HauteHippie

I'll be the first to say avoid cheap knockoff tools from rep dealers and EBay. My suggestion would be to look at the Time Zone Watch School tool kits (http://www.tztoolshop.com/FB_Catalog_TZWS-toolkits.html) for a good starting point. It's mostly Bergeon stuff, which is good. For good screw drivers, I think the Horotec stuff might be a step up, but pricey. The Zigmeisterzumba will probably make some suggestions for you in this thread, and he's one to listen to.

You've "heard".... Knowing you, you already have 2 of them.

Not the finest shirt in my closet, nor the best photography I've ever produced, but here's the only shot I have handy....

Here's a question: If one orders, say, a 1680 from Joshua, it is drop shipped from Thailand (seen on the tracking info provided by Joshua), and the watch received is just like the MBK version in terms of accepting gen parts, etc, etc.... Could the watch have come from somewhere other than the MBK center?

Ditto. No published source code, for one thing...

How does the export per capita number from any given year indicate whether or not regulation is stunting economic growth? How does it show that exports are not declining year over year? And what if total exports are declining, but the population is declining faster therefore resulting an increase per capita? This number is meaningless. One must look at universal economic indicators to get an idea of relative economic vitality. Even GDP alone leaves questions unanswered... How do you measure the opportunity cost of Kyoto? I.e. economic growth lost because of the regulations? How do you measure export income lost due to rapidly changing exchange rates? Etc. The analysis must incorporate many variables and becomes quite complex. But one can say with certainty that a weakening dollar and Kyoto regulations do have a negative impact on the bottom line of a developed nation.

The BETTER way is simply the refusal to sign Kyoto and not instituting any federal emissions reduction mandates. The fact of the matter is that new environmental laws DO have an economic impact. If they had no impact, companies would have nothing to lose from "going green" in the first place and the mandates wouldn't be needed, now would they. By the way, I see that Russian emissions are WAY down. Do you really think they made a concerted effort to reduce their emissions!?!? Don't think too hard. I see that Canada is WAY up. But I thought they were overwhelmingly liberal up there? And I see that Turkey is also WAY up, but they get "special circumstances" treatment which means they can ignore the standards that apply to the rich Western countries. Hilarious.

Export dollars per capita is not an economic indicator. Gross domestic product (which incorporates exports) is, and I've never looked at the numbers before this post, but the results are quite intuitive: GDP Growth Rate 2002 Germany 0.4% USA 2.45% 2003 Germany -0.1% USA 3.1% 2004 Germany 1.7% USA 4.4% 2005 Germany 0.9% USA 3.2% 2006 Germany 2.2% USA 3.4%

What does exports per capita have to do with anything? Besides, Germany's population is declining, is it not? The USA's is increasing (for better or for worse). But, that aside, I can not think of any way that export dollars per capita is relevant to the discussion.

Gorgeous, Mr. Rolli.

I think he has only done the inner portion. To make it perfect, you'd want to do inner and a little bit on the outer IMO, but as Tribal mentions, only freaks would notice.

I must admit it's not ALL bad from my perspective as these Aussie liberals seem to be surprisingly pro-USA.

Because the majority of PVD coaters are in the tooling industry, it is extremely rare that they're willing and/or able to make adjustments for aesthetics. So once a shop who provides both the appropriate bead blasting and the ability to make color adjustments is found....... Holy Grail.

I bet. I wouldn't want to live under Rudd rule, either. I feel for you, mate.

Sad to say that the VCO, since its inception as a rep, has had bracelet screw and screw thread issues. I have all sorts of OFrei spare screw sets that I've tried to use. Sometimes they work for a while. The other day, I was walking through a doorway and accidentally bumped my watch arm against the door jam. A screw fell out and the watch fell off my wrist. Haven't had time to deal with it. At this point, I'm just about ready to permanently epoxy the problematic screws in place!!

Great stuff. That SSD is damn good.

That's too bad. I don't like this new guy Rudd one bit. Howard was the shit. Between Kyoto and the weak dollar, I don't know how the other civilized nations think they are going to compete with us on exports. They are crippling their own economies.

Very sharp. I agree with The Zigmeister, though. Do it right the first time and you'll get fewer "call backs".

ajoesmith, it looks good. The color for PAMs, however, isn't quite right. Otherwise I'd be interested in your service. FYI

Who has hijacked TTK's RWG account?!?! The real TTK never asks permission to speak!!!

Wear it in good health. Congrats.

The end result looks fantastic as is always the case with your work, Tribal. Boy, you've got to LOVE a case thick enough to have its tube hole counterbored without coming anywhere near breaking through on the bottom side!!!!

Why don't you wait until you receive the watch and see what you think of the AR. Personally, I'd strip the rep AR and redo it. But that's me. Right now the December AR run is pretty overloaded. You could probably wear your new BCE for a bit, and then get into a subsequent AR run if you felt it necessary, though. -Chief

Oh, I'm totally grasping what you're saying about culture differences. Perhaps you're not grasping the fact that I'm just not buying it. I'm counting 49 majority-Muslim countries. And I'm sure it's fair to say that a huge percentage of them have laws derived from the Koran. But if people don't want to live that way, where is the mass outrage? I would expect to see revolts from time to time if the majority of the people didn't want to live under a repressive regime. In any given country, it could take decades to topple an unpopular government, but with ~50 countries to choose from, odds are that we would see some action somewhere every few years. So, really, we haven't established that the silent majority who want an anti-protest even exist. You just expect us to take your word that they do. Further, what 'dictatorial regime' is responsible for the Muslims in Canada and the UK who want to establish sharia law in their adopted countries? Now, I can believe there is a minority of Muslims who want the lady released without harm. After all, there is always some diversity of opinion in a large group. And the Muslims in the West are also aware that their public reactions are being watched, so it is important to realize that they may or may not be expressing heartfelt beliefs. Enough time has been wasted, indeed... Amen.

I can only define 'Islam' as the way it is practiced in this day and age. 1000 years ago I would be saying a lot of the same about Christianity. But, the scriptures haven't changed. Christians evolved. On the other hand, what goes on in the name of Islam today is incompatible with the civilized world. What they really need, in my opinion, is a reformist movement. Yes, religions can change over time.