Good Times

I have a bit of an obsession with numbers and number patterns. Every gas total I've pumped in the last three years has been a palindrome, for example. I used to try to hit whole numbers, but when I started paying with a card, a new universe of opportunities unfolded. $25.54, $5.55, $10.01—they always seemed more stable than say, $15.72, or even $20.00, which just has all these zeros hanging off the end of it.

Now I take the subway, though, and I'm not pumping gas. Fortunately, I'm also a compulsive time checker, which is lo and behold a highly compatible neuroticism. Here follows a list of times of note:

Obviously, palindromes:
1:01, 1:11, 1:21, 1:31, 1:41, 1:51
2:02, 2:12, 2:22, 2:32, 2:42, 2:52
3:03, etc.

etc. down though 9:59.

Things get more complicated in the double digits, because there's one more number to palindromize(?). 10:01, 11:11(!), and 12:21 are pretty much your only options. UNLESS you resort to military time, in which case you pick up 20:02, 21:12, 22:22(!), and 23:32. This even opens three new possibilities (13:31, 14:41, 15:51) that transform two previously average-seeming times (2:41 PM, 3:51 PM) into something quite special indeed. BUT even more amazing, one time (1:31 PM/ 13:31) is a palindrome in BOTH military time and regular time. Amazing.

Also, sequences are great: 1:23, 2:34, 3:45, 4:56, and of course the one that even normal people probably take note of, 12:34. 12:48 is a geometric sequence, as are 1:24, 2:48, and 1:39. Some have reverses as well: 3:21, 4:32, 5:43, 6:54, 4:21, 8:42, and 9:31.

22:44 also seems worth pointing out, as do 11:22 and 22:11. 11:23 represents the first 4 numbers of the Fibonacci Sequence, and 16:18 is the golden mean, though the decimal place is off. 3:14 is Pi. There are quite a few numbers that are primes, of course, but that never really seemed special enough to me. Doubles are nice too: 10:10, 11:11 (already noted), and 12:12.

Many of these also happen twice a day (AM/PM), which makes 2:22 seem extra special.

Accounting for the times that occur twice, there are 2(54+24)+10 times I like every day, which comes out to 166. There are 1440 minutes in a day. This means on average there's a time with some kind of mathematic pattern once every 9 minutes or so.

This is definitely not important, and I can't and won't try to convince you that it is. I guess all I'm saying is that there are always things to notice. Which, it seems, may be why I'm always so distracted.