and I could make it stay
This hour of love we share would
always be, there’d be no coming day
to shine a morning light to make us
realize our night is over.
["It's Over", 1966, Jimmie Rodgers]
Clocks. I have a dozen clocks in my house. I have a clock in the microwave, in the oven, on the wall in the living room, in each computer (4, counting the laptop), even the phones show the time in their little CID displays.
None of them agree. Oh, the ones in the phones all agree with each other but that's it. The rest are a minute or two, or more, different.
I don't like clocks. Never have. I have had wristwatches, still do, but I cannot stand to wear them. So the two I have now sit in my nightstand drawer. And they don't agree with each other either.
Yet, I often need to depend on clocks. I mean, I have to be somewhere at a certain time. An appointment, a tee time, dinner with friends, various important things. So I do need to know what time it is. But how accurate does it have to be?
What does it matter if the clock I look at is off by 5 minutes? Since I always allow plenty of time to spare, it won't make me late. Yeah, I am that guy. The one who is always there early. On the other hand, I am often found sitting in my car in the parking lot waiting 5 or 10 minutes for the store to open.
So it annoys me, too.
My clocks are the most accurate twice a year. In the Spring and the Fall. When we set them back or forward one hour. Which is a bit stupid when you think about it.
I mean, that's all about saving daylight. Really? The sun provides that daylight and the length of time the sun is shining on any part of the world depends upon where the earth is in its orbit around the sun. It's not like you are changing that by adjusting clocks and disrupting sleep patterns.
So, come Sunday my clocks will all agree... mostly... again.
http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/time.html
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