Gear Ratio Calibration

Morning light hit the kitchen counter, revealing an unacceptable mechanical inefficiency beside the sink. An egg timer styled like an old steel dome was sitting slightly askew on a rubber dish mat, its wind-up dial frozen midway through a countdown. Inaction was out of the question. I scaled the dish rack's wire rung, stepped onto the granite, and planted my boots against the edge of the mat. Wrapping both gauntlets around the ribbed metal dome, I delivered a firm clockwise torque. The internal spring snapped back into alignment with a crisp click, setting off an urgent, steady ticking. Ten minutes calibrated, ticking flawlessly.