Monday Meanderings - 7.31.2017

The clock is back. I posted previously about the Seth Thomas clock that has been in the family for more than 80 years. You know, the one that chimes every quarter-hour and strikes the hours. Loudly. You may recall that it had issues and while it could keep good time, it would just come to an abrupt halt every couple of days, even though it was supposed to be an "8-day clock".

I finally took it to a reputable repair service here in town and described the symptoms, and got three repair scenarios:
1. A thorough cleaning for a modest cost (their definition, not mine)
2. Some disassembly and refurbishing of the clock mechanism for a not-so-modest cost
3. A total disassembly with replacement bushings, springs, etc. for an outrageous cost

The deal was that they would do scenario 1 and then evaluate whether 2 was needed; if that didn't work, on to outrageous 3. When I checked with them after a couple of months, they said that after performing option 1, the clock was still stopping, but they wanted to "work with it" some more before moving on to 2. In a few weeks they called that the clock was ready, needing only 1 "minor" spring replaced.

Previously, I had the clock located back in my office. Surprisingly, when I brought it home, Barb suggested that we put it on a shelf in the living room - that she had sort of grown used to the chiming. So. the clock is now very much a part of our day, and reminds us every 15 minutes how quickly time flies.

There is one issue that remains: the clock faithfully strikes the the correct number of hours, every hour - except for 1 o'clock. Eleven distinct chimes at 11 o'clock; 12 strikes at 12 o'clock - but you never know how many you'll get at 1 o'clock. Sometimes 2, sometimes 4, but never the correct single chime. But hey! That just seems to fit right in with our family. You just never know how many chimes you are going to get, sometimes.

And you know how, when you are dangling your feet in the lake, or wading in shallow water at the beach, and something nibbles on your feet?

Stay cool, my friends. It's hawt out there.