Sears Diver and SKMEI-More Watches

 Sears Diver and SKMEI

Like many people in my age bracket, the Sears catalogue was a big deal, especially during the Christmas Holidays, when my parents would let my sister and me look through and choose our presents.

In 7th or 8th grade, I thought it was time to upgrade my Harlem Globetrotter watch, though I did keep it as my ‘dress watch,’ and I picked out a dive watch from the Sears catalogue. I’ve liked dive style watches ever since, and own several variations on them now. 

I’m not sure where that dive watch ended up-I don’t know if I threw it away, which would seem odd since I think I have every other watch I’ve ever owned still, but I certainly beat the crap out of it in high school. I remember making a bet with someone in class that I could drop it on it’s face, and it would keep running. I did, cracked the crystal, but put it on and it kept on running.

For the last few years, I’ve kind of kept an eye out for a Sears dive watch. Sears actually made quality items, usually contracting with major manufactures for their goods. My family had Sears bicycles, Sears Pong games, Sears radios, Sears clothes, Sears auto parts and Sears tools. The big Sears store in East LA was a favorite shopping destination in grade school. Several major watch makers, both American and Swiss, made Sears watches over the years.

I found this skindiver on eBay for about $100. They do seem to be more and more

expensive these days. My guess is the early 70s, and the internet says that the movement was contracted out to one of the many Swiss watchmakers of the day. Interestingly, unlike most of the Sears skindivers I've seen on the internet, this is branded 'Sears' and not 'Tradition.' It's about 38mm, with a 19mm lug. It didn't have a band, which I wasn't to worked up about.

 

I wound it up as soon as I took it out of the envelope and let it run for a few days while waiting for a silicone watch band (Amazon, $10). It loses about three minutes every 24 hours, and I can’t figure out how to fast set the date, but after a quick scrub with some toothpaste and a toothbrush, it’s fine (and minty fresh)-a bit of nostalgia for my wrist.

 

 

Now, this other watch.

As I’ve mentioned before, I will buy watches off of AliExpress, and I have a hard limit of $100. The Pagani Design watch I’m wearing as I write this I bought as a beater last summer, and it really is a scratch resistant crystal-the watch still looks good.

If you type in Men’s Watch, all sorts of strange watches pop up, most with about zero appeal to me. This one caught my eye in my late night shopping, but not so much that I remembered that I actually bought it until it showed up a few weeks later. It was just under $20, and when I opened the package, it still looked pretty cool.

It’s a SKMEI, and the SKMEI page on AliExpress show a bunch of Casio and Freestyle digital knockoffs, all for around $10. This one is fun, a digital watch that shows sentences. The band is cheap leather but serviceable. The face is big and legible, and it’s though it’s a touch awkward on the arm, there are no sharp edges or things that make it uncomfortable.

You have to push the button on the side to show the time, so not terribly practical, but a fun time piece that if it works a year will be worth the $20 I spent.

Seiko/Cyma

 Seiko /Cyma Watches

Classic Seiko Vibe

It’s been a while since I’ve belonged to Watch Gang, so my watch acquisitions have slowed down some. But I still like them, and I’m still willing to buy new ones.

Plain box

I was watching some watch vlogger on Youtube, and they showed this Seiko SKX SRPJ47K1, and I thought it looked pretty cool. It was on the high end of what I’m willing to spend on a watch, but it seemed like one of those where I’d kick myself if I didn’t buy it and saw it on someone else. I like orange, I like skeleton watches, and I like dive style watches. So I googled it to find the best price, and ended up at Creation Watches.

Creation is a grey market seller that has good internet reviews. They had the watch for a price that I was willing to pay, so I gave it a try. (I just tried to find this watch on the Creation site now-it's not there anymore-definitely a buy now before they're gone kind of site).

The watch arrived after five days, in a Seiko box with tags. Interestingly, though most of the watch was wrapped in shrink wrap, the face was not. I inspected the watch closely and could not find anything wrong. I had to take out three links, but once I did, the watch fit easily on my wrist, without any sharp edges to speak of. I’ve been wearing it for about a week, and it keeps time properly and sits well on my wrist. At 42 mm, it’s a little bigger than I’d like, but not overwhelming by any means. The metal bracelet is well made, without any sharp edges.

On the whole, I’m happy with the watch and I’d be happy to buy from Creation Watches again.

I like the Vintage Vibe

I’ve bought one other watch in the last six months, from an antique shop in Dublin back in February. I’ve always got my eye open for a new watch, and though I was tempted to pull the trigger on one of the Omega x Swatch watches, which were all in stock at the Dublin Swatch Store, before I plunked my money down I saw this Cyma in an antique shop. I’m not much for gold, but I do like the look of these 50s era gold watches (the inscription on the back says “25th Aug. ’55”), especially when they have the dial within a dial second hand and a textured face. I asked the cost, and the old guy at the counter said 60 euros. I said 50, and we had a deal.

The Cyma brand still exists, now owned by a Hong Kong luxury jewelry corporation, but this one is

Engagement? Retirement? Who knows?

Swiss made. After coming home, I took a tooth brush and some tooth paste to it, and it cleaned up pretty good. I found a band on Aliexpress, and after putting it all together, it tells good time. I haven’t opened it up, and if it starts to get way off, I’ll take it to Lucky

Watches for servicing.

Hub Coffee Roasters, Reno NV

Hub Coffee Roasters, Reno NV

I brought this mug home. Don't tell anyone!

Trying to get out of the Peppermill, where I was in for a recent conference, I checked my phone to find the nearest coffee place, both to get some coffee and get some steps.

First, I went to Coffeebar, and really wanted to like it. They brew their beans on premises-I was at the Mt. Rose Street location, and the vibe was friendly. The girl at the counter was nice, and I was excited to try their coffee. Unfortunately, it was only lukewarm and had a bitter after taste. But the outdoor seating area was nice, and I liked the smell of roasting coffee.

The following day, I tried Hub. Hub also roasts it’s own coffee, and I had them mix their drip dark and light for me. The young woman who took my order asked if I was going to have my cup on the premises, and when I responded yes, she took the cup and warmed it with hot water (a great touch), and then poured my hot coffee.

Warming the cup first was a great detail, and this coffee was hot without the aftertaste. The Reno Experience District (RED) location is a nice space, too. It’s modern, with large windows and lots of polished concrete. They have a large upstairs area with ample comfortable seating as well as an outdoor area overlooking a new park.

For the record,  the coffee served at the hotel, at both Biscotti's and Café Espresso, was also good, and I'd say that it was better than Coffeebar but not as good as Hub. It was, however, more expensive than both.

View from the upstairs at Hub

Phillippe the Original

 

 

Fresh Coffee!

It’s 2025, and four bits isn’t really a lot of money. But $0.46 is enough to get you a cup of coffee from one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles. Phillippe the Original is the best place to go for a French Dip, invented here 100 years ago. The atmosphere of the place is timeless, and the food preparation is still handled the same way it was when I was a small boy, which is the same way it was done when my father was a small boy, too. There are still wooden phone booths lining the wall and sawdust on the floor.

The prices, though are not the same, and have gone up proportionally over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s a great value for the money, but it doesn’t cost what it used to-except for the coffee.

Grant it, my first memories of coffee at Phillippe’s was a nickel, the price it remained until 1977, when

Everyone seems to look at the phone booths

 

it jumped up to a dime. The dime held until 2012, when the price more than quadrupled to the current price of $0.46.

How is the coffee?

Actually, not too bad. It’s Gaviña, which is a brand that shows up in many restaurants, as well as Don Francisco and Cafe La Llave. It’s strong, with a smokey flavor and no bitter after taste. Certainly worth $0.46.

The coffee is a great value, but not the reason that people come to Phillippe’s. They come for the French dip. For the uninitiated, a French dip is a roast beef sandwich on a French roll that has been sliced and had the open face dipped in au jus. You can add cheese, and there’s house made spicy mustard at the table. That’s it. The roast beef is always lean and fresh, and still is prepared right in front of you by women who look like they’ve been there since Phillippe’s moved to this location in 1951. Phillippe’s will also make you a similar sandwich from pork, lamb, pastrami, turkey and ham, all dipped in their appropriate au jus. I’ve had the roast beef, pork and lamb, and they’ve all been good. (Interestingly, though I love pastrami, I don’t think I’ve had the pastrami here-I’m going to need to try it the next time I’m in the area).        

My usual.

Phillippe the Original is one of two places in Los Angeles that claim the creation of the French Dip, the other being Cole’s. Both have a great sandwich and claim to have created it in the same year, but I give the edge to Phillippe the Original. I like Phillippe’s Cole slaw and pickles, and my wife enjoys their potato salad. They also have a good cheesecake and carrot cake. Plus, it’s cheaper. Cole’s does have pretty good French fries, and a speakeasy in the back.

My family has been going to Phillippe’s for at least three generations (four if you include my children), and much has been written about it. It’s a great stop before or after Dodger games, or if you happen to be in Union Station.

 

Dog Poop Karma

 

Lovey

Growing up, I had a dog, Lovey, a chihuahua mix that my aunt gave me when my Mom nixed the idea of a German Shepard mix. My mother did not like pets particularly, though after a few years she would consent to rubbing Lovey’s belly with her foot.

I was probably around 7 or 8-Lovey lived until I was 21. She was a smart dog and queen of her backyard, stalking and bringing down birds, gophers and toads. She’d eat the toads by turning them over and going for their soft bellies, surprising my high school biology teacher, who said in class that dogs don’t eat toads or frogs because the poison sacks on their backs would make a dog sick.

My Dad trained Lovey to walk without a leash, and so we’d walk my Bell and later Downey neighborhoods every Sunday evening, and many other evenings as well. Lovey would walk to a corner and wait until I got there to cross the street. Her golden years were spent in the backyard (though my Mom did grow more fond of the dog, she was still never allowed inside), moving around the concrete and laying in the warmth of the sun. We’d walk in the evenings, and I must confess that the idea of picking up her poop on walks was completely foreign to me.

She passed when I was home for my first Winter break. We figure she was about 14. She was a great dog.

Part of my wife’s dowry was her dog Abby, a medium sized dog with German Shepard markings. Abby and I got along well, and I walked her regularly. My wife impressed the importance of picking up her poop on me, which (since I now had my own yard to take care of) I did. As Abby grew older, she did not get along well with small children-especially since my older daughter tried to ride her like a pony, and nipping at the children was not going to happen. We sent Abby to live out her last few years with my father and his wife, a situation that benefited all concerned, and we were dog-less for a few years.

Abby liked to run, and when Abby and I first lived together I was training for a marathon. I took her out for some three milers, and she was fine. Four miles was tough, and then I took her out for a five mile run. It was kind of hot, and at the four mile mark she laid down and refused to get back up again. I carried her back home. From that point on, whenever she saw me in running clothes she would hide. She was okay for walks, and apparently knew the difference in how I was dressed.

We got my son a dog, Shadow, which lived here in the backyard. He was a few years old when we

Shadow

adopted him, and he was king of the backyard, keeping away the field mice, raccoons, opossums and other things that now visit my yard regularly. He was an explorer, very interested in the goings on of the neighborhood at large, and would get out every few months. He was chipped and we’d get a call from someone somewhere here in town to come and get him. Shadow had things to see and do. When my son went off to college, I said that I’d walk Shadow every night except Fridays and Sundays. However Shadow couldn’t read a calendar, so every night at about 8, he would start knocking on the back door, especially if he saw me. I’d have to sneak around if I didn’t want to walk the dog. Shadow would generally lead our walks, though he was accommodating enough if there was something that I wanted to go see. It was the two of us out walking the night of the Thomas fire, and we hung in the backyard together while watching the hillside burn. My wife got another dog at about that time, a prissy indoor dog, and the two would play together in the mornings and afternoons.

When Shadow got older, he would still attempt an escape, but it was more for show. He'd go out in the front yard and look for me, waiting until I saw him. Then he'd look at me as if to say, "Hey Rick, I'm running now-why don't you come over here and catch me, and then we can both go back to the house for a biscuit." I'd walk toward him, and he'd make a show about running a few hundred feet and then wait for me. Then we'd walk home.

When we put Shadow down due his declining health, (we think he was about 14), I was totally happy without a dog, but my wife and daughters felt that I needed one, and got me Benji, a Springer Spaniel mix. I got Benji about a year before COVID, and during the shutdown, we walked all over Ventura, covering pretty much every street and alleyway within a five mile radius of my house. With Benji, I discovered that walking a mile and a half to the beach was hardly a walk, and we've tried every coffee house in town-I'll write about them all this summer, though I've mentioned a few (Copper Coffee Pot, Tatiana's, Simone's) already.

Benji

When Benji arrived, I felt that I needed to win back some karma points. As an adult, I’ve always cleaned up after my dogs, but with Benji, if he poops near some other dog poop, I just go ahead and pick it all up. It’s small in the scheme of things, and I’m not going around cleaning everyone’s yards. Most likely whatever lawn has the excess poop doesn’t know it’s even there, but somewhere I am balancing the scales of karmic dog poop-ness, and I feel a little better knowing that someone will not have to wake up to poop on their lawn.

Oasis-What's the Story Morning Glory?

Oasis-What’s the Story Morning Glory?

 

 

I really like Definitely Maybe, too, and went back and forth on which one to put here. The first two Oasis albums are a great 1-2 punch for Brit-Pop, and a couple of my favorite 90s albums.

In the mid-90s I was living in a small apartment in Pasadena, and I’d finally started making a little money. I decided that it was time to actually learn to play guitar, and so I went to Guitar Center and bought a Epiphone PR-5 cutaway from Korea, which I found to be bright and very playable. Then I headed to a small guitar shop, and hooked up with a teacher, who’d show me some basic blues riffs and scales, which I still use to warm up, and then I’d play a tape of a song that I wanted to play. He’d break it down for me and then write up the tabs, which I would then go home and practice.

I actually got fairly competent, and I could play from sheet music and follow along with other players.

It was the early days of the internet, and America Online had guitar chord forums, and from that I pulled Wonderwall. It’s a simple chord progression, capo on the second fret starting with an Em7, which sounds fancy until you finger the rest of the progression. I was playing it once in a guitar store, and a pretty girl came up and asked what it was, which was really nice. It meant that I was playing something that sounded like a song!

There are many things that I would like to say to you,
but I don’t know how,
except maybe
are you gonna be the one that saves me
and after all,
you’re my Wonderwall

Is something that I would have liked to have written, and the woman I might have written it to then just passed away last week. The video was visually interesting, too, shot in black and white (except for a colored guitar) with Liam singing in a dentist chair placed inside a warehouse and Noel holding a megaphone, singing the chorus in Liam’s ear.

But there are other songs that I really liked, too. Hello starts the album with phased/fuzzed power chords over a bed of acoustic guitars, She’s Electric (from a family full of eccentrics) shows the fighting Gallagher brothers had a sense of humor, and the epic power-ballad Champaign Supernova (where were you while we were getting high?), closes out the album with a touch on melancholy.

Actually, as I listen to the album playing now, melancholy seems to run through many of the songs, like Don’t Look Back in Anger or Cast No Shadow.

Back in the 90s, in spite of the dense sound filling my apartment, I felt like I could play every song on the album. I still feel that way now, making the whole thing relatable.

In  2014, a three disc reissue of the album was released, with remastered sounds, b-sides that I had collected back in the day, and some live performances. I picked it up on eMusic (in the early 00s eMu was a good place to find odds and ends. Not so much anymore) for the price of one disc, and it’s very good.

Tom Waits-Rain Dogs

 Tom Waits-Rain Dogs

When I was 14, I used to watch Fernwood 2Night, (and later, America 2Night). It was a fake talk show from the world of soap opera Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, that had a combination of real guests and guests from ‘Fernwood,’ the mythical town that the talk show was based. Martin Mull was the host, with legendary Fred Willard as his side kick, playing alter egos Barth Gimble and Jerry Hubbard.

Since I was only 14, most of the jokes flew over my head, but the ones I got were pretty funny. Tom Waits was a guest on the original Fernwood 2Night, and I couldn’t tell if he was for real. He sang The Piano has been drinking, not me, and it seemed like kind of a put on, and then his interaction with Mull and Willard was some sort of drunken ramble concerning a broken tour bus and borrowing 20 bucks. It was hysterically funny for a kid who was just leaving Dr. Demento behind and finding his way toward punk rock. I saw Waits as more of an actor, first, since he was a favorite of Francis Ford Coppola and showed up in several Coppola films-I remember him most from Cotton Club.

I picked up Rain Dogs sometime in the late 80s, and there was so much happening on the record that I was immediately attracted to it. I knew about Tom Waits, but really didn’t have any other exposure to his music until buying this album. The opener, Singapore, with it’s odd percussion and unusual word play (“making feet for children’s shoes,” “Wipe him down with gasoline/’til his arms are hard and mean”) pulled me in immediately, and set a tone for the album. It seemed to describe those seedy international port areas that may or may not exist in real life.
 

The other songs were equally dense, and faded one into the next. I could recognize Mark Ribot’s  stinging guitar lines (Keith Richards, G.E. Smith, Robert Quinne and Chris Spedding are in there too), but there wasn’t a rhythm guitar as such in the music. In fact, beyond the percussion and double bass, I’m not sure what instruments were carrying the songs, so it’s appeal was unusual to me and my usual guitar based musical taste. Most songs were difficult to sing along to as well, not because Waits is a great vocalist-distinctive but not great, but the song structures were unusual.
 

Jockey Full of Bourbon, with it’s “Two-dollar pistol but the gun won’t shoot,” seems like a scary place with a dangerous narrator, but the singer for Hang down your head for sorrow, hang down your head for me, may well be the same person looking at what he’s done. Time is a sad song, but I don’t quite understand what’s happening. I’ve always been attracted to the line, “Well she said she’d stick around until the bandages came off.”

Another gruff voiced singer, Rod Stewart, had a hit with Downtown Train, proving that Tom Waits songs can clean up nicely.

My favorite song on the album is the closer, Anywhere I Lay My Head, with what seems like a New Orleans marching band on the fade out. “Anywhere, anywhere I lay my head boys/ Well, I’m gonna call my home.”

I’ve bought several Waits albums over the years, and the Asylum records seem more conventional. It feels like Waits really became ‘Tom Waits’ when he moved to Island, with songs from those five albums feeling like they fit together well, as evidenced by the Beautiful Maladies compilation. His new work is also good (Tom Jones does a great cover of Bad as Me), and Diamond in Your Mind with the Kronos Quartet from Healing the Divide is excellent if you can find it.

Rain Dogs was recently remastered, and is playing in the background as I write this. The bass is very present, (which could be a function of the cheap speakers I have), and the individual percussion instruments seem to stand out more. The sound wasn't bad before, but this does sound a bit cleaner.