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The end of daylight saving time this weekend means Harry Laib has work to do.

With clocks everywhere he turns in his Minot home, setting the time back an hour is no quick task. But this clock collector isn't in any hurry. His clocks don't need to tick in sync for him to enjoy them.

"They are just fun clocks," Laib said. "It helps me keep my sanity. I don't climb the walls because I know I could knock a clock off."

There's a clock that tells the time backwards. There's a talking Looney Tunes clock with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Tasmanian Devil and friends. A clock with Harley Davidson motorcycles and another with Corvettes make engine sounds on the hour. A clock with sporting equipment instead of numbers announces the time with an appropriate sound, such as a shout of "bullseye" for archery. There's the "whatever" clock that doesn't care. All the numbers are piled at the bottom of its round face.

Laib likes ducks so he keeps a wildlife clock that includes a duck that quacks at 3 o'clock. He also likes the clock's screaming eagle that makes its presence known each day at 11 o'clock.

His favorite clock, though, features Tweety Bird and Sylvester from Looney Tunes. Tweety comes out of his house at the top of the hour, spies Sylvester and returns to the house to pop up from the roof, where he bops the cat on the hat with a hammer. One day, Tweety popped up and hit Sylvester so hard that the cat's head flew off and the hammer broke. Laib restored the cat but he's been slower about giving Tweety that hammer back.

Laib's interest in clocks started with watches. His father found a talking watch in a magazine. Laib knew his father wouldn't buy it so he bought two and gave one to his father. From there, he started buying clocks.

Laib said he orders most of his clocks from specialty magazines. His adult children aren't quite as enthusiastic about the ticking and hourly reminders that punctuate their visits, but his daughter did once give him a clock for his collection. One of his sons gave him a large digital clock that tells date, time and temperature.

Laib has several digital clocks with large displays strategically placed around his home. He uses them to keep track of the time, while enjoying what he calls his "recreational" clocks. Laib sets the clocks at slightly different times so they announce the time in a series rather than all at once.

Among his fun clocks is his grandaddy, measuring 39 inches across, that came from a downtown Minot variety store.

"I went in the store and I saw it. Wow," Laib recalled. He bought it on the spot.

Laib collected about 30 clocks before he started giving some away.

"I just got to the point where I thought maybe somebody else would like a clock," he said. "So now I can find new ones, and I am looking."

One of the clocks that he didn't mind parting with featured a set of arguing M&Ms - one peanut and one plain. Laib said he couldn't get their loud voices turned down to a less annoying level. Another reason Laib didn't mind giving it up is because if he ever does miss those candy voices, he has another clock boxed away just like it.

He also once had a nature clock that emitted realistic animals sounds. The lion's roar was authentic enough to give a good scare to the Montana-Dakota Utilities repairman checking the furnace one day.

Most of his clocks that sound an alert only operate in daylight or when room lights are on. He keeps quiet, digital clocks in his bedroom, with one exception. His talking alarm clock gives him the top of the hour throughout the night.

"I can shut it off," he said. "But I like it."