Kinds of clocks?

[Kay/NC]

We walk in almost every trip ay Jenna's now to find the digital clocks blinking from the last thunderstorm power outage. I still have trouble thinking of my phone as a " watch". ( Anyone even bother to wear one of THOSE anymore?

I have thus decided that I would like a couple of battery- powered analog ( round face) clocks to refer to, if only for resetting the others. I think it is my vintage slant that makes me want something old, at least in appearance, but modern in function...in other words, I do not want a cord dangling down to an outlet...which would throw them off, too.

Searching eBay for a vintage wall clock, converted to battery power, I got really irked to find only tacky ones that would never look right with the rest of the decor. I have my MIL's old Seth Thomas, but it has to be wound, and it chimes every fifteen minutes, which drives Mike nuts.

Had to default to vintage- looking ones off other websites. Amazon had none that fit my size requirements. This one has to hang above a huge plasma TV screen, so anything too small would just look dinky. Finally found one on sale on the Pier One website, with free shipping.

I hope it looks as good in the house as it does in the store...have seen it before, but hoped for an old clock, until I finally gave up earlier today. By waiting, the price went down $30, too.

Clocks used to be a kitchen staple...but, most of us default to the stove and microwave now, I think. I never really thought that much about their style, until I started this latest fruitless search. We use the satellite controller at home to check time in the family room, but do not have that in Va.

Made me wonder: Do you have clocks in your house anymore, and what style are they, if you do?

[linda/IL]

Kitchen has a cheap, blue plastic round battery operated one to match my blue decor.  Bathroom (I have to hustle & this is where I lose time gettng out the door) has a small  battery wood look I got at Kohls, LR has battery Seth Thomas DH got from 30 yrs. of work, BR has battery back up alarm clock.  If I could I'd disengage every digital clock we have simply because I'm sick to death of reseting them.  Even with the generater kicking in it seems like they somehow miss a beat & start blinking. 

BTW, I often wear a watch-I don't like dragging my phone out to see what time it is. 

[Kay/NC]

Thinking more about keeping time...cars all have clocks now, so that probably explains why I never wear a watch, too. Just look at the instrument panel to know how the trip is progressing. I do not work on a schedulevall that much, except to get to TKD class on time, and make the rare appointment.

I feel your pain on the digital timepieces...this is most of what we have at Jenna's house...her alarm clock is just impossible for me to figure out. Last summer, I would walk in to it blasting like it was trying to get her to work on time. I turned it off, reset it, did everything but unplug it. It finally stopped that misbehavior.

The stove and microwave are blinking virtually every trip lately...so many storms. I cannot stand a blinking digital display, either...remember when it was always the VCR that did this? I decided to order a battery clock for the kitchen yesterday, too. To me, a kitchen just needs a " real" clock in it.

Mike has been the one complaining that he cannot check the time in the den there...he uses the satellite remote and info button to decide when it's time to switch to the news and weather here. The wall in there is. Nine feet high, and the TV is huge, so I picked a big battery clock that has a vintage sort of look to go above it. His mother always had her Mother's Seth Thomas up there, so it is where the clock " belongs" in tht room.

We have an atomic clock in the big bath/ laundry room, a small battery clock in the tiny bathroom, two alarms in our bedroom ( I wake up on timevwithout one, but need to read the bright red readout on my side, he sets his when there is early work), battery analog clocks in the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen one was losing a lot of time last month, and really threw me off one day.

I use the computer or iPad to keep me posted pn passing time in the office or family room. I don't wind the grandmother out there, or the Seth Thomas in here, because Mike complains about the striking in thehouse...I just forget in the office. I guess the main timevI use the cell phone is when I am outdoors or doing errands in a store...none of thrm seem to have clocks in them anymore, do they?

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

Take the clapper or the bell off the Seth Thomas and make Mike happy.

Get a surge-protector with a battery backup for those clocks that plug into the wall.  See if the ones in an appliance have a battery backup.  Maybe put a battery backup unit on the appliance itself if you can't put a small battery in it for the clock.

Many clocks gives interesting options.  When my wife's parents were alive in Germany, we kept one clock set on their time so we'd know without calculating what time it was if we wanted to call.  Likewise, now with a son in Hawaii and a daughter in Seattle, we have enough clocks to set one to each of their times if we decide to.

Clocks are cheap.  If the old one doesn't work, throw it out and buy one that does.

[Kay/NC]

Some clocks are cheap...ones with really decent vintage looks are not. I am not crazy about those starburst sixties modern ones in a country home. That is most of what's out there, unfortunately.

I hadn't really thought about the style element of a clock in the context of a decor that much, until I started working on Jenna's house, which was built in 1937-8. I find myself gravitating towards the 1930-197os period, from when it was built, until Mike was grown and left home.

Plastic looks too slick, and fake aging looks fake. I am doing a few pieces of shabby paint applications there, and they go well, adding color, but with things that are in the right time window. I think I will havevto settle for a modern clock that has been artfully made to look old, which will be in keeping with the furniture.

I would have moved Seth back there, but climbing up a stepstool to wind it every week would be a pain. Probably not advisable at our age, either.

i just leave the antique ones unwound, and they are right twice a day, right?

[turkey feather]

We like the atomic clocks for reliability and have three.But my favorite is the clock in the bedroom that projects the time on the ceiling. It is so easy to read in the night. I need to find another one.

[Kay/NC]

Amazon has scads of projection clocks. I can see where thst would keep one from sitting up in bed, to see the clock on tne bedside table, or over the shoulder of a sleeping husband. Hmmmm.....