Blame? You want to talk about blame? Well in order to answer the question of "Who is to blame?", I start with the question "who is to blame FOR WHAT?" There is a real difference between blaming someone for prompting a $50 bump in an ebay bid, versus blaming someone for fueling a passion / obsession that consumes every waking moment of a persons life (and even some of the non-waking time).
With that brief introduction, I will start with the bigger issues, and then work my way down to the smaller issues -- three chronographs as to which I can clearly attribute some blame.
- For suggesting that a vintage Heuer website might be a useful thing, I blame Chuck Maddox. I also blame Chuck for delaying the release of our current redesign of OnTheDash, but I will assure our readers that the redesign, and Chuck's contribution to it, will be well worth the wait.
- For prompting the expansion of OnTheDash from coverage of the dashboard timepieces to include the Heuer chronographs, I blame Ralf and AMH. When we launched OnTheDash, I really hoped that someone else would take the cue to create a website for the Heuer chronographs. You guys started sending fantastic photos . . . I started adding them to OnTheDash . . . and, with almost 3,000 photos now on the website, you might say that "the rest is history". But you guys are to blame for most of those additional 2,500 photos.
- For creating the very first Reference Tables, I blame Bruce Mackie. These first tables were amazing, and as I have attempted to complete the Autavia table, and create a first draft of the Camaro table and a revision of the Carrera table, I can appreciate what was involved in creating all these other tables.
- For setting up OnTheDash, but telling me that I would "easily" be able to update it and revise it myself, I blame Derek Ziglar.
- For shaming me into improving my photography, and into buying more photographic gadgets and lighting set-ups than I care to remember, I blame Ralf and Jim. So many lights, so little time, so many reflections!!
- For so many sleepless nights, I blame ebay for adding the BuyItNow feature. In the early days of ebay, you went to sleep and reviewed the new listings in the morning. Now if you go to sleep too early, you might wake up to see that someone else bought the Autavia GMT for $9.95, plus $3.50 for the shipping. How can anyone sleep in the BuyItNow era??
Now turning from these more genrral complaiants to three specific watches, here are three specific watches that I would have never come to own, but for the evil influence of three members of our community:
- For the Carrera shown below, my first chronograph with the Lemania 5100 movement, I blame Chuck Maddox. He told me that I needed one of these . . . he didn't say that I would want to then acquire every chronograph powered by this movement, Heuers and non-Heuers.
- For the Cortina shown below, my second chronograph with the Lemania 5100 movement, I blame Hans Schrag. He told me that it was the best looking dial Heuer ever made, and that the chronograph was New Old Stock. He bears the entire blame for this purchase, as until he sent the photograph, I didn't even know that this model existed.
- For the Autavia shown below, I blame David Devos. I was happy owning two of the Israel Defense Forces Autavias, and passing on this one, then David offered it in a trade . . . so now I have three of them.
And one last thing for Jim Nichols -- yes, I still blame you for sniping that beautiful Ring-Master!!
Thanks to all our readers, photographers, researchers, and everyone else who may be to blame for this whole thing. And please don't blame me if I didn't blame you by name . . . you know who you are.
OK -- it's getting late . . . I'm rambling more than usual . . . I'd better do one last check for new BuyItNows, then call it a night!!
Jeff
