Dent

Officially it’s called Dent Tower.  It used to be a bank (I’m embarrassed to say I can’t remember which one).  Anyway, I call it the Time and Temperature Building.  If you’re from the Western New York area, you know it – you see it off the 290 between the Sheridan and Millersport exits.  At the the top of the building is a big digital clock.  And that is the cause of my complaint.

Picture used from the Express Sign Systems website 

From since I can remember, there was the clock at the top of that building.  And for all those years it always flashed the time, the temperature in Fahrenheit, the temperature in Celsius and then repeated the whole pattern.  Endlessly.  Hour after hour, day after day, week after week.  It was something I could always count on. 

My favorite thing to do when driving by the Time and Temperature Building was to catch the first temperature I could and then convert it to the other scale before it displayed.  I usually nailed it – or if not, I was usually within a degree or two.  It was a game that I never failed to play when driving by.

Quite a while ago, they changed the clock.  The digits are now smaller and they are red instead of yellowy/white.  More importantly, the clock will flash the time and date (combined) and then the temperature in Fahrenheit.  That’s it.  It just repeats between those two screens.  Driving home tonight, I was irritated once again that it doesn’t flash the Celsius temperature anymore for me to play my game.

Sometimes it’s the little things that can make your day – and they are missed when they aren’t there.