my guess watch

just fine

i only have a few watches... there is one and only one favourite... an oval-shape guess watch... it's a present from dad a decade ago after the school cert exams... dad is the kind of man who never buys nonessential things... he provides me with everything i need... but he very very rarely buys a gift... i can literally count the few... a watch, a musical *risu* from hokkaido and my car... the squirrel dolly must be the most nonessential good he's ever bought... i treasure every gift from my parents, particularly this watch... it was the summer trip to australia in 1998... i remember exactly where this shop in gold coast was... i finished my school cert exam and did exceptionally well... to my parents, a child need not be awarded for getting good grades (i personally agree with them)... this is the only time dad thought his child was worth some *award* for doing well in exams... the egg-shape made it very unique... i've never seen a single one like mine...

the back cover of the watch is rather strange... it takes a special tool to open... that makes repair difficult... i had to send it back to the maintenance centre just to change the battery...

now i always have a cell phone with me i don't really need a watch... usually i rely on the phone for time... this watch was put aside for some years... naturally the battery has run out... recently i begin practising for paces exam then i realise i need a watch to time the pulse and respiratory rate... i have no functioning watch except a very funky one...

yesterday i finished CGAT early at 3pm... i could finally find time to go to the maintenance centre in north point... i showed the receptionist my watch and she commented that was a very old one and she needed to see whether they still had the parts... so i waited for some 20 mins then she told me once again since the model is so old they don't have the battery anymore... i asked her whether she can order it from other parts of the world but no... nor could they ship my watch to other places... in the end she gave me a list of address of distributors around the world which is probably quite useless... i also asked them to take out the battery hoping i can find the battery somewhere on this planet...

the conversation was familiar... it's like when i tell my patients' family that we decided not to do resuscitation... we make use of every opportunity to remind them the patient is already weak and frail and has multi-organ failure... and that there is no hope to revitalise them... it's about time to let go...

the receptionist was courteous and i believe there's really nothing she can help to fix my watch... still my heart sank a bit knowing i lost the channel to have my watch ticking again... though it's quite worn and scratched... i actually treasure it more than i have imagined... it accompanied me through all my exams... i wish it will accompany me to paces exam, too...

now i'm going to search around for this tiny button battery hoping i can find it somewhere in sham shui po and get my favourite watch function again... please let me know if you happen to know anyone who might be able to get this battery for me...