Forty years in fifty-minute intervals: Loet Zimmerman has devoted himself to his profession of coordinating schedules at a school. Now, as he approaches retirement, he faces the seemingly insurmountable task of structuring all the time that suddenly lies before him in disarray. But before that can happen, he is mugged in broad daylight and robbed of the watch he inherited from his father. As if the measuring tool has taken with it the clear order it represented, Zimmermann's life slowly begins to unravel. Barriers give way, fear creeps into cracks and corners—until Zimmermann decides to clean up once and for all.