takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'

Okay, I gotta gives props to Remington!

Right before I went off to college (1997) I got a watch. Nothing fancy. It came from *cough cough* Walmart. It was $30. Made by Remington, mostly silver, kinda western looking. It's been through a lot of batteries and I think it's on the fifth leather band by now. I love this watch, I'm very attached to it.

Today I was washing chickens in preparation for a show, and I didn't want to get water on my watch (remember this fact) so I took it off and put it in the pocket in my sweatshirt.

There's nothing like the smell of wet chickens, so upon finishing the chicken-washing, without thinking, I tossed my clothes in the wash with the dirty towels.

The washing machine did its thing. But I'd stuffed too many clothes in there and it didn't rinse well, so I put it through the rinse cycle... again. And then threw everything in the dryer.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought it seemed particularly clunky sounding, but I didn't pay much attention since there were some jeans in there, and you know how jeans are kinda clunky against the sides of the dryer.

An hour later I took the clothes out, and there, forlorn in the dryer, was my watch. I said some expletives, and then I cried. My watch, my beloved and trusty watch! I had killed my watch!

And then I looked at it. There was water inside, but... it was still running! The plate with the numerals on it was askew (12 was in the 10 position!) but the hands were moving! It wasn't dead!

Taking a watch apart is something I NEVER do, I let the jewelry shop replace the battery. But this was an emergency situation, I had to get it dried out, stat! I'm sure a needlenose pliers is not the right tool for unscrewing the back, but in a pinch, it worked (just a few more scratches on the back now!). I let it air out for a while, painstakingly moved the number plate back into position under the microscope (that thing is so handy!), put the rest of the parts back in, and closed it up. The glass looks like it's been through a hail storm, or maybe it's residue from what got inside the watch. It'll never be crystal clear again, but by golly it works!

Here's to you, Remington. Thirteen years, one wash cycle, two rinses, and an hour on tumble-dry-high later, your watch lives on.