30 Days In or What I Learned in KinderKrunch.

What a great month to discover WC! I have abandoned most other social media platforms in a search for more positivity and frankly much more civility. There's something about the anonymity of a keyboard coupled with repressed maladaptive personalities that unleashes some of the ickiest aspects of human nature. Definitely not my jam!

So what did I find here in WC my first month? Great stuff! It's always people over possessions for me and I was fortunate to attend my first WC gathering held in Ventura and wonderfully hosted by @SurferJohn. My wife and I connected really well with other Crunchers (you know who you are!) and we happily scarfed tacos, swapped phone numbers, won raffle prizes and handled some exceptional pieces.

Knowing that there's only one opportunity to make a good first impression and not knowing whether any of the more unfortunate band wagon biases existed in WC (think Invicta, Quartz, Rolex, Swatch, Chinese etc) I went with mechanical Seikos as my fairly safe introduction. I knew I wanted my 30 Day Wristy Badge and figured that a half century of Seikos would have a little something for most.

Perhaps a little about me. I'm a multi-generational Californian retired from a career in Public Safety and Crisis Intervention. I've collected many other items over the years (Space Exploration, Cars, Hollywood Memorabilia yada yada yada) and find every enthusiast group has heroes and heels. My wife and I also helped build and then sold a successful apparel company which reinforces for us that opportunity still exists even for a couple of kids from VERY humble backgrounds.

This past month we went to Disneyland for the first time in decades and got to sport our vintage Disney watches. We had a much better time than we had imagined we would which just illustrates the value of tempering one's expectations. Something I also did coming into WC.

This past month I also discovered not one but two watch honey holes that I hope to share with WC collectors. The first in a small Eastern Sierra coin shop...

...and the second...

... at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet where all manner of watches, straps and batteries are sold at very competitive prices. After discovering these spots I probably went back more times than I should've but you know how we are. I hope to incorporate a group visit to the flea market as part of a WC gathering to be followed up at a nearby pub.

No month rises to the top without a long sought acquisition and for me it was finally scoring one of my favorite space theme watches. In 1969 Mondia, Movado and Zenith merged to produce the Mondia Moonlander with the awesome Lunar Excursion Module on the caseback. I'm pleased to report that mine is slowly making it's way from Greece. Very slowly.

This is already too long so I'll glide over exciting stuff like snow at lower elevations in Southern California...

...and liquid lunches...

So what's up for the future and my hopes for WC? More gatherings and more watches of course! I belong to two other gathering inclined groups, OCchronogroup (IG) & COCAB (FB) and I'm hoping to host an inclusive event with cars, cigars and watches.

I've already visited an Orange County/Los Angeles border brew on premises spot with a pizza oven that assures me that they can provide a safe private space. I hope to firm up plans for this and get an estimated head count in the near future. At this point I envision complimentary parking, food, beverages and prizes but everything will of course be dependent on WC group interest. Stay tuned for that.

In closing did I find any WC warts? Of course, we're comprised of humans! Some people just aren't wired to root for others. There were a few unnecessarily brutal critiques aimed at the choices of others, judgements of how others spent their time or money and some negativity aimed at the wearer not the watch. I do wish that more enthusiasts would embrace scrolling on by as an option but I'll accept progress over perfection any day of the week.

Well if you've made it this far Kudos for your patience. I hope to share some offbeat areas of my mix (Felco, Felca & Titoni) in pursuit of my 60 Day Wristy Badge but my biggest hope is to meet with more of you in person. I bid you all best wishes and leave you with my favorite watch wearing sentiment:

Your Wrist, Your Rules.