h a l f b a k e r yTrying to contain nuts.
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Workday Clock
Because the problem with clocks.....is that they KEEP TIME! | |
Yes, another clock idea. But this once is more about function than form.
The problem with all the clocks at work is as follows:
If you set them all 5 minutes fast (while the boss is out of the office) you can leave 5 minutes early. The down side is that then you must come to work 5 minutes early
in the morning.
Therefore, I propose a clock (with the appropriately programmed chip inside) that registers 9:00 am at 9:05 am and adds in 1.6666666 minutes every hour until 12 noon (making 12 noon actually be 11:55). From 12 - 1 pm (lunch hour) it drags out the minutes again until 1pm on the clock is actually 1:05 pm in the "real" world.
The clock would then add 1.25 minutes to every hour until 5:00pm so that 5:00 would actually be 4:55 pm...adjustments over night (when no one is in the office) would have the clock sitting at 9 am at 9:05 once again.
In addition to getting workers some leeway time to/from work and lunch, it would also have the added benefit of making the boss think every watch he owns is malfunctioning as it can't maintain the same time as all the clocks in the office.....
Appropriate software for all office computers would have the time on the computers correspond to the clocks on the walls......
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A lot of retailers thought they were victims of this type of clock during the last Christmas season when they ended up having several fewer shopping days than normal. Was it good for the retailers? Was it good for the manufacturers? Was it good for any of the employees? Was it good for the shoppers or end-users? Was it, therefore, good for any part of the economy? |
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// during the last Christmas season when they ended up having several fewer shopping days than normal // |
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That whole short Christmas shopping season thing is just ridiculous bullshit. It irked me to no end every time I heard some silly economist make mention of it on the financial news shows. Last time I checked, there were just as many days in 2002 as there were in most every other year. |
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re the idea: I think it might work better (and get a better reception from employers) if you have it work on the opposite principle. Have it work such that you get out at 11:55 for lunch, and leave for the day at 4:55, but in actuality it's really noon and 5 o'clock. A psychological advantage for the employee, and no time lost for the employer. |
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You can set your own system up. Arrive half an hour early, leave half an hour late. You will miss the traffic, and can spend the extra time on the halfbakery, Dilbert, emailing friends or somesuch. The boss will be amazed at your change in attitude, and before long you will gain new respect in the office. Every now and then leave on time. It will feel as if you're skipping off early. |
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As for the Christmas thing, it bloody well starts in September anyway, so what difference does it make? |
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I should, perhaps, explain more.... |
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With three retail stores (hours 8:30 am to 9 pm) we have many shoppers who are in a rush to look through the stores on their lunch hour....or before the get to work at 9 am. Our stores are packed before 9 for about 15 minutes and we are always swamped at lunch time. This idea is pure greed on my part as I think about the added sales we could make if they had 5 more minutes before work, 10 extra minutes for lunch, or a few minutes after work to shop before heading home. Or, maybe not. It's Saturday...where are they now? |
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Aha. Now it's coming out. |
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But wait..if your staff pulled this trick on you, there would be no net gain. |
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Nah. They'd never do it...with increased sales I would increase their pay. I must say that I do feel sorry for all the "cubicle" workers stuck in the 9-5 grind. I like to think I'm a little more flexible for my employees.... |
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More flexible as in 08:30-to-21:00 grind? |
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You could use those clocks and watches that reference the broadcast atomic clock time signature but modified to receive their correction signals from your own local master time system and (limited-range) transmitter. |
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Or clocks with 802.x receivers for the timing signal. The radio chipsets are getting small and cheap enough that having one in each clock is reasonable (or will be soon). |
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The master system software has a facility for establishing time manipulation rules, or machine policies, based on a calendar so that on weekends, holidays, or other exempt days the time remains unmolested. Such software might also provide an instantaneous big-red-button "stop time" override for those emergencies where you need a little extra time. |
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I missed that. How could it have possibly been a shorter Christmas shopping season than usual? |
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My WiFi always runs about ten minutes late. |
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snarf, in the US the Christmas shopping "season" is generally acknowledged as starting on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is the last Thursday in November (pre-empt: there may be some wacky exception to that last-Thursday rule, I've never bothered to find out). Anyway, that last Thursday was quite late in the month of November last year, some six days later than the previous year apparently. This resulted in having six days less to shop, according to the twisted financial logic at work here. |
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Since businesses all track sales against previous years, almost totally across the board they recorded heavy losses. The problem is entirely to do with their manner of sales tracking and nothing at all to do with actual sales levels. |
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This completely fails to take into account, of course, that people can Christmas shop anytime, and don't sit around waiting for some ridiculous imaginary starting gun to go off that Friday morning. |
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// waiting for some ridiculous imaginary starting gun // |
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Maybe there should be a REAL starting gun ? A Christmas Cannon ? |
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//This completely fails to take into account, of course, that people can Christmas shop anytime, and don't sit around waiting for some ridiculous imaginary starting gun to go off that Friday morning.// |
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I guess you've never been to the malls on the morning of National Shopping Day. |
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I would like to make a clock with a big easy press button on it marked 'pass'. |
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It would need the speed up / slow down technology described above. |
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My first idea used an analogue quartz crystal clock and 2 digital timers. The concealled timers swapping in faster or slower crystals. |
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To acheive the 'pass the time' function requires a computer! |
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Relax, press 'pass' and the time slips by without all the worries of the world keeping up. |
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When your'e a safe distance away the clock corrects itself. |
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