And speaking of ships, the hourglass, on occasion with the metaphoric addition of wings, was depicted as a symbol that human existence is fleeting. The “sands of time” will run out for every life.

Jim describes his tattoo: “a design of Opabinia regalis, a Burgess Shale fossil dating from the Cambrian. It has some pirate imagery, including the hourglass, skull, and nukes. As an ...