What Time is It Really?
By Morley Hunt
@Morleyhunt (21737)
Canada
January 27, 2017 5:38pm CST
A year ago my parents mantel clock came into my possession.
I paid big bucks to have it professionally cleaned and serviced. Once a week I dutifully wind it and set it on time.
For the last year it loses about 10-15 minutes each week.
A month ago I decided to get ahead of the clock....I set it 5 minutes ahead.
Now, without adjusting the pendulum it is gaining almost 10 minutes a week.
When I mentioned this to my father, he told me this clock has kept erratic time for the last 65 years.
11 people like this
12 responses
@DianneN (246334)
• United States
29 Jan 17
@Morleyhunt I need clocks around. I don't carry my phone from room to room.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
29 Jan 17
@DianneN I don't either. That's why I have a clock in my sewing room, easily visible when I'm working.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
29 Jan 17
I guess I'll just be setting it on time often, or just accept that I need to look at my phone to see what time it really is.
2 people like this
@Fleura (29097)
• United Kingdom
23 Mar 17
That reminds me - I used to have a clock which ran fast or slow depending on temperature - faster when the environment was hot etc. Sometimes I thought I could compensate by setting it ahead or behind 'real' time but then I would get caught out by unexpected weather!
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
24 Mar 17
The clock seems to be a bit closer at the moment.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111081)
• El Paso, Texas
28 Jan 17
How strange, didn't the guy who cleaned it also try to fix it so it wouldn't do that?
@rebelann (111081)
• El Paso, Texas
28 Jan 17
I'd get the guy who cleaned it to come back and fix the problem @Morleyhunt it's not like he didn't get paid.
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 17
I didn't know that it was erratic. That it lost a couple of minutes over a week was t worrisome....but now suddenly it's running fast...I find that confusing....my husband thought I had fiddled with the pendulum....I didn't touch it.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111081)
• El Paso, Texas
28 Jan 17
Well that can't be good @Morleyhunt can you complain that the clock seems to have been broken in the process of being cleaned?
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
28 Jan 17
Haha I had a watch like that it used to run five minutes fast which in a way was good for me because I was never ever late for an appointment. Not a bad way to look at things!
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 17
If it was consistent, this weeks it's running fast...fir almost a year it ran slow.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129379)
• Israel
18 May 18
@Morleyhunt
That makes sense to put it ahead of time because if you keep it the right time you lose time. I had a clock that when i put it on the wall it would not keep time. I cannot remember what happened to it.
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
19 May 18
It's still erratic. At the moment it is about five minutes slow. Today I'll wind the clock and reset the time. I'll bet that tomorrow it's ahead.
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
29 Jan 17
ooh.deco style clock...
we had one like that.i think it was the winder/spring assembly that was shot.
after a while i had a modern one fitted in it,and just saved the removed parts.
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
29 Jan 17
The clock has apparently been running, fast or slow for the last 65 years.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 17
I guess if e balance out the running slow and the running fast it keeps accurate time. 
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 17
I keep hoping that one week it will still be on time at the end of the week, but after a year, I'm not hopeful.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (29097)
• United Kingdom
23 Mar 17
My parents had several random clocks too! And if they stopped my Mum would never let anyone re-set the tie in case moving the hands made them get loose, so she would wait until the real time matched what it said on the clock before winding it up again!
@JudyEv (325345)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 17
Sometimes you would swear there is a gremlin in these things. :)
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 17
There must be....or our resident ghost is messing with our heads.
1 person likes this
@Morethanamom (1948)
• Canada
28 Jan 17
So it never really was an accurate time keeper. I do remember that clock, and the one my parents acquired, and the chiming they made. Puts me back in that house.
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 17
Funny that I never knew that the clock was erratic in its timekeeping.
