It's 10:13

Does this happen to anyone else? Have you ever noticed that you tend to look at the clock around the same time every day? I don’t mean just when it’s getting near the end of the work day, or a few minutes before the kids are due home from school or whenever it’s five minutes to Wapner…I mean when you just happen to be strolling through the house doing whatever it is you’re doing and just casually happen to notice the time and it’s 10:13 or maybe 9:11 or some other significant number. Am I the only one this happens to?

This has been going on for a long time and it used to bug me, but now I sort of look at it as one of those universal guideposts, like a light house beacon that tells you you’re going in the right direction.

Watch out, philosophy attack coming on. I’ve been noticing 10:13 for years now. It all started when I was an X-Files fan. The X-Files was produced by a company called Ten-Thirteen and it was one of those little sound bytes that stuck in my head, “It’s Ten Thirteen.” Like “Bad Robot” after an episode of Alias or “Grr-Arrgh!” after an episode of Buffy.

Ten-thirteen stuck with me and I ended up noticing every time the clock hit 10:13. I haven’t watched the X-Files in years and likely never will again, but 10:13 is my guidepost. When I see it I think, “Ah, it’s 10:13, I must be on the right track.” It’s a little Matrix-like – as though I know I’m in the right spot in my program whenever my little reminder numbers show up.

Maybe I’ve just conditioned myself to know when it’s 10:13 or maybe I’m just nuts. There are after all 1,440 minutes in a day – 720 combinations of numbers can show up on a digital clock. What are the odds of noticing any one of those times more often than any other – especially a time you’re not specifically waiting for like 3:15 when the final bell rings, or 5:00 pm when you can safely leave your desk and not annoy the boss? I guess the odds are 720 to 1. Too bad the lottery doesn’t have odds like that, I’d win at least once a day.