|
|
|
timezone whiplash
Sunday, November 6 2016
Gretchen was wondering if there had been a time change overnight. Her computer and phone were saying it was 9:00am and the clocks with less intelligence were saying it was 10:00am. I didn't think that was possible; wasn't the switch to standard time something that happened in October? That's when it had happened in France (while we were there). But then I did a Google search and found that indeed the switch had happened last night. Why hadn't there been more publicity about it? And when did it change from late October to early November? Perhaps there's less need to warn people about such things since everyone now gets their time from their smartphones, which are always right. (Oh, I see, the switch to November happened back in 2007. I never got that memo!) In any case, Gretchen and I have dealt with some serious timezone whiplash since October 20th. First we were in Eastern Daylight Savings Time, then Central European Summer Time, then Central European Standard Time, then Eastern Daylight Savings Time, then Eastern Standard Time.
[REDACTED]
This afternoon, I took Neville to the Golden Notebook a little more than half-way into Gretchen's shift, since she really likes having him there (but he can only take so much). When I arrived, Gretchen was out, and one of the store owners was working the front. The place was mobbed and the owner seemed to be bogged down in looking something up for a customer on the internet, so it was hard to get his attention enough to find out where Gretchen had gone (and to give him the glass container containing Gretchen's lunch).
After that successful dropoff, I continued (as I always do) to the Tibetan Center thrift store. There was a beautiful armlike device used for attaching a monitor or television to a wall, and it was in a mouse-gnawed box, so I thought I could get it cheap (along with a brand new 10 inch circle saw blade priced at $2). But then the slightly-unpleasant woman who works at the front quoted me a price of $15 for the teevee arm. I've never paid so much for something there in my life. "That's more than I want to pay," I said, using the attitude of someone who didn't really need such a thing. The woman then told me $12, that that was as low as she could go, using a voice that suggested I had to buy it at that price. Whatever, that was a good price, so I agreed. And it is an uncommonly good teevee arm. At some point I have to come up with a use for all these arms I can bolt to walls. Unfortunately, they're all designed to attach to vertical walls, and I don't have much in the way of vertical wall in my laboratory.
At some point today came word from FBI Director James Comey that, oops, he'd spoken too soon, and those emails on Anthony Weiner's computer weren't relevant to the investigation of Hillary Clinton after all. What a fucking joke! Political whiplash makes timezone whiplash feel like accidentally backing into a mattress.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?161106 feedback
previous | next |
