Our Store 1-800-4CLOCKS, which is a leader in grandfather clocks discounts and sells clocks of all types, was intrigued by inquiries received in advance of the November 4 Presidential Elections.

The request was to purchase atomic wall clocks and atomic mantel clocks that could be used is polling places around the country, being especially helpful when it comes to closing time for the USA polls.  Atomic clocks are known for their accuracy to within a tiny fraction of a second, and being able to synchronize polling closing times was seen as a major benefit.

Among the clocks considered for use on a grand scale were Howard Miller Atomic Clocks.

Which were chosen and used where?  Unfortunately, we are not at liberty to disclose.

We can say that we were not able to offer, yet, an atomic grandfather clock.  Perhaps by the time the next election comes around.

Do you know when you have a certain image of something in your head? Perhaps you have only talked to a person on the phone or through online communication and you conjure up an image of what they look like; and then when you meet them you are completely thrown off because they look nothing like you envisioned them. Or perhaps you imagine what a house looks like on the inside having only seen its exterior year after year – passing it on the way to work – but then when you are invited inside it bears absolutely no resemblance to what you had created in your head.

This is what I thought about clocks to a smaller degree. “Clocks?” you say. “Everyone knows what clocks look like.” But what I’m talking about is the image of what clocks would look like in my home. I have been bucking convention since I was a small child; if it matched I wouldn’t wear it, if it was the way everyone else was going I went the other way, if it smacked of tradition I turned my head; I was never, according to my own beliefs, going to fit into the mold.

Today, I am a wife and mother and while I’m not Betty Crocker by any means I have settled into what is essentially a more conventional type of life. And I’m okay with it; in fact I love it. But when my aunt told me she was sending me a mantel clock for our new home all I could think of was the traditional, old-fashioned clock image I had in my head. But what arrived was something completely different and completely personal and it began my love affair with clocks of all varieties; something that was easily satisfied online as I’ll explain in the next post.

With the economy putting financial strain on so many of us, we have had to make compromises in many areas of our life. While home decorating may seem like the last thing on anyone’s priority list right now, it is still a consideration regardless of the economy; making our home a comfortable place for ourselves and our family can be mentally significant for many of us and it doesn’t have to necessary come attached to a ridiculous price tag.

Clocks, for example, are one of the more affordable pieces that can be used to transform a home’s décor. Oftentimes we think we need to go big in order to make an impact on how our homes look but the truth is that all we really need are those special things that make us happy and say a little something about how we are as people and as homeowners. Clocks deliver on this front as they come in a variety of styles and prices and give us the impact we desire with an affordable price tag.

Through online resources, homeowners are able to find any and all clocks that appeal to them on a multitude of levels; including the price. So while the economy may be calling for a tightening of purse strings in order to come out ahead, there are still options for decorating your home in a way that is completely in line with your personality and your budgetary constrictions. Wall clocks, mantel clocks, grandfather clocks, and atomic clocks; just one placed with care in the room of your choice can have enormous impact.

Remember that person you were hopelessly in love with in high school (well generally speaking most people were in love with this person in this particular scenario) but that you felt to be out of your league? You couldn’t imagine that they even knew you existed at all. I remember feeling that way about a boy all through school that I thought was way too cool for me; I hung with a decidedly less “popular” crowd and just assumed he didn’t even know my name let alone would ever be interested. I ran into that guy twenty years later and it turns out that, not only did he know my name, he had a crush on me in high school as well. It just goes to show you that you that perception, while it may be our own reality, is often not factually based.

When I first bought this house and I began the process of decorating it I was really short on cash. I knew I had to wait on a lot but there were some things that I just wanted to do right away. I always imagined my fireplace to have a beautiful mantel clock sitting above it and, while a grandfather clock would surely have to wait until I had a little bit of a bigger space (not to mention budget) I pictured a pendulum wall clock in my formal living room that was, in essence, a small version of a grandfather clock. However, I just assumed that all of these purchases would be out of my budget confines; and, more than that, I had this perception that clocks of this caliber were for wealthy people with interior designers.

This perception, of course, was completely off base; something I learned when I found this great website that had all I had ever dreamed of in terms of clocks. There I was able to find my mantel clock, my wall clock, and clocks I had never even thought existed – all completely accessible, completely my style, and well within my budget. This is my new reality!

Surely I am no different than a great number of people out there that do their best to decorate their homes within their budget. But as I related in my last post, I had fallen into a bad pattern of simply filling my home with things for which I really had no deep and abiding love; they were just things that I could afford and that I thought would hold me over in terms of decorating until I could ultimately fit what I wanted into my budget.

But as I recounted, I have learned through a love of home design shows that it is far better to pick up a few well loved pieces than to fill a home with lesser quality things that have no emotional value to the person living there. This does not mean that every piece in a home has to have a sentimental attachment; it means that in order for a home design to really come together you must really love the pieces with which you surround yourself. Which is how I found my way to clocks.

I always loved clocks from afar but I didn’t really understand how they would work in my home. I guess I always had it in my head that clocks were of traditional design in most cases; a design that I could appreciate but that wouldn’t necessarily fit with my own home décor.

But recently I found this amazing website that has opened to me the world of clocks. There I have found clocks of every style and design – from traditional to modern, in styles and materials that appeal to my own sense of decorating and that have worked unbelievably well in pulling my home décor together. From the mantel clock I have in my family room to my favorite purchase of the year – a beautiful grandfather clock – I have found pieces that I truly love!

I have culled any knowledge that I have about decorating (which is fairly little I am humbled to report) from the many hours of home decorating television shows that I have become addicted to over the years. If there is a show about cleaning up, cleaning out, revamping, and remodeling I am there with mental notebook at the ready. And, ultimately, what I think the best piece of understanding that I have garnered is that there is no rush when it comes to creating a home design that works for your style and your budget.

In the past I was always that person who – upon finding that great apartment, and later that great house – would immediately fill it with “stuff” because empty scared me. It didn’t matter that it was not the stuff that held any sort of appeal to me – aesthetic or otherwise; I didn’t have the money for what I really wanted so I just found the things that were in my budget and would suffice for the “time being.” I didn’t realize, of course, how long that time would stretch.

What I learned from decorating shows is to never bring anything into my home that I don’t truly love. And if I need to wait for that item to become available or affordable then so be it; the wait is most assuredly better than the filling of space with items that ultimately don’t fit the bill. A few good pieces are almost always better than many pieces that are “less than” in terms of quality and, more importantly, likeability.

So ultimately I found what I really loved and I set to work finding these pieces at affordable prices; something that really and truly paid off with regard to the warmth and comfort of my home. Clocks, for instance, have always been a great love of mine although more in the observational sense. I just never understood how I could best incorporate clocks into my home design. Until, of course, I found the best of the best in terms of shopping online. More on me finding the door to all things clocks in the next post…

Moving can be an expensive prospect. I recently made a big move myself and was alarmed with how quickly we went over the initial budget that we had put in place. There are costs here, and costs there – everything added up before knew it and we were facing much more in terms of moving expenses than we ever thought possible. This meant, of course, that any plans I had of purchasing new furniture and accessories for the rooms that I had in mind were essentially out the window – in the short term anyway. The reality was that I needed a few months under my belt to get myself back on track before I started making any additional purchases.

This also meant that whatever I had with me in the old house was coming with me to the new house and I was going to have to make it work. And I did make it work. Some of the furniture was a little awkward and not sized properly for the rooms it was occupying but with some small changes it was fine on a temporary basis. But what I was most surprised about was how well my clocks made the transition.

I have long been collecting clocks of all kinds; and at this point I have everything from mantel clocks to a big beautiful grandfather clock as a part of my repertoire. The house I came from was a bit more traditional than this new house which is a contemporary model. But the clocks look as if they have always been here; a testament to their high quality and versatile design.

I get most of my clocks online through this amazing web site that I found. There, you can browse through all manner of clocks to your heart’s content and make a purchase knowing you are getting the highest quality product at the best prices. I will undoubtedly use them in finding clocks for this house – as well as the next.

When my son was very little he called clocks “tick tocks.” I’m sure this is nothing new for babies and toddlers that are just learning to speak and identifying the names of those objects that are around them on a daily basis, but being the completely biased mother than I am I thought it was just about the cutest thing I had ever heard. In fact, I kept a steady supply of clocks on hand in our house just so I could hear him call them tick tocks.

My son is thirty now and has just moved into his very first house with his wife and son. I was struggling with an idea of what to get them for a housewarming gift when I remembered my son’s penchant for clocks as a small child; the tick tocks that were everywhere in our house.

And so, as a housewarming gift that is meant for practical, decorative, and sentimental reasons I bought my son and his wife a mantel clock to go above their fireplace. They have the most gorgeous fireplace in their new home that is surrounded in stone. The mantel is carved from this distressed wood that makes for this beautiful, log cabin feel; it’s absolutely lovely. The mantel clock that I chose is rather traditional with simple lines and beautiful light wood. I could just see it sitting on their mantel when I purchased it online (the easiest shopping excursion I’ve ever had!)

My son and daughter-in-law were delighted with the mantel clock and my son remembered fondly his love for clocks when he was small. We’re now teaching his son to say tick tock when he looks at the mantel clock; something that will always make me smile.

In the last post, we looked at the impact the Internet has had on all of our lives. The convenience it has afforded us has allowed us to do everything from shop to work online and most of us have become so dependent on its conveniences that we are often hard pressed to find another option.

However, being the age that I am, I reverted to past behavior when I found myself in need of a wall clock for my family room. Wanting something really special to hang above my fireplace, I went in search of a bricks and mortar location; as I couldn’t imagine finding something of high enough quality online. But when I pulled the phone directory out and began to leaf through it, my teenage daughter stopped me in my tracks with “Are you kidding me mom?”

She logged on within seconds and had me at this amazing website where I found all of the most stunning, high quality (and affordable!) clocks I could ever hope to find in a retail outlet – and then some! Everything from grandfather clocks and mantel clocks to wall clocks and atomic clocks were on this one site and easy to browse by style, price, or manufacturer.

In found the wall clock I was looking for and it only took minutes. Within a few days it was delivered to my door and every time I look at it I am reminded of the luxuries I am privileged to have access to online.

There are few of us who can even remember what life was before the Internet. I know that I, for one, have many younger nieces and nephews that are unaware that such a life existed, as they have always pointed and clicked for what they have wanted. I also know that there are many, many times during the week when I will find myself pondering a question – large or small – and know that I can simply logon for instant answers. I am old enough, however, that each and every time that I do this I think to myself, “How did anyone live without this?”

It’s true that the Internet has provided us with unbelievable convenience in nearly all areas of our life. From banking and shopping to research and education – everything is right there at our fingertips when it comes to the Internet.

More than anything, as the popularity of shopping online has exploded, vendors have really stepped up their game in terms of making sure that they are providing high quality products at all times. Shopping online is not an alternative scenario in many cases; it is the first place shoppers go. And the savvy and sophisticated shoppers of the modern world expect great products and great prices when they get there.

Recently I was in need of a wall clock. We have recently redecorated our family room and I was looking for something really special to hang above the fireplace. I decided a wall clock would be the perfect fit and I started looking through the yellow pages (remember those?) to find a retailer in my area that had really high quality clocks. You can imagine the look this garnered from the teenager in the house.

In next post, I’ll share how I found the wall clock I so wanted…