I live in central standard time (CST).
This means that anytime a show is advertised on TV I usually have to subtract an hour from EST to determine what time I can watch the show.
But that is nothing compared with the time zones I negotiate when moving from room to room in my home.
Yes my home.
My husband sets clocks ahead.
He sets his watch 7 minutes ahead and keeps it on military time. Not a big deal since he alone wears his watch.
What has been a bit contentious is the clock in the bedroom. The clock by the bed that wakes us up in the morning. The clock that is currently 32 minutes ahead. Interestingly, that clock has inched up in aheadness approximately 1 minute per year of our marriage.
The clock in the shower is 17 minutes ahead.
The clock in the kitchen is 6 minutes ahead.
The clock in the car is 11 minutes ahead.
Oh, aren’t you taking notes? Because if you come visit you might want to know the time.
After years I have learned to look at a clock based on its location and do the math in my head.
Oh! I am in the bedroom and it is 10:43? Nope! It’s 10:11!
Oh! I am taking a shower and have only 5 minutes? Nope! I have 22!
Oh! I am running 15 minutes driving to an appointment? Nope! No need to call ahead, I will only be 3 or 4 minutes late.
So, the obvious question is WHY?
And believe me, I have asked the obvious question on many occasions. Some more heated then others.
Why do I have to live under these extreme math conditions?
My husband replies that it makes him feel better about getting up early in the morning. Like it isn’t actually 5:30 because the clock says it is 6:02. I don’t buy this argument…
Because he is one of the smartest people I know. So you can’t tell me that he isn’t doing the math in his head the INSTANT that he looks at the clock.
So the question of WHY remains.
I guess that I should be grateful that he hasn’t determined an international date line runs through the dining room…
I live in central standard time (CST).
This means that anytime a show is advertised on TV I usually have to subtract an hour from EST to determine what time I can watch the show.
But that is nothing compared with the time zones I negotiate when moving from room to room in my home.
Yes my home.
My husband sets clocks ahead.
He sets his watch 7 minutes ahead and keeps it on military time. Not a big deal since he alone wears his watch.
What has been a bit contentious is the clock in the bedroom. The clock by the bed that wakes us up in the morning. The clock that is currently 32 minutes ahead. Interestingly, that clock has inched up in aheadness approximately 1 minute per year of our marriage.
The clock in the shower is 17 minutes ahead.
The clock in the kitchen is 6 minutes ahead.
The clock in the car is 11 minutes ahead.
Oh, aren’t you taking notes? Because if you come visit you might want to know the time.
After years I have learned to look at a clock based on its location and do the math in my head.
Oh! I am in the bedroom and it is 10:43? Nope! It’s 10:11!
Oh! I am taking a shower and have only 5 minutes? Nope! I have 22!
Oh! I am running 15 minutes driving to an appointment? Nope! No need to call ahead, I will only be 3 or 4 minutes late.
So, the obvious question is WHY?
And believe me, I have asked the obvious question on many occasions. Some more heated then others.
Why do I have to live under these extreme math conditions?
My husband replies that it makes him feel better about getting up early in the morning. Like it isn’t actually 5:30 because the clock says it is 6:02. I don’t buy this argument…
Because he is one of the smartest people I know. So you can’t tell me that he isn’t doing the math in his head the INSTANT that he looks at the clock.
So the question of WHY remains.
I guess that I should be grateful that he hasn’t determined an international date line runs through the dining room…
I do something similar but not as extreme. All the clocks upstairs are set between 4 to 6 minutes ahead of the actual time. It varies on each clock and I don’t keep track of exactly how far ahead I set it. This is so I can’t do the math to figure out the real time.
Why do I do this?
Because it is while we are getting dressed that we always fall behind and start to run late. I’ll come out of the bathroom or from helping Princess get dressed and notice that time has magically disappeared and we’re gonna be late.
So we run from getting dressed upstairs, grab food for in the car and pull out of the driveway to discover that we are perfectly on time.
Just don’t let Honey know. If he catches on it will stop working.
I totally do that. My reason? Because when I am running truly behind and rushing around, I forget to do the math. So I end up thinking I am even later than I really am. It comes in handy as a motivational tool. Or something.
I agree I would so go move the clocks ahead like an hour on one of the weeks he has off that would drive him crazy.. Its only fair..
This would actually drive me insane.
I don’t like math. And to be forced to do math every friggin time I want to know the time….well that would piss me off.
Tell him to knock it off. Stop playing mind games with himself ok?
This is funny.
Our bedroom/bathroom clocks are ahead by 6-12 minutes. They used to all be 6 minutes, but Prince Charming’s clock keeps moving ahead. I think it’s because he’s not careful when setting the alarm. HE thinks it’s right and all the other clocks are slow. WHATever! The reason for the 6 minutes somehow started with our “Rabbit! Rabbit!” war. If you wake up right at midnight, you can’t “Rabbit! Rabbit!” your spouse because it’s really not midnight. With a foggy, sleep brain, that means I always win. (I’m a lighter sleeper.)
My car clock is currently 21 minutes fast. It is that way because it likes to be that way. This is like a freak thing. When we bought the car, the time was right. It quickly moved ahead 15 mintues. (In the course of about a month.) Then in another month it slowly moved to 20 mintues ahead. In the course of six months it might get to 21 minutes ahead. If I reset it, the same thing happens. If I reset it for 15 minutes ahead, it will slowly move to 20 minutes ahead and then more slowly to 21 minutes. It just is happy there. I am so used to it that I don’t think I could handle having the right time in my car. It terribly freaks out visitors, however. And THAT is why I thought your post was so funny, because I NEED this information in case I visit. You should probably put that information in the Nirvana Travel Brochure that goes in the guest room so guests are well-informed and don’t make ugly complaints to the hotel staff.
That would never fly in our house. Just last night, C made sure both clocks visible from this living room were exactly the same. Oh. And he sets his watch by the atomic clock in Boulder, CO.
Your hubby is not alone in this insanity. It must be a guy thing. It got so bad in my house, that hubby & I now have separate alarm clocks. He doesn't touch mine and I vow not to throw his out the window until our 15th wedding annivesary. Which we're fast approaching.
Really? Wow. That would drive me insane. I go to a LOT of effort to make sure that our clocks are set to the exact same minute. In fact, it is a disease because when I’m resetting, say both the microwave and oven clock, I will wait until the first one rolls around one minute to hit “ok” on the second so they are almost precise. At least I have hubby’s support in this!
Ahh! I so feel your hubby. When I needed an alarm clock *now I have two with legs* I always had it set ahead 20 minutes. For me, my half asleep brain would be scared I was running late and get a move on. Then I would see the kitchen clock and feel better.
My car is ahead too, but I keep trying to figure out how far ahead. I think I must change it a.s.a.p., it’s so silly. I couldn’t tell you why.
Oh and try living in MTN time zone when they program at total willy nilly times even though a commercial may say EST, it never jives, EVER! Drives me bonkers.
You described my house to a “T” except it’s me who sets the clocks ahead. I totally get why he does it.