Time As A Unit of Measurement

From my reading, I didn't find a precedent for this (if I missed it, please enlighten me), but I would like to explore, for a moment, this thought I've been bouncing around my mind: time is a unit of measurement.

What does this mean? Time, as a unit of measurement, is a system by which we measure the duration of events. It has no independent entity of its own, and does not "flow," as it is merely a framework in which we measure events.

To draw an analogy, let us take distance. Does a meter or a mile "exist?" Of course it does, but the discussion of a meter or a mile is useless without reference to some object being measured. A mile does not exist independently of our application of that unit to indicate a certain length within the world. Similarly, time does not exist independent of events to measure. Just as we can divide distance by large and small sums (meters, kilometers, inches, yards, miles, light years, etc.), time, too, can be divided and examined in varying units (seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, centuries, millenia, etc.).

What might this say of time's existence absent an observer to measure it? It continues to be, just not as TIME. Time, distance, weight, all units of measurement, EXIST regardless of the presence of a being to measure such. The universe continues to exist absent an observer. These units of measurement, such as distance and time, are merely constructed systems of knowledge from which we can seek to understand the universe around us. While the universe (or, to be fair, the multiverse) exists independent of our measurements and knowledge of it, our knowledge comes from constructing the frame work to understand it.

To end with a question: is the concept of time as a unit of measuring duration of events a useful conception of time? Or does it miss something fundamental to our understanding of "time?"