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Why Edinburgh's Clock is Almost Never on Time (bbc.com)
Arrive in Edinburgh on any given day and there are certain things you can guarantee. One of which is, the time on the turret clock atop The Balmoral Hotel is always wrong. By three minutes, to be exact. From a report: While the clock tower's story is legendary in Edinburgh, it remains a riddle for many first-timers. To the untrained eye, the 58m-high landmark is simply part of the grand finale when surveyed from Calton Hill, Edinburgh's go-to city-centre viewpoint. There it sits to the left of the Dugald Stewart Monument, like a giant exclamation mark above the glazed roof of Waverley Train Station. Likewise, the sandstone baronial tower looks equally glorious when eyed from the commanding northern ramparts of Edinburgh Castle while peering out over the battlements. It is placed at the city's very centre of gravity, between the Old Town and the New Town, at the confluence of all business and life. Except, of course, that the dial's big hand and little hand are out of sync with Greenwich Mean Time.
This bold irregularity is, in fact, a historical quirk first introduced in 1902 when the Edwardian-era building opened as the North British Station Hotel. Then, as now, it overlooked the platforms and signal boxes of Waverley Train Station, and just as porters in red jackets met guests off the train, whisking them from the station booking hall to the interconnected reception desk in the hotel's basement, the North British Railway Company owners wanted to make sure their passengers -- and Edinburgh's hurrying public -- wouldn't miss their trains. Given an extra three minutes, they reasoned, these travellers would have more time on the clock to collect their tickets, to reach their corridor carriages and to unload their luggage before the stationmaster's whistle blew. Still today, it is a calculated miscalculation that helps keep the city on time.
This bold irregularity is, in fact, a historical quirk first introduced in 1902 when the Edwardian-era building opened as the North British Station Hotel. Then, as now, it overlooked the platforms and signal boxes of Waverley Train Station, and just as porters in red jackets met guests off the train, whisking them from the station booking hall to the interconnected reception desk in the hotel's basement, the North British Railway Company owners wanted to make sure their passengers -- and Edinburgh's hurrying public -- wouldn't miss their trains. Given an extra three minutes, they reasoned, these travellers would have more time on the clock to collect their tickets, to reach their corridor carriages and to unload their luggage before the stationmaster's whistle blew. Still today, it is a calculated miscalculation that helps keep the city on time.
Time has become irrelevant. You just do what your smart phone and apps tell you to do.
Some people I know set their car clocks a few minutes ahead to help them arrive on time. Every now and then I'll forget the quirk and think I'm late somewhere with them.
Stop setting your clocks incorrectly and leave when you need to like an adult.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
Cause women are always late, amiright?
You are a sexist pig.
He didn't say ALL women, he said his wife. You're an idiotic fabricator of stupid strawmen.
This is a non story. It is known to the people that matter, those who live and work in 'Old Reekie'.
Oh, and it is "Waverley Railway Station". Mention "Train Station" to most people in the City and they'll wonder what planet you are from.
Yours, a resident of Leith.
Men are penalized more for being late. Women are forgiven tardiness more readily. Yes, it is sexist - but not in the way you think it is.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
That's why this sort of thing doesn't really work. My mother does something like that at home and she's still late to virtually everything.
The problem is that eventually, you kind of figure out that it's not the real time, you've actually got X extra minutes and tend to use them. Folks who don't have time management issues and treat it like what it is, the time, don't really have that issue.
with the clock in my car. Works great.
Only a moron could possible think that this "works" in any way.
You fucking set the clock, and you know how far off it is. This doesn't fool anyone.
If it works at all, it's because you know you need to be there by such-and-such time... just like a normal clock that wasn't set by a dipshit.