CLOCK ON

Philip Evans

The clocks went forward last week.

I needed that extra hour to change the clocks in our house.

Sadly, I live alone now so why do I need so many clocks?

It’s ridiculous. And so complicated

The one on the cooker was easy to change. It’s got ‘forward’ and ‘back’ on it.

That clock in the dining room with the glass dome over it is always tricky. It has a large pendulum with four balls that swing in a circle, and if you touch it when replacing the dome, it stops the clock. But I did well this year and mastered it after about 14 attempts..

The one on the TV was fairly straight- forward but has to be aligned with the one on the video. That was awkward, as it entailed getting down onto the floor to check the video and the TV at the same time. I got down all right, but had a hell of a job getting up, and knocked over a vase of flowers while grabbing a small table to hold on to.

Altogether, including mopping up time, that took me about 12 minutes.

I took great care with the 70 year old electric silver clock on the mantelpiece, because the glass is a bit loose and you have to peer through a tiny hole to see if the electricity is still coming through. I had to wear my reading glasses for that job Unfortunately I dropped them while looking through that little hole and they fell behind the fire-screen, and hid

for about 6 minutes

The old alarm clock in my bedroom was not too bad, but the newish one was fiendish, as you have to press on to a button to change the hands on the front and it is exceedingly difficult to be accurate. That took me roughly 5 minutes

I didn’t bother with my bedside telephone/radio/clock, because it stubbornly stays at its own chosen time is permanently 4 hours and 25 minutes slow in the summer, and 3 hours and 25 minutes slow during the winter.

But, so much for that extra hour in bed they tell us about

By the way, who tells us that we have to move our clocks and plunge into early winter darkness. Who is responsible eh? Whoever it is should mind his or her business and remember the old saying:

“ No light, no joy, November”