New Watch: 1976 Citizen Bullhead Automatic Chronograph

 So this is a bit of a look into my mind: I love watches. Unfortunately, many of the really awesome watches are outside of my price range. However, there are a choice few that are not only amazing, but affordable. My most recent acquisition? The 1976 Citizen Bullhead Automatic Chronograph.

I purchased this watch from DC Vintage Watches, and it's exactly what I was expecting. If you're into watches, keep an eye on these guys. They have some pretty sweet stock of rare watches that are not only well-priced, but in great condition. 

I personally really love this watch because of the color, which many of you will probably find a bit ostentatious. It is very red, but I like red. With certain outfits, this is going to go great. 

The rally strap fits great with it. The guys at DC Vintage Watches matched the color of the dial with the strap extremely well.  

The term "bullhead" refers to the somewhat unorthodox placement of the crown and the pushes, above midnight instead of by three or nine o'clock.  

All in all, it's an impressive watch that's reasonably accurate, especially for a watch of this age. It only loses about 14 seconds a day, which isn't too shabby. It's also small, which is great since many watches these days are double the size of this watch (44mm across is getting absurd).  

Working with Adobe, The People Supersede the Policy

Adobe has been under a hell of a lot of fire since they forced the Creative Cloud on their user base. Sure, the CC model was met with wary cynicism for over a year, but it wasn't the only option. Once it became the one and only choice to continue with Adobe into the future, people flipped out. Since then, it's been nearly impossible to talk about something cool that Adobe is doing without the conversation devolving into a muck-throwing attack on what the business of Adobe is doing. 

When thinking about what your personal opinion of Adobe is, I think it's important to separate the people from the policy, because the people are some of the most awesome individuals I've ever met. That is why I wanted to make a video actually putting faces to the names on the splash screens. They are amazing people with big dreams and creative hearts. They are the reason Adobe is a success today, and likely had no say in the decision to retire perpetual licenses. 

I got hooked up with Adobe almost by accident. I shared something with them via Facebook, and the relationship blossomed from there. I have always been a huge fan of Adobe. I've used their products for over 10 years. A major reason I am a creative is because of just dinking around in Photoshop while in high school. The ability to just "play" on a digital art board exploded my creativity. When I spoke to the people at Adobe, it was clear that my experiences mirrored those of the engineers and designers. We're all just a bunch of art junkies, playing around in the digital realm and making magic with what we touch. 

I visited both their offices in San Francisco and San Jose. They have different vibes (I much preferred their San Francisco office, with it's exposed brick and duct work), but the people were very much in tune with what I was hoping I would find. Former photographers, videographers and graphic designers lined the offices. I met people who knew and understood what I did, and were passionate about making my experiences with my profession better. Obsessed even.  

The next time you want to aim a verbal tirade at how much you hate Adobe and their demonic practices (or whatever language you want to use to describe how wronged you are), remember that there are people at Adobe who are just like you. They aren't a group of conniving demons thinking up ways to rob or cheat you. No, they are just a bunch of artists doing what they love. Geeky guys packed in rooms trying to design code that will make your next work of art truly magical.