Cranky Ken

I own seven watches. You might assume I wear a different one each day of the week but it’s more complicated than that. You see, depending on what I am  doing and where I am going, there is an “appropriate” and an “inappropriate” watch. Over the course of a day, I may wear three different watches. My wife, who gave me the idea for this blog post, likes to tease me about this. She, like most people, has just a couple of watches and doesn’t mix things up much. I used to be like that a LONG time ago but now I know better.

My collection of watches varies in age from 60 years old to 5 months, with an average age of 24. Watches, especially good ones, last a LONG time if you take care of them. Each watch has its own purpose and story. The photo shows my seven watches, arranged from youngest to oldest with the newest one being #1. Now it’s time (no pun intended) to tell you about each one, starting with watch #1.

1. This  Seiko 5 automatic (self-winding, 21 jewels) is my newest watch and has to be worn to keep it running. I like the idea of getting away from the battery operated quartz watches and going back to the type of watch that used to be common when I was young. I use this watch around the house and going to the store.

2. This Casio digital is the most inexpensive one I own. I use it only when I’m kayaking or doing some rough, dirty jobs like cutting the lawn. If something happens to it , no big deal. It is water-resistant which I put to the test when I fall out of my kayak occasionally! I might add that my wife thinks this is quite funny when it happens. I think digital watches should be worn in only very casual settings – like falling out of kayaks.

3. This Tissot quartz watch was a gift from my wife for our tenth anniversary. I like this watch because it’s a mix between sporty and dressy with its titanium case and band that is accented with gold tone features. I like to wear it to the office and sometimes when I go out for the evening. Because it’s all titanium it’s very light and comfortable. It’s also very water proof.

4. This Tourneau dress watch was a gift from my future wife for our first Christmas together. I love this watch because it is so simple and elegant with its clean dial which has Roman numerals marking the hours. I wear this watch to church, out to dinner or to the office. This is the watch to wear if I have a suit and tie on. It’s also very thin and light and I don’t even know it’s on my wrist.

5. This Seiko Sports 100 was my treat when I got my first job out of college. It was one of Seiko’s first quartz sport watches and is very tough and heavy. I wore it everywhere for many years but now just wear it mostly when I go out to lunch with my mother-in-law on weekends. She thinks this is pretty funny.

6. This 17 jewel manual wind diver’s watch was what I wore in high school and college. I ordered it directly from Switzerland from an advertisement in the back of a Popular Science magazine. It’s been through lots of hard use but still runs fine. Now I wind it up and wear it infrequently just to remind me of my younger years.

7. This gold filled Benrus dress watch was my dad’s. I think he got it from his mom about 1950. This style was very popular then and I like wearing it once in a while because it’s so different. Plus it reminds me of my dad.

I find owning seven watches just about right. With a little thought, I can manage to wear each one of them and have some fun doing so. There are some people who are serious watch collectors with 20, 30, or even 50 of them! I MAY add one more watch to my small collection some day. A nice Swiss automatic (self-winding) might be a great final touch.  How many watches do you own? Do any of them have interesting stories? I’d love to hear about them!

Have you noticed that many of the cars on the roads these days have REALLY bright headlights. I mean they are so bright they blind you as they pass by, especially on narrow roads. After doing some research, it appears that these really bright lights have  many other drivers concerned too, especially  older (50+) drivers. As I’m being blinded by these bright headlights, I question if they are even legal. Most of the time they are but sometimes they are not. The lights that look bright white with a blueish tinge are the new High Intensity Discharge lights (HID) and are finding their way on more and more car brands. They are much brighter than the halogen lights that are in most other cars. If these HID lights are not properly aligned, then they can aim right in your eyes and blind you. Besides the HID lights, car manufacturers are installing another type of extra bright headlight using  LED technology. These headlights are also much brighter than the old-fashioned halogen lights but are perfectly legal. Both HID and LED headlights are going to be installed on more and more cars so the problem is only going to get worse.

Unfortunately, it’s also possible to install extra bright headlights that are not legal for street use. You can easily find these lights for sale on the Internet with the caution that they are only for “off-road” driving. But people ignore this and install them in their cars and trucks anyway. Why don’t the police give tickets to drivers using these illegal lights you ask?  It’s really impossible for the police to tell what is legal and what is not without some sophisticated testing equipment so don’t count on them to weed out the “bad guys”.

Recently the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked for public comments on these extra bright lights. They were swamped by complaints! In fact the number of comments they received, mostly complaints, set a record. So there may be some hope in getting the standards governing headlights changed so these extra bright headlights are no longer used.

One thing that drivers can do to help is NOT always use your fog / driving lights when driving at night. These are the second set of lights that are mounted below the bumper, close to the road. Fog / driving lights are only to be used for driving in the fog or snow and not for every day use. By not using these extra lights you will be giving the other drivers a break.

Personally, I’d like to see these new extra bright headlights scaled back and not be so bright. I hope that enough people complain about them so the federal government realizes these headlights are creating safety issues by blinding other drivers. What do you think about these extra bright headlights?

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons / Flickr

It’s that time of year when folks make some resolutions for the New Year.  I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions but I thought that this year it might be good for Cranky Ken to make a few.  Believe it or not, even Cranky Ken has a few areas where he can make some improvements!  So here it goes, my resolutions for 2012.

Be more patient and understanding. I didn’t think I needed to make this resolution but Mrs. Cranky Ken informs me otherwise. So I’ll try to be more patient in 2012. I know for me it’s easier to be more patient and understanding when my belly is full so I may be eating more to accomplish my goal. Let’s just hope that next year my number one resolution is not to lose some weight.

Be more consistent with my exercise. Cranky Ken enjoys kayaking and hiking but also enjoys eating deli sandwiches and Dairy Queen Blizzards afterwards. I know that the Blizzards are not going to stop but at least I can take more walks on the days when we don’t go hiking or kayaking. But recently my walks have taken me into town where there have been  some stops at Dunkin Donuts and sandwich shops so I have some kinks to work out of my new exercise plan.

Eat Healthier. Mrs. Cranky Ken reminds me that I don’t eat enough fruit so I’m going to buy more and keep it in the refrigerator. Once in a while I may even eat some.

Read one book a week. I recently started reading again and enjoy it a lot. I now watch less television but I still follow Real Housewives of Orange County to keep my mind sharp. I should be able to read a book a week as long as they don’t add another Real Housewives series.

Train the chipmunk in the rear yard to eat out of my hand. We’ve been feeding the chipmunks in our yard for several years and have made some serious furry friends as a result. I’ve seen YouTube videos showing chipmunks eating out of people’s hands so I think we have to teach our little friends to do that. If they do, I’ll put the video on YouTube to show I’ve achieved my resolution.

So those are my resolutions for 2012. I’ll have to post a blog at the end of the year to let you know how I did. What resolutions are you making this year? I’d enjoy hearing about them!

The Christmas tree is all decorated and the house is decked out for the holidays. The airwaves are filled with holiday ads trying to persuade you to buy that special someone a gold bracelet from Jared’s  or even a Lexus with a big red bow! But with each passing year I find myself focusing less on material things and more on the gifts that will never be found under the tree. These are the gifts that truly make us happy and come to us throughout the entire year. Don’t get me wrong. I love to receive Christmas gifts and give them to others. But for the most part I have just about everything I need and my list for Santa is a short one. What I want most of all is the good health and time to enjoy the things I already have.

For me good health is the most important gift that will never be found under the tree.  If you are blessed with good health, don’t take it for granted.  Scientific research increasingly is showing that good health is not always pure luck but the result of how we chose to live our lives. Exercise (both physical and mental) and diet make a big difference in our health and quality of life.  Much has already been written on healthy life styles so there is no need to go into more detail here. My point is to work on the things you can to ensure good health and give thanks when you achieve it.

Another gift for me that is not found under the tree is simply a sunny day.  Yes, I know that rain is needed to keep things growing but nothing cheers me up like a beautiful sunny day. I have even coined a phrase for sunshine. I call it “Prozac from heaven”! Sunshine will make any occasion more enjoyable and special. We love to kayak and hike and the sunshine has created some very memorable experiences as it filters through the trees or reflects off of the water.

One more gift for me this year was to be able to get together at a couple of special occasions, an 85th birthday party and a wedding,  with family members I had not seen in a long time. Like many families, many of us have moved far away from home and we don’t see each other nearly as much as we’d like to.  So to have the “stars align” and allow us to get together at a happy occasion was really special.  The morning after the wedding many of us gathered in the hotel breakfast room and continued to catch up.  It was wonderful to be back together again!

I could write about many more of these special gifts but I’m sure you get the idea. The nice part is you don’t need a holiday for them to appear – they happen every single day. As this year draws to a close, my wish is that your life be filled with special gifts that will never appear under the tree!

Photo courtesey of  Creative Commons / Flickr