So, this is the end of this season’s brief run of Becoming An Old Man blog posts. Truthfully, I had about 1-3 more blog posts planned. But I was feeling like I would have to rush through the prep and writing of the articles. I thought the quality of the writing would suffer and that would also adversely affect my opinion of the products I was going to write about. Pushing out content for content’s sake is not what I ever want this blog to become.
Now, the big question is, will I return again? I really have no idea. Every year I say I’m probably done with this blog and then I come back a year or two later with another run. But this year, in 2022 in particular, I’m planning on doing fewer things that need planning. I have a full-time job and a family. Blog posting, podcasting, and all the other content creation I’ve tried to do across the internet take time and effort. And I have less free time than ever recently. So my resolution this year is to use my free time to actually unwind. I enjoy content creation but it also becomes another item on a neverending list of things-to-do. And, at least for this year, I want to drastically cut down on that list.
Maybe when other time constraints I’ll return to this blog. Or if I have a lot of things I just write about. But any kind of set schedule, I can’t see that ever coming back.
So, remember life is short. Enjoy it. Enjoy your shave. Sip your coffee and whisky and savor it. Appreciate your timepiece instead of worrying about being someplace.
As I may have mentioned in the past, Maker’s Mark is one of my favorite bourbons, and really the first American whisky that I really appreciated. So, when I saw the new Maker’s Mark 101, you know I had to try it out.
Nose – Pretty much Maker’s Mark, a bit fainter than normal. Hints of fresh-cut grass.
Taste – So, nice, clear, and smooth. Like clear water, but with just a hint of sweetness.
Finish – The bite comes on fast, and right in the front of the throat. But as you continue it turns into a very pleasant, almost butterscotch feel in your throat.
I love this whisky. I pretty much always use Maker’s as a mixer, but you can drink this just on the rocks. If you like Maker’s Mark already, I highly recommend this.
So, years ago I reviewed the Lew & Huey Spectre. I had won it in a giveaway and was very impressed. It looked great and it kept accurate time. I believe at the time, the watch was retailing for around $350 (and I seem to remember they also often had vouchers which would decrease the price even more) which was a great value. Lew & Huey would eventually become Janis Trade Company, and now it appears they’ve dropped that as well and are just NTH Watches.
The actual watch didn’t last. After a year its accuracy started to drop and the crown started to become a bit finicky. After two years the accuracy had decreased so much I was having to reset the time if I wore it a second day in a row. Sometimes the crown would pop out for no reason. I began to wear it less and less, but still would bring it every now and again. A few years ago (the Fall of 2018 or 2019?) it just completely died.
the Watch now
Why didn’t I complain when I first started noticing issues? Why didn’t I try to get it fixed once it died? Well, the truth is simply, because I won it in a giveaway. I didn’t invest any of my actual money in it and didn’t really invest any time into researching it as a purchase. If I had done either maybe I would have tried to fix it myself or send it somewhere for repair.
So, what’s the point of this post? I guess just to voice my disappointment. I thought the Lew & Huey designs were very cool and unique when that brand was around. The NTH Watches seem very generic in comparison. And I know this isn’t fair, because NTH Watches isn’t the same company as Lew & Huey and there are more people on that team, but it makes me worry about the reliability of NTH Watches (just be clear, I haven’t heard of any reliability issues with them).
So I guess I won’t be buying an NTH Watches. Sorry, not exactly sure where I was going with this post.
So, I have too large of a whiskey/whisky collection. Honestly, it’s a little too big, since most bottles I’m not even halfway through. The only bottles I’ve ever replaced are Johnnie Walker Black, Jameson, Maker’s Mark, and Fireball. But there is one bottle I’m getting close to finishing and it was a little surprising to me. The Glenlivet 12.
I think I know why. It’s a very good whisky. It’s easy to drink and not very peaty or smokey (things I don’t always enjoy). But it’s also cheap enough that I don’t feel bad about just pulling it out when I want a quick drink by myself.
So, I guess I recommend this? It’s a very enjoyable drink, a good value, and you won’t feel bad about not saving it for a special occasion.
So, I’ve wanted a watch with a blue wave dial for as long as I’ve been into watches. Pretty much since the first time I saw the Omega Seamaster in Casino Royale. For the time being an Omega is clearly beyond my budget. I thought about getting the Christopher Ward Trident Pro, but then they removed the wave dial. I’ve always liked the designs of Melbourne Watch, but had never purchased one of their pieces before. When they had a sale earlier this year, I decided I should just purchase the Fitzroy, it was the one of the only blue wave dial watches anywhere close to my budget. Instead of you know, saving up for a decade.
So I ordered it, it came with no issues, and now let’s talk about it!
It really is a gorgeous-looking watch. It looks much better in person though, none of the pictures I took really do it justice. I love the little detail of the M on the second hand. And the blue color really pops. I think it can easily go with jeans or be a fun part of a dressier outfit.
The fit-and-finish is good, but not top-notch. Maybe from a distance, you won’t be able to see that it’s more of a budget watch, but hands-on it becomes more obvious. The click-wheel is very nice and smooth. The overall watch does feel a bit bulky on the wrist. The bracelet is solid-feeling (and not too difficult to remove links from), but also a little sharp on the skin after a full day of wear. But it does not pinch like some low quality bracelets do.
How’s the accuracy? Not bad. I rarely wear a watch more than one day in a row (you know because we never go anywhere anymore), but the days I have I didn’t have to adjust the time. I have no idea how accurate the watch is (I no longer really care or test +/- seconds accuracy for my automatic watches), but I’ve worn it up to three days in a row without ever resetting it. I’ve also worn it on very hot days and on very cold days and the temps didn’t seem to affect the timekeeping either.
The watch is 530 AUD on the Melbourne website. Which is about 350-400 USD depending on the exchange rate. It’s certainly cheaper than an Omega, and even about half the price of similar Christopher Wards. All in all I think it’s a great deal. It’s true that yes, you could get a very nice, very well-finished, and very accurate Seiko dive watch for around the same amount. But not with a wave dial. The only watch similar in terms of aesthics is the Phoibos Wave Master. I almost bought that earlier this year, before I decided on the Fitzroy (though at this point I can’t remember what tipped the scales). The blue dial is out of stock right now anyway.
I’m recommending this watch. As I’ve only had this for about six months I don’t know how it well hold-up long term. But as of right now, it’s the favorite member of my rotation. It certaintly the only watch I’ve worn at least once every week the past few months.
So for many years, I have grown out a winter beard. Specifically, a Lincoln, one without a mustache because my wife didn’t like it. And each year I often get many ingrown hairs in my beard.
This year, for whatever reason, my wife agreed to let me grow a full beard with a mustache. On the condition that I keep the beard as soft as possible. In the past, I have used some Beard Wax, but that was pretty much the only “beard” product that I ever used.
So this year, for all those reasons combined I decided to do some research to find out how people get nice soft beards without any ingrown hairs. And it seemed to come down to a few things. 1. They used Beard Shampoo and Conditioner 1-2X a week. I had been using just regular Shampoo and Conditioner which isn’t balanced for facial hair. 2. They put Beard Oil on every day. I had never done that before. 3. And finally they used Beard Wax only when their beard started getting too long for the oil to be effective. I had basically only been using Beard Wax and only when I thought my beard was too scratchy, so not with any kind of regularity.
So I knew I needed to do some more research and find a Beard Oil, Beard Shampoo, and Conditioner that would work for me. And I didn’t want it to be too expensive, since this was going to be kind of a trial run. But it couldn’t have any artificial fragrances because they irritate my skin. And I was finding many brands that had oils only or Shampoo but not a conditioner, or conditioner but not shampoo, etc. I just wanted to make it easy on myself and get everything one brand, at least for my first time trying all this out.
After looking at many, many products, I had finally narrowed it down to buying something from either Scotch Porter or Jack Black. And while I was on one of those Amazon Products I clicked a link to what I thought was a sampler pack for Jack Black. That’s how I ended up buying this XIKEZAN Beard Grooming Kit. For some reason, I thought it was a very small-sized value pack for Jack Black, which was why it was so cheap. I don’t know – I had been researching for hours and it was very late at the time.
So when this came, I was surprised. But I had bought it, and I thought maybe it’ll work well enough I don’t need to buy an expensive Scotch Porter or Jack Black kit. It came in a nicely laid out package. Not premium quality, it was mostly just cardboard, but still, it was better than expected for the price.
Anyway, it comes with Beard Oil, Beard Wash, Beard Conditioner, Beard Balm, Beard Brush, Beard Comb, Beard Scissors, and a nice bag to put everything in. And also an e-book? I didn’t really pay attention to that.
Picture from Amazon
So, twice a week I’ve been using the Beard Wash and Conditioner. I’m putting the Beard Oil on as soon as I get out of the shower, almost every day. When I have extra time, I’m using the Beard Comb to spread the oil around. Though I have a Cremo Beard Comb that I bought before which I like much better. This comb has only one size and is completely straight. The Cremo comb has two different sized rows of teeth and the teeth are slanted down. It’s a nicer experience using it than the one in this kit. And I have used the Beard scissors to trim some stray hairs. They pulled more than I would have liked, but they worked. Haven’t used the Beard Brush yet, guess I should read the e-book to understand the difference between the comb and brush. And my beard isn’t yet long enough to use the balm.
So far, so good. My beard feels softer to both me and my wife. It seems to be growing out straighter (though not perfect like some YouTubers you may see). And I’ve only gotten one minor ingrown hair that was much less painful than years past. Honestly, this kit seems to work great. Maybe there’s no reason to pay the premium for Scotch Porter of Jack Black.
I’ll post one more update on this at the end of December.
So, I’m planning on coming back for a very limited run of blog posts – just every Sunday in December. I have a few things I wanted to post about. Maybe one review, maybe the rest will just be off-the-cuff thoughts.
So, it’s that time of year again. My blog season is over and I’m taking another hiatus. Truly I don’t know when this blog will come back. I’d like to try to continue my tradition of new posts from roughly Thanksgiving to roughly New Year’s, but I don’t know if I’ll have anything to write about. On the other hand I didn’t anticipate having new topics all the way to February, I thought I would have run out a month before.
There are two ways to look at this. One is maybe I have more momentum and when I get back I’ll have even more things I have to talk about. The second is that I’ve now written about everything I want to write. Only time will tell, but I’m certainly not going to force it.
If this pandemic has taught us all anything is that things like Whisky, Watches, Coffee, and Wet-Shaving don’t mean much compared to our loved ones. But they can certainly be a nice distraction, and even something to share with others. So enjoy a nice shave, savor that coffee, show your son (or daughter!) how your watch works, and share sip of the good stuff with a friend. We’re only here for a while, we might as well enjoy it with those we love.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a sucker for Johnnie Walker, it’s one of my favorite whiskies (Blue Label is my favorite). So anytime I see a new release from JW I’m tempted to get it.
I hadn’t heard of the Celebratory bottle but it looked interesting. Apparently, it notes their 200th anniversary.
Nose – Softer than other Johnnie Walkers. Slight hints of lemon. Maybe a bit of fresh-cut grass? Nuts?
Taste – So smooth at first sip. Like clear, but buttery water.
Finish – More straight peppery than other Johnnie Walkers. It comes on faster and leaves sooner as well. After a few sips it starts to settle in as a bit more woody.
I’m really not sure how I feel about this. It’s both easier and harder to drink than other Johnnie Walker’s. It’s an interesting profile, but honestly we’re getting about four or five JW’s in before I recommend this.
It’s been a while, so it felt like another watch post was needed. Truthfully my interest in watches has waned the past few years, and I haven’t needed to wear one much lately since I never leave the house anymore. But my son is starting to be interested in all of my watches, so my that old watch collecting spark might start to rekindle.
The Seiko 5 series is one of my favorite watch series. They’re affordable, well built, reliable, and come in a variety of styles. So much so that I think you can have full watch collection of just Seiko 5s.
Alas, the white whale of the Orange Monster is pretty much discontinued these days, but you can still build a full collection without it. .
A full collection needs a daily office watch, a casual Friday watch, a weekend watch, and full dress watch.
Daily Office Watch – SNK789
Personally I have SNKK79 but those don’t seem to be on-sale anymore. This is the perfect Monday – Thursday business watch to me. The Stainless steel bracelet and white face will go with both your dark and light color dress clothes. It’s small enough to fit under your cuff if needed. Simple, but not cartoonishly so. Amazon link
Casual Friday Watch – SNZG11K1
There’s a few ways you can go here. You could go generally sporty or full dive. I think I prefer military style or military inspired watch for Fridays. Not too dressy, but still enough structure to match your Business casual attire. For Friday watches we can go bigger, we probably actually want them to be over 40 mm. The dark blue with the nylon strap adds a nice pop of color that’s not overboard for the office or a client meeting. Long island watch link
Weekend Watch – SRPC59
A weekend watch should be a few things. Comfortable, fun, and very durable. Like something you could do yardwork in, swim in, and play with your kids/pets in and not have to worry about it. A Seiko diver says all those things to me. The little bit of orange on the dial gives the watch some visual flair. It has a rubber strap and is water resistant to 100 M so it should be able to take whatever your weekend throws at it. Amazon link
Dress Watch – SNKL15
This is the most difficult watch style to use a Seiko 5 for. As I’ve stated before a dress watch should be as simple and clean as possible. All Seiko 5’s have a Day/Date function so we can’ fulfill my usual dress watch requirements. However, put this on a leather strap and it’ll look elegant. Yes, it’s a very similar to the office watch pick, but the straighter hands looks just a bit more formal to me. Amazon link
Becoming An Old Man 