Things I Cannot Do

The strap on one of my watches broke and given it was less than a year old, I asked the company for a new one.  It arrived 2 days later - top customer service (you have to give praise where praise is due).

I have the tool that you need to ping the bars out and so I thought I'll replace this myself.  Getting the broken strap off was relatively easy.  And then the fun stopped.

There's a lovely German verb to describe what I was trying to do -  "herumfummeln".  Ich habe an meiner Uhr herumgefummelt (i have fiddled with my watch).  

"Herumfummeln" is one of those separable German verbs where you take the beginning and tack it on to the end of sentences because you can e.g. Ich fummele an meiner Uhr herum.

Sadly sweet separable verbs and a fair amount of time brought no success.  I tried and tried to get the pin in and I failed & failed, and sadly never failed better.  I tried watching YouTube videos but I just can't get this. And in the end I said "Ich gebe auf" - appropriately another separable verb from "aufgeben" - which means I give up.  

We were out this morning, it was really pleasant.  Wouldn't have been possible this afternoon - way too hot again and really humid.  I think that's one of the reasons I've had a headache since lunchtime and it just won't shift.

P.S.

Of course, as soon as G saw this, she took the watch and 30 seconds later it had a new strap.