<p>And miss the opportunity for sanctimonious posturing? What kind of community do you take us for, Tom?</p>
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<p>par for the course here at CC. Music rooms, travel learning, private schools, tutors, etc., the list really is endless, prompt all kinds of condemnation. You aren’t really allowed to make any commentary whatsoever on lifestyle choices of any other kind, but telling people how to they should spend their own money is a CC specialty. Did you miss that one in the rule book ;)?</p>
<p>A little off topic but I will not buy my D blueberries unless they are on sale but I bought her a car, paid every penny of her college, was willing to fund her semester abroad if she went and will most likely go for my lungs for her wedding.</p>
<p>PG have you decided what you will purchase yet?</p>
<p>You really can’t take it with you when you go, Tom, can you?</p>
<p>Might as well enjoy it.</p>
<p>As my husband says, “Why the heck have we worked this hard for so long if not to spend it on the kids?”</p>
<p>I agree completely.</p>
<p>poet- I am one of those guys that can afford things but go around like a homeless man. I always love the stories you read about the old guy that goes into the car dealer and they ignore him because he looks poor and he buys the most expensive car for cash.
I also do not need things but I know the joy of buying people you love things that will make them happy. I see no reason to begrudge people from doing the same. Heck my kid brother and his wife who happen to be two of the nicest people on earth spend more on jewelry every year than I make. I think I will remind him about the French Revolution to get him to tow the line.</p>
<p>And yes I live for my wife and kid. They both can have everything we have.</p>
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<p>I had to laugh at this. D1 is home for a couple of days from Boston (five years out of college) and the thing that she has been most excited about is the Michigan blueberries I bought at Costco this weekend. H initially didn’t want to buy the big container (said there was no way we’d go through them all before they went bad), but I talked him into it (not knowing she was going to be so excited about them). She says supposedly their blueberries in Boston are supposed to come from Maine, which are supposed to be superior, but they come no where to matching these ones I bought at Costco! Watches… blueberries… can’t go wrong (usually) at Costco!</p>
<p>tom - tomorrow we are visiting a jeweler who is losing his Omega authorization (whatever the appropriate word is) so he appears willing to give us a good price, so that may make the determination for us. </p>
<p>It’s all about priorities. To get my H to turn on the air conditioning is like pulling teeth, but he’ll buy the kids nice watches!</p>
<p>He loves the kids more than he loves the electric company.</p>
<p>PG, I love my 2531.80.00 seamaster. Purchased myself for my BD about 6 years ago. For me, it is just the look of that time piece is sooooooo cool. </p>
<p>Anything with a battery is not a real watch. On the other hand, these mechanical automatic watches are so heavy, it needs sometime to get use to. Also, the maintenance of these watches costs more than some “good” watches. </p>
<p>The spring on the band had broken and I fixed myself for about $40. Other than that, it has been running fine.</p>
<p>Each watch has its own serial number. Get it and call Omega to verify. I heard that many shops buy the old watch and polish it up to sell as new one. Some of the serial number is deliberately polished out.</p>
<p>That sea master is a $3500 watch. Need based aid, rice and beans, dirt poor…and a seamaster? I sure hope you got a great bargain on that watch!</p>
<p>Where’s that methadone thread when you need it? The hypocricy of some posters never ceases to amaze.</p>
<p>I have a Bulova accutron. DH bought it for me probably 20 years ago. Maybe more. Nothing fancy, but works fine.</p>
<p>Wait. We’ll no doubt hear it came from a garage sale for $1.98 :rolleyes:</p>
<p>At my graduation lunch, my mom gave me a little vase with a fake rose in it and a mini umbrella thing that turned out to be a plate cover to keep flies off your food. Dad gave me a wind-up travel alarm clock. At the time, I remember thinking why didn’t they pool their money and buy me a watch!<br>
I was unbelievably disappointed by my gifts and equally disappointed in myself for feeling that way. I’m not sure why, but I did hope for a special, memorable gift.
PG, I hope your kids appreciate the time and care you are putting into choosing these gifts! I (obviously, lol) think a watch is a wonderful choice.
I’ve really enjoyed reading about all the different watches mentioned here. It’s been fun to learn about a category of watches that were unfamiliar to me.
My H views watches as purely functional. If it runs, a $10 watch is good enough. It was hard to convince him that my view is equally valid. I enjoy having one nicer watch that I wear daily, just as I wear my wedding ring daily.</p>
<p>I remember getting a Parker pen for my graduation gift.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, I assume you try to keep the gifts secret… but are you sure your kids are not stalking you on CC? 
Good luck with your Omega shopping! As the parent of athletes, I approve your choice. 
If your kids plan on taking any advanced org chem or neuroscience that involves putting chemicals or people inside large magnets… wearing a watch near one of those magnets is a sure way of ruining the watch (which I’ve done a few times).</p>
<p>I had an acrylic watch in college (had my name painted across the face… it was in style at the time…) that got eaten up by formalin when I TA’ed the neuroscience lab.</p>
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<p>Oh, come on, Teri, everyone knows that the best blueberries come from NJ! ;)</p>
<p>PG, BTW, I think a classic watch is a perfect gift for your kids. I got my very first watch when I got into college back in late 1970’s. My parent gave me a used Titoni automatic. That was like the best watch in the whole department including the professors. I enjoyed it so much and had many fond memories about it. It went dead because of the lack of skilled master to service that piece at our city.</p>
<p>Ever since I started to drawn a salary in US, I have always been enjoying nice watches.</p>
<p>Hmmm… no line for bling on the FAFSA or CSS/Profile? Can you say hidden assets?</p>
<p>jym626 & thumper1,</p>
<p>Isn’t it possible for one to have been in a lower income or financially insecure state in the past which enabled eligibility for need-based FA during the time one/one’s children were in college only for financial circumstances to improve sometime after one/one’s children have graduated?</p>
<p>If the above possibility isn’t accounted for, I can see many folks and their families from working/lower-middle class income families getting pilloried by those of your ilk because they’ve been able to earn enough after graduation to afford “expensive things” after receiving need-based FA during their college years because they were eligible for it back then. </p>
<p>Interesting…</p>