The Big V

So I got the Oris watch back again. It seems that it is completely cleaned and functional. For the few days I've had it, it has proven to be incredibly accurate... only a couple of seconds fast.

I got back my watch. They did a complete overhaul of the machinsm since it got moisture inside. However, I had to send it back again since they forgot to clean the water stain on the dial.

I went to my cousin's wedding in Holland a few weekends ago. It was a whirlwind trip: Fly from Dulles to Frankfurt overnight Thursday, another cousin picked me up and the whole family drove to Maastricht, Netherlands. The wedding (in Neercanne Castle -- the same place where the treaty forming the EU was signed) was Saturday afternoon followed by a very late night reception ending around 5am. Next morning, we all wake up and drive back to Frankfurt. Then on Monday afternoon I caught my return flight to Dulles.

Now, what does this all have to do with my watch? Well, over the weekend it looked like the crystal was smudged a lot, and wiping it clean didn't help. Then when waiting at the terminal in Frankfurt airport, I noticed that there was quite a bit of condensation inside the crystal. The funny thing is that about an hour into the flight, it was clear again. It seems that the slight rainstorm we had during the wedding was enough to make the watch wet on the inside.

I thought about taking it to the jewelers but then without the evidence on display I figured they'd just send me home so I didn't bother. A couple of weeks later it happened again. This time however, it was like a rainstorm on the inside of the watch. The drops of water were enormous! So I drove over to the jewelers to show them. As luck would have it, the power was out at the mall on their little strip. The shops on the other side of the hall were up and running, but this side and the street outside were dark. They closed the store due to security concerns, which is understandable. Unfortunately for me, the next day the watch cleared up again! So again I postponed my trip to show them.

Now, on June 17, I heard the watch rattling a bit. Upon closer inspection the side was starting to show a gap where the back of the case was attached. This was not a good sign... I took off the watch and there was one screw missing, and another that was about to fall out. I couldn't believe it! One bum watch was probably a fluke, but two watches suffering basically the same major flaw seems downright incompetent.

The watch has been at the store now for almost three weeks. I haven't heard yet what they're doing about it, and every time I call the watchmaker either out or on the phone with someone else. I'm almost afraid to hear what he's going to say considering how he accused me of dismantling the first watch. Stay tuned for the further saga of the Oris F1 watch.

The other day I saw on the local news a story about Christian Yoga. I'm all for people adapting ideas from other cultures into their own, but there was just something about this one that seemed a bit odd to me.

The video clip showed people performing the classic Yoga moves and poses while repeating what sounded like the instructor delivering some sermon. Overall there was nothing really remakable about the story except for one quote from one of the participants. She said that chanting the Hindu incantations made her uncomfortable. Well, let me tell you this: You have just experienced what it is like to be an ethnic/religious minority in this country. We feel this way every single day, especially with our current born-again president pushing his religious agenda into our government.

Personally, I don't believe that you can experience the full benefit of yoga without including the mind in the process. The focusing of the mind is not going to happen unless you practice yoga the way it has been done for centuries.

Well, I finally got around to selling my very first item on eBay. I sold a surplus Cisco 2950 24-port ethernet switch.

So far it seems like the sale went well. I may have to offload some other spare equipment I have sitting around.

Some things I learned:

1. eBay tries very hard to make you use paypal to collect payment (and to collect your fees) even if you prefer credit card directly
2. They make it completely opaque what the "Seller Protection Policy" requirements are. There are many places they link to what you would expect to be the actual policy document, but all they do is describe the features of the protection, not how to qualify. Even on the sale completion page where it indicates if you qualify or not, the "help" link next to the "not qualified" just goes to a page to tell you what to do not why you were not qualified on that sale.
3. Their UPS shipping calculator got the charges exact, except they don't include the Fuel Surcharge UPS tacks on to your shipment. For my shipment it came to 50 cents, so I wasn't overly concerned, but it is lame that they don't include that in their tool.

Our third daughter, Shri, was born today! I have pictures online; contact me for the link. Her two big sisters are so excited to meet her.

About a week ago I got a new mouse for my daily work use. It is not your normal Apple "one button mouse" for sure. I got the new Evoluent VerticalMouse. As it sounds, your hand sits vertically around the mouse. I find it quite comfortable and after a couple of days I got quite used to it. It has 5 buttons including the one on the scroll wheel (however, they don't provide free Mac drivers -- you have to buy them from someone else if you want more than two buttons and the scroll wheel). If your hand hurts from mousing, give this a try.