The system clock would be a visible change, though. Most people use their system clock while they're on the computer in windows. I think if it was mis-set, Bridie would have known . . . . it does SOUND like a system-clock problem, but the game only uses the clock when it boots up; it doesn't matter if the clocks confused when it's not running, and is corrected before it starts.
Strange, though, that a three-month old thread could suddenly become relevant again.
If you have a power outage, the game will simply reload from the last save, which it does every few minutes, and load the game back up, and fill in the intervening time. If it was paused during the save, that's okay. If not, well, you're hosed. Just like closing it down manually, except that it doesn't do that one extra save during shutdown, so it relies on a periodic autosave.