There must have been at least fifteen watches in my bag. I didn’t bother to count. I just picked them out as they came out of the storage; and man, were there a lot. To my surprise some of them were still fine; all they needed was a battery change and a watch band replacement. So, I stuffed them in my bag and went off in search of a good shop that could handle my old souvenirs (relics of a time gone-by, how ironic). There was a good collection of sports-watches, a healthy stash of metal-plated ones and a few leather strapped ones. All needed watch band replacements. To my further surprise, I was spoiled for choice. Straps were going rather well with different kinds of watches. Metal-plated ones lent themselves well enough to the leather watch band straps, as well as the metal ones. Mixing and matching was becoming fun. I could picture this watch with this strap, this strap with this element. I could see my wrist gleaming with the metal straps; I could smell the fresh leather taken out of storage. What I could not do was choose between so many options. I never realized that watch band replacement can actually be an interesting, fun-filled task. I always supposed it to be a chore to be avoided at all costs. So, giving in to my instincts, I chose different straps for all the watches. The metal ones got leather-bound watch band straps and the others got metal ones. I was a little worried about my sports-watches, however. But all my doubts were washed away when I saw that rubber straps for sports watches come in fairly subtle designs. Once they were strapped on, the watches looked almost new. I swear my mother couldn’t tell the difference. She thought I was wearing a new watch! Think of all the money I saved. Bless the wonders of watch band replacement.