Technology advances, I have decided to retreat. My web site (noelyates.co.uk) will disappear shortly and my online presence will be limited to this blog, Fickr and - for now - Facebook.

What I Learned Recently About Wristwatches

Recently I found out that in 1978 I bought myself a reward for a lifetime's hard work. As I was only 29 years old at the time you might think that it was a little premature, a bit like a popstar's autobiography at 21: "My Life and Struggles To Make It".

What was the reward? A Rolex Explorer watch, £275 secondhand. At the time I didn't think of it as a reward, I just wanted a good watch that would tell the time accurately and that would last me. I soon discovered that, being mechanical and despite being labelled "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified" on the dial, a Casio quartz for £1.50 from the petrol station was more accurate. Well I still have my watch, it has always been accurate enough, and most quartz watches from the 70s are now landfill.

Imagine my shock when one of my pension plans paid out a small lump sum recently and I decided to reward myself for a lifetime's hard work only to discover that the reward I was considering - another secondhand Rolex, this time with a date display - would swallow a good chunk of the aforementioned lump sum.

What's happened since innocent me bought himself a good watch in 1978 is that, under pressure from the mass of cheap and accurate quartz watches, the likes of Rolex have abandoned the watch business and moved into the super-luxury business. Now If you buy a Rolex you are employing, amongst others,  Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Ana Ivanovic, and you are sponsoring Wimbledon and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Not only that but the world is full of watch aficionados and collectors amongst whom is John Mayer the guitarist, who writes a column for Hodinkee,  "one of the most widely read wristwatch publications in the world". They seem to be on a mission to ramp up the perceived value of Rolex and other luxury brands. The "man on the Clapham omnibus" is being squeezed out, even if he wants a secondhand model.

There is one way to get a "Rolex" for not much money. The world is full of fakes. It's good business, all the prestige without the cost, until somebody looks closely. The question you are most likely to be asked if you wear a Rolex: "is it a real one?" Somehow the prestige evaporates.

The upshot is that through no fault of my own, I am walking around with a millionaire's watch on my wrist. I fear for my hand.

In the end I rewarded myself for a lifetime of hard work with a Timex. It reminded me of being a teenager.

Living Without An Italian Supermodel

It's a year since my Ducati 600SS went to live with somebody else. I miss the rides, they were wonderful in themselves.

What I don't miss are the tantrums,  and I definitely do not miss motorcycling on our dangerous roads with their pre-occupied drivers.

My Raleigh Royal handbuilt touring bicycle has been pleased to get my attention again.

HM Queen Elizabeth II, 60 years of successful devotion to duty, and she didn't even apply or ask for the job. Contrast that with our "masters of the universe" businessmen/financiers/politicians.

Les 24 Heures du Mans

The recent Le Mans 24 hours was the 79th running of the race and my 27th attendance, that's every year since 1984 except 1993 (don't ask). Every year I go with a band of friends and we camp. Usually it's three nights under canvas (more like polyester these days) and each year the challenge of campsite sanitation gets harder to face. Everything else remains about as wonderful as it was on that first visit. Yes the catch fencing restricts the view but this year, after the McNish crash where the car very nearly crossed the barrier, the necessity for it was made clear.

It's my aim to complete thirty attendances (2014 and age 65) then see how I feel about continuing. There was some dark talk this year about the need for hotel rooms rather than campsite emplacements but would that miss out on the unique atmosphere?

Tomorrow is the UK general election. Please make sure that you vote if you are eligible. Don't let's default into anything, let's make a positive decision.

If everybody who could vote did vote, that would probably be enough to get the change that we all feel we need.

See you on Friday 7 May, in a changed world?

25 things about me.

1. I find that parties are worthless unless there is dancing, Latin beat required.

2. Romance languages, I love them, especially Spanish at the moment.

3. I'm a born for the first time biker, I got my motorcycle licence at age 50.

4. In my dreams George Benson nods appreciatively at my guitar solos.

5. Once I tried to write down what would be a perfect week for me. It was really hard to do.

6. I am so super-proud of my three girls and one boy, but don't let on.

7. Until I was about 21 I was a skinny rake; that's not the case now, sadly.

8. My mind is full of useless detail, but then facts are not knowledge, and knowledge is not wisdom.

9. If I could live anywhere in the UK it would be in Bristol, in one of those houses that looks onto the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

10. I like ritual, so I make coffee in a complicated way with an espresso machine,

11. It's my intention never to give up developing and printing my own black and white photographs.

12. If there's a god, she's in the details, and in the people.

13. Mies was right, "less is more", but not when it comes to cameras, guitars and books.


14. I strongly prefer natural materials: leather, cotton and wool. I did once have a silk shirt but it was so hard to maintain.

15. I attended (occasionally) a good grammar school but completely wasted the opportunity.

16. I don't have a degree but wish I did.

17. I would love to do a camper van trip around France and Spain.

18. I love Gibraltar and defy anybody to go there and not make friends.

19. On my first ever day at school (September 1954) the teacher told me not to go out at playtime in case I got pushed and fell over. I ignored her and got pushed and fell over.

20. In some situations I am completely without fear, in others I'm an utter jelly. I cannot predict when or explain why either case should be.

21. I've only been sacked from a job once. It was when I was 14 and was delivery boy for an off-licence. I went to London on the back of a friend's scooter and we broke down. I was re-instated the next day.

22. I've only been out of work once, for four weeks in January of 1967.

23. I was 22 before I ever stepped out of England, and that was to Wales. Made up for it since.

24. For me Zagato was the greatest carozzeria. http://www.zagato.it

25. When asked to make a list of 25 things about myself, I can only think of twenty four.

This originally appeared on facebook, in early 2009. I read it again today and was not embarrassed, though you, my reader(s?) might be.