Wanted: Time Machine (low mileage)

TARDIS ("Time And Relative Dimension In Space") Time Machine from "Dr. Who"

Wanted:  Time machine (low mileage).  Must be calibrated and accurate to within +/- 24 hours.  Prefer American made, but will consider foreign models.  "Return To Present" functionality is desirable, but I can live without it.  If you have one, or know of one for sale, let me know in the comments along with price and shipping info.

That is what I posted on Facebook this morning.  Of course it was half in jest, and was received as such by my friends.  But it also reflects my increasing awareness of the value of time, especially over the last few months.  I want more of it.  And, I’d like a chance to go back and savor a few things, some of which I was present for, others that I wish I had been present for.  A “Time Machine” would be perfect for that.

Imagine if you could go back in time and experience past memories again in the present tense.  Maybe to enjoy some good time, or a precious moment, that you remember.  Maybe to change the outcome of an experience that didn’t go as well as you’d hoped.  Maybe to hug someone one last time and tell them how much that they meant to you before they unexpectedly passed.  I lost a co-worker to cancer in the last month.  I didn’t even know that she was sick.  I don’t think she did either.  I never told her what a great person she was and how much I enjoyed having her around.  I wish I had a time machine to go back and tell her.

For the past few months, I’ve been teaching my Ukrainian daughter Jenya to drive, just like I’ve done in the past with the rest of my kids and half of their friends.  It brings back a ton of good memories from the past - kids nervous, excited, laughing, and sharing deep thoughts.  Those are memories that mean so much.  Teaching Jenya to drive has connected me again to all those good times, along with creating new memories for both of us.  My car has served as our time machine this summer.  Jenya’s son Egor and I have bonded over sports this year.  A baseball and two fifty year old gloves have been our time machine and when we’re playing catch, I’m a kid again.  

Of course there might be other things to accomplish with a time machine.  Maybe I could go back and experience events that I wasn't there for in the first place.  I traveled a lot for work earlier in my career, missing events with my kids and with my wife Denise.  It would be nice to go back in time and get a second chance on some of those.  I haven’t seen nearly enough of our grandkids who live in Charlotte.  Too much work and not enough fun.  A time machine would be handy to get back after I retire.

Maybe I could go back in time and experience things like my sister being born or alter the course of history.  Who wouldn’t change or stop the great evils and catastrophic events like wars, pandemics, etc.?  Would a time machine help?  Could crisis and death be averted or are such events fixed and immovable?  I’d sure like to try… if I only had a time machine.  

What would you do if you had a time machine?  Tell me in the comments about it and give me your ideas for time machine specifications.  Maybe together we’ll come up with the perfect time machine specifications that someone will someday build for us.  I’ve got my list.  What’s on your list?  

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Anyone recognize this famous time machine?