Straightforward

Today's post is going to be long and weird. The working title is "Ode to My Watch" a.k.a. "A Watch's Life". I want to tell it anyway, so you're free to leave. =/

After a long struggle, I finally abandoned my old watch today. =P One I've been wearing (with some off periods) since... primary school? Don't really remember. Gosh, I'm really, really, very attached to it. It has a sentimental value since my mother bought it for me -- as with everything I owned at that age, but I've grown to appreciate this sort of thing and I still have this watch now, so.

On top of that I really like it because it has both analog and digital, so I can read time off the analog and set the digital at day/date display (I do forget these, you know). It also has stopwatch and alarm functions, though the alarm has gone mute a long time ago.

The appearance itself is very ordinary. The straps are black and made of plastic; the analog surface is white with golden hands and golden markings, no numbers. It's easy to tell time at a glance, and that's the way I like my watches. To me they are gadgets, like cell phones. They should be good looking, but in a simple, clean way, and practical first of all. (What a demanding fuss, you say.)

As I was saying, I've struggled a lot with this watch. The transparent plastic cover is scratched all over and has a small superglue stain where it once fell off. The straps are not the original ones -- those were broken and I had them replaced. The buttons have gotten a bit stuck. Just a few months ago it hit a pavement (along with me =P) and the joint (don't know how to call it actually) broke. Superglue didn't quite work so I used a thin wire to hold the body and the strap together and then tried to cover the ugliness with black cloth tape. Fufufu.

Then the analog hands got stuck, so I, with a little misguided confidence that "what I can dismantle I can put together", pried it open to fix it. They were un-stuck all right, but I might have messed up the power connection because now they don't tick. >_< So I settle with reading the time from the digital display, which is still working fine.

When I went home for my friend's wedding, I asked my father if he could take it to a shop to get the analog fixed. While I thought surely some shop could do it, I doubted they would, because the watch was already so old. Anyway, during the time I was home (where the watch was bought, by the way) I spent my time running here and there for the wedding preparation, and without my knowing my father went and bought a new watch for me. Woh.

Now of course that gives my new watch a great sentimental value too. It also looks much nicer, obviously, silver and marble pink and sparkling new and a much more artistic design. The thing is, it has only analog, none of the features that my old one has, and is more difficult to read. So at first I wear it only for casual occasions and still wear my old watch to work and class.

Then yesterday my D.I.Y. connecting wire broke, for the second time actually, so I thought it might be time to finally let go. =P Well, I'm still not throwing it away (there are very few things I would throw away, in fact), so who knows, it may get revived again one day. 6_6

Trying to get used to my new watch now. Well, for the short time I've gotten hold of it I've already gone D.I.Y. on this one too, shortening the straps (it's some metal now, the 'chain-link' model instead of the old 'belt' model) by myself, breaking and gluing back two joints in the process. =P

Am still having little regrets for the old one, though. Today as I saw the clock in the classroom I thought it was a really nice clock. Clean white background, shiny black hands, black numbers, slick font too -- easy to read and easy on the eyes. We should have more straightforward beauties like that.

Just my thought, anyway.

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(8) Currently learning:

李聖杰 - 痴心絕對
张卫健/周华健 - 感动
许慧欣 - 幸福的味道