Time

This morning on my second train (I have to take three), I happened to glance at my watch. Ten to seven, it said, and I thought I'd managed a bit better than usual. I would get to the coffee shop by seven thirty, and have almost an hour to relax before heading off to work. I go early to my station and have breakfast there on Fridays, in order to miss the rush hour. I'd wanted to be a bit earlier than usual today, because I had a fair bit of preparation to do.

Later, as I tucked into my third cup of coffee, I glanced at my watch again. Nine minutes to seven, it said, and I thought WOW! I've managed to take that last train, eat breakfast and drink two cups of coffee in one minute!

It was a bad morning for my watch to give up the ghost. I wasn't late, but I wasn't as early as I'd hoped to be, either. I've been rushing ever so slightly all day, just keeping on top of things.

This evening I got to the acupuncture clinic early, and sat with one of the guys drinking tea and chatting. I showed my watch to him and told him it had messed up my morning. He stared at it. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Oh, I see, it's a minute slow..." He looked puzzled. "Was that really a problem?"

I looked up at the wall clock, and sure enough it was seven minutes to seven, and my watch now said eight minutes to seven.

This weekend I have 120 tests to grade. I'll get up early, grade them between 6.54 and 6.55, and have the rest of the weekend free.