Bathroom clock, Mk 2
27 April 2024 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeMy bathroom clock kept running slow so that I had to reset it before every time I wanted a bath, and eventually stopped working altogether after I kept fiddling with it -- the hands came loose and just hung there even though it was still ticking. With hindsight I'm pretty sure it *was* an issue with the little stick-on electric motor unit at the back not being aligned properly with the clock face, which is why it stopped every time the clocks went forward or back; unfortunately it had become so loose that it was impossible to set the hands without also moving the motor one way or the other in response to the torque, and there was no way to tell what the original alignment had been. I suspect the motor was originally glued in place but had come loose, which was why it was given away to the charity shop in the first place....
I finally gave up and threw it away when this week's rubbish collection day came round; my main regret is that I forgot to first remove the brand-new battery that I had inserted just in case!
However, it was so offputting being in the bathroom and not being able to look up at the clock on the wall that I went out this afternoon and bought a cheap and nasty battery clock from a 'bargain homewares' shop to replace it.
This is not as large or clear to read as the previous clock, since it has a small face and tiny hands, and it arrived with a grey mark on the 'glass' over the figure 3 which doesn't come off -- and of course it is incredibly light and flimsily made. It does, however, have an actual square recess in the back to hold the motor unit securely in situ when you are twisting the little knob to set the hands, and it boasts a second hand as well as a reassuringly loud tick, often seen as a sign of low-quality manufacture but invaluable as a means of discerning whether or not a battery-powered clock is actually working or not :-p
This is basically a sacrificial item which is being asked to function in an unsuitable environment until it gives up the ghost, so I'm not prepared to make a big investment in it... but it *is* a significantly life-enhancing feature, weird as that may seem, so I'm prepared to keep replacing them.
(I put the old battery from last November back in, as I had retained that on the suspicion that the problem was probably not actually the battery, and it functioned perfectly well on that!)
I finally gave up and threw it away when this week's rubbish collection day came round; my main regret is that I forgot to first remove the brand-new battery that I had inserted just in case!
However, it was so offputting being in the bathroom and not being able to look up at the clock on the wall that I went out this afternoon and bought a cheap and nasty battery clock from a 'bargain homewares' shop to replace it.
This is not as large or clear to read as the previous clock, since it has a small face and tiny hands, and it arrived with a grey mark on the 'glass' over the figure 3 which doesn't come off -- and of course it is incredibly light and flimsily made. It does, however, have an actual square recess in the back to hold the motor unit securely in situ when you are twisting the little knob to set the hands, and it boasts a second hand as well as a reassuringly loud tick, often seen as a sign of low-quality manufacture but invaluable as a means of discerning whether or not a battery-powered clock is actually working or not :-p
This is basically a sacrificial item which is being asked to function in an unsuitable environment until it gives up the ghost, so I'm not prepared to make a big investment in it... but it *is* a significantly life-enhancing feature, weird as that may seem, so I'm prepared to keep replacing them.
(I put the old battery from last November back in, as I had retained that on the suspicion that the problem was probably not actually the battery, and it functioned perfectly well on that!)
no subject
Date: 2024-04-28 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-04-28 05:12 pm (UTC)And I not infrequently nip in there to wash my hair while cooking some rice for lunch, etc., or to do some quick clothes washing so that I can hang things out to dry before I need to leave for the day -- it's amazing how often I need to know the time when my hands are soaking wet and I can't get at a wristwatch. But the main problem is reading in the bath without having the faintest idea how long I've been in there for. (I remember that my mother used to take a kitchen timer into the bathroom with her!)