Glad to see that my opinion is not in the minority. Two things that drive me nuts about household clock setting are:
Setting them ahead
Setting them all at different times (all with in 5-10 minutes of actual times.
Setting them ahead is just silly. If I do that, I just do the compensate in my head, it doesn’t fool me, and I instantly lose respect for the mental capability of anyone who can fool themselves so easily.
Our house has teens. We wanted to spray for them, but apparently the law says we can’t and must just learn to live with them. Sigh… The different “time zones by room” (clocks set differently in each room) was a favourite weasel trick… (Bed time is 10:30… but its only 10:20 in the basement… or you said you’d take me to the mall at 7… its sevn by the room in the teen’s room… 6:50 in the kitchen. Particularly frustrating was timed chores… Clean up the house on Saturday mornings for 2 hrs became 1 hour and 40 minutes by “starting” in a room running fast, and “ending” in a room running late.
So, I set the clocks to WWV (international shortwave standard time). It actually caused quite a stir, as they realised that the clocks’ various times were not a means of weaselling out of things.
I have two clocks that are about 2 minutes fast, my alarm clock and my oven clock. I leave them that way so I think I’m just a bit late.
My ex used to keep her clocks 10-15 minutes late, why I still don’t know. My ex father-in-law used to keep clocks 30 minutes fast and he was still late, because you know ‘the clock is fast’.
This is why I do it. The analog clock is battery operated, so eventually gets “slow”, and the digital DVD player clocks seem to run fast no matter what they are originally set at (they used to connect to the correct time via antenna, but the digital “revolution” changed that). My alarm clock is correct, however.
I set my alarm clock about 10 minutes fast. It allows me to hit snooze one extra time and still get up when I need to. I don’t remember that its fast when I open one eye and look at it after awakening for the first time. All the other clocks, watches, etc are the correct time. Works for me.
Well, I’m going to stand up loud and proud (well, kind of) for those of us who do set clocks ahead. Yes I appreciate all the points above, and in fact I agree with most of them. As Mangetout implies, essentially I have terrible timekeeping, and I am a champion procrastinator. If I am left to my own devices I’m late for everything, and I recognise that this is a failing, and annoying to those around me. Setting my clocks majorly ahead helps me to avoid my natural tendency to faff about instead of getting a move on. For me it works because I actually don’t know how far my clocks are ahead. My car clock is set about 17 minutes fast, but mentally I calculate this as ‘about a quarter of an hour’. My clock radio alarm is set just over 30 minutes fast I think, but again I tend to behave as if it’s about a quarter of an hour fast. I love the feeling of getting dressed and ready in my room, then arriving downstairs to prepare to leave and noticing that I’m still 10-15 minutes early.
I recognise that this is just a ridiculous exercise in mental gymnastics, and I’m lucky that my husband merely rolls his eyes and ignores it (not that this is the weirdest or most particular thing I do anyway). However, it works for me and helps me irritate my friends and loved ones just a little bit less than I may have done.
Just to clarify, I’m not saying my clocks are all accurate. We have a ludicrous number of devices that tell time in and around the house, some of which set themselves (using WWV or whatever) and some of which don’t. At any given time, some of them are virtually guaranteed to be off. But we definitely don’t do it on purpose, and we fix it when we notice it.
Seems like a hell of a lot more bother than, you know, just planning to be early.
If it takes me 45 minutes to get somewhere, I allow an hour, or more if I expect obstacles like weather, traffic, getting lost, etc. And then I might plan to leave even 15 minutes before that. It’s not rocket science.
Only in the bedroom and its some “off” time - like 17 minutes or something (I don’t even know). Its a trick for a sleepy mind. When I go to bed I look at the clock and believe its later than it is. I know its not, but my mind can’t process the math when I’m tired. So I ignore what I know and am willing to believe what I see. Same deal in the morning, when I believe it to be much later than it is - once again, sleepy brain can’t process the math and is willing to be tricked
And I’ve been doing it for 30 years. And I haven’t caught on to the fact I’m fooling myself. My sleepy brain is REALLY stupid.
ETA: We even have a name for it - its “bedroom time.”
Most of my clocks are early, but the thing is I’m not sure exactly how early. I think it’s at least two minutes, but it could be three or four. My watch tends to run fast, so it increases over time; at some point it was around seven minutes, which is when I moved it five minutes back. I tend to act as if my clocks were two minutes early, which still gives me at least a few seconds, and up to two or three minutes, to catch my bus if I have to take one and if I’m running late.
My alarm clock is a few minutes fast, mainly because when I set it I usually hit the wrong button at least once and change the time instead of the alarm. I work shifts, so I change the alarm at least weekly, more often if I need to use it at the weekend.
I prefer it a few minutes fast, as if I set it for the time I need I’ll have a few more minutes to do stuff in the morning.
My phone, which I use most often to check the time, is set to the clocks at work, as that’s the only place I need to know the time to the minute. I assume my computer updates automatically, I rarely check the time on it.
Never understood it. All clocks set correctly, and ek setera. Think a bit less of people who prejudiciously set ahead, but that’s the way I came up with my own system. I guess that’s why I don’t have many friends.
I’m too lazy to do this because then I would have to remember which clocks are fast and by how much. :smack: It’s like the old saying. a man with one clock knows what time it is. A man with two clocks is never sure.
I simply allow plenty of time to get where I’m supposed to be. If I’m late, I call. If I’m early, then I read - I’m never without a book.
Ah, see that is the beauty of my system - I don’t remember. Nor is there any need to - as long as I’m up before the time on the clock says I need to be up, I’m early…
I am consistently punctual and never late and I always set my car clock ten minutes ahead and my watch, five minutes ahead. It makes me feel better. Why does anyone care?
I have my clocks at home set 10 minutes fast because if there is a show I want to watch, I like having some leeway if the remote got stuck in the couch cushions, I want to use the bathroom, I feel like preparing a snack etc. Better to have a few minutes to prepare than miss the start of a show.
I used to set my alarm clock ahead 10 minutes or so. But as electronics have advanced, that has gone by the wayside in my house. My cell phone is my alarm clock. It’s always right, I can’t set it ahead. TV is the same way, the tuner box always has the right time, so does the computer. Even the cars I drive (when I drive a car) are set remotely, and are always right. To set the two settable clocks in the house ahead (living room wall clock and microwave in the kitchen) would just set my teeth on edge at this point.
So I’ve had to adjust to simply doing things in “real time” and leave the house “earlier” than I used to!
Yah, but don’t you get tired of turning on the TV and sitting down only to find you’re ten minutes early, the popcorn’s getting cold and there’s nothing on? Admit it, you compensate by knowing your clock is ten minutes fast which pretty much defeats its purpose.
Ditto. I used to work in broadcasting so I have an obsession to know the exact time. It annoys the hell out of me that I can’t set the clocks on the VCR, oven, microwave, etc. to the exact second, so they’re never synchronized.
Your post reminds me of a few months ago. I had to do relief work at a different location from where I usually work. I had to get there early (for me), by 9am. I was on the El, on time as far as I knew, when I glanced at the watch of the woman sitting next to me.
!!! PANIC !!!
In my head I was fairly certain it was about 8:15. Her watch said 8:45. What???
I frantically dug for my cell and verified the time. It was what I thought, and her watch was set 30 whole minutes ahead.
So, while I don’t ultimately care what other people set their watches by, just be aware it may send someone into a momentary panic, just for admiring your watch. (Though 5 minutes shouldn’t matter )
)