The Saga Of The Watch

Ever since my GPS watch died, I've been unsettled.  I never know what time it is and something is missing ... that weight on my left wrist.  It's disconcerting to say the least.  If I want to know the time, I have to get up and go to the kitchen, or find my phone.

Although everyone at the Elks Lodge back home has Apple watches and have been harassing me to get one too, I just didn't want to spend the money.  So I went to my favorite store ... AMAZON ... you know how I feel about them considering their recent changes .... and found a Timex Ironman watch for $47.  I felt good and I hit the ORDER button.

It said delivery in two days ... which was on a Sunday.  I laughed in their face.  I've never received anything in two days if delivery would be on a Sunday.  Still, I'll check the mailbox.  Wasn't I stunned to see a large manila envelope smashed into the small mailbox.  Well well well ... they didn't lie this time.

I opened the wadded up envelope to find a box that was ripped and torn.  That didn't bode well for a watch.  Sure enough, it didn't work.  Either the battery was dead or the smashing of the box broke the watch, confirming my opinion of the "new" Amazon.  I put it in a REAL box and mailed it back.

What to do now?  I still don't have a watch.  Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, I happened by a Best Buy.  I'll just LOOK I told myself.  Luckily I got the nicest young college preppy looking salesman.  Lucky because he was young enough to know everything about the watch and also lucky because he was actually wearing one.

He answered all my questions, showing me everything on HIS watch.  Alright ... he really didn't talk me into it at all ... I just finally said okay, but I didn't like the band.  He found another one and even switched them for me.  Now that's good service.  

He rang it up and began to show me how to pair it with my phone.  Once done, I can get phone calls, text messages, emails ... everything you can imagine, right there on the watch face.  Only wait ... it won't pair up because it says I'm OUTDATED.  Remember that computer saga?  Can't upgrade anything because the computer is old as the hills?

OMG!!!  I just paid almost $400 for a watch (the biggest one so I can read the numbers) and now it WON'T WORK????   I let out a big sigh, completely defeated!!  Wait he said ... you can just go to the Apple store and have them upgrade your phone.  Then all will be hunky dory!!

The Apple store is 7 miles North on surface streets, meaning a 45 minute drive.  It's also where I almost lost it last year when they wiped my computer clean and sent it back via UPS who delivered it to someone else's house.  I like them as much as I like Amazon!!!

Off I went, watch in hand.  Happily the Apple store wasn't full to the brim with people and the nice girl was able to help me immediately.    Well sort of anyway.  She tried to get my phone to upgrade on their WiFi.  Nope ... not going to happen.  

Suddenly another nice employee (two in the same store??) showed up with a computer, a charging cord for my phone because it was just about dead and a charging cord for the watch.  Gosh ... I just might have to change my opinion of this store after all.

Twenty minutes later, the phone was upgraded, so now I'm only HALF old.  In seconds, the watch was paired with the phone and I was in business.  THANK YOU!!  They tried to talk me into an appointment to upgrade my computer, but I passed.  Instead, I made an appointment for a class on using the watch. This thing is so complicated it's like a futuristic computer on your wrist!

I've learned that a red dot means I either have a text message or an email (nice to know) and it vibrates if I have a phone call.  It even tells me who's calling so I don't have to run into the other room. It also tells me to get up off my butt and walk around because I've been sitting too long.  Who knew?

On the way home, I set up "get-me-the-heck-out-of-here" on my phone map, and the watch vibrated every time I was coming up to my turn.  Boy is THAT going to come in handy!!  Besides all that, it actually tells time!!  

Yesterday I discovered Buzz Lightyear and his buddies are not only on the watch, they wink at me and play around on the screen ... like watching cartoons.  I move my wrist and they just show up so I can see what crazy things they are going to do next. 

Go ahead ..... ask me what time it is!!!

So in the end, I caved.  I bought the fancy dancey Apple watch for six times what I wanted to spend.  Maybe it can tell me how to bake chicken wings!!!!