# Clocks...clocks are off. Weird. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883 "2013-02-20T16:35:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/1 "2013-02-20T16:35:05Z")
I went to Job 2 Monday and noticed that the big round clock on the wall was something like 4 hours behind. I dismissed it, and it was a holiday so I figured someone would fix it yesterday. Yesterday evening I went in again, and it was still wrong. Off by hours. I just looked up at the similar round clock in my office at Job 1. It’s 5 hours behind. Or 7 hours ahead, depending on your take. I’m afraid to look at any more old-fashioned clocks today. My desk phone and cell phone are correct, as is my computer time. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/2 "2013-02-20T16:41:51Z")
One word … Batteries. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/3 "2013-02-20T16:43:41Z")
No, no…they’re clicking. Not right-twice-a-day. All the hands move. And all of a sudden they’re both behind by hours. ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/4 "2013-02-20T16:51:32Z")
Your workplace is probably using a [Master-Slave clock system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_clock) which is malfunctioning. This is a type of clock system schools and other large institutions use. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/5 "2013-02-20T16:53:02Z")
Nope. Two different workplaces. The clocks are not connected to anything except the screws on which they hang. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/6 "2013-02-20T16:54:12Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > No, no…they’re clicking. Not right-twice-a-day. All the hands move. And all of a sudden they’re both behind by hours. We had clocks in our office that would do that. They would click, and move, but not keep anything like correct time, when the batteries started to run out. Maybe something like half or three quarters of real time, so they’d get one hour further behind every two to four hours. ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/7 "2013-02-20T17:01:06Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Nope. Two different workplaces. The clocks are not connected to anything except the screws on which they hang. They’re quartz clocks with weak/dead batteries then. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/8 "2013-02-20T17:03:04Z")
Nope, the explanation can’t be that simple. There’s something…else…going on here. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/9 "2013-02-20T17:14:10Z")
Synchronicity ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/10 "2013-02-20T17:31:18Z")
Same problem with the Mayan calendar. They actually ended in 1934 but no-one replaced the batteries. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/11 "2013-02-20T17:42:38Z")
I had a dream last night that my watch was hours off and it made me late for something important. Not sure what it was though. Guessing it was a callback to the actual awake-time event of my meat thermometer being accidentally switched to Celsius and my hamburgers getting over-done :-/ ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/12 "2013-02-20T17:53:49Z")
one my tv stations is showing the wrong time with the program info and has for days. we’re all going to die! ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/13 "2013-02-20T18:59:43Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > one my tv stations is showing the wrong time with the program info and has for days. > > we’re all going to die! This happened on our Comcast cable with BBC America; it was off by 3 hours, as if it was using eastern time instead of pacific time. It may still be doing it for all I know. But we are all going to die; just not all at the same time. Roderick “No Sense of Humour” Femm ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/14 "2013-02-20T20:44:49Z")
Tonight on my way to class I’ll pass by a church that has 4 clocks on the steeple. I’ll look at one and say “Crap, I’m late!”, then look at another and say “Wow, I’m 6 hours early.” I wish they’d fix them. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/15 "2013-02-21T06:56:26Z")
So what makes you so sure your desk phone, cell phone, and computer clocks are the correct ones? As the old saying goes: _A man with one clock always knows what time it is. A man with five clocks is never sure._ ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/16 "2013-02-21T07:05:59Z")
My grandparents had a small clock that ran backwards. They were kind of disappointed when I was investigating it and (accidentally) fixed it by swapping the ways the batteries were facing. I know this sounds like some impossible urban legend spread only by those who know nothing about electronics. I swear on my life, though, the thing went in the opposite direction if the batteries were in backwards. (I ended up making the batteries backwards again to give the clock back its uniqueness and make my grandparents happy :p) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/17 "2013-02-21T07:44:28Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Nope. Two different workplaces. The clocks are not connected to anything except the screws on which they hang. When the batteries in my analog clocks start loosing power, the time keeping goes to hell. So what do _you_ think it is? ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/18 "2013-02-21T16:40:34Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > My grandparents had a small clock that ran backwards. They were kind of disappointed when I was investigating it and (accidentally) fixed it by swapping the ways the batteries were facing. > > I know this sounds like some impossible urban legend spread only by those who know nothing about electronics. I swear on my life, though, the thing went in the opposite direction if the batteries were in backwards. > > (I ended up making the batteries backwards again to give the clock back its uniqueness and make my grandparents happy :p) My sister and I had an electric train that ran in reverse when the battery was in backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/19 "2013-02-21T19:59:58Z")
> [@sicks ate](#): > > nope, the explanation can’t be that simple. There’s something…else…going on here. > [@](#): > > There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. Where have you been the last three years man? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883/20 "2013-02-22T04:04:36Z")
This thread is currently right below the one on conspiracies. Coincidence? I think not… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clocks-clocks-are-off-weird/650883.md?page=2)