We actually have a perfectly normal alarm clock which, through some twist of fate, runs backwards (counter- or anti- clockwise) in perfect time. That is, the numbers on the face have now become meaningless, but the hands always read the correct position when it's seen in a mirror. I love it because it's not supposed to run backwards, and it actually ran forward for a long time. No one knows why it switched but I keep it going, and re-set it twice a year for Daylight Saving Time. I admire it because it's just been so obstinately ignoring the way it was designed to work!!!