Clock

Joseph Dabbah has not labeled all of the tiny drawers in his cabinets. No cash register sits at the front counter, and the storage room consists of a few boxes atop a dusty chest.The downtown Baltimore shop is more like a home than an impersonal place of business -- Dabbah knows the location of everything. Over 40 years, he has arranged the little watch shop to his liking.So much so that he wouldn't let just any clock-and-watchmaker take his place.Dabbah, 77, is trying to find someone as devoted to watchmaking and repair as he to take over the business at Calvert and Lombard streets.

The days of the state's new count-down-to-the-millennium clock are numbered -- and not in the way its designers intended.Nine feet tall, green and garish, the digital scoreboard-like contraption has drawn complaints and disapproving comments almost from the minute it went up with great fanfare in front of the historic State House on Lawyer's Mall Wednesday.It will come down within a month, vows Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.The clock obstructs tourists' view of the 222-year-old building and mars the postcard picture of crab apple trees, the Governor's Mansion and the Justice Thurgood Marshall statue.

The state's clock counting down to the millennium, a 9-foot tall digital timepiece that has stirred criticism and controversy since it was unveiled Sept. 2, came down yesterday, a victim of preservationist sensibilities.State and Annapolis officials said the contemporary-style clock, which resembles a scoreboard, had no place in the city's Historic District, where preservationists have gone to great lengths to restore the appearance of a Colonial seaport."Rowe Boulevard just underwent a $2 million beautification as the historic gateway into the capital," said Alderman Sheila Tolliver, who represents the area.

The state's clock counting down to the millennium, a 9-foot tall digital timepiece that has stirred criticism and controversy since it was unveiled Sept. 2, came down yesterday, a victim of preservationist sensibilities.State and Annapolis officials said the contemporary-style clock, which resembles a scoreboard, had no place in the city's Historic District, where preservationists have gone to great lengths to restore the appearance of a Colonial seaport."Rowe Boulevard just underwent a $2 million beautification as the historic gateway into the capital," said Alderman Sheila Tolliver, who represents the area.

Q: I paid $20 for a picnic basket that looks like a suitcase. Inside, on the lid, are leather straps that hold stainless-steel flatware, four plates, and salt and pepper shakers. There are spaces for cups, a tin container and a thermos.When was it made and did I pay too much?A: Your picnic basket was made in the mid-20th century. You got a bargain. Baskets similar to yours would probably sell in antiques shops for about $85 to $95.Q: Years ago I bought a clock at a garage sale for $5. It is in the shape of a coal-train engine with the clock in the center of the side of the engine.

William Frank knows the routine: Spring forward, fall back. And make no sudden movements while servicing a clock 300 feet off the ground.Mr. Frank, a city building repairman, adjusted the massive, four-faced timepiece atop the 15-story Bromo Seltzer Tower yesterday morning.It wasn't as easy as changing his watch: An hour hand on the famous Baltimore landmark weighs 145 pounds.But Mr. Frank didn't totter on a ledge or hang from the minute hand in midair like some star of a silent film.Actually, he never left the building.

Washington -- It is supposed to be the great healer of all wounds, yet we often find ourselves killing it. Sometimes we try to save it -- but more often we can't find enough of it.Although the race against time now can be calibrated down to the atomic second, it still remains a philosophical puzzle which preoccupies scientists, philosophers and poets alike.Now, in an effort to understand exactly how time marches on, the National Geographic Society has opened "It's a Matter of Time," an exhibit that explores time from the Big Bang up to the very minute -- and beyond.

An NBA official said yesterday that the league will give the Washington Bullets more time to correct their recurring scoreboard problems at the Baltimore Arena before determining whether the team should play future league games here."

An NBA official said yesterday that the league will give the Washington Bullets more time to correct their recurring scoreboard problems at the Baltimore Arena before determining whether the team should play future league games here."

Washington -- It is supposed to be the great healer of all wounds, yet we often find ourselves killing it. Sometimes we try to save it -- but more often we can't find enough of it.Although the race against time now can be calibrated down to the atomic second, it still remains a philosophical puzzle which preoccupies scientists, philosophers and poets alike.Now, in an effort to understand exactly how time marches on, the National Geographic Society has opened "It's a Matter of Time," an exhibit that explores time from the Big Bang up to the very minute -- and beyond.

This month, beleaguered General Motors announced that after 83 years, it was finally eliminating its Pontiac division in hopes of averting bankruptcy. This news catapulted me back to another time, when Pontiacs were Kings of the Road. I was also awash in Pontiac nostalgia because the first family car I really remember was a Pontiac. With the outbreak of World War II, automakers ceased production. With the return of peace, Americans were eager to take to the highways once again . The pent-up desire was fueled by cheap gas, big postwar salaries, and a desire to drive the fastest and most stylish models Detroit could provide.

Travel season is approaching, and those flying to Europe or heading to the West Coast can expect to experience jet lag. The fatigue, stomach upset and disorientation that occurs is normal, says Dr. Andrea Meredith, assistant professor of physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She offers some suggestions on how to deal with the discomfort. Why do people feel so crummy when they move across time zones? Jet lag, which is what you are referring to, is a disruption of the circadian rhythms.

All of my clocks are set on Eastern Standard Time. They are as accurate as possible because, to me, that seems to be the point of having a sensitive timepiece. Unfortunately, my spouse - and, alas, my daughter - live in an altered time zone, one that I have discovered is inhabited by a huge percentage of our populace. In fact, the numbers are as close as the Clinton-Obama delegate count: those who live on "real time" and those who live on ... well, let's call it what it is: "fake time."

For the time conscious - and challenged - commuter, the Bromo Seltzer Tower clock has been invaluable. Stark against the sky, it offered assurance that you would get to where you had to be in time. Or on time. Punctual, an old professor once said. And if you fell in with the latecomers, an impulse to step on it never followed derision or complaint. It may have been encouraged, the clock's big wooden hands so seriously set at keeping time. Whether driving east, west, north or south, the commuter only had to look up to know the time, the day moving slowly and steadily across the clock face.

What would a lighting designer, director and master craftsman of the stage do when he retires? In the case of William T. Brown, longtime chairman of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's theater department, he keeps right on designing, crafting and building. In fact, when Brown, 78, and his wife, Fran, were building a new house in the Howard County community of Autumn Manor 17 years ago, he requested an immediate change. He asked that the builders reorient the house on its corner lot to face what would have been the side street because he liked its name better.

For more on the Orioles, go to Roch Kubatko's blog, Roch Around the Clock, at baltimoresun.com/roch

For more on the Orioles, go to Roch Kubatko's blog, Roch Around the Clock, at baltimoresun.com/roch

THE PROBLEM -- A clock and carillon bells atop a memorial tower near York Road and Woodbourne Avenue in Govans have not worked for many years. THE BACKSTORY -- Peg Massey of North Baltimore wrote Watchdog asking about the "lovely tower with bells & a clock in the center." She said the bells haven't rung and the clock hands haven't moved past 3 o'clock in many years. "Perhaps," she wrote, "if it were put into working order it would be more meaningful to the neighbors." Massey's question takes the Watchdog down memory lane.

The Colts average 26.6 points per game. The Ravens' defense allows 12.6 per game. Something's gotta give. You want to contain Peyton Manning? Don't give him the foot ball. The Ravens must put together long, sustained drives. Need 4 yards? Get 5. Need 10 yards? Get 11. And force Manning to stand on the sideline, helmet in hand, glancing nervously at the clock. Manning will perform his usual theatrics at the line of scrimmage, as if he's changing every play. The Ravens estimate that at least half the time, it's purely for show, and they won't be fooled.

I'll credit the Orioles for figuring out early that Alfonso Soriano would price himself out of Baltimore. But $136 million over eight years? Did anyone see it going there? Don't worry. Carlos Lee will settle for $119 million over seven. Just how big of a bargain is Miguel Tejada right now? The Orioles have him locked up for three more seasons. Imagine if he were hitting the free-agent market this winter. No wonder they'd have to be overwhelmed to trade him. You just know the Angels are calling the warehouse again today.