For the past week, I’ve actually been in Germany

You know those stories about absent minded professors? I just showed that you don’t actually need a professorial appointment.

I was meeting Steve Clarke, a leading philosopher who is at Oxford, at 12.45. I turned up on the dot at St Cross College (they have such great names here!), but no Steve. I waited half an hour or so, and went back to the hotel, feeling put upon.

I checked my email, and no message from Steve. Then a thought occurred to me (they do, from time to time): I had seen a clock in a pub the night before which was, I thought, an hour late. Maybe…

Quick check of the time preferences, and yes, my iPhone is set for Germany, where I was last week. I have spent a week in the UK running on German time. Damn!

What to do? Maybe Steve gave me his mobile phone number in the email (I tend to not notice such things). Yep! A quick phone call and grovel later and we finally met, and had a very interesting conversation. Steve – who has undoubtedly met many such head cases in philosophy – was understanding and somewhat amused, but my kids will read this and nod knowingly…