Do you wear/carry a watch?

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 11 Oct 2010, 11:09

Seeing this...

mobbsey wrote:"Time", as in GMT, time to go to work, time to watch TV, is an abstract concept -- it doesn't exist except in the psyche of humans. Solar days, moon cycles, seasons, solar years, and human lifespans are real because they have a basis in physical reality; and of course it's this more generalised passing of time that the rest of nature works by. The transition from a state where we run our lives according to abstract time -- something that was invented primarily by the Christian and Islamic faiths in the Medieval period so they could get up and prey at the right time, and later adopted in industrialisation to permit the co-ordination of mass production -- will give way to 'physical' time as we fall down the energy curve. We'll begin to value time for what it is, a passing of existence within which we find opportunities to live our lives, rather than many people's perceptions of time today as an external pressuring and often negative force that subjugates our lives.

made me wonder whether people here are subjugated to time...

Keela · Post by **Keela** » 11 Oct 2010, 13:27

Lots of fancy words there....

I teach.
I start at one time and end at another.

If anyone wants to meet some-one else (or be taught) then a structure to the day is important.

Farming communities round here eat by the clock too in order to keep expectations realistic and meals arriving regularly.

Sorry, forget the fancy words, time-keeping is an important invention.

Sure on holidays (an un-natural existance) I can chuck the watch away and just rise, eat and sleep when I like...... and often I do just that.....

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 11 Oct 2010, 14:05

I don't wear a watch, but for purely practical reasons: I keep trashing them! Keeping time is extremely useful, but otoh far too many people have made themselves, or have others made them, slaves to it.

People are also far too scared of the passing of time, everything from being late to work, to not being in the first flush of youth any more. I am rather enjoying middle-age, but a lot of people forget that all that extra time gives knowledge and mental resources that perhaps they didn't have in their youth. They only think of the physical, i.e. of not looking like pictures of models. This is silly, because pictures of models are faked.

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 11 Oct 2010, 14:28

I always wear a watch, except when doing physically demanding work, when it gets in the way or gets damaged.

Time seems to have speeded up. I know it is a function of how busy you are and your age (for some reason), but I still think it has speeded up!

Some say the secret of happiness is being content with your age, no matter how many years have passed......

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 11 Oct 2010, 14:42

I've always worn one, until some weeks ago (I've lost track of time, so no idea how many weeks

) the strap broke, and I haven't fixed it yet. I'm not sure if I want to fix it, as I'm getting used to it now. When I'm staring at the computer, there's a clock on the screen, and I've usually got my phone with me. I have the radio on most of the day, with hourly news, and familiar programmes that are on at regular times. But then I have almost no structure to my life! It's daylight and sunny, so it makes sense to do things outside (I'm writing this now because it's lunch time!). If it's dark or wet, it makes sense to do things inside. If I'm hungry I'll eat. Why make life complicated?

It's only a pain on the odd occasion that I have to do something at a certain time

.

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 11 Oct 2010, 14:50

Well I haven't worn a watch for the past three years or so, since the battery on my late father's watch gave out. Prior to that I'd stopped wearing my own watch when its battery had given out. There are plenty of clocks around to be able to keep track of time, and if I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late. However, this lack of urgency may explain why my life has drifted.

syberberg · Post by **syberberg** » 11 Oct 2010, 15:27

I've not worn a watch for years and don't really miss it. If I want to know what time it is, there's always a clock somewhere that will tell me.

I only ever pay attention to immediate time when I have to, otherwise, I don't.

One of the (many) things I detest about modern society is the obsession with time and doing more and more in ever shorter slices of it. How can an individual possibly do a good job, pay attention to detail, etc. if they are having to put up with demands like "I need that yesterday"? No wonder the average wage-slave (regardless of rank) is so stressed out.

featherstick · Post by **featherstick** » 11 Oct 2010, 15:30

I haven't worn a watch since my 3 year old lost my chunky old Russian Amfibia. Don't have permission to buy a replacement yet but my birthday is coming up. Time is important.

Pip · Post by **Pip** » 11 Oct 2010, 15:31

Always wear a watch - I feel almost naked without one. My job requires a lot of 'time' from the basic being on time and scheduling things to to timing how long things take and run for, so it makes up an important part of my life.

Does it subjugate my life? Well in a way I guess it does - but that has plusses as well as minuses. Yes I have to be on time for things, but it also allows me to say 'no' to things - "I'm not at work now, I'll deal with that when I am." As long as you retain the ability to keep time for yourself and your life away from work, the abstract time allows better seperation of work from life I think.

Keela · Post by **Keela** » 11 Oct 2010, 16:18

Pip wrote:Does it subjugate my life? Well in a way I guess it does - but that has plusses as well as minuses. Yes I have to be on time for things, but it also allows me to say 'no' to things - "I'm not at work now, I'll deal with that when I am." As long as you retain the ability to keep time for yourself and your life away from work, the abstract time allows better seperation of work from life I think.

Hear hear!

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 11 Oct 2010, 16:21

I haven't worn a watch for years. My father offered to sell me his on his death bed but it was too expensive.

happychicken · Post by **happychicken** » 11 Oct 2010, 16:47

I wear a solar-powered watch

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 11 Oct 2010, 18:33

happychicken wrote:I wear a solar-powered watch

Do you have to keep your sleeve rolled up, and your wrist up in the air, to catch the sun?

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 11 Oct 2010, 19:15

foodimista wrote:Well I haven't worn a watch for the past three years or so, since the battery on my late father's watch gave out. Prior to that I'd stopped wearing my own watch when its battery had given out. There are plenty of clocks around to be able to keep track of time, and if I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late. However, this lack of urgency may explain why my life has drifted.

foodimista, just sit down a minute will you?

Just in case you don't know, you can go to a jewellers and for a small fee they will put a new battery in a watch and it will work again for a few years......

Often they will do it while you wait.

Try it - it may stop you drifting.... Good Luck.

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 11 Oct 2010, 19:52

My life has been drifting for years! I remember one manager (now retired and a stalwart friend), many years ago, saying to me "You're not driven by deadlines, are you?" Always get good performance reviews though - quality and robustness, not quantity and fragility.