Many are the wristwatches that don’t really like Austin weather, especially not the summertime and especially if they spend a lot of time outdoors. I mean old, non-waterproof, analogue watches with mechanical movements and leather bands. It’s just possible to find someone to care for and clean them, but people with the knowledge always have a backlog. For a while I relied on so-called “dollar pocket watches,” but these Timex wind-up items first went to five dollars and then were very difficult to find.

Novelty watches are fun, the really cheap ones, but must be pitched once the sealed-up battery dies. So I like the ones with cheap fabric or plastic bands, sometimes Timex, sometimes Swatch, sometimes a store brand of one sort or another. Kmart used to sell cheap replacement batteries and do the replacing right there. But that was then. I hate to do this stuff myself.

Batteries Plus is running a coupon in the current Chron, good until the end of the month, offering a battery and installation for just $2.50. I’d never been in one of these places, but the south one was very busy during the noon hour, doing all sorts of battery-related business, much of it having to do with cellphones.

The novelty item that was most intriguing was a set of battery-powered lights (similar to these) to be slid onto the bill of a gimme cap. The lights seemed to be very decently bright and would be great for camps without electricity.