I’m going to try something new for a while.  Normally I have the clock in my car set seven minutes fast.  Every morning when I drive to work the digital numbers gently suggest that I am ten minutes late, but in fact I am only three minutes late.  I do this as a means of playing mind games with myself, as if perhaps by convincing myself I am running late I will actually make it to my destination on time.  But of course, by the time I am in my car it makes no difference what time I think it is, when the fact is that I did not step out my front door any sooner or later than the actual time that I did.  (The clock on my night stand is set eleven minutes ahead, but this mind game is actually somewhat effective, because I can still make decisions of motion accordingly.  Otherwise put, I can shake a tail feather.)  Well anyway, I was on my way to a meeting today and was trying to do some quick math in my head to figure out what time it actually was, and what time I would actually arrive, when it occurred to me how unnecessary the whole charade is.  I don’t even enjoy math!  So today, yes my friends, on this very day, I set the clock in my car to the actual time! We’ll see how that works out.  It’s what we here in Wisconsin call a trial run.

Oh, you call it that in other states too?  We’re so united!