There are three original contributions for the analysis of temporal data, such as pedestrian counts, airline traffic, and economic indicators. The first new technique is for visualising data using a calendar layout, to study daily human activity. The second contribution is a new data abstraction which streamlines transformation, visualisation, and modelling. This is a data pluming infrastructure. The third contribution is to equip analysts with exploratory and explanatory tools for understanding missing patterns in time, in preparation for modelling. Three software packages are provided for practical use.