[2003.07.19 2356h] [music] dj doboy \\ vocal edition volume 05 yesterday, the clock stopped. for those of you who are unfamiliar with my work background, i am the student that maintains stanford's clock tower, so when i say that the clock stopped, this is usually a somewhat more serious matter than if, say, my alarm clock stopped. the tower clock had stopped for nearly a day by the time i went over to check up on it today. apparently, the thumbscrew that holds the escapement in place had loosened. i spent about an hour resetting everything properly and trying to prevent further similar mishaps. apparently, the last time the clock stopped was on 2003.01.01, so it's basically been running smoothly for over half a year. admittedly, though, i did have to reset the quarter chimes every so often. actually, i'm pretty proud of how smoothly everything runs now. i'm rarely proud of anything i do, so i suppose this must say something. today, i spent a few minutes trying to find my bike light. eventually, i just gave up and decided to find a flashlight to use as a bike light instead. then, as i walked outside to my bike, i saw my bike light already affixed to my bike, with the light already turned on. that's when i realized that, before i was looking for my bike light, i had already looked for my bike light, and subsequently, had already affixed it to my bike and turned it on in anticipation for the forthcoming ride. how i completely forgot that i had already done all this before i went to try to look for my bike light a second time, i don't know. i'm not sure if, over the years, i've been getting more and more absentminded. perhaps it just feels that way when you're absentminded. when i was younger, i used to walk into trees and poles. i don't do that anymore, so in some respects, i'm less absentminded. but then again, i don't think i walk as much as i used to. nowadays, i tend to bike a lot, and thankfully, i don't think i've ever biked into a tree or a pole due to absentmindedness.