• over_clox@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Check my username. I’ve been partly obsessed with keeping accurate track of time since I learned to read an analog clock at age 9.

      By age 12, I started learning the exact times of the school bells. By age 15, I learned how to rebuild digital watches, and even replace the quartz crystal with a more accurate one.

      By age 17 I was rebuilding mechanical self-winding wristwatches, and also learning to overclock computers.

      Edit: For extra clarity, I also now know how to tune the firing order on an ICE engine, no matter how many cylinders. I also know how to time a VCR and tune a guitar.

      I’m 42 years old now.

      • Gork@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Sounds like you should pursue a career at NIST so your hobby can align with a profession. They’re all about keeping track of time to extreme precision with atomic and optical clocks.

        • over_clox@lemmy.world
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          28 days ago

          I saved your comment to respond later once I got my words together.

          I really appreciate your comment, seriously. But I never thought of it as a hobby, I thought of it as an obligation, to understand time, as best as possible anyways.

          At age 9, I had just recently gotten my first glasses. I was left home alone for like a half hour, and I just stared at their analog clock. After 5 minutes, counting the ticks and watching the dials, I just understood it. Never even had to ask an adult.

          I always thought of it as an obligation of education that I somehow missed before I got glasses.

          I never once thought of it as a hobby before you described it that way.

    • over_clox@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Also, a 1 meter pendulum swings at a rate of once per second. Handy info to know if all the clocks shut down, like in a survivalist situation or natural disaster.