When I was a kid, my mom had a water wheel timer on her desk at work.  I don’t remember the name of the secretary where she worked; I don’t even remember how long she worked there.   But I remember that water wheel timer as clear as day.  Unlike today’s daily deal, her water wheel had black liquid inside, not red.  I remember flipping that timer over and over again when I’d visit her office, pretending a massive oil spill was in progress and millions of gallons of crude were spilling all over the enormous tanker ship’s propeller.  I was a weird kid.

Mostly what I remember about that water wheel timer, though, was that no matter how simple the thing was, I never got bored with it.  There’s just something inherently fascinating about watching denser drips of oil fall down one at a time like perfect little pebbles into the arms of a wheel, spinning it at a steady tempo.  When this deal of the day was chosen, I immediately thought of that old office and its water wheel timer.  For a silly little desk toy, I can tell you that this funky timer makes a pretty deep impression.