Having , for the umpteenth time , today misplaced such objects as my glasses , the coffee cup that I was sure I had put near the computer but which for some reason had found its way into the second bedroom , I was constrained to think back on other things lost in the past .

I am quite a careful , and in some ways well organised sort of person but one possession I have had bad luck with has been my watch . I have managed to lose , by one means or other , three good Seiko chronographs .

When I took my sabbatical in 1979 I decided it was time that I had a reliable watch that was more practical than the sexy thing which was the name which my students insisted on giving , for a reason completely incomprehensible to me ,to the small gold fob watch that I would place on the lectern to time the lecture session . I therefore in the duty free shop bought the first of my chronographs , and spent the early hours of the flight learning to set time , alarm and so on . I immediately set it to London time , and got myself used to that while still on the plane , which did help allay the effects of jet lag when we arrived.

That watch did its job admirably all over Great Britain , Europe and Greece . Since we travelled from city to city in Britain by train most of the time , its quiet twenty seconds of beeping woke us in time to get to stations , sometimes at the oddest of hours . It was really invaluable.

It stayed with me for a time in Sydney on our return and was the easy means to wake me without disturbing the wife , whenever I had to rise early to catch bus and train for the long trip to Dondingalong .

It was there at Dondingalong that I lost it . One day , as I walked down to the dam to check something or other , I was distracted by the desire to clear a patch of lantana . For some odd reason I took the watch off , and put it in the pocket of my shorts . I am still fairly sure of the route I then took after pulling the lantana , up to the fence at Leo's block , through that to have a look at his dam , back to the intermittent creek below our own dam , and somewhere around there I discovered the watch was missing . I retraced my steps , but to no avail.

I did not despair , as the watch was set to sound its alarm at six twenty a.m. For the next few days I rose earlier than that , walked part of the route I had taken , then waited in the fairly silent bush in the hope of hearing it go off. Each day I extended the distance before I stopped and listened , but alas , I never managed to catch a sound .

No doubt someone will find it one day and perhaps until then it may startle the odd kangaroo.

I replaced it with the same style of watch , and this one saved my life .

It was as Tanilba Bay , when I decided to take my twelve foot aluminium boat , my tinny , out for an early morning fishing jaunt. Round the point to the oyster racks I drove , and set about anchoring parallel with them , in hopes of catching some large bream. To stay parallel to the racks I wanted to double anchor , bow and stern , so I dropped the front mud anchor and then went back to the outboard to put it in reverse before dropping the back anchor . I picked up the anchor but then as I turned my feet slipped in the bottom of the boat . Losing balance , I went overboard .

That was not so bad , as the oyster racks are set in shallow water not quite up to my shoulders at that tide . What was bad was that I had bumped the throttle , and the boat took off in a wide series of circles tethered by the front anchor . It swung round and headed back towards me so not wishing to be wrapped in the line I fended it away , though I received a solid bump at that time and also when it went round again.

I was lucky . The nylon anchor line wrapped itself round the prop shaft and the propeller itself choking the motor . I dragged myself aboard , took out the Swiss army knife and cut free the prop , so that fortunately I was able to restart the motor and , shaken , drive home .

It was only then that I realised that the watch had gone . The prop had struck my wrist and severed the metal watchband . Had I not been wearing it , my wrist would have been sliced open and I could easily have bled to death.

But somewhere round there in the bay there may yet be a chronograph with an alarm startling the crabs by the rack .

As an aftermath I discovered , after wearing them for a couple of days , that my sunglasses had popped their lenses as I pulled up out of the water into the boat . I had wondered why the glare did not seem to diminish when I put them on but never thought to look at the lenses !

So I again bought a new chronograph . This one was stolen , together with a lovely green jade pig that Vanessa had given me , by a couple of tradesmen who were doing some work in the Coogee unit . I didn't know either object was gone till far too late to bother with the police . The watch did not matter but I regret the loss of the pig.

So I am now on my fourth Seiko , but I also have a cheaper model now , given to me as a gift -- just in case I ever need a backup .