Watchlords

Hello everyone:

My name is Don, and I'm a retired USN officer with 26 years active duty service. I drove SLUFF D's & E's then Hornet E's. Then wound up under a slab of cement in the Pentagon on 9/11. 17 surgeries over a 28-month period. Re-learned how to walk and talk...at the same time, even. Now I fly dead people around in GS-550-H's (and soon in GS-650's). Oh, and I'm dead...[you get a provisional welcome because we just don;t do ass-grabbing in these parts...]

I've always loved watches, especially divers, but didn't start seriously collecting until a few years ago. I got caught up in the TV brand routine for a while, but moved on when the watches and their sellers all started looking and sounding alike. It was truly frustrating, trying to learn the difference between the genuine item and the cookie-cutter crap I'd been buying. Finding Watchlords was a huge, very positive step in my watch education process, and I've also gotten a lot of enjoyment from reading the often lively, never dull posts and discussion threads along the way.



I've also come to rely on WL as a key resource when researching prospective additions to my modest-but-growing watch collection. In so-doing, I've been introduced to some amazing--yet truly affordable--brands here that I have come to genuinely appreciate and enjoy. My latest acquisitions: an Orient Mako (on rubber), a Bulova Marine Star and a very spiff Movado 800 Series diver that I'd like to take a stab at reviewing here in the not-too-distant future. I've also got my eye on a couple of Seiko monsters; when the toughest decision you have to make is what dial color you'd like, you're in a very good place, IMHO.

Bottom line: I've registered as a member in the hope that I can eventually make a positive contribution as my own level of knowledge continues to improve. However, before signing up for membership, I read and reread Darksider's excellent advice to new members, and have taken it to heart. Hence, I'll be laying low and continuing to get the lay of the land for a while before posting again.

I guess that about does it for now. Many thanks for taking the time to give my first post a look; I hope it wasn't too long-- or, worse still, too boring--it just plain sux like an Electrolux when that happens...

Best regards,
Don
Escondido, CA

Gday Don.

I'm selling a Black Monster if you are interested:

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/wts-seiko-skx779-black-monster-bracelet-boxes-papers-aud%24110-p-h-643920.html

Welcome to Watchlords............

welcome,,,

"I've also come to rely on WL as a key resource"

That's the funniest thing I have ever read.

Welcome sir!

Yes, I too was amused by the idea that the ass clowns here (including me) could ever be considered a "key resource."

That alone proves you have just the perfect level of sarcasm to fit in here.

Welcome. I look forward to your Movado review. I've eyeballed that watch many times. I have a 30 year old Movado that runs very, very well

Nice opening post Don and welcome.

Corsair driver huh? (sweet).

FWIW- Always enjoyed watching the Crusaders being thrown off the pointy end.

Welcome, goddamn it!

BTW, the Seiko Monster is a piece of crap, and anyone who buys one is a dick.

Good luck with that sale, mate.

codguy wrote: FWIW- Always enjoyed watching the Crusaders being thrown off the pointy end.

Are you sure that wasn't your being relieved that yet another Crusader managed to get off the deck without (1) dropping all its ordnance and then (2) falling completely apart...? (I'm not 100% sure, but I think that pretty much all of the A-8's were retired by the time I made my first WestPac...that's my story and I'm sticking to it, anyhow...)

Many thanks for your welcome note and the fond memories it brought back. I was one of those SLUFF guys who'd sit in front of the nearest PLAT monitor (sometimes for hours on end) just to see the little puff of "fog" that popped up just inside the air intake when we'd go to full power as the plane hit the deck.

And I better stop right there before I get tossed out on my arse for putting everyone to slee-e-e-eeep...zzz...zzz...

boscoe wrote:Yes, I too was amused by the idea that the ass clowns here (including me) could ever be considered a "key resource."

That alone proves you have just the perfect level of sarcasm to fit in here.

For bedlam & boscoe: Many thanks for your very kind replies! And may I also congratulate both of you for recognizing (1) my uber-subtle use of biting humor and (2) my virtually seamless employment of withering sarcasm to make my assertions even stronger...either THAT, or I'm just another "ass clown" who somehow managed to stumble into making myself look like I knew what the hell I was doing here...

Mortuus wrote:I think that pretty much all of the A-8's F-8's were retired by the time I made my first WestPac.

Fixed it for you.

For anyone whom gives a shit, F-8 Crusader;

Many thanks to all for taking the time to welcome me to WL. I am truly in your debt, and look foward to what I hope will be many more discussions to come. In the meantime, be safe & well, and enjoy your Superbowl Sunday.

Welcome aboard
Mortuus!
Just a old Qm2 here,the Ouellet (FF-1077) was my old boat.I served 84-89.I have seen the crusaders they were still flying off the Midway,on my 1st westpac.I did 2 westpacs and a northpac.
Dave

codguy wrote:

Mortuus wrote:I think that pretty much all of the A-8's F-8's were retired by the time I made my first WestPac.

Fixed it for you.

For anyone whom gives a shit, F-8 Crusader;

Many thanks, sir! (Definitely an unforced error...)

hawkeye wrote:Welcome aboard
Mortuus!
Just a old Qm2 here,the Ouellet (FF-1077) was my old boat.I served 84-89.I have seen the crusaders they were still flying off the Midway,on my 1st westpac.I did 2 westpacs and a northpac.
Dave

Howdy, Dave, and many thanks for your note. It's good to see the USN so well represented here at WL! I remember hearing/seeing the name OUELLET a few times back in the day; were y'all homeported in San Diego? (If I remember it correctly--which is not a given at the age of 53--your FF was either sold or leased to the Royal Thai Navy, along with TRUETT and HEPBURN.) I did my first 'PAC in '83, part of CAG-11 & CVN-65; can't believe it's been almost 30 years...!

conjurer wrote:Welcome, goddamn it!

BTW, the Seiko Monster is a piece of crap, and anyone who buys one is a dick.

Good luck with that sale, mate.

Oh, HELL--I was AFRAID that might happen...

Attention on Deck! Welcome aboard,Sir! An old BM2 wishes you greeting's and advise you to consider the seiko marinemaster.

wire-paladin wrote:Attention on Deck! Welcome aboard,Sir! An old BM2 wishes you greeting's and advise you to consider the seiko marinemaster.

Many thanks, Boatswain Mate! I will certainly check out that Marinemaster--after all, what's one more watch among shipmates? (COMNAVHOUSEPAC just never seemed to understand that, for some reason...) In the meantime, keep an eye out for the prop wash & jet blasts, Boats!

Mortuus wrote:

conjurer wrote:Welcome, goddamn it!

BTW, the Seiko Monster is a piece of crap, and anyone who buys one is a dick.

Good luck with that sale, mate.

Oh, HELL--I was AFRAID that might happen...

No worries, Mortuus. This is an old joke around here which, like all my humor, tends to get overused until any funniness has dissipated.

Welcome to WatchLords.

conjurer wrote:

Mortuus wrote:

conjurer wrote:Welcome, goddamn it!

BTW, the Seiko Monster is a piece of crap, and anyone who buys one is a dick.

Good luck with that sale, mate.

Oh, HELL--I was AFRAID that might happen...

No worries, Mortuus. This is an old joke around here which, like all my humor, tends to get overused until any funniness has dissipated.

Howdy, Conjurer: I do remember seeing that statement here a few times, back when I first started coming to WL--I think you had Susan Boyle as your avatar back then. It had the feel of a much-used, much-liked tag line, and I got a chuckle out of it whenever I came across it being used. (Sort of like the Tro-lo-lo Man, though without the danger of getting a tune stuck in your head, which has happened a few times, BTW.) Still, if the Monster arrives and I start to feel like my body is turning into erectile tissue, we'll know that you were right...though by then it'll be too late.

Mark1 wrote:Welcome to WatchLords.

Many thanks!

No jokes or cracks from me; welcome. A salute to your service, from the son of a proud Navy man, of whom I could never be 1/100th the man that he was.

TemerityB wrote:No jokes or cracks from me; welcome. A salute to your service, from the son of a proud Navy man, of whom I could never be 1/100th the man that he was.

Many thanks! (I always like to say that I got paid to do something I love, and as such, feel I should be thanking y'all, as taxpayers, for paying my salary for 26 years.) My dad was a Marine who served in Korea, and was one of the few guys to walk away from the Chosin reservoir under his own power; or, as he used to say, "I was leakin' oil pretty bad, but I was still moving along with no help from anyone." I feel the same way about my dad as you do about yours: he was worth >1000 of me on his worst day, and I remain in awe of him and his generation.

What era was your dad from? What warfare community did he serve in?

conjurer wrote:

Mortuus wrote:

conjurer wrote:Welcome, goddamn it!

BTW, the Seiko Monster is a piece of crap, and anyone who buys one is a dick.

Good luck with that sale, mate.

Oh, HELL--I was AFRAID that might happen...

No worries, Mortuus. This is an old joke around here which, like all my humor, tends to get overused until any funniness has dissipated.

For the record - still funny!