Rockin’ Around the Clock

Rockin’ Around the Clock

Big wall clocks are all the rage it seems. It used to be a somewhat novel thing to have on your wall as an adornment back when you had to root around to find them from some old train station and then figure out how to power them. But now they have been homogenized into a normal Wayfair or Overstock item of which you can choose among literally thousands of styles, all with the same $0.89 battery operating mechanism that is two inches square and only that big to accommodate the two AA batteries. I’m not sure what a Swiss watchmaker would say about the timekeeping reliability of these mechanisms since they are tasked with moving hands that are much longer than what you think they would be operating based on their size, and yet those hands are usually made out of thin tin strips. I wonder if there is a physics issue with these little motors keeping decent time on these big clocks and whether these little motors are quality controlled for timekeeping purposes when they are mass-produced in Indonesia or some such place?

We had such a wall clock in our bedroom ten years ago and when we rearranged our artwork (very loosely defined as such, I assure you) we gave the big wall clock with the olde tyme numbers around its edges in thin sheet metal to Jeff and Lisa, who use it as wall art in their office/warehouse. Whenever we happen by there, I see it and note it for no reason other than that it looks familiar and then I remember why. When we were redecorating the Living Room a few years ago, it felt like we needed something over the main entry door. It is set two steps below the room floor and though the door is eight feet high, there is another four feet or so to the ceiling. That blank space above the door bothered me and I wanted to fill it with something. I thought something round rather than square was appropriate. What is round, but at clock? And I knew where to find them, so off to Wayfair I went, determined to find something less ordinary than not. What I found was a three foot diameter filigreed sheet metal clock that looked nice, but still had the same $0.89 motor with room for two AA batteries.

Somewhere along the way, Kim and I decided that the clock was useless and rather unreadable, so we replaced it with a wide bamboo (a.k.a. Asian motif) piece of filigreed wood that looked like a part of a room screen. It’s actually perfectly proportioned for the spot and the clock was then in need of another home. I was determined to not give this one away looked around for where it might fit. I decided that given it’s mechanism is so cheap and therefore replaceable, I could risk putting it on an outdoor wall on the deck. We don’t get a lot of bad weather, so I doubted it would rust, but who knows how durable this mass produced stuff might be, so what the hell.

An interesting phenomenon is that now that the clock is outside, it has gone from hard to read to easy to read, which I suppose has to do with the sunlight on it. As I sat on the deck today, catching up on emails, I glanced over at the clock…which is exactly why it is there, and I noted that it was still on Pacific Standard Time, which is where I set it on November 7th of last year when it changed over from daylight savings. That was eleven months ago and I guess I had completely forgotten to change it to Daylight Savings time on March 13th when it should have been changed. My pal Mike would be so ashamed of me. His cell phone alarm system would have reminded him of such an oversight long ago, but I’m not that well organized I guess. I now have three weeks to go until we “Fall Back” again to standard time (unless you’re in Arizona, in which case you never sprang forward in the first place unless you are on federal land, in which case you operate like the rest of the country). I have always found Arizona hard to follow when it comes to time, but that’s just me. I’m lazy enough to wait the three weeks is the bottom line.

I’m not sure why we are all so obsessed with time. While I no longer have a clock to look at in the Living Room, as I sit here on the sofa, I can see the deck clock perfectly, so I’m good. In the Kitchen I have my choice of one wall clock and several appliance clocks, so I am not without good timekeeping. I wear a watch out of habit and carry a cellphone with an always-on resting face digital clock. My iPad has a clock in the upper left corner and I have two clocks in my Tesla, one on the dash and one on the NAV system. I have an alarm clock on my bed stand plus a countdown timer on my CPAP machine. There’s a wall clock in the bathroom and another clock that never seems right on the digital scale. Obviously if I am watching TV, I am either looking at the time on the cable news chyron or can see it in the upper left if and when I change stations. In my study I have probably five or six ceremonial clocks hanging about and one purposeful digital LED clock right in front of me at all times. Knowing the time seems to be important to me, but for the life of me, I can’t really say why any more.

I am led to believe that the younger generation doesn’t bother with watches anymore, but I suspect that the Apple Watch may have changed that back again since I see them all over the place. I know that I shouldn’t care so much about time, but it is said to be the most precious substance in the universe, so I do. I am far less a man of scheduling than I used to be, but I still try very hard to not be late to anything. In fact, as my friends and Kim know, I am habitually early for everything. Mike and Melisa have only known me a few months really, but they know I’m almost always early by 5-10 minutes. Take for example my one firm scheduling requirement each week. I must be at class on Tuesdays and Wednesday at 7pm down in the City. It takes me 35-40 minutes to drive there with only modest traffic delays. I start getting antsy to leave at 4pm and never leave after 4:30pm. That means I am usually on campus with almost two hours to spare, which I don’t mind at all. I enjoy a leisurely run up to my classes in order to have a bit of dinner and get my game face on.

In fact, at this moment it is 3:35pm and I am thinking that I had better start getting ready to go even though there is nothing to get ready. The one thing I have to do is be sure my computer satchel is nearby, which it is, and then I’m ready. Last year I used to take a lunch bag with me, but this year my classrooms are convenient to the cafe, so I really don’t need to take anything other than my iPad, and even that is somewhat optional. Actually, I do have my electronic pointer and slide clicker that the IT people lent me for the semester, but I could even take that in my pocket if I wanted. Everything else I need is on the classroom computer other than some beverage to keep me unparched during my lecture. Oh, and I don’t really have to keep track of time because the AV system on the screens in front of me remind me constantly how much time I have left. Time is too precious to waste, but not so precious that I don’t waste some of it worrying about how not to waste any.