


All these clocks, and I still don’t know the time.
I had finished my morning iPad games when my phone alarm alerted me to move: 8:20. Plenty of time to get up, grab a morning snack, and pick up my friend for coffee at 8:50. It took three minutes to walk around the bed, per bedside clock. Into the bathroom for morning ablutions. Now 8:33. It’s surprising how long it can take to brush your teeth.
I ignored the grandfather clock in the kitchen, set permanently at 5:00. However, the kitchen wall clock timed me at five minutes for the twenty-foot jaunt. Three feet to the microwave claimed another two minutes. I finished checking messages and mail on my phone before heading to the garage. Thankfully, the clock on the car dash subtracted three minutes, moving me back in time. I could reclaim a year of my life if I could figure out the pattern. I checked the time on my phone, aging me another four minutes and spurring me to step on the gas.
I used to trust our atomic clock watching over us in the living room until I noticed it was inconsistent and learned that it can lose time because of faulty signals. Now the iPhone is my go-to since it updates regularly. My goal for this day was to calibrate the clocks. It took a few minutes as I waited with my iPhone in hand. As soon as the Apple satellite jumped a minute, I reset a clock. I should be good for another few days. Meanwhile, Friends, if I am late, blame it on my clocks.