2D8HP's extended mea culpa and Random Banter #218

[enderlord99]

What about carrying an actual pocketwatch on your belt?

Partly because I don't generally wear a belt, and partly because I have trouble reading analog clocks (and the rare digital pocketwatch cost more than a phone, which, as mentioned, I can't afford.)

Gettign a watch isn't really a priority anway.

[Qwertystop]

A pocketwatch is roughly as inconvenient for time-telling as a phone. A wristwatch is marginally more convenient. Pocketwatches also stand out more.

[WarKitty]

I am unsure if people are taking me seriously or not.

If you are, I think it's freaking me out.

That or I'm functioning on little sleep and have been trying to calm down a very stressed cat.

[LaZodiac]

Good to see you again, enderlord99! I appreciate the alert - my signature is very much outdated and needs updating.

Hey, LaZodiac! Glad to hear from you, too. No worries about acknowledging me, and my apologies for failing to say hello to you and the other Random Banter members that I know. You have my condolences and sympathies regarding your situation with your mother. It must've been extremely hard to give up your life savings, and that you did so for the good of someone else speaks volumes about your moral character.

Ah, that's real. I definitely struggle with the same problems that you do, and I can empathize especially with the lack of free time. I didn't know you never graduated, though! You're working on a computer engineering degree, right?

Glad you're doing well TaiLiu.

Also you heard it here first folks. LaZodiac is Good, actually.

[Peelee]

What about carrying an actual pocketwatch on your belt?

We can't carry pocketwatches like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

[AuthorGirl]

I am unsure if people are taking me seriously or not.

If you are, I think it's freaking me out.

That or I'm functioning on little sleep and have been trying to calm down a very stressed cat.

I assume you were joking, but your non-serious advice is still something I'd follow.

As for the rest . . . Internet hugs?

[Algeh]

I'm a fan of watches that clip onto a lanyard, myself. Haven't found a new one in a while, though. I used to have a nice metal ladybug one and it's probably on one of my old convention badges somewhere because I can't find it and it wasn't on any of my work lanyards. It's probably on a badge that's buried in a piece of luggage I don't use much.

(I don't like getting a cell phone out to tell time while teaching since I ask the kids not to have their phones out. Back when I was substitute teaching, it wasn't predictable that there would be a clock in whatever classroom I was in that day, so having a watch of some kind was important so I'd know where we were in the class period. I don't like to wear bracelets or watches on my arms, so I'd wear a clip watch on my id badge lanyard instead. I bought a necklace/locket watch at a different convention later, but it needs a new battery and I haven't gotten around to that recently. It's less important now that I have an ongoing job with reasonable access to clocks.)

[Thufir]

A pocketwatch is roughly as inconvenient for time-telling as a phone. A wristwatch is marginally more convenient. Pocketwatches also stand out more.

Pocketwatches look classier though.

[Peelee]

Pocketwatches look classier though.

Eh, they can if they go well with the rest of the outfit. And then you have to hit the target of "still looks good with a pocketwatch while not looking like a hipster who yearns for the 1880s." Which is clearly a very specific niche that I see all the time and am not just pulling out as an example to underscore my point, nope, not at all.

[Thufir]

And then you have to hit the target of "still looks good with a pocketwatch while not looking like a hipster who yearns for the 1880s."

I don't think that's necessarily too difficult to hit, but I also don't see the objection to looking like a hipster who yearns for the 1880s. The 1880s were well dressed.

[WarKitty]

I assume you were joking, but your non-serious advice is still something I'd follow.

As for the rest . . . Internet hugs?

I was, mostly, but on the other hand I am rather known for having a very eclectic sense of style - one where an ornate pocketwatch on a decorative belt would fit right in. (And I'm not nearly dumb enough to yearn for the 1880's, I read history.)

Cat's calmed down now. They had to put her under for some dental work and she woke up extremely frightened. She has to be confined for 24h because she's very loopy and could easily fall and hurt herself. I was trying to confine her in the bathroom but then she jumped up to the sink and almost fell off.

[Peelee]

I don't think that's necessarily too difficult to hit, but I also don't see the objection to looking like a hipster who yearns for the 1880s. The 1880s were well dressed.

And very stylistically different. A man in a long-tailed suit with top hat and Ambrose Burnside-style sideburns would look notably out of place in, well, most places.

[2D8HP]

What about carrying an actual pocketwatch on your belt?

When I worked construction some of my older co-workers did that, especially the welders, using custom made leather holders, as wristwatches got in the way or broke from the heat.

[factotum]

I wonder why nobody's ever made a flip mobile phone that looks like a pocketwatch from the outside? OK, there's probably only about three people who'd buy one...

[Peelee]

I wonder why nobody's ever made a flip mobile phone that looks like a pocketwatch from the outside? OK, there's probably only about three people who'd buy one...

Well, it wouldn't be shaped like a normal phone, since it'd be circular right off the bat. Also smaller than most phones, going to do the aforementioned Corner Gas standards. It'd probably be awkward to hold like that when trying to talk. The button layout would need to be pretty creative, and have either a lot of wasted space or grossly mis-sized buttons.

I think the three people who'd buy it are farther behind the concerns than those. I don't make phones, though, so I could be totally wrong on that.

[Thufir]

And very stylistically different. A man in a long-tailed suit with top hat and Ambrose Burnside-style sideburns would look notably out of place in, well, most places.

Again, I don't really see the problem. What's so bad about looking out of place?

[Peelee]

Again, I don't really see the problem. What's so bad about looking out of place?

Hey, you wanna dress like that, more power to you.

[WarKitty]

Hey, you wanna dress like that, more power to you.

I have been told I generally look like I could come off the set of the addams family.

[Peelee]

I have been told I generally look like I could come off the set of the addams family.

I hear tell Cousin Itt was just a really, really longhaired cat.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Are there any digital wristwatches with faces rotated such that, if an analog wristwatch were rotated the same way, 12 would be toward the hand and 6 toward the elbow?

Have you tried searching for rotatable watch faces?

The first result on google is unfortunately an app for one of those modern "smart watches", and the rest are not digital watches but it might be an avenue to explore.

Grey Wolf

[Teddy]

I have a close acquaintance who doesn't wear clothes made after 1900. He looks like a classic gentleman. Eye-catching, sure, but not nearly as out of place as one would think. He simply looks like someone dressed up in public, just all the time.

Ah, that's real. I definitely struggle with the same problems that you do, and I can empathize especially with the lack of free time. I didn't know you never graduated, though! You're working on a computer engineering degree, right?

The type of degree I am/was working toward is a "civil engineering" degree (in Information Technology, so software engineering), which is a bit of a unique concept to Swedish higher level education. It's a five year degree which pretty much corresponds to a Master (it differs mostly in that it has some focus on making you more of a generalist in the disciplines of engineering), but in order to get your degree, you need to do the "examination job" (we call it the "exjobb"). The exjobb is half a year long and full time, it's either done for a research team at the University, or more commonly some company, and it's meant to answer some not completely trivial scientific question of sorts. The exjobb is examinated via a half-an-hour presentation including opposition, and a report, usually around 50 pages long.

I was stumped on some roadblocks along the way with my exjobb, making it hard to put something together that could answer a scientific question. This in turn made writing the report both hard and ungratifying, and everything petered out in the sand when I got employed.

[Peelee]

I have a close acquaintance who doesn't wear clothes made after 1900. He looks like a classic gentleman. Eye-catching, sure, but not nearly as out of place as one would think. He simply looks like someone dressed up in public, just all the time.

I'd imagine the shoes, socks, and underwear would be the hardest to get. And even the shirts, pants, and jackets sound like they would be pricy to get and maintain.

[Teddy]

I'd imagine the shoes, socks, and underwear would be the hardest to get. And even the shirts, pants, and jackets sound like they would be pricy to get and maintain.

It's become harder, I've understood, as the number of people who are children of people who bought these clothes first-hand is dwindling. Estate auctions and second-hand stores are the best bet for finding these types of clothes cheap, and people may have saved their parents clothes, but the grandchildren may feel less attached and more cramped on space, and thus willing to let it be sold off.

[enderlord99]

I just gotashot, and now my arm hurts as a result.

[2D8HP]

Again, I don't really see the problem. What's so bad about looking out of place?

It attracts the attention of beggars and thugs, even just wearing a "dress" shirt and suit does.

[LaZodiac]

I just gotashot, and now my arm hurts as a result.

It's always good to get a vaccination Enderlord. Chin up.

Also **** my life is making me so tired.

[enderlord99]

It's always good to get a vaccination Enderlord. Chin up.

I understand that it was semi-necessary, and it didn't even hurt particularly much; I just wanted to freak people out by making them briefly think it was a bullet.

[rooster707]

I understand that it was semi-necessary, and it didn't even hurt particularly much; I just wanted to freak people out by making them briefly think it was a bullet.

Yes, yes, you’re very clever. We get it.

[Peelee]

I understand that it was semi-necessary, and it didn't even hurt particularly much; I just wanted to freak people out by making them briefly think it was a bullet.

A lot of people gripe about how unrealistically Hollywood portrays guns. And don't get me wrong, they do, and in all those ways people complain about. But man, you never hear about the noise. Guns are LOUD. Very, very loud. Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon can front all they want, ain't nobody going to an indoor range without their ears on. At least, not after the first shot.

Also the bullet would probably hurt a lot too.

ETA: nevermind about Lethal Weapon, Riggs and Murtaugh both have eye and ear protection. All glory to Shane Black, the brightest star in Hollywood.

[enderlord99]

Also the bullet would probably hurt a lot too.

Well, yes. The shot — whether the real one with a needle or the imaginary one with a bullet — did indeed hurt, at least hypothetically. I said as much; they both were and/or would-have-been in my arm. The left one, specifically.