Almost a month after I ordered all the pieces, the alpha version of my new watch is ready and ticking!
(click to enlarge)
The last part arrived about 10 days ago and it took about 5 hours to get it all together. Unfortunately, the bezel came with a small dent and a new one is on the way. The hour hand has a bit of metal showing and another one is en route as well.
(click to enlarge)
After the initial casing and regulating in the dial up position for 48 hours, I decided to do a final cleaning of the case and install the winding rotor. Since I’m a moron, I dropped the movement onto the case when installing it for the final time! :wallbash: The freaking dial got scratched and a new one is on order.
(click to enlarge)
Anyways, after another week of regulating, I wore it for the first time today. So far, the movement runs really well and is +3.5 to +7 seconds per day depending on the position. We’ll see how it runs with wear.
Here are some images from the build:
Specs:
Case:
Diameter: 40mm (44.2mm with crown)
Lug Width: 20mm
Height: 11.85m
Lug to Lug: 47.5mm
Bezel: 120 clicks (unidirectional)
Crown: triple-lock, screw-down
Crystal: sapphire (AR coated on inside)
Water Resistance: pending
Weight: 88g (including strap)
Dial:
Diameter: 28.0mm (26.75mm viewable)
Lume: SuperLuminova C1
Movement:
Seagull ST21 (ETA 2824-2 equivalent)
Decoration: Côtes de Genève, perlage, nickel plated
So far, I’ve been blessed with great customer support from Apple. Back when I got an Apple aluminum keyboard and mighty mouse I had a few issues with squeaky keys on the KB and messed up side buttons on the mouse. Took them both to the store and walked out with a brand new KB and mouse. Didn’t even ask me for my receipt. The only downside was that I thought I could just walk up to the Genius Bar. Nope, I had to make an appointment and come back another day. :thumbup:
Fast forward to yesterday when I noticed Angeline’s iPhone cable had cracked near the ends and had some exposed shielding. I signed on, made an appointment later that night, ate dinner and showed up at the Genius Bar. They looked at the cable and despite the partially melted connector from you-know-who putting it too close to a light bulb, the tech promptly whipped out a new wire for our delight. The only downside was they wouldn’t warranty an Agent 18 case that was too stretched out. Still, :thumbup:
Then to my utmost surprise and amazement, I received my replacement iPhone charging adapter today, you know, the one that was recalled. The actual amazing part was that I submitted my request for a new one only yesterday afternoon. Pretty swift! :clap:
So besides being worked in the ICU right now, I’ve been slowly uploading pics from our recent trip to Hawaii to Flickr. The bad part is that it’s quite cold here in the South Bay and it looks so warm in all the pictures. The good part is I’m reminded of how much fun we had.
(click to visit gallery)
We got to kayak, swim with dolphins, get a speeding ticket, climb into a volcanic crater, leave our snorkeling gear somewhere, see tiny splatters of lava, etc. It was definitely a packed week. I even had a conference to go to…
I’m slowly but surely adding more pics every day, so keep checking back. All the images were taken with either my trusty new Nikon D90 (more on that later), a Canon SD880 IS (with/without the underwater case) and our late Canon G10 (couldn’t handle the non-DSLR-ness of it).
I’m happy to report that I survived my first day in the OR as an anesthesia resident. And so did my patients. My poor feet endured 13 hours of standing. Those Dansko shoes are looking pretty enticing right now, but I must resist. I’m going to have to look for some comfy but still cool looking shoes though.
Congratulations to all the other people I know beginning their residencies after a long internship.
Also, I’m glad it’s summer so we can explore the Bay a little while the weather’s so nice.
It’s official, my final patient care duties were fulfilled at 12 MN tonight and I left the hospital a free man! It was funny though because I’ve been avoiding them all year and the resident running the ER board sees me trying to look busy and goes, “Hey Jack, are you busy?”
Me: Thinking, shit, she saw me. Saying, “Uh…no…”
Resident: “Do you want to see a patient with me?”
Me: Thinking, um…no. Saying, “Um, sure.”
Resident: “Good, it’s a vag. bleeder.”
Me: Thinking, f$%*#! Saying, “Man…thanks for the gift on my last shift.”
I guess reaching this milestone is not all positive though. It’s actually bittersweet knowing that now I have to start my real training to be a specialist and all the pressure to go along with it. Then there’s the impending pain of moving all our crap again. On top of that, being away from family and friends again. 350 mi is better than 2500 mi, though.
At least it’s still a step in the right direction and a +1 for Angeline and I. So yay! :drunk:
Not that kind of last call, but the kind that means no more overnight call for the rest of intern year! Saturday was the last 30 hour call I will ever have to take as an intern. More importantly, it’ll be the last ward month I’ll ever have to do. However, my last call turned out to be on Saturday and during a trauma rotation. This meant we would have all of the following plus some I can’t remember:
young surfer who breaks his neck, paralyzed
2 dudes shot in a car, one lives, one dies
young man stabbed 27 times and then run over twice, dies 6 hrs later
drunk guy with an alcohol level of 0.47% breaks his jaw falling out of a cab
16 year-old kid, drunk btw, gets his foot practically torn off by a car, keeps his foot
8 year-old kid gets hit by a car, goes home the same day
bunch of other ppl who get hit by cars
~5 other people needing their appendix or gallbladders out or toes amputated
I’m definitely looking forward to anesthesia/critical care residency with a lot less of the BS.
Seriously, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to find out where people matched this year. But so far, from word-of-mouth, it seems like people are getting what they wanted. Congratulations to everyone who matched! :clap:
In a fit of impulsiveness, I ordered two MacBooks from Amazon.com. I think the expiring $75 rebate enticed me, but they renewed it after I bought them as expected. Learning Mac OS X for the first time coming from a lifetime of Windows (except the Apple IIE) reminded me of the culture shock of when I first moved to Detroit. But you get used to it and it grows on you. The keyboard, shortcuts, menus, tricks, etc. are all brand new and awkward for this nerd.
The hardware itself is a little underwhelming considering all the rage existing Mac users. With cheap looking and feeling solid white plastic for the casing and dirt magnets instead of keys on the the keyboard, this Mac doesn’t feel like it’ll last more than a few years. I wish Apple offered some kind of Accidental Damage policy like most of the other hardware manufacturers. Peace of mind would be easily worth a few hundred more.
There are many little features that Apple has thought of to make the experience more enjoyable like the sleek look, the Mag-Safe power adapter, a built-in camera, and much more. They did leave a lot to be desired too, however, such as a memory card reader, back-lit keyboard, and a screen with a better viewing angle or even LED backlight to name a few, but I guess this is the entry-level Mactop.
Performance-wise, this thing seems like it handles most tasks well. Sometimes I do notice it gets bogged down though and flash-movies can make the thing sound like it is about to take off. However, the disk is really quiet, which I love. The AirPort (fancy name for the wireless card) seems to connect quite fast.
Ultimately, I think the allure of Mac is this: it just works.
Will I feel the same in a few years? I hope so. Unfortunately, I only have a couple more weeks to figure that out before the return period ends.
Here’s a little thing iPhoto did for me in literally 2 minutes. I’m sure it could’ve been done just as easily in Windows but I was inspired by my new Mac. :clap:
So glad we did our taxes already. Just checked my checking account to make sure I had enough money to pay a bill and…surprise!!! Our tax refunds are all in there! All three of them: MI, CA, and a big helping hand from Uncle Sam. Can’t wait for the summer when we all get stimulated by that one package. :clap:
Almost a month after I ordered all the pieces, the alpha version of my new watch is ready and ticking!
So far, I’ve been blessed with great customer support from Apple. Back when I got an Apple aluminum keyboard and mighty mouse I had a few issues with squeaky keys on the KB and messed up side buttons on the mouse. Took them both to the store and walked out with a brand new KB and mouse. Didn’t even ask me for my receipt. The only downside was that I thought I could just walk up to the Genius Bar. Nope, I had to make an appointment and come back another day. :thumbup:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: 
