Frazz by Jef Mallett for June 14, 2017

It’s obvious. When you arrive late, you just blame your phone. You say that you thought you were looking at your watch’s time, which was set ahead.

Some people don’t live and die by their cell phone. I wear a watch. It is much quicker to check the time with it than to dig out my phone. And my hand is free to do other things other than have a death grip my phone.

Actually, you can set your phone clock ahead, just uncheck the “automatically adjust” box and change it.

As a certified anachronism, I use my cell phone only to make calls. It resides in my pocket until it is safe to call, which means outside the library, parked, or sitting comfortably. To my mind, all the other junk is distraction I don’t need.

GPS = I know where I am.

New destination = get a map and learn to read it.

Social media = why would I bother my friends with the minutiae of my daily life. After all, their lives are similar. Why would mine be anything special?

Beating your gums in public = irritation for those trapped at nearby tables or on bus seats or in stores.

Consideration for others = my first choice, not my last.

At one point or another we all have ideas that we think work that really don’t work

I have a sport tracker/ watch and I was reminded how nice it was to have the time on my arm…and now, also the temperature!

Its easier and faster to look at your wrist than it is to pull your phone out of your pocket.

Since I’ve got clocks all over the house, on my wrist, in the car, on the stove and microwave, it’s a giant PITA for me every time daylight saving time makes me have to change them all. I loathe daylight saving time. If somebody wanted to run for president on a campaign platform that just had the single plank of repealing DST permanently, he or she would win in a landslide.

On a subject other than keeping time, and perhaps one that’s been brought up in the past, is there a particular place that Mr. Mallett tells his fans what Frazz’s T-shirt full-messages are? Now and then I can make out enough to know – or Google it, but mostly I find myself puzzled.

“Why do you wear a watch when you have a clock on your phone?”

“My watch doesn’t have to be recharged almost as often as Green Lantern’s power ring.”

(that’s every 24 hours to you non-nerds out there)

@bigpuma

Here’s the black dial version..cool! mo.ma/2s1e4yG

Yes, it is useful to be able to look at a watch on ones wrist, but I always had a bizzare problem with them. I received a very fine, gold watch as a high school graduation present. When I put one on my wrist, it went a bit crazy – gaining time sporadically with the sweep hands running amuck. Taken off and placed on the bench at the jewelers, the watch would keep time correctly. Early battery operated watches were not much better than mechanical ones. On my wrist, the batteries would expire in a week or so. Over the years, I found one watch which ran, and kept accurate time- as long as I kept it in my pocket, not on my wrist. I accidentally ran that watch through the washing machine (Impact shattered the watch face, but the watch still ran.) I finally resorted to buying really cheap watches at the dollar store – so cheap they are essentially disposable when the batteries die. Add to that, working outside in the heat of summer, I always hated the feel of a sweaty watch band around my wrist. One of the best things that happened when my company ‘retired’ me – I discovered I had no need of a watch. Yes, I do have a cellphone, but I rarely carry it on my person. (It’s usually somewhere having its battery charged.) My friends and family know, if they text, or leave me a voice message, I will get back with them, eventually.

GPS is another issue. I don’t mind having it on my phone. I rarely use it. It’s there for emergencies, but I prefer maps, or better yet, navigating from the map in my head – I just look at a map, memorize the essentials and go. The journey is a big part of the adventure for me.

To all those who replied to my comment: thanks to those of you who wrote thoughtful and respectful replies.

I am in no way a Luddite about technology, having a number of them at my disposal. However, before I take on a new digital goody or a new shop tool, or new anything, I believe there must be a serious need for whatever advantages it might gain for me. If the only incentive is acquiring a new whatever just because it is new, it fails the test.

And, yes, lots of us in our 80’s are ‘resistant’ to change, simply because we believe that change for change sake often brings little lasting improvement.

Seriously? Frazz is judging him for wearing a watch rather than relying on the cell phone?