G-Shock

I was annoyed yesterday when I noticed that my G-Shock was running almost a minute fast -- until I remembered that it hadn't been set since early May 2020. 1 minute fast over 10 1/2 months comes out to less than 6 seconds fast per month. Not too shabby. The official specification is within plus to minus 15 seconds a month.

My G-Shock DW9052-1ccg looks like this:

I think the -1ccg suffix refers to it being all-butch black. But I'm not completely sure about that. There are a huge number of G-Shock models, and I'm still new at this. In any case, a DW9052 is a G-Shock which has that same basic configuration, and DW9052's come in a lot of different colors, as well as black with many different colors of accents, besides all-butch black. 

Casio, as far as I know, does not refer to this color scheme as "all-butch black." I made that phrase up to make fun of myself and a lot of other people. 

Besides keeping track of hours, minutes and seconds (in your choice of 12-hour AM/PM or the all-butch 24-hour format which I naturally prefer), day of the week, month and day and year (on a separate screen because there's only so much room and you probably know what year it is), my DW9052 features

-- an alarm, and a chime which sounds every hour on the hour, which I finally figured out how to to turn off yesterday. There are watch aficionados who prize alarms and hourly, or even minutely chimes very highly, and pay huge amounts for mechanical watches which sound them. The charm is so far lost on me. But, mind open must be amen.

-- Countdown timer; input range: 1 minute to 24 hours; measuring unit: 1 second; auto-repeat function,
1/100 second stopwatch; measuring capacity: 23:59'59.99"; measuring unit: 1/100 second (for the first 60 minutes). No, I do not understand what all of that is. I do know that it's a pretty fancy timer and stopwatch.

-- Everything on the dial lights up into nice bright lume when you push the big button marked "G."

Casio has sold over 100 million G-Shocks since 1983. They say that its designer, when a small boy, was given a watch by his father, which he cherished until one day he dropped it, it shattered into many pieces, and he vowed to devote his life to designing a watch which was indestructible. This story strikes me as being very -- Japanese. Perhaps it is also perfectly true, how would I know. 

I still don't know for sure what sort of battery my G-Shock will eventually need. I could screw off the back and look and see, but I'm not going to do that. Not today.

The thing which makes G-Shocks G-Shocks is toughness. They have been hit with hockey sticks like hockey pucks, thrown off of the tops of tall building onto concrete sidewalks, intentionally run over by huge trucks, and come out undamaged. There may be tougher watches than G-Shocks, but I sort of doubt it. In any case, their toughness is legendary.

From the basic all-butch black plastic-and-rubber battery-powered models with their digital readouts, G-Shocks have expanded into a variety of colors and functions, many with analog displays instead of or in addition to digital, some powered by light or radio waves instead of or in addition to batteries. Some are now smartwatches. Some are covered by metal instead of plastic and rubber -- sacrificing some durability, I would imagine. They run from around $40 to four figures, maybe higher in some rare cases.

I  honestly never wanted any of them besides my all-butch black DW9052-1ccg until the day before yesterday. I was set. I was perfectly content in the G-Shock department. 

And then I saw the GM-110RB-2A (Also known as The Rainbow) in a video:

-- O sweet Richard Mille! 

But apparently 500 people felt similarly before I did and it was a limited edition of 500 and it sold out very quickly, months before I knew it existed. I'm trying to make myself want it less by telling myself the truth: that those gold-colored parts on the sides are metal, not shock-resisting rubber, as I had assumed when first seeing it in the video. That's helping a little bit. Transluscent gold rubber would've been even better. And more durable, as one braved the deepest techno raves of California. Tell me I'm wrong. 

Look how beautiful. MSRP $280. All gone. And now I'll be searching the newest G-Shock releases and reading the G-Shock news. Waiting for them to do it again.

Mysterious Sexuality

The only Franciscan friar I've known at all well personally told me very soon after we first met that he was gay. This was back in the 20th century. The way he said it gave me the impression that he was not at all uncomfortable with his orientation. In fact, he seemed so comfortable with it that I wondered whether he was sexually active. In fact, I have always wondered whether he was coming on to me.

I'm autistic. Because of this, I often have a very difficult time "reading" people. In some cases, I thought someone was sexually attracted to me, but they weren't. In other cases, after having known someone for a while I found out, to my great surprise, not having seen it at all and having assumed the opposite, that they were attracted to me. And then there are many other people in whose cases I haven't been able to tell, such as this young, very intelligent and personable friar. 

After a while, it became more difficult for me to see him. He just never seemed to be around when I visited the church, which was very disappointing to me, because I had greatly enjoyed our talks about history, philosophy, the arts and so forth. We both had more than a touch of what I once thought Saul Bellow had called the "Western civilization syndrome," although by now I think Bellow must have worded it differently, or I would have been able to find it via Google. And for decades I've wondered his disappearance had anything to do with sex. Of course, it may be that he really had suddenly become very busy, or that I coincidentally dropped by at the wrong time. 

But I've wondered: was he only friendly with me at first because he wanted to have sex with me, and then became unavailable for chats when it became clear that it wasn't going to happen? Or was he chaste in accordance with his vows, and stopped seeing me because he saw me as a temptation, because it wasn't clear to him that nothing was going to happen? Or were sexuality and orientations no part of the reason why he disappeared? Maybe he simply had been wasting too much of his time having long, interesting, Western-Civilization-themed discussions with me, which had been distracting him from an already crowded schedule of duties?

I've known people for decades, men and women, wondering the entire time whether they were uncomfortable with me because of something to do with sexuality, being afraid that there was no way to bring up the topic without making things much worse. 

Does this also happen frequently to neurologically-typical people? 

Am I correct in thinking that non-verbal communication plays a very frequent role in human sexuality, or is this just one more on the long, long list of things I have wrong?

Another question occurs to me: am I wrong in assuming that neurologically-typical people have an easier time "reading" each other on the subject of sex? But it is very hard for me to really believe that sexuality is as confusing to most people as it is to me. Confusing, often? Probably. But not as confusing, as often, as with me, or, surely, our species would have died out long ago from pure awkwardness.

Open Letter to the Urban Gentry

You recently gave some advice about dress watches on your You Tube channel and I'm confused: a Richard Mille is wrong because "it draws attention to itself," but the most intense 5,000,000,000-watt design by Swatch is very, very right because it "catches the eye and can be a great conversation starter"? Is it a matter of price: eye-catching and inexpensive is fine, but if it's expensive, please tone it down? I realize too that Richard Milles are sometimes also quite large, but I feel as if there's more going on here than size. Full disclosure: I haven't yet seen a Richard Mille irl, maybe if I did I'd instantly understand what upsets so many of you about them. (Ditto for Hublot.) 

   

 

 

More full disclosure: I'm 6'3" and have big wrists, situated between big arms and big hands, and maybe I'm just a tiny bit defensive about remarks about big watches. Okay -- there's no maybe about it, and it's more than just a tiny bit. For some people, clearly, in some situations 40mm is starting to risk being a bit too big, but just remember: for other people, in some situations 40mm can sometimes be a bit small.  

I myself am quite daring in my fashion choices: for example, I like to compliment a tux not only with a huge shiny Seiko diver, but also with a scuba mask, oxygen tank and flippers. If the host's or hostesses' feelings are hurt by the thought that I might leap into the ocean at any moment and swim away 10 meters below the surface, well then, maybe he or she shouldn't have invited me to begin with! Not everyone fits at every kind of party, I quite agree.

Nichts zu sagen

Der haeufig zu lesen und hoeren deutsche Satz "Nun" sagt, wenn ich nichts verpasst habe, nichts.

Auch der sehr populaere Satz "Nun mal." 

Aber man kann noch von von des Lesers oder Hoerers Zeit und Energie verschwenden -- kann, und tut es auch sehr oft, zB mit dem nichtssagenden "Aber nun mal." 

Weiter: "Verdammt, aber nun mal," "Aber nun verdammt mal" und "Aber nun mal, verdammt!"

Ich faende es schoener, falls man nichts zu sagen haette, wenn man nichts sagte. Und zwar ohne Worte. Und um Gottes Willen nicht mit den Worten "Ohne Worte."

Versucht, bitte, nichts zu sagen, bis dass Ihr etwas zu sagen habt. Das bisherige nichtssagende Sprachzeit koenntet Ihr mit Denken verwenden, ueber, zB, etwassagenden Aussagungen.

Nun mal verdammt aber.

A Place of Enchantment?

 Observe the photo. The combination of masks and attire strongly suggests St Patrick's Day 2021.

See the man near the front, wearing a black T-shirt and performing a facepalm. Then the woman second to the right from him, with two necklaces or cords around her neck and a white sweater over a green shirt. Then, further to the right and further away from the camera, a woman wearing blue jeans and a black jacket. And finally, just to her left and further away, a tall thin man with his mask pulled down from his face, looking in the direction of the camera, with tattoos on his left arm, wearing a black-and-white cap. 

!!?? Huh?! Do you see it too?! 

Those four people have four of the five wrists I can see in this picture, and on each wrist is a watch!

Actually, actually -- hold the phone -- if we go back behind the tall guy with the black-and-white cap and tats, behind him and to the right, there's a couple, a woman wearing a black top and blue jeans and a man wearing a green sweatshirt or long-sleeved T-shirt and black pants. The woman is holding a white shopping bad and they're both looking down at it. Looks like the man might have a watch on his left wrist and the woman a watch on her right wrist -- a lefty, maybe.

What IS this wonderful place, a St Patrick's Day 2021 horological convention? (Horology is things related to time and timekeeping and especially to watches.)

Maybe it's just a bunch of yuppies wearing Apple Watches. I wouldn't find that interesting at all. I don't get out much.

Or Are They All Just Trolls?

Typical comments absolutely everywhere EV's are discussed: "Range, range, range, range, this Honda E looks nice and all, but I live in the Yukon 500 miles from the nearest electrical outlet." Then get a Tesla or a Lucid. "Space, space, space, I have to transport 500 kg of moose feed every day (living in the Yukon as I do)." Then get an SUV. 

 

It's amazing, the number of people commenting on EV's who live in the Yukon, know what I mean? Only about 35,000 people live in the Yukon, and still, somehow, they seem to make up 70-90% of the prospective EV buyers in the world, to judge from the number of people commenting about the Honda E and complaining about its lack of range. You know what, I bet a lot of them are also concerned about what we'll do with all of those EV batteries when they're worn out and all of those poor birds being killed by the wind turbines.

Electric Crossovers and Trucks are Coming to the US, But Smaller, Bestselling EV's Aren't Being Brought Here

If you keep up with the news about EV's, you will perceive a lot of of excitement in the US right now about electric SUV's, crossovers, trucks and big sedans. The Mustang Mach-E, which despite its name is not a Mustang, but a crossover, has been selling very well. The Hyundai Ioniq 5, another crossover, is coming soon, as are big fast sedans from Lucid, Polestar and Audi, and trucks from Rivian and Tesla and Bollinger, as well as newer versions of great big huge EV's which have already been on sale in the US for a while. And a report from some alleged geniuses says that VW "could" eventually compete with Tesla in the EV market. The VW id.4, a crossover, will go on sale in the US very soon, if it hasn't already.

In Europe, the best-selling EV right now is the VW id.3, a hatchback a bit smaller then the id.4, which hit the market last year. 2nd place: the Renault Zoe, which has been around for years and sold a huge number of units, over 250,000 and counting fast, 4th all-time among EV's after the Tesla Model 3, the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model S.. 

Neither the id.3 nor the Zoe is on sale in the US. 

And European reviewers are very excited about many other smallish EV's, such as the Honda E, which also are not for sale in in the US. The best-selling EV in China is the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV -- not on sale in the US.

"They" say that we Americans love SUV's, crossovers and trucks. But it's sort of hard for us to make the case that we would often prefer smaller cars when it's literally impossible for us to buy them.

 

Jeepers, why were almost 4 times as many EV's sold in Europe last year as in the US? It's a complete and stupefying mystery! The number sold in China was almost identical to Europe. Europe just barely won.

 

I'm old enough to remember the 1960's and 70's, when the US market was full of muscle cars, station wagons and huge sluggish sedans. Not very exciting machines, but the manufacturers made huge profits per vehicle. What's going on right now in the US EV market feels very familiar, unfortunately. Except that in this case it's doubly stupid, of course, because EV's are supposedly about efficiency.

The Cute EV of the Month Award goes to the Citroen Ami. This time it wasn't even close.

 

This French 2-seater is technically not even  a car, at least not according to French laws. 14-year-olds can legally drive it. The exterior is entirely made of plastic. The Ami doesn't have any of the sound insulation found in conventional automobiles, so you hear the very small electrical motor whizzing away as you drive. It doesn't seem to be able to top 30mph, except maybe downhill. Don't quote me on the downhill over-30mph, I'm not entirely sure about it. So far it's only available in France. Despite the total lack of anything even remotely resembling frills, British reviewers are going, please please please, Citroen, bring it to the UK, and Citroen is saying, Okay, maybe, we'll see, which makes the British reviewers hop around with glee.

What about in the US? Haha. Ahhhh, haaaa-hahahaaaa, haahaa, haha!  

No, as far as I know, there are no immediate plans to bring the Citroen Ami to the US.

I've got a great idea for a commercial for the Citroen Ami. "Ami" is French for "friend." In the commercial, someone is walking along the sidewalk, while an Ami rolls along silently in the street just behind him. There's no-one behind the steering wheel. He turns around and the Ami stops. He starts walking again and the Ami starts rolling along behind him again. He turns around again and looks at the Ami for a longer period of time. Then the Ami says, in a voice like ET: "Friend."