Overboard by Chip Dunham for August 07, 2017

“Your three o’clock or my three o’clock?”

Three o’clock shmee o’clock IT’S A HAWK!

Ahh, the limitations of cartoons. It looks like she is pointing at 1 o’clock, maybe 2, at the most, and in the next pane she is pointing at 9 o’clock.

Is that standard or daylight saving?

I thought they normally come at you from 12 O’clock high.

Good morning, Crew!

I was recently at an event and was talking with an intelligent 14-year-old boy who did not know how to tell time from the large standard clock on the wall. His life had been digital only, he said. Maybe his school had no clocks on the walls or had a big budget and bought digital clocks.

My daughter (33) also has trouble with analog clocks. Also, “quarter to”, “half past” and “quarter past” throw her. She needs “x:45”, “x:30” and “x:15” because that is what digital clocks show and what she learned best. I do give her a break on this one. She is an Aspie and saying one thing (quarter to/til) and seeing another (x:45), just don’t link in her brain.

I recently had to teach my 10-year-old granddaughter how to read my watch. She wanted to know what the circle with numbers on my bracelet meant!

Most kids today cannot write cursive, cannot add, divide or subtract like we oldies learned and don’t know to read a book or carry on a conversation always looking at that gizmo in a palm. Alas.

I would think that, digital world or no, clock references are part of aviation training. But in a similar vein, there was a basketball coach who was trying to teach a bunch of kids the drill known as the three-man weave (look it up). Not one of the kids was catching the crossover motions involved in the drill. So the coach said, “OK, I know: Everyone look down at your shoes.” And all the kids had sneakers with Velcro closures.

Some things just don’t translate. I was trying to tell my mom (who is a senior citizen) that idioms don’t translate to anyone from other countries… and sometimes our own. Depends entirely on culture. And unfortunately our culture changes rapidly.

The FAA’s ATC System after it goes private.

Excellent!!!

Looks like the mice need a new notification system.

Good Evening, Crew.

Good Evening Crew!