Sunday, April 03, 2011

In the market for a water clock.

I don't often buy lottery tickets, but the other day I bought one for some reason. Yea, I know the odds of winning are terrible, but I figure the odds of me making that amount of money the old fashioned way -- via hard work and wise investments -- are even worse, so what do I have to lose besides a dollar?

Anyway, having bought the ticket I naturally assumed I was going to win and started planning how, in the manner of lottery winners everywhere, I was going to foolishly spend myself back into poverty. 

One of the things I decided I needed was a water clock. It turns out they are harder to find then one might think. there are a lot of them that use water and chemistry to generate the electricity to power a digital clock, but that's not what I wanted.

There were antique Clepsydra water clocks available, but I wasn't interested in them either.

Finally I found the company ChronArte out of Switzerland. They had three versions of water clocks, the  Quadro (my favorite and the one shown above and below), the Canna and the Filo (shown after the jump). They pump the water around, rather than have the water drip to show the passage of time, but I did like how they looked. 

Sadly I didn't win the lottery. On the plus side this means my new 20 year old girlfriend won't be conspiring with the pool boy to murder me to get her hands on my fortune, but on the negative side these snappy looking water clocks, at several thousand dollars a piece, are out of my price range. 

I suppose that if I really wanted one I could work harder and invest better... then again, I could just buy another lottery ticket and hope for the best.

The Quadro again
The Filo and Canna are shown after the jump

The Filo - hours and days
  
The Canna - a humongous brute



3 comments:

KurtP said...

If you really feel you ned a water clock, I'm sure I could figure one out on the (really) low side of three figures.

ambisinistral said...

Hey, no need to low ball your bid. When I win the lottery, which will probably be next week assuming I remember to buy a ticket, I'll be rolling in dough and I'll be able to afford the absolute best in modern water clock technology.

Barry Dauphin said...

I've always thought of the lottery as the purchase of a fantasy. You can only think about what to do with the money most vividly if you buy the ticket. Without the ticket, there is no chance to win. With the ticket there is some chance to win (however small). I always think for a little while that I'll win.