Since my watch’s battery died about two and a half years ago, the watch has been sitting in the back of a desk drawer with my vast collection of hotel conference pens, soaps and mints. The clock on my phone has been fine, except during a conversation last week when I really needed to know what time and could not surreptitiously whip out the phone. A wristwatch would allow a brief, furtive look without committing a major social faux pas.
Amazon.com’s Gold Box was taunting me with discounts on designer watches, but I couldn’t find anything in my price range. The last time I had a new battery put in, it cost $20 because the watch has one of those funky “special tool required” backs. Cheapitude and free time compelled me price out a Jaxa tool: only $8 on Amazon. Add another $2 for a pack of five batteries.
Ten bucks to fix my watch, and I get a new tool out of it? Prime me, baby!
The Jaxa tool arrived today. The only hint of instructions was a link to a vendor’s web site clumsily stenciled on the side of the case. The site was completely useless. Paraphrasing:
- Step 1. Purchase the tool from us
- Step 2. ???
- Step 3: Profit!
I had better luck searching online. Being a handy guy, I figured it out eventually: round pins for the square slots on the back. Cast a +2 spell of … I’m getting ahead of myself.
The next was to put the watch in a soft vice as a lot of effort is going to be required to get the back off.
Profanity is a must-have requirement during this exercise as invariably the pins fell out because gravity kept pulling them down. (Were I to do this for a living, I would put some rubber cement in the holes to make them a little more grippy.)
With the back off, I … am thinking I should have gone for the Dora the Explorer watch… er, I mean, pop the old battery out. It’s important to remember its orientation. Time travel to the past is not allowed.
Reassembly is pretty straightforward: don’t pinch the rubber gasket while I spin & tighten the cover on clockwise. Pop open the vise, set the time and date (resisting the use of DOM), push the button in and…wait for it… wait for it… Yes, we have time!
And finally, because Susan felt gypped last fix-it article, an extra tricked-out flame decal.
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