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An electronic timing device is disclosed for simply and easily indicating elapsed time since a food container was opened. The electronic timing device can be directly attached to the food container and can be activated when first opening the food container. Activation occurs via a simple one-button-

An electronic timing device is disclosed for simply and easily indicating elapsed time since a food container was opened. The electronic timing device can be directly attached to the food container and can be activated when first opening the food container. Activation occurs via a simple one-button-press operation. Thereafter, the electronic timing device displays elapsed time in days. Additionally, via a further one-button-press operation, the electronic timing device can display elapsed time in hours within the current day. Thereafter, viewing the display readily indicates the elapsed time since the food container was first opened. The electronic timing device can be reused by directly attaching it to another food container and re-activating the electronic timing device. The electronic timing device can be used with any container or to indicate elapsed time of any event having occurred.

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1. An electronic timing device comprising: an electronic timer;a switch for activating the electronic timer;a display for showing elapsed time as determined by the electronic timer, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to

1. An electronic timing device comprising: an electronic timer;a switch for activating the electronic timer;a display for showing elapsed time as determined by the electronic timer, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;a button for requesting the display to show the elapsed time in days elapsed or hours elapsed; anda suction cup for directly attaching the electronic timing device to a container. 2. The electronic timing device of claim 1 wherein the display for showing elapsed time alternates between showing days elapsed and hours elapsed. 3. The electronic timing device of claim 2 wherein the display for showing elapsed time is a two-digit numerical elapsed time display and an alphanumeric scale display. 4. An electronic timing device comprising: an electronic timer;a switch for activating the electronic timer;a display for showing elapsed time as determined by the electronic timer, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;a button for requesting the display to show the elapsed time in one of days elapsed and hours elapsed; anda magnet for directly attaching the electronic timing device to a metallic portion of a container. 5. The electronic timing device of claim 4 wherein the display for showing elapsed time alternates between showing days elapsed and hours elapsed. 6. The electronic timing device of claim 5 wherein the display for showing elapsed time is a two-digit numerical elapsed time display and an alphanumeric scale display. 7. An electronic timing device for indicating elapsed time after opening a food container, the electronic timing device comprising: a housing;an electronic timer for measuring elapsed time, the electronic timer located within the housing;a switch for activating the electronic timing mechanism to begin measuring elapsed time, the switch located inside the housing;a display for showing the elapsed time, the display visible from outside the housing, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;a button for triggering the switch, the button accessible from outside the housing, the button further configured for requesting the display to show the elapsed time in days elapsed or hours elapsed; anda suction cup for directly attaching the electronic timing device to the food container, the suction cup located on the bottom of the housing. 8. The electronic timing device of claim 7 wherein the display for showing elapsed time alternates between showing days elapsed and hours elapsed. 9. The electronic timing device of claim 8 wherein the display for showing elapsed time is a two-digit numerical elapsed time display and an alphanumeric scale display. 10. A method of determining elapsed time since opening a container, the method comprising: activating a timing function of an electronic timing device attached to the container;counting elapsed time since activating the timing function of the electronic timing device;displaying the counted elapsed time in days elapsed on a display of the electronic timing device, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;receiving a press of a button on the electronic timing device to request a display of counted elapsed time to switch from days elapsed to hours elapsed; anddisplaying the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein activating the timing function of the electronic timing device is accomplished by receiving an activation command by a press of the button on the electronic timing device for a predetermined period of time. 12. The method of claim 10 wherein displaying the counted elapsed time in days elapsed further comprises displaying an alphanumeric time scale display. 13. The method of claim 10 wherein displaying counted elapsed time in days elapsed further comprises displaying an operating indicator. 14. The method of claim 10 wherein displaying the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed further comprises displaying an alphanumeric time scale display. 15. A method of determining elapsed time since opening a container, the method comprising: directly attaching an electronic timing device to a container;opening the container;pressing a button on the electronic timing device for a predetermined time to activate a timing function of the electronic timing device thereby causing the timing device to start counting elapsed time;displaying the counted elapsed time in days elapsed on a display of the electronic timing device, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the timing function of the electronic timing device, the time scale component configured to display with at least one word that the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed;pressing the button to request the display to show the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed; anddisplaying the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed on the display, the time scale component configured to display with at least one word that the elapsed time is a measure of time in hours elapsed. 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising: pressing the button to request the display to show the counted elapsed time in days elapsed; andreading the display of the counted elapsed time in days elapsed. 17. The method of claim 15 wherein directly attaching the electronic timing device to the container is via a suction cup. 18. The method of claim 15 wherein directly attaching the electronic timing device to the container is via a magnet. 19. The method of claim 15 wherein directly attaching the electronic timing device to the container is via hook-and-loop material or adhesive tape. 20. The method of claim 15 wherein opening the container occurs before directly attaching the electronic timing device to the container. 21. The method of claim 15 wherein pressing the button to activate the timing function of the electronic timing device occurs before directly attaching the electronic timing device to the container. 22. The method of claim 15 wherein reading a display of the counted elapsed time in days elapsed further comprises reading a display of a time scale. 23. The method of claim 15 wherein reading a display of the counted elapsed time in days elapsed further comprises reading a display of an operating indicator. 24. The method of claim 15 wherein reading the display of the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed occurs after pressing the button on the electronic timing device for a shorter period of time than the predetermined time to activate the timing function of the electronic timing device. 25. The method of claim 15 wherein displaying counted elapsed time in hours elapsed further comprises displaying an operating indicator. 26. The method of claim 15 wherein reading the display of the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed further comprises reading the display of a time scale. 27. The method of claim 15 wherein reading the display of the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed further comprises reading the display of an operating indicator. 28. The method of claim 15 wherein reading the display of the counted elapsed time in days elapsed occurs after pressing the button on the electronic timing device for a shorter period of time than the predetermined time to activate the timing function of the electronic timing device. 29. An electronic timing device comprising: an electronic timer;a switch for activating the electronic timer;a display for showing elapsed time as determined by the electronic timer, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;a button for requesting the display to show the elapsed time in days elapsed or hours elapsed; anda suction cup for directly attaching the electronic timing device to a surface. 30. An electronic timing device comprising: an electronic timer;a switch for activating the electronic timer;a display for showing elapsed time as determined by the electronic timer, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;a button for requesting the display to show the elapsed time in one of days elapsed and hours elapsed; anda magnet for directly attaching the electronic timing device to a surface. 31. An electronic timing device for indicating elapsed time, the electronic timing device comprising: a housing;an electronic timer for measuring elapsed time, the electronic timer located within the housing;a switch for activating the electronic timing mechanism to begin measuring elapsed time, the switch located inside the housing;a display for showing the elapsed time, the display visible from outside the housing, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;a button for triggering the switch, the button accessible from outside the housing, the button further configured for requesting the display to show the elapsed time in days elapsed or hours elapsed; anda suction cup for directly attaching the electronic timing device to a surface, the suction cup located on the bottom of the housing. 32. A method of determining elapsed time, the method comprising: activating a timing function of an electronic timing device attached to a surface;counting elapsed time since activating the timing function of the electronic timing device;displaying the counted elapsed time in days elapsed on a display of the electronic timing device, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the electronic timer, the time scale component configured to display by at least a word whether the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed or in hours elapsed;receiving a press of a button on the electronic timing device to request a display of counted elapsed time to switch from days elapsed to hours elapsed; anddisplaying the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed. 33. A method of determining elapsed time, the method comprising: directly attaching an electronic timing device to a surface;pressing a button on the electronic timing device for a predetermined time to activate a timing function of the electronic timing device thereby causing the timing device to start counting elapsed time;displaying the counted elapsed time in days elapsed on a display of the electronic timing device, the display comprising an elapsed time component and a time scale component, the elapsed time component configured to display numerically how much time has elapsed since the activation of the timing function of the electronic timing device, the time scale component configured to display with at least one word that the elapsed time is a measure of time in days elapsed;pressing the button to request the display to show the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed; anddisplaying the counted elapsed time in hours elapsed on the display, the time scale component configured to display with at least one word that the elapsed time is a measure of time in hours elapsed.