daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
こんばんは。It’s the first day of Spring! Did yours start off right?
Today Mariko returned from vacation and she made a wonderful dinner of salmon, tamagoyaki, miso soup, carrots, and asparagus. It was delicious, and so much better than the bachelor food we’ve been eating since she was away.
It’s good to be back to our normal schedule! 😝
I hope you had a nice Monday!
おやすみなさい！
– B 
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was the last day of Spring Break for the kids. It was a stranger-than-usual week for me because Mariko was working downtown at SXSW into the late evenings, so I had to take care of dinners. And then Mariko went to NYC for vacation, so it’s been a boys’ weekend!
But tomorrow it’s pretty much back to normal, with the kids going back to school, and Mariko returning from her trip. I’m looking forward to getting back on schedule. 😄
Today’s photo is of my bedside table, where I write posts for this blog every night, and also study Japanese. You might also be able to make out the first Harry Potter book there on the right. Koa watched all 8 Harry Potter movies over the break, and I sorta got back into them as well. I’ve only read book 7, but I am now motivated to read the series from the beginning. I have too much to read, though. Between blogging, taking photos, studying Japanese, and reading… well, there’s just no time to do everything each and every day. Oh well.
I hope you had a nice weekend!
おやすみ
バロン
Yardwork
Harry Potter
Any Twin Peaks fans out there?
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was my work at home day, but I’ve been working from home this week during the afternoons since it’s Spring Break and the kids are home alone. Mariko is putting in some long hours down at SXSW so I am cooking meals for the kids (and myself). It’s a change, but we’re surviving, although not eating as healthy.
This afternoon I took Bay to get his eye check-up at the eye doctor. 👀 He’s been wanting to get contacts for a while now, so today he got a week’s supply of contacts, and he got trained on how to put them in and take them out.
Our eye doctor is great, and the contact lens technician was also nice and answered all of our questions about monthly vs daily contacts, maintenance, etc. Very helpful!
We also got a new pair of glasses 👓 (with updated prescription) so Bay will be set even if he doesn’t go for the contact lenses. But I am pretty sure he will decide to get them! Also, since he is leaning towards the daily contacts, he can wear glasses some days, and contacts other days, or even just at school.
Anyways, the doctor visit lasted a lot longer than I thought it would, and then I had to stop by the market to get food and then prepare it, so I didn’t get to finish up all my work until the evening. Luckily there were not urgent items, so it’s all good! 😄
I hope you had a nice Wednesday!
またね～
バロン
こんばんは。How’s it going?
It’s the 2nd day of Spring Break for the kiddos, so I worked from home in the afternoon. I think they are old enough to take care of themselves, but I still worry! 😀
Well, I kind of knew for a while now that I wanted to get a new watch, and I also had narrowed it down to a certain model. I just had to decide on the size and the color. The watch is a Seiko diver, the SKX. There are different variations: 007 – 42mm with black bezel and face; 009 – 42mm with blue and red “Pepsi” bezel and blue face; 013 – similar to the 007, but a 38mm size.
I went with the SKX007 because I thought the Pepsi blue/red of the 009 wouldn’t look as good with different watch straps, and didn’t go for the 013 because I already have a smaller-sized watch. Plus, I liked the classic black of the 007.
I bought the model with the black rubber strap instead of the metal bracelet to save a few bucks and I knew that I would take off whatever it came with to replace with a zulu strap. In fact, I ordered a black zulu strap with the watch so that I could change it immediately. I read that getting the old watch band off was difficult and by god, it was a pain! Even with a dedicated tool, it was a struggle and my fingers are sore. But in the end, I won and got the rubber strap replaced with the plain black zulu strap. I think it looks great. And so comfortable! This watch/strap combination feels a lot better than even my 37mm Seiko SNK809 with 18mm zulu strap.
One other thing I love is the raised design on the back of the watch. It features a flowing wave 🌊, which is on all the Seiko dive models.
Speaking of dive models, this SNK007 is ISO 6425 compliant, which means it has been tested to meet or exceed some pretty impressive specifications, including depth rating of at least 100 m (this watch is 200 m). So I guess I can be confident taking this watch anywhere. In other words, I don’t have to worry about it. Here’s to a bit more peace of mind!
The SKX007 is the most expensive watch I have ever bought, but that’s not saying much since I am such a cheapskate where watches are concerned. This watch is generally regarded in the watch community as one of the cheapest yet respectable diver watches, but for me, it’s a definite keeper and the highest quality timepiece I own. I am expecting it to be my daily watch for the rest of my life. We’ll see!
I hope you had a nice Tuesday!
おやすみ
バロン
