, hundreds. That must've been his strap equivalent.

*cringe*

I'm constantly surprised in life, by just how much being an adult resembles exactly being in High School. The cliques. The snotty comments. The preconceived opinions. The sucking up to teacher. The infernal inferiority-complex need to one-up the person next to you, else you somehow lose cool points. The cynicism about the ROTW, where you're the only clear-minded person in the universe, and everyone else is an idiot. But also the great, and long lasting friendships, with shared memories no one can take away. Life. Enjoy the ride.

That's what I would call a great comeback to the Wristies, Xim! @P4GTR: Hope you saw my Strap Culture skull-n-bones buckle in the FxrAndy post. Yarrrr!!!

Can I only give one rating? I'd like to Agree, Disagree, WTF, Good Idea, Bad Spelling, and Gold Star this reply.

It will certainly cut down on post-replies for the more voluble of us. Not that this obviously includes you or I. By the way, I was a little confused about the ratings last night. I thought the ratings to the right, when you click on your own rating next to your name, referred to what each person thought of whatever particular post you were reading. No matter what post I clicked on, it still said at the time 13 Agree, 5 Gold Stars, 3 WTF, and 1 Bad Spelling. I was like, "Damn, maybe I have a core group of people who follow me around the forum, rating every post the same!". Not to mention I kept scouring to see which word I had misspelt in each post. Oh, and I really like that you can see who gave you what. That's something you don't get on Digg. @Ryyannon: LOL about the retaliative ratings. I have only done one, but that's because enough was enough. Being vindictive doesn't come naturally to me, although it's a lot of fun. Pet Shop Boys...absolute-ly. Fab-u-lous. All we need is a little Rick Astley, and my childhood years will come flooding back!

That would change the context though. A WTF may be said because the person truly didn't understand what the poster was trying to say (which puts the onus on the reader, as much as the writer, IMO), or thought it was loopy, or perhaps isn't quite up to speed linguistically, to have done so. Equally, it could be because the rater was trying to be funny himself. But if you change it to "Huh?", then it's all the writer's fault. In other words, a WTF in real life is like a raised eyebrow. A "huh?" is like a snort.

I suspect you have three logins and therefore, you are giving yourself 3 WTFs just to be cool. You know I'm right, Ryyannon!

Now, I'm not a Rolex expert (or any kind of watch expert!), but that looks stunning to me. The crown especially, looks good. Wear it well and in good health, Nanuq!

Did anyone else read this as "non-existentialist phone number"?

Thanks, Andy. Damn skimpy! @Usil: When you've been raised on Hollywood classics, your whole life is a happy ending (no Godard there!). Merci!

LOL! Well, wardrobes are very mysterious things. They're like missing socks, leap years and girls all rolled into one. @Kenberg: How did you suss that out? ...typical only child, me. Spoilt rotten, too mature for her age, etc. And if you can tell me the sleight of hand my parents did with the watch, I'd appreciate it! It's been bugging me all these years (as you can see). @Nanuq: Thanks buddy! *shakes vigourously* @to all who replied so far, thanks!!

What the hell! First, Stephane has a great big cat-claw gash or something on his hand, now you with your swollen digit. Does this mean you can't make straps today? @TeeJay: Hi TeeJay.

Following Stephane's nimble lead, and having been congratulated via PM on my 1000th post (which I knew I was nearing, but had no idea I had "hit" Wednesday night), I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to RWG. Finally. Let me tell you a story. Two, actually. One is a grandpa story. And one is a Christmas story. Ready? My mother's father was a severe old German gentleman of the Old School. He didn't suffer fools gladly, and wasn't in the habit of holding his peace about any opinion he had in life. He was also one of those persons who believes that their taste is not just "an opinion" or reflection of what they like -- but that his taste was absolute. He was 100% convinced that his taste was good taste simply because it was. Try as I might, opinionated as I am, I grew up very different from him, but back to the story. This old gentleman with a duelling scar on his cheek had many passions, which took the form of collecting. So, when I was a child, I used to enter his bedroom and sneak up to an enormous black ornate "Schrank" (wardrobe) in that heavy German style, which looks like a mini-cathedral. It rises up and up and up, ending in a spirelike point of charred blackness, and it's very scary. But scary-good. I knew I wasn't allowed there all alone, but I got up on a chair, opened the Schrank, and there before me was displayed a case in heavily polished wood, with all his watches twinkling inside even in the darkness. They looked better than any doll I had ever gotten, and twice as good as any candy. (Which, by the way, I hate. So no chocs and roses for me on our first date, okay?) He died not soon after that memory, but not before one day, sitting me on his lap, and unlocking his little watch treasure trove and showed me all his watches. I wish I could tell you what they were, but one, a solid piece of meshed steel had one word on it which I struggled to pronounce. So grandfather did it for me, "Longines". Long after I went to bed that night, I kept repeating the word Longines in my head. To this day, I don't think there is a more alluring word anywhere in the world. Lohnnn-zheennnn. Magic. - I am about 5 years-old and living in Canada with my parents. Dad's profession took us all over the world, and that year we had landed in TO, as the cool people call Toronto. It's snowing that Christmas eve, and we're doing some last minute shopping, I THINK in Eaton Centre, but I am not sure since it's a child's memory: at once deeply acute about certain details, and hazy about others -- you remember the kind of thing, don't you? I am standing in front of a glass case, and inside is a a Mickey Mouse watch. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, especially the cute hand pointing up sideways to the hour markers, but I didn't know the terms back then. I just stared. I cannot tell you how much I wanted to own that watch, but instinctively the way children had, you knew when not to ask for something of your parents: then young, struggling kids themselves. Rushing back to my parents side, because back then children roamed around all by themselves, and no one thought a thing about that, I grabbed my father by the hand and looked up. Whatever it was that he sensed, and he's not a very perceptive man admittedly, he bent down and asked me what was wrong. Didn't say anything. Just led him to the case, and pointed to the Mickey watch. But the story isn't a happy ending one, because when we left Eaton Centre, I didn't have my Mickey Mouse watch, after all. Guess the parents really couldn't afford it, for what they said was, "Santa will be upset because he's already gotten you a present. You don't want to upset Santa, do you?". I understood. I sucked up the tears, and childish disappointment, and grabbed both my parents' hands as we walked out together from the mall, happily. Later that night, I was staring out of my bedroom window, with a knot in my throat. Such a silly thing, I was, looking back on myself. But there we are. When I got down from the window sill, I looked on my bed, and there was a package...with my Mickey Mouse watch. To this day, I don't know how my mother or father did it, because I was with them the whole time afterwards, but as long as I live, nothing that they've ever given me meant so much as that watch. I may not believe in Santa Claus today. But I deeply believe in the power of family. If you want to know who I am, that's who I am above. Pleased to meet you.

GI Joe, Barbie. It's still a dollie. Ku-Fung grip my patooty! @Phantom of the Router: Thanks!

Living in cold climates helps. I recall I took much less baths/showers back in England, than I do currently in the sweltering year-round temperatures of South Florida. Nevertheless, there I am -- being able to change my clothes, freshen myself up, or simply change my mind about which watch I wear, as well as having an enormous amount of watches already ready "to go" (I don't need to fiddle with screwdrivers and lugs) means I will eventually use all my straps in much less time than it would with others. Which is actually the reason I bought them. The girl who had 3 Barbies grows up to be a woman who will never be satisfied with just one of something.

Thanks! If that was indeed for me (we have a more senior poster from Greece named V, so I defer the nickname to him. Call me Victoria anytime). There are two Watch Princes. The one on eBay and our dealer, mostly to be found on RWI. If the latter, let me know, since I'd love what you bought for your PO!

Same for Andrew and I. I'd walk through burning RWG coals for the guy, because not once but many times he's given me the benefit of the doubt, and solved matters in one email. Now, I'm not unmindful of others' concerns, some which sound reasonable, but at least at this moment I am unable to share them.

I don't know about other members of this forum, but I change my clothes, and therefore often my watches, at least 2-3 per day. How some men, and other non-picky women put on their clothes in the morning, wearing the same thing all day until bedtime, is beyond me. Icky.

There is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, that makes a woman like a man more than to see him be a good daddy to his kids. Exceptional, Hoochman. Congrats on your lovely family!! P.S.: I can't believe your little one was just born a month ago. Look at him! He's gonna be a linebacker.

Gracias por la correcion. Y mira que nunca me atreveria hacerlo a ti en ingles, para no ser una sin-gracia. And I'm all about the yuk-yuks here! Why just look at how many laughs I've provided you, which you are apparently obsessed about. I should open a consultancy firm! Straps -n- Yuks.