365 - Day 12

365 - Day 12
Originally uploaded by horsenbuggy

"How much watch?" That's an old Russian joke that is only funny to Russians who speak English and went to university. As a native English speaker who spoke Russian and went to university in Moscow, I never understood why the joke was funny. But the girl who told me the joke, the same one who I've recently located on the web, tried so hard to explain it to me, that it became an inside joke to us. She would laugh at the joke and I would laugh because her laugh was so infectious (and it seemed like the polite thing to do). I don't know if any of that has anything to do with why I buy a new cheap watch when my battery on the old one dies. None of these watches cost me more than $20, some were even given to me. See notes for comments on individual watches.

Correction, the black watch all the way to the left, with the stem on the right, cost me much more than $20. It is specifically made for left-handed people to wear on their right wrist (as I do) and be able to set without removing it. I scoured the 'net looking for a left-handed watch and had to have it shipped from England. With today's exchange rate, I think it would cost over $120. It's not that attractive, but it really ticks me off that virtually no one makes watches like this. Most of the watches you find in "left handed" stores run counter-clockwise, as if left-handed people are "backwards." Not cool. Nor funny.