So, I googled around and ending up sending my watch to a company in Denton, Texas called BestFix Watch Company, Inc.. The watch came back shiny, looking new, ticking, and charging up again–I don’t know if there are other good repair places out their, but this shop was really worth it.

(No, this is not an ad!)

The benefits are obvious:

• Nylon material is simultaneously lightweight, strong, and waterproof
• Ample pockets let you carry a Nikon D90 with Zoom attached, an SB-600, a 50mm prime (small lens), and two other lenses or a litre of water. There is another front pocket, two side pockets, and a pocket on the flap.
• “Quick access” flap and carrying style lets you get your camera out and shooting very quickly.
• Shoulder strap, handle, and rolling luggage piggyback let you carry it however you want.

This diagram convinced me of its usefulness:

Amazon reviews give it 4.5/5 and I agree, it’s a fantastic camera bag if you are a DSLR or SLR owner. Especially with a prosumer-size body. If you have a full-frame camera, you might want to check the dimensions, as the body will be larger than what I’ve tried. But with a Nikon D90 or equivalent, it’s a perfect fit.

Materials needed:

• One (or more) gloves
• Conductive thread ($5 sample on SparkFun or Soft Circuit)
• A heavy needle

Here’s what you do. [Step 1] put your index finger in the glove and mark with a marker, pen, or pencil, where your finger pad lies (so that you know where to sew). [Step 2] measure off a good length of thread and thread your needle. Make a knot at the other end, like this:

[Step 3] Begin to sew a small vertical square through the pad all the way through the glove and into the inside. The thread bridges your finger to the outside world:

[Step 4] Finish up your square, and it should look like this. If you sew well and use a heavier needle than me, yours should look far better than this!

[Step 5] Sew another horizontal square overtop the previous one. When done, tie off the thread and cut the excess! You are done!

I just tried it out on my wife’s iPad and it works! My index finger has magical properties! To get better results, practice on a softer glove first–sewing into leather with a regular needle (like I did here) is not just hard, it’s stupid.

Item: 18028191
Description: 1/2 CT. T.W. Diamond Five Stone Band in 14K White Gold (G-H/VS1-VS2), One Color, 4.0
Quantity Ordered: 1 @ $599.00
Shipping Method: FedEx Express Saver
Delivery Message: SPECIAL ORDER ITEM: Please allow up to 5-10 business days for delivery.

10 business days from August 29th is this Monday, December 14th. Worried because the item hadn’t yet shipped, I called Zales to ask them when it would ship. What they told me was that, in spite of the 2-weeks lead time on their email, their supplier would actually take four weeks to ship the item. So, I cancelled the item, and went uptown to the NYC diamond district where I picked out a ring with better characteristics, and watched it get sized and polished on the spot.

Color: HIJ, Clarity: I1-I2 – 14K White Gold 1/2 Carat t.w. Diamond Anniversary Band

Color: HIJ, Clarity: I1-I2 – 14K White Gold 1/4 Carat t.w. Diamond Band for Him

Not bad rings, not a terrible price. However, in the store once we purchased them, things got bad fast. First, they quoted the rings at the $699 price, but when I received the itemized receipt, the rings were billed at $599 (the correct online price, which we didn’t know at the time). Second, although we had declined their insurance option, there was magic insurance at $75 a piece. You can checkout an uploaded receipt image here, if you like. Tomorrow, I’ll be dropping by again to return both rings and receive a full refund.

Where my ire really gets irked is when I began to shop online for an alternative to the Kay rings (since I’m planning to return them). I took a look at Zales, and found a nearly identical ring, for the same price:

Color: H, Clarity VS1-VS2 1/2 CT. T.W. Diamond Five Stone Band in 14K White Gold

This Zales ring is the same price as the Kay’s Jewelry ring, but at a superior clarity. With free shipping and a $50 off coupon, the total price is $135 less than what Kay’s charged me. Yes, and that’s for a better ring! Zales even offers the Jewelry maintenance services as a free service, whereas Kay tries to tack them on as a $75 additional charge.

Some other red flags about Kay’s Jewelers:

• RetailMeNot doesn’t have any coupons for them. There’s a notice that reads, “Sorry for the inconvenience but this merchant has specifically requested to have all user contributed coupons removed from the RetailMeNot system.” That seems sketchy at best.
• Their Santa Certificates are only good if you spend in $300 increments, at which point you get $100 off. Although, there’s the possibility that at this point Kay’s will quote $100 of list, not advertised price.

I am pleased to see that they have a 2 star rating (out of 5) on RateItAll, a nice consumerist horror story, and something titled Kay Jewelers RUINED MY ENGAGEMENT RING!!!.