I was feeling rich and there are two things that I have
always secretly always loved possessing. One is shoes and the other is watches.
I can still think about shoes as a functional thing and expensive shoes tend to
be better lasting and comfortable compared to cheaper versions. Of course there
is a limit to this pay off. I am at around 4 to 5 thousand beyond which I think
the shoes start on their downward marginal utility of the money spent. The
problem is that the world has moved to around 6 to 7 thousand or even 8
thousand before the shoes start making awesomeness. Apparently I have not kept
pace with the shoes innovation inflation index yet. This is in the sports shoes
index.
Luckily in the formal space index, shoes have largely stayed
within my range. And at this time I am super lucky as one day I walked into the
Cole Haan shoe shop seeing a 60% sale board. These were ridiculously expensive
shoes. In INR they were at 15 to 18k for a pair of shoes. No way would I even
smell them at that price. So luckily at 60 /65 % off they were with reach. Just
a bit more expensive than normal but still within reach. So I bought one pair.
After a few months, this shop was going out of business (obviously) and they
had a 70% off sale. Jasmine egged me on and I bought two more pairs within my
range and now I am complete. Three leather pairs and one old trusty pair. Done.
These should last me at least 3 to 4 years. Hopefully more.
On the sports shoes, I was heavily influenced by the book
“born to run”. There the author argued that humans are designed to run bare
foot and the shoes with cushioning have spoilt our gait and running style.
Thanks to the cushioning we have on our shoes, we have learnt to hit heel first
versus a more mid foot impact style that barefoot runners have. I was so
heavily influenced by this that I bought a lot of sport shoes with a thin sole
and zero drop. I think today that it was a mistake. It’s not the best thing to
do for my feet. Possibly I am too used to cushioning or my feet run in a
different way and to retrain the old ancestral style would take too much effort
and is probably useful for those running marathon, not couch surfers like me.
But still – 4 K is my limit and I have to really wait for sales and clearances
before I can buy anything.
But for now – I have enough sport shoes, chappals, leather
shoes and sandals. More than what I need. No more testing the level of my
passion of collecting shoes.
As for watches, I have a genuine problem. I love these
watches but have complete understanding that there is ZERO marginal utility on
an awesome watch versus a really cheap watch. Long time back, I think 7 years
ago I was feeling pretty rich and I ventured to buy a watch. I bought a
Victorinox watch on sale. One of my friends worked there and hence I got an
employee sale price on the watch. The watch originally was for 26,000 and I was
getting it for 16,000. A steal and I bought it. It’s a great watch and I love
it, but after that purchase I understood that I have too much spare money and
we decided to buy a house – our current house, and we got screwed in deb for
the next 4/5 years. I haven’t bought a watch after that. I have been looking at
watches, ogling at them, especially the automatic ones but could never justify
to myself buying one.
Recently on a business trip abroad, while at the Duty free
my CEO was looking at an Omega watch he liked. He bargained, got a good deal
and bought a watch costing more than 300,000. That’s cool. He knows his watches
and he knows what’s cool in the high range section. He bought it and looked at
me. I smiled. He told me “you are that types – a three hundred thousand watch
will also tell the time and a 300 buck watch will also tell the time, nah?”. Hahahah.
Ya, kind of.
So recently I again started looking around and a mailer from
my airline frequent flier program told me that I could redeem my miles for an
awesome Casio watch costing around 6,000. Sure.
I started searching for reviews and views online, when my
eyes fell on this beauty. This particular one called Casio F91W. Wow this was
so retro it was cool. It reminded me of the watches I had in school and while
growing up. Of course it released only in 1991 when I was firmly out of school
but the design principal of the watch was very clear. It was that 80’s watch. Cheap
fibre and a work horse. I researched some more and I realized that this one was
a crazy seller and still sells high numbers. It’s cheap and the battery lasts
between 7 to 10 years. And it reminded me of my childhood and my dad. Funnily
enough that’s what the reviews also said.
I love it and ordered it online. 725 bucks and next day
delivery. Am I proud or am I proud?
This has also been dubbed the most dangerous watch in the
world. Its great use has been in being used as a detonation timer for bombs.
Osama bin laden was spotted wearing it in one of his videos and it was also
used to profile terrorists by the US for detention. Serious! What a story. Now this
watch is no ordinary watch. It is The Watch. I am suddenly prouder.
Some guys in office wonder what a guy like me is doing with
a watch like this. Ah – you know…..
