Blog Namesake

I thought it might be interesting to briefly discuss the name of this blog. I originally started this blog under the title "A Life More Ordinary", but then at lunch the next day, somehow the topic of conversation turned to watches and I commented on how much I liked mine with its big numbers. My roommate Chris suggested that my new nickname should be "The Big Digital". While that may or may not stick, I thought it would make a great name for this blog.

I happen to have purchased this exact model of watch three times now. Obviously it isn't the sturdiest of watch models, or else I wouldn't have purchased three of them over the past 5 years. The plastic face gets big white streaks on it when it gets banged against something (they come off if you just get your finger wet and rub it). But the fact remains that it is quite the watch. I love the big numbers. Easy to read with the green background.

I got the first one just after coming home from the mission. My best friend from the mission, Dan, also had the same watch. It was purchased from Fred Meyer for $15 (Regularly priced at $20).

The first one lasted for quite a long time. Pretty much the whole two and a half years I lived at Foothill Place. Which is not to say that it lasted in great shape. The biggest problem is with the little plastic doo-dad that holds the end of the band in place. It tends to wear out in the first year or so. I first tried to mend it with some black electrical tape that my roommate had. Then I tried just making my own out of tape. Finally I settled on using a rubber band. In the meantime I looked at replacement bands, but none of them really looked like what I wanted.

At some point I started looking for a new watch. Tried to find one I liked, but never could. Was I ever surprised to find out that the same model was still available and being sold at Fred Meyer's.

A year after buying the second one, I was starting to experience the same kind of band degradation that I had experienced before. I returned to the same Fred Meyer's (which had been renamed in the meantime to Smith's Marketplace) and way back in the Armitrons after a ton of searching I was able to find one, and only one, of the model that I have come to love. Who knows what will happen next time I need a new watch?

Its pretty much a part of me now. Can't live w/o the thing. We've been through a lot. I have a nearly complusive need to know what time it is, which tends to get me in trouble when people think that by looking at the time it means I want to leave. My ex could always somehow tell when I was sneaking a peek at the old reloj when we were making out. Maybe thats why things didn't work out between us. Or maybe not.

I know a lot of people who just use their cellphones when they need to know the time, but not me. I'm sticking with The Big Digital.