"I don't know why you'd get into watchmaking because everyone just has a phone these days."

The value of the worldwide watch industry in 1970, adjusted for inflation, was $460m. Last year, the value of the Swiss watch industry alone was 21 billion dollars.

I don't need to make 21 billion dollars, I need to make a living. My chosen industry's exports were up double digits in its top six markets last year. And there are so few American watchmakers that nobody can even definitively say who they are.

Registered for classes. Staring down the barrel of 26 credits. Nice guidance counselor at one of the schools looked over my transcript and said "I see you're grossly overqualified in math." Fuck yeah. You want trig. I got finite element analysis. I also just trimmed an eyebrow and am developing what looks like a skunk stripe from my widow's peak so really, I guess I'm earning my midlife crisis. Or is it a second-life crisis? It isn't even really a crisis; I've arranged things such that I can continue thriving off the terrible television viewing tastes of the American Midwest for so long as they hold steady. Are you allowed to have a midlife crisis with a 5-year-old? I've still got a damn crib folded up in the garage.

My Precious doesn't run well. This is partially because it isn't lubricated and partially because apparently someone dropped a caliber covered in cosmoline in the ultrasonic cleaner because me and another guy now have funky white crystals growing on our watches. Looks like naptha. Gotta take 'em apart and run 'em again. The more you do this the easier it gets. it was discussed that I might have trouble fabricating a winding stem to make it work as a wristwatch until I said "I'm gonna be half a day in a CNC shop five days a week for the next year" at which all problems are assumed solved by inspection.

That said, My Precious runs better than the piece-of-shit Troy-Bilt chipper that decided to up and die in the middle of chipping goddamn pinecones yesterday. Got spark. Runs great on ether. In consultation with certain small engine repair technicians it has been suggested that carbs don't get along with modern gasoline these days because it's dirty and full of ethanol. Okay, fine. Seven tanks. Seven tanks should not kill a fuckin' 250cc OHV briggs and stratton, except of course it should because their initials aren't "BS" by coincidence.

If your only exposure to American engineering was Briggs & Stratton you'd wonder how we won the war.

Bought a thousand dollar tent for my Porsche yesterday. Will keep it from bleaching while I'm enjoying the too-hot summer weather and earning a year's pay. I figure keeping a Porsche in a tent keeps it real. Said tent was unfortunately unavailable in RealTree. Which makes it one of the very, very few things not available in RealTree.

I've decided that "RealTree Cult" would be an awesome HickHop band name. At the moment it's a disappointing image search.

20 million views, fuckers.