The Grey NATO – 371 – The Final 2025 Slack Crew & A (Part 10)¶
Published on Thu, 02 Apr 2026 06:00:00 -0400
Synopsis¶
In episode 371 of The Grey NATO (TGN), hosts James Stacy and Jason Heaton wrap up the final installment of their 2025 Slack Crew Q&A series. The episode opens with announcements about their upcoming schedule around Watches and Wonders, including a two-week break filled with a special "best episode tournament" organized by community members Tom Place and Jackson B. They detail upcoming TGN events including the Vancouver and Montreal Time Peace Shows and the second annual Marathon party at Roldorf & Co.
The hosts tackle ten listener questions covering diverse topics: watch collections, parenthood advice, classic car recommendations (with a strong consensus on the Mazda Miata), celebrity dream road trips, watches as personal expression, and combating burnout in passion industries. Jason discusses his upcoming Defender Trophy competition in British Columbia and his watch selection dilemma, while James shares insights from a successful Hodinkee happy hour event in New York and his experience with the new Citizen Suyosa Shore dive watch. The episode concludes with final notes featuring Will Steger's remarkable 81-year-old solo Arctic expedition and James's simple recommendation to set up a bird feeder for daily wildlife enjoyment.
Links¶
Transcript¶
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| James Stacy | Hello and welcome to another episode of the Grey Native. It's a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 371, and it's proudly brought to you by the always growing TGN supporter crew. We thank you all so much for your continued support, and if you are listening to the show and would like to support us, please visit the Greenado.com for more details. My name is James Stacy, and I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host Jason Heaton. Jason, how are we doing? W |
| Jason Heaton | ell, I took the uh the winter wheels and tires off the Prius yesterday and we did the same. Lo and behold, the forecast says there's uh some snow coming this week. So, you know, it was inevitable. It's like I also put away my Reding W ice cutter winter boots uh a couple days ago. Just tucked 'em in the closet, you know, thinking, Okay, no more cold icy walks, but I don't think there'd be much ice anymore. But you know, just this is a winter that just keeps holding on. I mean we' we'rere into April already and still hanging on. But other than that, |
| James Stacy | yeah, I'm doing fine. Good. I'm glad to hear it. Yeah, we we took the the winter tires off as well, so we've got uh a bigger drive coming up in the next little while, hopefully good weather across that drive. We'll see. You know, you never know. Um it's definitely definitely preferable to have them, but it doesn't make sense to wait forever with them on. Yeah. Look, I w we've got an exciting show, part ,10 the final the final 2025 Slack crew and a we're still getting questions on Slack, uh asking, hey, where's the thread to to offer up a question? So we're gonna finish this and then later in the month, probably towards the end of April, after we get past new watch season and the mega sode and the rest of it, we're going to launch uh the 2026 uh round. Uh, but we've got a bunch of stuff to kind of get through in terms of housekeeping. Uh the first one is for the Watches and wonders, TGN show schedules. So this episode will come out Thursday, April 2nd, and then there will not be a new episode for the 9th or the 16th. Uh it's simply too busy. And then by the 16th, we're in the middle of Watches and Wonders. Uh we will have our we will have our annual post watches and wonders megasode for April 23rd. So that's the schedule coming up for for this. And you know, because we we don't commonly take a two-week break, um, we do have something kind of special to offer. And uh, you know, I'll let Jason describe it, but a huge thank you to uh Jackson B and for Tom Place for setting this up. Jason, why don't you walk people through uh what they can do for some entertainment in in our two weeks off. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, well you might remember at the beginning of uh of the year we did um was that last year? It was last year that we did the draft. Last year. You might remember at the beginning of of last year we did the uh kind of the tournament bracket emulating the March Madness basketball tournament uh shenanigans that people take part in every year. Um with regard to favorite watches. Well um this being the the tenth anniversary of TGN going back to 2016, um, it it has been proposed and bandied about on Slack that um we have some kind of a selection tournament for um best episode uh of TGN, which is a there's some stiff competition. We're on we're on episode 371, so there's a lot to choose from. And um the intrepid Tom Place, who is well known, uh he's he's TGN legend, of course, and um has been on and been on the show a couple of times and Tom is an inveterate TGN listener. He goes back and you know, um, for his sins, he he listens to old episodes over and over and uh has put together um a a good list of of what he considers um top episodes. Um I believe we're he's at 64, just like you know, like a tournament bracket we'll have. And then working with Jackson B, our um wonderful moderator on Slack, um Jackson put together kind of a voting um bracket uh system uh using uh Google, uh Google Forms that you can go in and vote and and kind of work through the different rounds and different categories of episodes. And that will hopefully tide people over during our two weeks off. Um this is specifically for the crew. So it's going to be something that we're hoping will spur a lot of uh discussion and And so I guess we would just encourage people to uh keep an eye on the Slack. Jackson's going to be kind of overseeing a new channel that's going to be set up temporarily for running this tournament and and there will be a link there for um this Google form where you can go in and vote and uh it'll just continue to kind of whittle down until there's a final round and and we'll see what the the the the best episode in in the majority of people's minds has been. So thanks again to to Tom and uh for for for going through all the old episodes and and putting together that list and to Jackson for for building this form and kind of spearheading this effort. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch |
| James Stacy | . Yep. It looks like we'll hit uh the the starting bracket uh April two through five and by the sixteenth to the twentieth we'll be into the final four and then the twenty third to the twenty sixth should be the championship. Uh I don't know. I don't I don't really know what to expect. You know, I think Jason and I will have to do do some soul searching if you know the top episode is episode twenty five or something like that. Yeah, right. You know true. Maybe we peaked early. You never know. Oh I hadn't thought about that. Nice. But but if anything, it'll be a suggestion for for maybe where we should be headed. So that'll be great. And yeah, a huge thank you to uh to Jackson for putting all this together. I know it was a massive lift. Having done this for a much smaller bracket uh in in the one-watch tournament, uh Jackson's really put his his heart and his soul into this. So we app |
| Jason Heaton | reciate it. I think we'll have to recuse ourselves from taking part in this tournament. I think we you know one of us can put our put our finger on the scale so to speak and you know sway things one way or the other. I think look at me uh look |
| James Stacy | man I I I've got the memory of a goldfish. This was probably my favorite episode. It's all one big episode to me. We've just cut it into a few hundred pieces, right? Um but look with that uh with that said, we have even more to announce. We'll eventually I promise we'll get to the the meat of this show. Uh but we've got another uh another appetizer here with the uh Vancouver and Montreal Time Peace Show you can get the tickets at timepeace show.com. That's the end of April and the end of May uh for Vancouver and Montreal respectively. We also now have a locked-in plan for the marathon Rolldorf T GN round two second annual party at Rolldorf and Co. It's gonna be Saturday night instead of Sunday. A little bit easier for folks to come in who are leaving Sunday, uh Sunday evening from the West Coast there. So that's gonna be at 730. RSVP is required, and you can find the link in the show notes. Um and if you're on the Slack, the link has been on the Slack for the last couple of days. Uh so be sure to get in there. It's a pretty high threshold for the RSVP, but it's just something that'll allow us to understand and and run a wait list in the event that uh we get a bigger response being Saturday than Sunday. Last year was an absolutely incredible event. We're gonna have some great local beer, uh, some wine, some fantastic food, obviously some NA options and waters and all that sort of thing. Uh, but really, it's a chance to come and hang out, uh, spend some time in Roldorf's great space and connect with uh the TGN crew and uh and the folks from Marathon. So it's something we always look forward to and it's going to be a highlight of uh of my April. What will be a pretty exciting April, I think. I'm I'm kind of all over for the next little while. And you'll be leading the crew in uh in uh sea shanties at that party, right? Hey, anything's possible. Uh you know me, I love to sing in front of a crowd. How about uh how about you, Jason? What have you what have you been up |
| Jason Heaton | to? Yeah, I mean we had you know this this this springtime is sort of coming in fits and spurts and and we had a a really warm day yesterday. I was running around the lake in shorts and a t-shirt and it was almost too warm. Um and then on Sunday I was out of my bike. Um for the second time this year we've had a couple of kind of spiky, weird warm spells. Um, and now we're back to the cold. So um not much new to report here, other than the fact that um two weeks from when this episode goes up, I will be in um rural uh rustic British Columbia um competing in this defender trophy, North American selection round. And I I've learned that at least three other people that I know, that we probably all know, will be competing as well. Of course, Brock Stevens, former Navy diver, deep sea EDC on on Instagram. Um Brock will be uh competing as well in a different I think he's there the the the two days after I'm there, so there's three waves of this. Um I learned recently that Elbert from RDX um makes some great you know watches and straps. Uh he he's in it as well. Um and then Matt S from Slack also reached out and said that he's he's competing as well. So we'll definitely be keeping an eye out. I'll I'll have to I'll have to whatever I'm wearing, and this is my next little topic here, um, in terms of a watch, I know this is the most important question of the whole event, um, which watch to wear. Um I'll be I'll be wearing it on a T GN NATO. So we'll definitely have to uh look around for for others in the group to see if anyone else is wearing one too. But um yeah, just sort of sort of building up to that, prepping for that. I mean, two weeks is not a lot of time. And um, you know, of course I'm I'm an experienced defender driver, but mine is so old and analog. Um and we'll be competing in in new defenders and there's a a few things that they put in the prep document um in terms of familiarity with the vehicle. And I have no experience with the new defender, um, much less any modern vehicle. Um, so I've set up an appointment uh this week to go to the Land Rover dealer in town and get kind of a general orientation and walk around and test drive and kind of familiarize myself with the with the new defender. I kind of thought that would be a good idea to do before I jump in cold and so I don't look like an idiot, even trying to find where to start the thing. Um so that's kind of where I'm at now. And then like I said, I'm I'm trying to figure out which watch to wear. I've been kind of testing driv a few different pieces and have have kind of a short list. I um you know, if people want to suggest, um I'm not I'm not gonna do a poll or anything like that, but I you know, Elliot Brown kind of makes sense, um kind of r augged watch. They have a Land Rover connection. Vertex. I've got this MP45 and there's some need for a stopwatch function, they said in the in the uh prep document on what to bring. So that's that's a that's a factor. Um the CWN one's kind of a no-brainer, a quartz kind of lightweight do anything piece. FXD Zen 144, like kind of kind of spoiled for choice, but it's uh we'll probably make just a game day decision like before I board the flight to Vancouver and and figure it out. Any any help there, James? Feels |
| James Stacy | like a c CWN one, I think. I think it's a CW you gotta rep. You gotta rep or or you know what? Is that like wearing your own merch? I don't know. Maybebe may it's not cool to do the same thing. I don't know. Yeah. I I would the the thing that would be important to me if I was if this was me is I would be picking a watch that regardless of the outcome of this experience, I could look back on both photos and videos and whatever media comes out of it. Yeah. But also just as my memory is like, Oh, like is this a watch that I'm going to have in thirty years? 'Cause, Hey, I wore that when I competed in the defender trope, when I won the defender, whatever whatever happens, right? I think that would be I'd work backwards from there. So in my mind, like the FXD's a natural because that that has been such an important watch to you for the last several years. Yeah. And and already has some backstory and some diving built into it and and and that sort of thing. So you know that the CWN one obviously has the has the crew connection and uh and that sort of thing. So that that's where I would lean. Um you know if it was me going on this I I would be tempted to do a CWN one or a uh or the the Pelgos 39. But then depending on the needs, you know, you walk your way into uh an Aqualand pretty easily, right? If you need a chronograph, if you need stuff like that.. Ye Yeahah. Yeah. Yeah.. We'll see I mean I guess some of the navigation right might require timing um over distance. I think that's why they set a stop |
| Jason Heaton | watch because they they one of the also the skills they recommend or or tell you to kind of prep up on is knowing how many steps you can take in a given amount of time or you know what kind of your stride length and how much ground you can cover and that sort of thing. So um I'm sure that's all part of it. So we'll see. I'll I'll give an update um you know after the fact or I'm sure it'll pop up in pictures and on Instagram and whatever else. But uh it's a it's a fun little kind of side dilemma or or you know something to think about leading up to this. But anyway, that's that's been life in my world lately. Um how about you? How did the happy hour go? That looked looked like a blast. D |
| James Stacy | ude, it went so well. You know, I had confidence having done these things before with with you who folks who are listening have always held this down. If we say we're gonna throw an event, people show up. Yeah. And when you say there's free, great free beer and pizza, more people show up. And so we ended up having an absolutely amazing time. Uh there were so many folks from the crew there. First dude down the stairs, give take a guess. Tom Place. Tom Place |
| Jason Heaton | . Who was who was masquerading as me. I saw this video on Instagram where Tim Jeffries was going around and he asked his name and he said I'm Jason Heaton. It was so funny |
| James Stacy | . I thought that was so funny. You know, this is a Tom Heavy episode for one that doesn't include uh Yeah, right. But no, the the event was amazing. We uh we were able to to go I think Tim and I picked up a hundred and thirty b cans of beer. Wow. Um from Grata because they have the best beer selection. I only wanted stuff that was like made within twenty miles of where we were, like as local, high quality as possible. We had some stuff that was ungettable as well. If you're an IPA nerd, there was some really tough stuff to get that uh Frank at Groda hooked us up with. You know, we we started at 4 30 and by I think it was probably 5 30 we were almost out of beer. Uh so uh so Matt and Braden with two of my colleagues at Hodinky just left and they came back with like I think ninety or a hundred more beers. Just stuff that you could get cold at at the local, but of course it's it's New York. So also Sierra Nevada IPAs who's great. And um and the pizza disappeared. You know, there was no way I was gonna order the right amount of pizza. You have to do this a couple of times to figure out what the number is. And everybody had I think everybody had a good time. We got really good feedback. The space is great. It was packed for uh for much of it. And yeah, just a huge thank you to everybody from the crew who came out. Neil from Citizen was there, which is awesome. Yeah, we had uh we had a really nice time and uh and and got to do a a proper hangout. It it felt like something that we, you know, you make an investment of time and effort in planning and put these things together. And then Tim and I lug beer and ice and uh paper plates around uh around Soho for an afternoon. And it was a beautiful day as well. So every everything just kind of worked out and it was nice to be able to connect with folks and and see a handful. Uh next time we'll have to try and do like uh g get the T G and folks in one side for like a group photo for the Slack. But Oh yeah. I was uh it uh it it that's my fault that that didn't happen, but I was a little overwhelmed just keeping the party going and finding out that we had somehow gone through you know, a hundred and forty beers in like an hour. So all right. I I'm gonna have to come to one of these future ones. That's that sounds like a blast. It looked looked great. Yeah. We I would love obviously love to have you out out for one. Um and we could find out find a bunch of fun stuff to do around that as well. But uh yeah, it turned out nicely and I just I have nothing but a huge thanks to the people who came out and held me down and said hi and shared their cool watches and and all that kind of stuff. It's great. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. It looked great and great uh great risk check. Just so many people and so many watches. Really cool. All right. Well uh anything else up with you or should we jump into our o |
| James Stacy | wn risk check here? No, other than that, man, we're just pre-writing. Yeah. But yeah, I do have um I do have something fun for wrist check. When I was in New York last week, I bothered Neil from Citizen to check out a watch that I I have been really kind of very interested in because I think it offers something different than what we normally lean on, but at the same time fits a bunch of these markers and and it feels like a killer summer watch. And that's that uh the new uh Suyosa shore. Yeah. So I've got one on my wrists. It's the steel with the blue dial, and it wears better than I expected. The bracelet's quite nice. It's a split-pin construction, so you know, sizing it's a little fiddly, but it's very easy to get it locked in. Has a little bit of micro adjust right in the clasp. And then the thing that really stands out is it's a very dark blue. In my office, it would look almost black uh just sitting here. And then the the decision for them to go with a larger handset and markers isn't that obvious on the website, but in person it really wears and kind of presents like a root like a full-on dive watch. It's a hundred meters water resistance with a hundred and twenty click bi direct or unidirectional bezel. With a hundred and twenty-quick unidirectional bezel. So you can definitely take it in the water and and I will this summer. Uh the case is quite nice. It sits quite nicely. The crown tucks in really well at uh at about four o'clock. And there's very minimal dial text. So you get citizen at the top, automatic at the bottom, and that's it. Uh the dates, easy to read and see. I'm I'm pretty impressed with it. So it seems like a lot more watch than I'm used to seeing for 495 bucks. And the other thing is, is in a world where you're listening and this might be you might be right at the starting edge of your watch journey. I remember the delight of buying my first few watches and then getting one that had a display case back. Mm-hmm. And these have a display case back. It's not something that I think all watches should should have or need. And and I do actually like the ability to to engrave a watch as I become an uh an older guy that's that's had a few watches |
| Jason Heaton | . Yeah, I think display case backs are great on watches at this level and then at the really high decorated level. You know, I think those are the two because I I remember that first Swiss Army automatic that I bought that had a display case back, and I was just mesmerized. And it wasn't anything special looking back, but uh it sure hooked me on mechanical watches. So that's kind of the point. I |
| James Stacy | 'm straight up blanking on what my first display case back watch might have been. Hmm. Might have have been been might like an Invicta. I don't remember. It's like something it might have been something really early on that had a display case back. I don't think my red my red beast, my Orient Red Beast, that one might have actually, I I don don''t remt rememberember. just. But I they it is a fascinating thing that is so easy to become indifferent to or even a little bit jaded. Like I would say I'm probably more on the jaded side. Yeah. And like I don't I don't want a display case back on my Pelagos or on the Explorer 2, for example. But on a watch like this, or like you say, if you go higher up where you're really paying for the movement, yeah, I think it's part of the experience. And yeah, I think they've made an uh another solid option. You know, I'm not a huge integrated bracelet sort of dressy like it, you know, I'm not a I'm not in for the T SO PRX. Really probably not the type of guy to go for the standard Ciosa, but add the bezel. You know, it's not especially thick, but thanks to the essentially lack of lugs uh in the very short kind of lug-to-lug distance, the 12.2 millimeters for the style of the watch, I think balances really nicely. And when you add in the taper on the bracelet, the curve of the links and that sort of thing. It just wears it it doesn't wear l necessarily like a $500 watch or it wears like a very nicely thought out $500 watch. And uh in the 40 millimeter case, yeah, I'm I'm pretty happy with it. Nicely done, citizen |
| Jason Heaton | . Yeah, yeah, it's cool. And I think the the integrated bracelet aspect of it kind of saves it from being just sort of another, you know, uh dive style watch that we we see a lot about there. And I think that that um it's just something I'm not used to seeing from Citizen. Um and it looks great. Cool. Yep. And what have you got on today? Something different. Yeah, I'm I'm mine isn't terribly different. I've got the C W N one. I'm like I said, I've been test driving a few watches with an eye on the defender trophy candidates. Um, and uh this is right up there as we discussed. So yeah, I haven't worn it for a couple of weeks and it was spot on time and I picked it up, which is why we love |
| James Stacy | it. So that's it's on my wrist. Yeah, I took one down to New York and at one point I realized that I hadn't updated the I guess I hadn't fully updated the digital time on my Aqualand, which was also with me. Oh and I was like, well that's annoying. So I was angry with myself and instead of like trying to figure it out while moving through the airport, I just took it off and threw the CWN one on and it was like to the second with my phone. I was like, ah, that's pleasing. So there you go. Yeah, we well yeah. That's great. A couple couple of nerds out there with their quartz watches. But uh look, we're into the final round, part ten. Who knows how many parts we're gonna have for twenty twenty six? Uh we'll figure that out uh the starting at the end of April. So I've now had what 10 opportunities to learn how to introduce this segment and it's still going to sound like I'm making it up. If by chance this is your first ever time listening to a crew and a our normal monthly QA is done with audio files that are recorded using the voice memo app on your phone and then sent in. That's part of the paid side of the offering, including the Slack. And the crew is kind of flips the whole thing on its head where we take text questions from the Slack and make a public episode for it. So this is part 10 of that, and we're going to kick it off with a question from Analog Connection, who says, Sometimes watches make you cheer up and put a smile back on your face in a very difficult or uncomfortable moment. What moment with which watch comes to your mind? Jason, any time that a watch kind of turns around a bad mood for you? Uh no |
| Jason Heaton | . I couldn't think of a specific example. I think um what I have found is that um having a favorite watch or or or just kind of a special watch on during I don't say trying times, but um potentially stressful situations can calm me a bit or kind of be reassuring. I guess I would put it that way. So one example is, you know, doing maybe a difficult dive or adventure, like the fan dance, you know, I was wearing the CWN1 prototype. Um and it was just kind of pleasing during my sort of physical agony of you know scrambling up Penny Van over and back um uh you know to glance down and see this watch that just pleases me or diving the Hermes years ago, you know, deep technical dive, kind of slightly narked, trying to keep track of all these tanks that I was carrying with me, et cetera, to like look down and see my Rolex submariner ticking away on my wrist. It's it's just something reassuring that there's something that is kind of reliable and eye-pleasing and functional doing its job in a time when you know you you yourself might be a little bit flustered. And that's that's kind of where I'm I went with this question. I I I haven't I can't say it would have cheered me up, but I guess in some respects it did uh in those situations |
| James Stacy | . Right. How about you? Yeah that's good that's a good good perspective on it. I took a little bit of a different spin. I couldn't think of a time where like a watch, if I was having a bad day, like one of my favorite watches would make me feel that differently about it. But there is a certain a certain um heady buzz, if you will, that you get from a new watch. Yeah. Or maybe one you haven't worn in a long time. And you pull it out of the box or out of its case and then you go about the day. And maybe you're stuck in traffic. And I hate traffic. Everybody hates traffic. And you look down at your wrist to make sure you're not late and you go, ah, that thing's pretty sick. Yeah. That'll do. I like that. So yeah, that that was the first thing that came to my mind is like whether maybe it's a new watch or or you bore a watch from somebody, just something where's there's some novelty where you look down at your wrists and maybe it's not what your brain had initially like if you thought about it, of course you know what watch you have on, but otherwise you wouldn't. Like I'm I guarantee there were times where I was probably fairly stressed in the last little while, looked down at my wrist to check the time and like the it's the uh the aerospace. Yeah. Or I'm I'm going about my day kind of frantically doing stuff. I go to pick up my son and I turn my wrist in just just the right way and activate the minute repeater. And that that's that's a delight. You know what I mean? So I I I I think that's maybe not exactly what Analog Con Connection was getting after, but that's how it would land with me. Yeah. No, that's good. I like it |
| Jason Heaton | . Thanks for that question, uh, analog connection. Uh that's fun a one to start out with. Um, we'll move on to one from Adam Aldrit, who um has a car-related question. Um, I've been wanting to get a classic Sunday driver, but I'm not mechanically inclined. What are some of your recommendations for a somewhat dependable classic that you could take to a run of the mill local mechanic and ample parts availability? To narrow it down further, preferences in my end leaned toward a small and nimble over a muscle or horsepower car, but can be swayed to anything that puts a smile on your face. |
| James Stacy | Should we say the answer together? Oh, because there's one natural answer to this. And it's a it's it's so much that it's a meme in the automotive journalism world. Alright, ready? One, two, Miata. Yeah, it's a Miata. Just buy a Miata. Yeah. And and you'll be happy. Yeah. You've had one, Jason. I've I've looked at them several times. You had a third gen? Yeah. Yeah. With the it was the retractable hard toe. NC. Yeah. Oh., no, okay Yeah, yeah. I've driven an RF, which is the the fourth gen with the retractable hardtop. I had one of those with uh with Sarah, you know, whenever it was the last time we were in LA a long time ago. Yeah. And uh and yeah, I just but you can definitely go other directions, but if you actually want the thing that you just listed Asting, maybe classic is difficult. Mm-hmm. Maybe you wouldn't consider this a classic. But outside of it being it is a classic option in a modern sports car for sure. Yeah. But it the answer is almost certainly a Miata. Yeah. It it will it won't leave you stranded. Um, it won't cost you a ton of money. You can drive the wheels off it and really not get yourself in much trouble. I think I and I'd be more than happy. You know, you could there's there's definitely a couple uh automotive journalists. I think we actually have a question from somebody in that space coming up shortly. You could ask on the Slack. I wouldn't be surprised if everybody says at least one of the natural immediate answers is uh is a Miata. Yeah. Plus you get to go top down. Yeah. Yeah. That instantly makes you feel like you're going for twenty-five miles an hour faster. At least. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, it's it's a delight. I mean, I think for a hobby car having something you can take the roof off um is is just a a nice bonus. Yep. Especially if you live somewhere where they have you know, more more s more good weather seasons than than we do here. But uh even here |
| James Stacy | it it's a great choice. I mean uh outside of that if you're absolutely against the Miata for any reason, I I still feel very strongly about the BMW Z four, but you will experience a different uh part availability won't be an issue. Cost will be different than a Miata and service will be different than a Miata. Um, like having somebody else service it. Um yeah, I I mean to be honest, yeah, just I I wouldn't want to steer you wrong. I would probably go for something like the BMW. I'm not gonna drive it as much um as as you might. Um with but but the uh I like the idea of the six and a little bit more power. I love you know, I have a a extreme fondness for the Z three and Z fours uh simply because of my age. But yeah, I think I I think the natural answer is is the Miata. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I think so too. I was I had a short list in a Subaru B R Z, GTI, Acura RSX, which was a great car. I had one of those years ago. That was a fun car. S2000 Honda. You know, if if you want a little riff on a Miata, |
| James Stacy | but a different faster. Yeah. More high strung. You get the high rev, that sort of thing. I I think, you know, I'm I'm I'm not gonna be getting getting buddies here, but you have to make sure it matches your roads, and a Miata will match more roads than an S2000. Again, that comes down to length of gearing, where the torque is in the motor, that sort of thing. Mazda looked at all of these great British sports cars and said, Well, we can do that and also remove all of the headaches. Yeah. And they made a car that was so ubiquitous that people don't often take it seriously, and then as soon as you get into racing, as soon as you get into like canyon driving, like any of the enthusiast levels of car focus, suddenly there's a lot of miattas around. And that's for a reason. So thanks very much for that question, Adam. Uh next up we'll get to one uh from Oliver, which uh is is for me. Uh he says, My wife and I are starting to talk about having kids in the next one and a half to two years. Uh James, we know you have your daughters, and I I now have a son as well. And uh you're if you're comfortable talking about it, I'd love to hear some of your experiences about becoming a dad and preparing for the immediate changes that occurred, um, and then what it's like being a dad day to day now. And he said, I guess' what Im really asking is what's your dad EDC? This is one where I could ramble really quite extensively. So I've just prepared a simple list. And I think uh TGM parents, which Oliver does point out, is probably a good spot to expound upon this list. It's difficult for me to remember going from zero kids to one, but I can tell you what it is to do another very young one, as my son is uh nine months uh old and. And uh I would say, look, be ready for a new routine. Um, and that routine will the the value of that routine will protect some ability for you to remain selfish. If you don't have a routine, you'll be kind of constantly overwhelmed. If you have the time, the space, if you're this type of type A person, if you have one and a half to two years, I would say you might actually be a little behind the gun on daycare, schools, things like that. So get started. Um, it pays to be years ahead of that schedule. Um, but if you know for your job that you need a certain type of care, the faster you start to arrange for that, the easier it will be for you to make that transition in the moment when you're already kind of at 100% with everything else. Uh this is a big one, um, and one that didn't factor in with my daughters due to their age, but one that I've noticed um both in being a dad to uh a young baby in 2026, but also for my wife for Sarah. Uh don't believe what Instagram tells you about being a parent or or having a kid. Even if it's good advice. Instagram is a fire hose and you'll already be overwhelmed. And the one thing I would want to make clear, and this goes for absolutely everything. The only goal, the only goal of Instagram is to keep you on Instagram. If they can use the algorithm to undermine your feeling that you're a good parent, and that means that you'll spend more time scrolling nonsense where forty percent of it is just designed for you to have a certain reaction and scroll again, or 80% of it. That's what they're gonna do. Don't trust any of it. Talk to people who have kids, people that you know and respect. Talk to your parents if they if you feel they were good parents. You know what I mean? A lot of the basics haven't changed. The tech has changed, uh, it's gotten scarier, and the access to information, it's like being a parent now and going on the internet is like people diagnosing themselves on WebMD. It could be the most normal thing that could be happening to you, very common experience and you will get the thing that keeps you on the website, the thing that keeps you clicking ancillary links, scrolling into the next video, watching the next YouTube short, whatever it may be. Um, so that that's a big one is it sometimes just disconnect and trust your gut. And if you're if you're not the type to do the gut thing, then talk to other parents. Um and TGM parents is a good outlet if you don't have um have more options. Uh the next one, uh if you're an internally driven, selfish type of person like me, so you have hobbies, maybe you have a gym routine, maybe you're a road bike guy, maybe you've got a Miata you just bought uh and you, you know, and you're learning to service it yourself, et cetera, et cetera. Just prepare to share all or most of that time for the next little while. Your hobbies won't go away. Like Sarah and I know we'll get back to scuba diving, but we're not diving right now. And is that a bummer? Sure. Is it a go-okay trade-off? Also, sure. Right? Uh, you you can't just be the person who says, Oh, this is all fine. You have to understand that like having a certain feeling about a certain thing, we've and we've talked in past QA's about the the selfishness factor. And one, you have to be able to think about how you're thinking. It takes a little bit of metacognition. Um, but also you just have to be prepared to know that oh, for the next little while, uh I'm probably not gonna get a new PR on my 10K. Yeah. Or or something like that. Because your your new personal record is how much sleep could you get? How much sleep could you make sure they get? Yeah. Right? And or how many walks you could go on with them on a nice sunny day or or that sort of thing. It just you it's a change and it's it's short term and I think it's one of those things where there's a b there's a really unfair linear curve if your brain chemistry is like mine. Where at the start it feels unfair because you're suddenly not able to keep up with the things you like. And that could be something like even movies or TV or books or it doesn't have to be this like outward, you know, climbing mountains or whatever. But whatever you're into, it'll feel unfair at first because you're like, well, I'm never now I'm behind on that. And then you'll get to the middle and you'll start to find that new routine that I mentioned, and you'll start finding time for these things. And then before you know it, you'll be at the other end of the curve, and they'll be like four or five, and you'll spend more of your time like getting them to see their little buddies or taking them to school and you'll start to readjust that you know like the elastic will go the other way on the other side of the experience and you'll be like, oh, I kind of kind of wish I had had a different perspective at the start. So that's something to be if you can get your head around it again, it's a little bit of like you have to think about how you think, which I'm 40 and I haven't ever really done it. So good luck, I would say. It's easier to talk about it on a podcast than do it in the moment. Be prepared to look tired in photos for a long time. That's more of a joke at me because I look exhausted in every photo now. Um eventually that will change. Um and then uh the finally uh Oliver for EDC, aside from maybe like a kid specific camera, like if there's a camera you love to keep relatively on you, that could be your phone, of course, but maybe not. Aside from that, I didn't really change anything for my EDC. My kid, you like the kid has a diaper bag, and that's its EDC. No major EDC change. I'm sure there's I'm sure there are intense sort of baby EDC things. Pretty straightforward. Most of their stuff is theirs, I would say. But yeah, hopefully helpful and hopefully not too much of a ramble |
| Jason Heaton | . Yeah, I'm wholly unqualified to answer this, so I won't even chime in on it, but I do think your point about um a camera is is kind of a it's it's kind of a little bit of a a cheat or a little way in that you can still pursue a hobby and a little bit of kind of gear, a good excuse to kind of um indulge that part of you if you're feeling like you're leaving some of your hobbies behind or your own free time is um you know James you've still been able to do a lot of great photography and I think a kid is like a great sort of uh subject you know obviously I mean and you want to take as many pictures and video and stuff. So to to use that as an excuse to kind of hone your photography skills in a very different way and maybe even pick up a new camera is it' |
| James Stacy | s a nice idea. Yeah. Yeah. And the last thing I would say is if you have family that maybe won't see the kid all the time or getting a little bit older. Um one of those like digital picture frames has been an absolute winner in my family and in Sarah's. We use uh Aura A-U-R-A. This is not um um not a spawn con in any way. They don't know anything about it. I think I actually used the the code from RU Garbage to get a discount. Uh another podcast that I really like. But we've had a couple of those for a while. My folks have them and then when you do take that picture with the camera with your phone, whatever, you can pop it into the app and it just shows up on their on their screen. Oh, that's really cool. Next time you talk about them, that's the first half hour. It's like, oh we saw a picture, so that's great. So at the zoo or that sort of that's great. Wow. Wow. Good tech. Yeah. But yeah. Thanks so much for that one, Oliver. Uh Jason, you want to take the next one from Matt? Sure. Yeah. M |
| Jason Heaton | att M uh writes in if you could have a holiday named after you, happy Heaton Day, happy Stacy Day, uh when would it be? Um boy this is it feels so self aggrandizing to answer this. How would people celebrate it? What uh special costumes or decorations would they celebrate with? All right, what uh what when is your holiday for one thing and and and how how will people I was trying to think of when |
| James Stacy | there isn't like a uh an already uh a national holiday and I don't is this the sort of thing where like we people get the day off? How how how how hyped are we supposed to be about ourselves here? I would say let's call it the last Friday in July. You take the day off work and you go on a hike. Yeah. Yeah, that's nice. Uh bonus points if during or after the hike you can jump off a dock. The the agreed upon um clothing is swim trunks. Yeah. And uh and you sh and whatever you do for dinner. I mean for me it would be you know oysters and that sort of thing, but you should have a couple of pints at dinner for me. Pretty pretty easy. That's what I would do if I had a a a free day tod |
| Jason Heaton | ay for sure. How about you? Well, I as you were talking, I was like, that just sounds like a great maybe we should just skip the Heaton and Stacy days and just do like a TGN day, you know? And and I love that idea of going for a hike and jumping off a dock. Yeah. Um and just a lot of the stuff we've talked about so often over the years. But yeah, for me I think it would be summer as well. I I'm look I was looking back at like what date would I commemorate and I think there's a a date on, you know, the the first time I got uh dive certified. Um it was sometime in August. So I just kind of threw out August fifteenth. Um what what do people wear? Well you gotta wear a bun strap on your watch, you know. Um and I think uh if you can go diving or at least snorkeling, get in some water somewhere. It's gonna be a hot summer day, hopefully, uh at least in the northern hemisphere. Um and then finish the day with uh with a good whiskey. I think that should be there, should be like a commemorative, you know, private label, um or you know, white labeled uh whiskey. Um Orange Spot. Yeah, right. There we go. Yeah, orange spot. Yeah, good good Irish whiskey. |
| James Stacy | Um yeah, something like that. Yeah, yellow spots great. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, good question, Matt. Thank you so much for that one. That's a fun one. And uh I'd love to hear what uh not for necessarily Jason or James days. That's kind of silly. But a TGN day. Let's do that thread. Yeah. Um and may maybe we can pick a day and we all try and put it put get an adventure, maybe some water time, maybe a good whiskey or beer, and then share it on the Slack later in the year. That could be fun. I love the last Friday in July. I'm already looking forward to that. Right. Last Friday in July is one of the best days of the year. It has to be. As long as you're not working. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Good one, Matt M. Uh killer question. And yeah, I'd lo I'd love to let's let's agree upon what a TGN day is. Like maybe there's five tenants. You you you have to go outside, you have to sweat, extra points for water, extra points if you call someone you haven't talked to in a while, like have have a little episode. Yeah. Yeah. Call and catch up. Talk about the weather. And uh and then good food and drink in the evening. Right. Maybe maybe maybe that's the kickoff point. But I'm sure we can come up with some good ones and uh and go from there. Yeah. All right. Next up we've got one from Shane R, which I will summarize. Uh his question is: he's wanting to build a core five-to-six-watch collection. He currently has a field-watch in his Omega Railmaster and he also has a G Shock Cassio as his beater. Um he said if you were starting from this point, which watches would you suggest for a great well-rounded collection? I'm interested in brands like Omega, Tutor, Launch, Grand Seco, but open to create a more diverse collection. He lives an athletic lifestyle and just recently started diving. He leans towards sport watches and uh would love to know uh what we thought. So uh Jason, I've got a couple suggestions. I'm sure you do too that might get him closer to five or six. Um but uh you want to kick it off with one of yours |
| Jason Heaton | ? Sure. I mean I I I think um the obvious one here is he recently started diving. He doesn't have a dive watch um with his rail master and his Casioak. Um so I'm I you know I I kind of zagged a little bit. I was initially thinking, you know, get yourself a Tudor Black Bay, which kind of also gives you that sort of classic Rolex submariner look. Um can't go wrong with a tutor. So if that if that does it for you, you can't go wrong. Um but I was I was thinking more in the lines of a Longine. The new Hydro Conquest is looking really good. Long Jean is such a solid brand, great watches. Or looking back at my early days of collecting, you know, I picked up the first generation Legend Diver when that came out, and I still regret getting rid of it. They're so good and they're so cool because they're they're kind of dressy, they're very different looking, they don't have that t traditional dive watch look, um, and they're really well made and yet you can take it diving. Um, I just feel like that would be a really good one to to add to the collection along with the Real Master so far. Yeah. I had a couple others, but uh you why |
| James Stacy | don't you go? Yeah, look, uh uh not knowing the budget, a two to fifty eight jumps to mind, kind of just a a great buy once, cry once, wear it for a really long time, good dive watch, but also flexible for other stuff. Really though, that's a lot of cash. Mm-hmm. I I a CWC Royal Navy diver, I like them in a very similar way to the way I like a Tudor fifty eight. Uh they just wear really well. Um if he has an appreciation for Omega and Tudor, then I think uh CWC, you know, with the sword hands, the rest of it will fit right in. Yeah. Um and the quality's great. And if you wanted that to also be the the quartz option in the five or six watches,. also Also you you go to go the quartz route as well there. I I also mentioned uh Hydro Conquest, but the GMT from the now previous generation, or I think the GMT is still the current, but it wasn't updated in the same way in the last couple of weeks. Uh they, make the 41mm Hydro Conquest GMT quite a nice watch. Uh that's a that's a good one. And then I would say if you're looking for something a little bit more unconventional, I think we all know where I'm going here. Consider an Aqualand, unless you find it just simply too big. Yeah. Um, but that's I mean, I would call that in in this vibe the sixth watch, but a great sixth watch, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Something more down the middle, but a little bit less conventional than you know, uh uh MOD inspired dive watch or or the or the tutor would be uh Doxa. Get yourself a sub 200T or 250 GMT. Um, a nice complement to the Railmaster, totally different vibe, and a fantastic, you know, maybe maybe if you're diving more in a vacation context, a fantastic vacation diver. Um, and you can get kind of as wild as you want. You could go diving star, aquamarine, or you could go um, you know, sea rambler or or Sharkter Hun to keep it a little bit more sto |
| Jason Heaton | ic. Yeah. Yeah. Good. I also think he needs a chronograph. I think uh I think uh a chronograph would fit nicely in this. I think you know if we're covering bases here, I mean to to start over like this, it's a tantalizing prospect. And and and Railmaster, the Casio, um a a dive watch, and then you know, something like a Zinn chronograph. I think Zinn is kind of one of those brands that like they're really fun to get into and discover early in your collecting um because they're they're just such a still kind of under so many people's radars and it's such a high quality still reasonably affordable watch uh and they're doing some fun stuff with chronographs so I I could could throw that in there to |
| James Stacy | o. Yeah, Seiko speed timers. Mm-hmm. Some some really good looking ones in different colors available these days. There's definitely lots out there. I'm not your home for great recommendations on chronographs. I'm not sure I own one that isn't digital. Yeah. So there you go. Thanks so much for that question, Shane. Uh good luck uh on expanding that collection and let us know in the Slack what you pick. I'm sure you can get, I don't know, two, three, four hundred more suggestions uh with a thread on the Slack. So we could go down that route if you wanted as well. Uh next up, we've got one from Paul B who says comedians and cars getting coffee, but the TGN version. Who are you picking up for coffee? What car are you driving? And do you have any planned stops to get coffee? And when you do, what are you drinking? Uh he said maybe we could go with one living guest and one from the past with an appropriately aged car, but he'd let us decide. Jason, who did you pick for uh for your guest? And then maybe we uh well do get give give me guest and car and road and then and then I'll fill in on the |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, so I I've got to plead ignorance here. I just I I'm not up on current comedians, but um one of my favorites from the past is um is just the legend uh Robin Williams. I just I find him great. I think he'd be a blast to spend a day with and just uh cruise around with. And I I also went with a little bit of an unconventional choice for vehicle because um rather than a car, Robin Williams was known to be um a really avid cyclist and he collected old kind of classic Italian and and French and you know um kind of Tour de France level um road bikes from you know seventies and eighties. And so I'm thinking we're both gonna be out cruising around on old steel, you know, classic road bikes, you know, a um Chinelli or or you know one of these great uh Campagnolo equipped old bikes. Um and we're just gonna ride around. We're gonna ride around the city and and chat and you know, we'll have to figure out what the how the camera crew is gonna follow us. Um but uh and then if we're if we're doing it here, I mean I bring 'em to Minneapolis. Um my go to stop after a after a good ride is uh a place called Ven Brewing, which uh conveniently has both beer and coffee and they actually do a really great um stout called Choco Nut that is made with with coffee in it. And uh I think we're gonna go that route. I think uh I think we're gonna go with uh a good dark a good dark stout with some coffee in it. So that's uh that's my pick. How about you? Did you have modern or you got you got a couple choices |
| James Stacy | or I went with an older fella, not a comedian. Um and in this case I figured if it was really the T G N version it may not be a comedian, it may just be somebody that we think kind of represents a few of the the few of the points. Yeah. And uh, you know, I we don't speak about him that commonly there's a theme of this guy through a lot of the film clubs, through a lot of the the sort of things that we like and enjoy, and maybe even a stylistic element. Uh, and it'd be Harrison Ford. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know, he's just uh he remains one of the coolest. Uh he's one of my big style icons. Uh so if I could convince Harrison Ford to come for a ride for me, I think a 246 Dino Um somewhere on the West Coast, like maybe go up highway one, just for cruise. Nothing, nothing really intense. Um, and then I I was thinking like, oh, you maybe take him to like a great California cars and coffee, uh good vibes or something like that. But then I thought, I mean, he's not known for being incredibly social. Yeah. So maybe not a big crowd. And I thought maybe what we do is you just drive up and you find something along the coast and just make coffee. You know, get a jet boil and an aeropress and make a simple cup of coffee. Um there's also of course lots of you know, if you're if you're heading up out of LA on the one, you could definitely find um find all sorts of uh coffee shops and that sort of thing. But yeah, I think I think that's where I would go. You know, you could obviously talk about Blade Runner and Star Wars and you know Jack Ryan and all this great stuff. But then you could you could talk about his his appreciation for Brightling, including the aerospace, uh his interest in aviation. Uh it's all sorts of stuff. I just, you know, it it's a guy, uh a guy that I I remain incredibly fascinated with, and he just has such an incredible career and he's been in so many good movies, and he's he's one of these guys that never kind of feels like anybody else when he's in a movie. Like he's there's it's a bit like a Denzel thing where, like, when you have Denzel Washington, you're no matter how good he is, he's still a little bit Denzel left in in the portrayal, which I love. Yeah. Um, and I think I think you get that with with Ford as well. There's nobody quite like him. Yeah. Yeah. Good pick. Yeah, |
| Jason Heaton | he'd be great. All right. Thanks for that one, uh, Paul. Um let's uh keep things moving with uh question from Rich H. Who says, is your watch a representation of who you are, who you would like to be, or is it just a watch? Do you pick your watch to go with what you're wearing, or do you pick |
| James Stacy | affectation, but let's be clear, there's no way for you to really do anything for you that isn't about you in some way. At least I that's that's my uh personal philosophy. So it's still just a watch. Um and and typically I would say that uh I might pick out a watch that matches the vibe of what I'm doing or or wearing. Um, but more and more it just ends up being like a gut thing, like I'll be dressed and knowing I'm going out to the zoo or going out to see some friends at a pub or something like that, and I'll just kind of pick something that matches whatever I'm feeling in the moment. Yeah. Uh sort of like a personality pick for the watch. Um, but yeah, I don't I'm I would say that maybe when I first started out in this space, the watches were more of an affectation. Um and I can't say that they aren't now because I I don't believe ev even if you dress like Steve Jobs did, it's still an affectation in some way. Like even if you'd have a uniform, it's still something there's still something there that connects to you, your your opinion, your your taste, that sort of thing. So I I would say that's probably the limitation there. Um but yeah, that that's uh that's how I kind of feel it. Jason, how about you? Yeah, I think your personality is very |
| Jason Heaton | analog and digital. Yeah, true, right? Um yeah, I I totally agree with you. I mean I think you know it's hard to separate I think watches like you know Blunstone boots or a pair of Fiall Raven pants or whatever it might be or m the sunglasses I wear, you know, they're an extension of your personality. I think your your style choices are are just that. So you can't really separate it. And I I've I I guess when I decide what I'm gonna wear, it does come down to activity. You know, if I'm diving or going for a run or if it's a night at the theater or something, um, I choose differently. Um and that also goes along with the the clothing and the weather. Night at the theater. Yeah, right. Then the then it's well, then it's like something with good loom, so I guess that might not be a very different choice. But uh you know, then the if it's a if it's a drier activity, a more sedate activity, I might pull out the fifties Nava timer because I don't have to worry too much about it uh getting damaged or something like that. But uh yeah. I I think yeah. I think everything you said is I concur with and that's where I land with that one. And then Rich has a a follow-up question um di on a different topic. He says, Have you ever bought a watch because of someone you have seen wearing it, either in person, TV or film, or even possibly a brand ambassador? We've had kind of a version of this question before whether brand ambassadors have influenced our choices. Um I don't recall what you said about that, so why don't you tell |
| James Stacy | us? Yeah, I mean uh the the best example for me is my explorer too. Um the interest in that watch was initially spiked by Ed Vister's mention of a white faced Rolex that he got when he became uh connected with the brand. Uh if you've read No Short Cuts to the Top, it's a kind of a cursory part in the greater story of that book. Um and that kind of put that watch more on my radar and then later and and we've talked about this before there was a YouTube video of a of a gentleman driving what my memory tells me was a uh red E46 M3 on some sort of a mountain pass. And he was wearing a sixteen five seventy polar like mine, um, or at least a watch that looks very similar to that on a gray NATO. And that that kind of pushed me uh both into the appreciation of the gray NATO thing and uh and especially on that watch. So yeah, I've been definitely been influenced in some metric and I'm sure there's four or five other examples over the years for |
| Jason Heaton | sure. How about you, Jason? Yeah, the best example from my own collecting history was my very first kind of high end piece back in oh seven, I would say, maybe 08, after seeing Casino Royale, that that Planet Ocean, the big 45mm one on that rubber strap, was just such a revelation, such an eye-opener for me. And I remember going to Jared Jewelers, you know, in the mall, buying it on store credit, and just being absolutely smitten with that watch. I it it still kind of blows me away. I I still think high-end watches on rubber straps still give me a little bit of a thrill, even after all these years. And this kind of goes to the next question that we'll get to, but um yeah, that that's probably the best example. I I I can't say I've done that since, but as I've said in the past, in terms of brand ambassadors, um, you know, my corn still, you know, be still my beating heart, like a bit of a man crush there and and his his longtime relationship with Panorai just I I could see one day kind of headed in that direction, kind of based on his use and wear of them. But uh no, so far, just the just the planet ocean. Nice |
| James Stacy | . Well, Bond Bond's got a draw, right? That's why he's one of one of the great uh great ambassadors. Yeah. Good questions, Rich H. Thanks so much for that. Uh next up, we'll close with one from Headers who says having grown up being obsessed with cars and then ending up driving them for a day job, I now find myself entirely tired and jaded by the whole industry. Have you ever found yourselves emotionally dry and washed out with the watch industry? What tips have you developed to either reignite the passion or cleanse your palate before you reach this point? It is a big question. W |
| Jason Heaton | ow. Um I've experienced this. Yeah, I mean you you largely pulled back, right? Yeah. I mean I I just um I I I write about watches pretty rarely now. I I wrote something in my sub stack last week that was the first time in a long time and I've you know got some some stuff coming up. But um yeah, I think f for so long, you know I was so kind of associated with with dive watches and diving with watches and it I I don't want to say it ruined them for me. I I still have a great love for dive watches, of course and most of the pieces I own are are dive watches, but um it it kind of falsely or artificially put me in this track that sort of made them I made I associated them so much with a project or with work, and I did that also with dive trips. I so rarely went on dive trips just for a holiday, that they kind of just became all about a project and I almost relish the idea of not taking dive gear and just going snorkeling somewhere and just sitting on a beach. But um I think the way I've kind of worked around this is well, a kind of pulling back um and branching out a little bit in my writing, but also uh lately I've been revisiting um kind of other genres of watches. You know, I'm wearing this mono pusher chronograph today. Um I I just uh you know, field watches, um, chronographs, I can't say I'll get too deep into de uh dress watches, but um it it's just kind of a rediscovery of of genres and categories that I haven't paid much attention to in the past. And that I've found that to be kind of refreshing, um, to to kind of branch out a little bit in my own collecting and interests. Um, you're in the thick of it. I mean, especially not just in your job, but also this time of year with watches and wonders coming up. Do you f uh experience that kind of level of burnout |
| James Stacy | ? All the time. Yeah, all the time. I think I fight it c basically constantly for the last couple of years. Headers I'm you know, without knowing the full context, I'm I'm gonna make some assumptions here and they're based in in my world, so I'm I'm projecting, I suppose. You have to decide do I not like this or do I not like the way I'm doing it? If you don't like it, that's fine. Things come and go in your life. Uh there there can be a f like I had a phase where a huge portion of my life was following cars. Now I basically just follow a couple YouTube channels and I read Intercooler. If it happens outside of that sphere, I don't really know about it. Yeah. But there's an era where most new cars, I'd read I'd read about them. I just, you know, I I've transitioned away from that and I don't get to drive that many anymore. Um it is a huge treat when I do. The with for watches, for watches with me, it's uh it's complicated because uh there's just days where it's just work. And sometimes those days become weeks and months. And you go, like, do I even like this? Like, do I live even like watches? Right. Mm-hmm. And for me it's it's uh kind of different than what Jason said, which is kind of explore the breadth of the operation. Um, my only tip that works for me is I I I have to kind of go back home. I've got I've gone too far. I've seen too much too much of the world. I need to go home. Yeah. And I I just go back to a watch that I know I love and and an experience that I like. And usually for me I find that I I kind of become more and more burnt out and jaded and then the summer comes and I put a dive watch on and I go jump in the lake and everything's okay. And I think you remove the complexity, you remove the stale context, remove some of the hype, remove Instagram from the equation, and just kind of go back to home home plate. Like there's still a a real delight to a Citizen NY040 or an SKX 0007 or I saw a picture the other day on a on Watchy Seek of Orient Red Beast, which I've now mentioned twice in one episode, clearly on my mind. Yeah. So a delightful, hilarious watch that I wouldn't rebuy, but I'm just delighted to see it. I I definitely struggle with this. Um, and and I think for me and and maybe from what you're saying, it's it's the work layer that sometimes is so takes over all of it and there's no room left for the the nerd curiosity, uh just enjoying the the experience like if you have enough going on and I certainly know lots of automotive you know people work in the automotive space who can barely enjoy what they're do some amazing experience they're having during the day because they have twenty five other things to do and then they're flying to another spot to do this and you have to kind of pick your pick your ability to live in that moment and enjoy it. But I can totally understand where sometimes things, even really good jobs, just feel like work, right? It is what it is. Um and I think that's why you need a vacation. Um, you know, to quote a a great movie, you need a vacation from your problems. Mm-hmm. What about Bob? Um and I think, yeah, uh it it the the burnout side of it is always on the horizon and you just kind of have to remember why you do it. And if and if there isn't a reason, maybe it's time to start focusing on something else. Yeah. Yeah. I I |
| Jason Heaton | I recall the um statement that Ben Klymer told me many, many years ago he was um kind of just getting into kind of his car collecting era. And um I remember him saying it was just fun to be a civilian at something, 'cause I think he was so embedded and deep in the in the watch space, still is obviously, um, that to to do something in a community or in a genre uh in which you know you're not as well known um and it maybe you're a little bit more naive about or you're just kind of discovering it is a refreshing feeling and it reminds me of you know I studied English lit in college and every book we read was an important quote unquote important book and you know you're you you had to analyze it for themes and metaphors and things and author's intention and um it kind of soured me on reading for for a long time, you know, this was many years ago, but to kind of discover the genre of kind of pulp fiction or thrillers, adventure thrillers and things was was kind of this guilty pleasure for a while. And it kind of rekindled my my interest in reading. Um and I I think the same goes for for this. I think if you've if you find another hobby that's maybe adjacent to watches or or maybe it's even something like, you know, you pick up a hobby within the hobby of like watch making. You know, maybe you s you take a class and you start to learn how to build a watch instead of write about a watch exclusively or a car or whatever it might be in your case, um, can be a good good strategy as well |
| James Stacy | . Yeah. A project car could could be the could be the solution. Uh yeah, for sure. I think that's uh I think that's good advice all around. You know, everything has to have a flow. I don't want to sound too mystical here because I'm not, of course. But everything has to have a flow. Things come and go and and you can't always, you know, to let's let's go to a car scenario, you can't always be on the gas. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes you gotta be on the brake, sometimes you gotta be parked. And uh and it's easy even with the great opportunities and great experiences and amazing jobs and work that no one in other parts of the work sphere wouldn't think of as work, it's easy to find it to be too much and and uh not always fun and you have to you have to manage you know your breaking zones and such. Good question. Thanks so much for that. There we have it. I don't I don't know how many questions that was in the end. We'd have to go back and count, but it was ten episodes. Uh I don't know I don't know if this has to become a special series uh in twenty twenty six. Uh I'm not really sure. It's that's a lot of episodes. It felt daunting to get through all of the questions. Yeah. Uh hopefully we didn't miss any. And if we did, you will have an opportunity in April to re-ask uh and then we'll dip back in whenever we need a little bit of help with an episode. Normally we wouldn't do this many um kind of croones stacked up, but we know once April comes, we have obviously all of the new watch season, we have a couple wild guests, really, really good guests that Jason and are super pumped about. Um that we start recording as early as next week. Uh so yeah, it's uh it's an exciting time, but we wanted to kind of clear the decks and and you know otherwise you know how I can be it'll we would start the twenty twenty six questions in August. Uh this way we can we can start them in April or May and have a good time with it. So thank you so much for everyone who put a question in that thread. And if you're listening to this and would love to be part of these conversations, the rest of it, and you're not on the Slack, you can get in for as little as five bucks a month. Thegraynado.com has all the details there. And we'd love to see in the Slack, especially if you're keen on participating in fun conversations and offering up questions and and that sort of thing. So glad to have twenty twenty five wrapped up before twenty twenty seven. Uh a lot of questions. Uh but hey, how about we get into uh some final notes. Sure thing. |
| Jason Heaton | I've got a fun one. This is uh from one of my mentors, slash inspirations, uh, slash heroes, um, Will Steager, who um is a Minnesotan. He's uh been a pioneer of Arctic and Antarctic travel, um just an all-around amazing person. Um Will is currently eighty one years old and he's undertaking as as we s as we speak here, um he he he's done these solo expeditions every spring for a number of years. He he took a couple years off for some health reasons, but he's back this year. I'll just read the numbers. Um for one thing, this is in Arct Arctic Canada. And by the numbers, 800 miles, 260 pounds of gear on three sleds, one seven foot eight pound whitewater raft, sixty days, eighty-one years of age, alone. So Steiger does this this trip where he gets dropped off somewhere in the in the deep wilderness, you know, with a bush plane or a boat or something. Um, and then follows a series of Arctic rivers from above the Arctic Circle. And in the past, he's kind of finished at his home, which is just across the the border in Minnesota up and near Ely. Um and um I'm not sure where he's ending this time around, but you can follow along on his website, Stegercenter.org slash twenty twenty six log. And he he files these daily um audio logs via satellite phone um that they post, and it's it's got a map, and he goes over the gear he's taking. Wow. He's pulling modified equipment that he's built that he can navigate frozen rivers that are breaking up. His whole point is he wants to be on the rivers just as they're breaking up so he can paddle some of them, but then also if they're frozen, he can pull all of his gear. Um just let that sink in. I mean the guy's eighty one years old and he's doing this. Yeah, okay, Will. There was a video of him training in a park in downtown St. Paul. Um he he he spends some time in in the Twin Cities uh during the year. He had this old pickup truck and he w was in the parking lot and he th he's throwing this big tire off the the back of his pickup truck, hooking it up to a harness and pulling it around in the snow on a frigid day um to train, you know, d uh it it it's just such an inspiration and it it's just it just cements to me like I have no excuse. You know, none of us have an excuse. I mean this guy's he's just incredible. Um so yeah if you want a little inspiration go check that out. Um Will Steger at at his uh his website with the the |
| James Stacy | log from his expedition. It's pretty cool. Good one. Yeah, that's that's super incredible and really makes my pick kind of ridiculous. But I'm okay with it. This one's not even a I'm not even you don't even have a link. This is a suggestion, a thing to add to your life if you didn't do it. It's now the end of March. Um theoretically, in our part of the world, snow snow should be largely gone. Get a bird feeder. I put mine out the other day. I make coffee and I can look out the window while the machine runs. And there was a little cardinal on there this morning. Yeah. And I think, you know, twenty dollars to have essentially like a pet that you don't really have to care for. There's a bird showing up. It's pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. My grandma got me like I we have a bunch of these ones that like are again like will fight off a squirrel. Um, but they the squirrels figure out how to disconnect them and smash them. So that one broke. So now I have a new one that's metal. Um and we, you know, we fill it up and then I always entertain the idea of like, oh, I should set up a camera on a tripod and that way if there's something cool, I would just be ready to send, but then it's just, you know, we're gonna trip over a tripod in the kitchen or something like that. So uh but yeah it,'s a it may sound like a silly, uh a silly thing. Especially if you watched uh Listers, one of our favorite picks of uh any video from last year. I'll I'll include that in the show notes. Why not? It was great. Overlooked for an Oscar, as far as I'm concerned, uh, but the two two brothers that go uh go searching for as many birds as possible and to do a b what's called a big year. Um but yeah, a bird feeder in your backyard uh is a delight and it's the right season to kick it off and you'll see lots of cool birds and if you spill some seed on the ground you'll get maybe chipmunks and rabbits and all that kind of stuff. So it's fun. Yeah |
| Jason Heaton | , that's a good pick. That's a really good pick. I I love birds and I I think they're so overlooked. Um just uh to to be surrounded by this nature. I mean to just sit out in your backyard and have these wild animals that are just um so exotic in in many cases and just it's so cool. I had I have the Autobahn app on my phone and, it's I know there are a lot of good b bird apps, but the Autobahn app allows you to kind of identify not identify the birds by the song, it doesn't listen, at least the version I have doesn't. Um, but you can play a bird song to kind of match it up with what you're hearing. And I have used it and I've played it like loudly, and it will actually attract birds, like especially certain birds. Like if I'll play the cardinals call on my phone at the volume really high, I'll get kind of curious cardinals kind of coming and perching nearby and like wondering who what yeah, what is that? What is this big person what is this |
| James Stacy | going what's going on here? Yeah, we uh we use the Audubon at the cottage and uh I think the one that we have, or or maybe it's the one from Merlin Bird ID, the Cornell one. Oh yeah. Uh that one you can look just like s my daughter will will just be out for a walk and she'll just press record. Yeah. And then it it listens the whole time and then gives you like a little report of all the birds that you heard. Oh, that's amazing.. All All right right |
| Jason Heaton | . Good big episode. Yeah, fun. Getting glad that we got through the Slack crew and a for 2025. Um onwards. We've got a couple of weeks off. Be sure to pay attention to the the Slack for that uh the the the tournament bracket for the the favorite episode of all time for the past ten years of TGN. Thanks again to Jackson and to Tom for helping put that together. Um in the meantime we will be off for the next couple of weeks with uh watches and wonders and defender trophy shenanigans going on. Um but for this for now, as always, thanks so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to the show notes, get into the comments for each episode, or consider supporting the show directly, and maybe even grab a new TGN signed NATO and get on the Slack, please visit thegrainado.com. Music throughout a siesta by Jazzar via the free music archive. And |
| James Stacy | we leave you with this quote from Kurt Vonnegut in his book Mother Knight, who said, there is nothing left of him but curiosity and a pair of eyes. |