Just a quick funny to tell on myself. I have a ceiling fan in my bedroom that runs 24/7/365. This weekend my wife and I were doing some house cleaning, and stopped the fan to clean the blades. Once cleaned, instead of just firing it up again, we left it off for a while.

During the day I would walk in and out of the room, and could hear a high pitched motor type 'hum' that I just could not locate. As first I thought it was the fan motor that was still on, but not running. Nope. I looked high and low, as it seemed to come from everywhere in the room.

I finally eliminated locations until I came to my dresser.

Long story short, it was my Dad's Accutron 218 humming away in its plastic presentation box...which amplified its hum. It took me better part of a day to find it, but there it was. Apparently the ceiling fan motor created enough 'white noise' to cancel hearing the 218, and it's been sitting on my dresser humming away for over a year and a half now when not on my wrist. I'VE never heard it before!

What's odd is I keep my 214 hanging on a hook right by the side of bed, and I never hear it. This 218, though, is happily humming away in it's box, and easily heard everywhere in the room.

Anyway, it was an interesting 'ghost' chase.

Regards! Mark

Good story Mark, makes me miss not being able to hear things like that. A few pocket watches I can hear if held tight to my good ear. My watches drive my wife crazy with the noise, I am not allowed to have any in the bedroom.

Tom

Bless her heart, my wife is as attuned to my clocks/watches as I am. We've gone to hotels on travel, and she's even commented on how quiet the room is when there's only the one pocket watch I'm carrying in the room....and says it in a negative manner.

Considering we have 4 chiming clocks in the house, two Accutrons humming away and usually anywhere from 3 to 4 carry watches hanging on their hooks on my side of the bed, it's amazing how easily you can get accustomed to all the sound.

The real irony is, even when sitting in the living room and all those clocks chiming away the hour, quarter hour and half hour, and 3 electric time pieces within line of sight of our chairs, sometimes we don't know what time it is.

I guess I need to get another clock!

Regards! Mark

I have one wind up clock that was my grandmother's, I am not allowed to wind it any where in the house because of the sound, that is even with a white noise generator in our bedroom. Needless to say, I can't hear it tick.

Tom

Great story Mark. I can imagine there is lots of envy from the hearing impaired folks.
When I bought my first 214 in the early 1960, I would sleep with my wrist under my pillow and listen to the sounds of the might little tuning fork to put me to sleep. Now it would have to be tight to ear and I would never know it was running.
I never notice my clocks running or chiming usually, unless one of them gets out of beat. We sleep with a cuckoo in the bedroom and never notice it. My wife grew up with lots of clocks in her home also, so that really helps.
The white noise of the 218 is a great story. Maybe you can find a fan with the freq. of the 214 to add to the noise.

If I don't remember to keep my tuning fork watches buried in my underwear drawer, I'll dream about being attacked by giant mosquitos all night.