No more POPCORN

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I just learned today that another Monterey Peninsula institution has folded up and vanished last month with no fanfare. POPCORN is gone.

I grew up with POPCORN. I used it regularly, especially in the spring and fall, when the clocks changed from Daylight time and back to Standard time. POPCORN was time.

Huh?

Alas, most people don't even know what I'm talking about! It's on the telephone.

HUH?

I'd dial POPCORN (767-2676) and a nice lady would come on and say "At the tone, Pacific Daylight Time will be, two fifteen and twenty seconds. BEEEP. At the tone, Pacific Daylight Time will be, two fifteen and thirty seconds. BEEEP. At the tone, Pacific Daylight Time will be, two fifteen and forty seconds. BEEEP. At the tone, Pacific Daylight Time will be, two fifteen and fifty seconds. BEEEP. At the tone, Pacific Daylight Time will be, two sixteen, exactly. BEEEP."

You could listen indefinitely back in the day. Then they limited you to one minute. She was reliable, friendly and always there. Now she's gone the way of our old Carmel phone prefix MAyfair-4 (work that one out yourself).

Now how will I know what time it is, EXACTLY?

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