Really Specific Business Hours

1. redphone
   January 7th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

   I once changed my job hours to something very similar (9:11-5:11) because no matter how I tried, I just couldn't seem to coordinate the subway times to get in at 9. It was either 8:40 (too early for my taste) or 9:11.

   I happen to live in Toronto. The TTC is a demanding mistress...

2. Gauldar
   January 7th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

   Most of the time I look at the clock the time I see is 11:11. The lizard people are trying to tell me something, I just know it.

3. Scooter
   January 7th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

   Strangely it reminds me of TBS back in the day when every show started a 5 past the hour.

4. BlessedBlogger
   January 7th, 2009 at 3:12 pm

   The 12:12 could be because of the prediction that the world is going to end on 12/21/12.

5. Arwin3
   January 7th, 2009 at 3:12 pm

   Ha! while reading this I looked at the clock. 12:12.

   Creeepy

6. Persephone
   January 7th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

   The bombings of the London Underground was on July 7, 2005, and the British refer to it as 7/7.

   Here's the wikipedia link:

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings

7. Marcus JB
   January 7th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

   Funny - particularly in the context of a conspiracy theory HQ. I saw similar weirdly specific closing times in Denver recently:

   http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusjb/2823166276/

8. Ari
   January 7th, 2009 at 3:32 pm

   7/07/2005 was the London subway bombings

   12/12/2000 was the day that the US Supreme court announced it's decision Bush v. Gore that determined the 2000 presidential election in Bush's favor.

   11/11/2004 Yasser Arafat confirmed dead of unidentified causes

   5/5/2005 Tony Blair is elected to a third consecutive term in Britain.

   These are all speculation of possible reasons for the times. All of these are just the most likely to be of interest to conspiracy theorists as far as I could see.

9. Michi
   January 7th, 2009 at 4:29 pm

   Ari's dates make sense, but then I wonder - if something else happens do they have criteria and guidelines it must meet ot be worthy of a place on the schedule? A few more theories and they might need to open a branch office to accomodate them.

10. Adam Stanhope
    January 7th, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    My dear and beloved wife (from Thailand) gets unusually excited whenever she happens to notice 11:11 on a digital clock and demands that everyone present "make a wish."

    Any non-Thai people here familiar with that?

11. oscilloscope
    January 7th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    They open at 12:12 in the morning? Long day at work...

12. Sarah T
    January 7th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

    Adam Stanhope - she's not the only one! I do that anytime the clock reads all the same numbers, 2:22, 4:44, 12:12, etc.

13. Skull Thuggery
    January 7th, 2009 at 4:57 pm

    My guess is that they ran out of "0" stickers and just decided to have some fun. In fact, I doubt that the posted times are correct. True conspiracy theorists are far too paranoid to tell you when they'll be coming and going.

14. oezicomix
    January 7th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    good point, skull! *lol

15. Rocky Rook
    January 7th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    Here's one ... we celebrate November 11 by going out to ice cream. On Nov 11, 2002 while we were driving home from getting the ice cream, the odometer on our car hit 111,111.

16. andrew
    January 7th, 2009 at 7:48 pm

    Rocky, that sounds like a nice example of PETWHAC. kind of a nasty anogram, but I can't find any other words that mean the same thing. Essentially redefining every coincidence, most conspiracy theories and "magical" events as things that are actually probable given the huge sample size.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unweaving_the_rainbow#Petwhac

17. Nathan Miller
    January 8th, 2009 at 1:22 am

    When I used to plan events in high school, we always used strange times: 7:03, 9:14, etc, so that people would remember them better.

    Or so we hoped.

18. stephbot
    January 8th, 2009 at 2:53 am

    @Adam:

    I thought it was a numerology thing. Anyhow, just for kicks, I like to do the same thing; make a wish at 11:11 since it's the 'luckiest' time. Here's some links from a Google search for "11:11 make a wish":

    http://www.astrostyle.com/Scopes/Other_Scopes/1111.htm
    http://bestuff.com/stuff/1111

19. Moodindigo
    January 8th, 2009 at 3:55 am

    Since when did conspiracy theorists need business premises anyway? I thought these guys usually operated from their mums' basements.

    Or is it some sort of conspiracy theorists' supply shop? Selling tin foil, hat molds, pk energy meters, telescopes etc.

20. Abby Spice
    January 8th, 2009 at 5:51 am

    11/11 is Armistice/Remembrance Day. 12/12 is when WWII really got kicking (America attacked on Dec 7, '41).

    Anyone got anything for May '55?

21. Gail Pink
    January 8th, 2009 at 10:20 am

    Super fun post!

22. hiller
    January 8th, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    I'm banking on the chance that the owner is OCD. I've known several people who are weird about times like that. One, for instance, could only meet you at times where the numbers added up to 15 (ie 3:39). That's definitely what it looks like to me.

23. hownow
    January 8th, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    "555" seems to be the universal fake telephone exchange used widely on TV.

24. dorager
    January 9th, 2009 at 11:18 am

    11:11
    12:12 +
    _____
    23:23

    5:55.. 5 = 2+3

25. JamesM
    January 9th, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    My usual time trend is looking at the clock and seeing 4:44... happens way too often. I had to convince myself I wasn't just remembering one set of digits more than others. I kept track of all the times I saw when looking at the clock for a month. And yes... all times were seen once. 4:44 was seen 12 times.

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