How many clocks do you have to change?

[Daniel]

@jon-nyc @shirokuro We'll agree to disagree.

@jon-nyc It's a big deal because it involves time and humans are fascinated with time (chronos). We invented it.

Our time signal of course comes from an atomic clock today.

The error rate could not be lower.

But time has no actual starting moment nor ending moment.

It's a human construct so it makes sense humans are fascinated with it.

I've said this before but I spent 7 years studying horology intensively and collecting mechanical wristwatches.

It was a great experience.

My stove just freaked me out. It said 5 a.m. Changing it is in not on my to do list for today.

I think I'll follow the elections and let it go until tomorrow.

[Jodi]

So yesterday I changed the last old alarm clock on my bedside table, and didn’t realize I hadn’t pushed the switch all the way over from the “set time” spot and it landed on alarm on and the freaking thing woke me up at 2am and then my brain took off without me and I couldn’t get back to sleep and ended up unloading the dishwasher and doing laundry at 3:30 am because I figure I might as well do something useful, even though it was the middle of the night. I hate when that happens.

[ShiroKuro]

@Jodi OMG you have my sympathies! That sometimes happens to me to, something wakes me up and then my brain kicks in and is wide awake and just going at a clip. There's no return to sleep at that point!

[AdagioM]

I don’t mind changing the clocks. The cats’ internal clocks are not in sync with the household clocks though, and they won’t be for about a week.

[RealPlayer]

@AdagioM We’re a cat-free household these days, but I remember those days well.

[DougG]

I think the problem is the length of the day changes gradually, but we change the clocks all at once.

we should change the clocks by 10 minutes each month, six adds and six subtracts.

Then everyone would be happy!

[jon-nyc]

@AdagioM said:

I don’t mind changing the clocks. The cats’ internal clocks are not in sync with the household clocks though, and they won’t be for about a week.

[ShiroKuro]

@DougG said:

I think the problem is the length of the day changes gradually, but we change the clocks all at once.

This is an excellent point.

we should change the clocks by 10 minutes each month, six adds and six subtracts.

Ummm....

[DougG]

If everyone had self adjusting clocks, like mr-moneybags-jon ,with his apparently less than fifteen year old car, we could adjust the clocks thirty seconds a day.

[Daniel]

@Jodi said:

So yesterday I changed the last old alarm clock on my bedside table, and didn’t realize I hadn’t pushed the switch all the way over from the “set time” spot and it landed on alarm on and the freaking thing woke me up at 2am and then my brain took off without me and I couldn’t get back to sleep and ended up unloading the dishwasher and doing laundry at 3:30 am because I figure I might as well do something useful, even though it was the middle of the night. I hate when that happens.

Me too.

[Daniel]

So to make a note of it-

My Casio digital is F-91W.

It's a decades old classic. Actually it's one of the most famous digital watches.

It's old school size designed before the world headed in the big watch direction.

It has time (duh), military time, calendar, alarm, stopwatch, the ability to perform a "grandfather-like clock" function, and a backlight function.

I have a hard time seeing any of it because I'm farsighted.

I have bought this same watch over decades. I used to be able to read it as clear as day. Life.

It has 3 physical buttons. There's a very completed set of instructions about which button to press, which to press simultaneously, and which to press and hold, in which sequence, to hack it, let alone other functions. It's easy to press and hold to turn on the back light. That's about it for my old self.

My plan is to let the battery die and keep the watch, and continue to wear it occasionally.

I wouldn't be without one. I can't set it. And inflation. I've told this story but my Casio analog, white dial, small Arabic numerals (the large numerals variant came later) went from $13 to $29 in the most recent price hike (for a watch that never had price hikes).

So I'm not paying for another digital, and the analog will get a battery replacement.

Interesting trivia- There's an urban legend that OBL used this watch to detonate the Twin Towers on 9/11. Yes, even though airplanes were involved. Yes, even though OBL wasn't in the US on 9/11. Yes, it makes no sense at all. But the urban legend continues.