When you woke up this morning you were an hour late. We have time pieces now that are accurate to a rate that we can time just how little we have to do by inventing timepieces to time it. Okay, that aside, we’re now playing with the clock in the manner in which we are, because of a man who once lived in a time when a letter, an important letter, let’s say, a letter that could have stopped the Battle Of New Orleans, didn’t make it to where it was going for over six weeks. And it arrived quickly by the standards of the time.
Once was, if someone in England wanted to declare peace across the Atlantic, more than a month or two might go by. If the ship sank, or was blown off course, then the message might have to be late, declared really late, someone would send a message asking if the war was over, it would take two months to get there, two months would go by before there was an answer, and if there was a storm…
These days you can send the message, “peace is gr8 lol” in less time than it takes to figure out text speak.
Less and less we are a people ruled by time in the manner in which we once were. There are fewer people whose life depends on the light of day. There are fewer people who care if it is night. There is an overabundance of artificial light all the damn time so it doesn’t really matter what time it is. Yet here we are. It’s Sunday morning and Benjamin Franklin’s ghost haunts us still.
“Spring Forward” is here, and come Monday morning, this is really going to suck.
I live with the better part of three hundred pounds of tame wolf. “Domesticated” is a relative term. These are three dogs I have trained to go to bed at a certain time and to wake up at a certain time. Now, I have to explain to them time has changed. Oh, and it is damn near a full moon. The dogs drink in moonlight like it’s water and they go a little wooly when the moon is up.
So Monday morning when I should be asleep the alarm clock will go off, startling the mutts into a frenzy. Anything new is something to get excited about, and what was once our normal time to arise is now about the time I’ll be heading to work. The dogs, in their confusion will want to confer with me on the matter, which means while I am trying to get ready to go to work, they’ll be underfoot. People going to work will be weird because they will be late. People at work will be snarky. I’ll get home an hour early and find the dogs cooking up meth in preparation for the full moon howlings. Or at least I’ve always suspected they do this. In the meanwhile, there will not be more sunlight, or less sunlight than there was the day before, or the day after, except that which occurs naturally, as it has since the beginning of time.
The dogs are in tune with this. Is there any reason we can’t be without playing with the clock?
Take Care,
Mike
Mike writes regularly at his site: The Hickory Head Hermit
Opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the management of this site.
Obviously you’re going to have to buy three watches, so they can finish the meth before you get home.
Were it that easy…..
I can’t spend much time on the net today.. I gotta go out and change the time on my trucks clock, my wifes car clock, my car clock, my bedside alarm clock, my coffee pot clock, my microwave oven clock, the clock in my den, three of my wrist watches, my wifes wristwatch, my cell phone clock, my wifes cell phone clock, the kitchen stove clock, the grandfather clock in the hallway, the clock in my mac book, the clock on my DVD player, the clock in my office, the clock on my calculator, the clock in my sony cybershot, my travel alarm clock, and the clock on my big screen TV! Oh thank you oh wise wizard of time…. …a%$#hole!
You better hurry up. The time changes back in November.
That’s something I didn’t get around to bitching about, but thanks for the back-up!!!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding? Every mobile phone I have does this automatically. If not, just power off/on and it should pick up the current local time from the carrier.
I no longer have a wrist watch. I gave up on those 10 years ago. I have a phone with a clock. Why do I need to carry two devices to tell me the time?
I hate clocks on kitchen appliances. I always disable them as much as possible. Most devices let you opt out of setting the TOD.
The car… yea. PITA. So really, I have to only change 1 clock, the car’s.
Ron,
We cavemen are insulted
and envious
You’re so right xalaskan and don’t forget to check the batteries in the smoke detectors. You’re suppose to do that too when you change the clocks. Sheesh! I better get started.