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Douglas decided to reassemble the watch in the privacy of the
shed at the bottom of the garden. The shed was very dilapidated,
with a tin roof that was rusted through in several places, and many
gaps in the walls where the old railway sleepers had rotted through
or slipped out of position. Douglas liked the shed for this,
though, as it gave it some character, and in daylight it meant he
could get a good view of the beach below the garden, a view which
became more interesting as the weather improved! |
Since the Time Piece fiasco, Douglas had kept the watch parts
together in a small white plastic box, under a brick in the corner
of the shed. Here, it was out of sight of the neighbour Mr. Muggle
(who seems to have a fascination with anything Douglas works on in
the shed). Douglas retrieved the container and laid out the parts
on the work bench.
Eventually the watch was pieced back together, and Douglas even
managed to get the second hand in place on his own, with no further
mishaps. He wound up the spring and the watch ticked merrily
straight away. But this time Douglas knew better than to celebrate
prematurely: he would keep quiet and not announce success until the
timepiece had been fully tested for accuracy. The final reassembly
had taken all evening, however, and it was exactly midnight when he
came indoors and synchronised the timepiece with his reliable Swiss
watch.
Douglas rushed back from work the next day, remembering that
he’d left the home-made timepiece running. Eager to check that the
watch was keeping time correctly, he picked it up and compared it
with his Swiss watch.
He was pleased to see that the hands of his masterpiece were
still turning, but disappointed when he checked the time it was
showing. It was clear to him that it had been losing five minutes
every hour, as it was now showing EF:GH even though the correct
time was AB:CD.
Douglas had built an adjustment mechanism into the watch, but
not enough to make up the difference. Frustrated, he sat heavily
down in his armchair, frowning. Then he suddenly got to his feet
and paid a quick visit to the tool shed, took the watch into the
garden, and spent the next few seconds adjusting the mechanism
again, this time using a large hammer.
When Douglas explained to Erin why he’d destroyed the watch, he
mentioned that he’d realized that five minutes per hour was beyond
the maximum possible adjustment of three minutes per hour, so the
watch would have to be totally redesigned and rebuilt. He’d decided
that he was not cut out to be a watchmaker!
Being a mathematician, Erin was puzzled by his calculation: “You
have a devil of a temper, Douglas! Now close your mouth and listen.
If it had been losing five minutes an hour it should have been
showing IJ:KL. It was actually only losing one minute per
hour.”.
Douglas frowned again. Erin continued: “So, for instance, at
4.p.m it would have been 16 hours after midnight, so the watch
would have been showing 15:44 – 16 minutes slow. You could have
easily corrected the watch – but I think wrecking it has done you a
favour as perhaps now you will have time for some Geocaching!”.
If AB:CD is the time obtained from Time Piece, what are
EF:GH and IJ:KL (both to the nearest minute, all times in 24-hour
format)?
The cache is at N 54°IJ.L28 W
004°GH.24H
The container is a very small box, with a
Geocaching Microcache keyring, an ACU Benevolent Fund TT 2004 badge
and a fluorescent eraser. Please re-hide very carefully, as Mr.
Muggles has sharp eyesight!
