Tag: fall back

Saturday’s Theme Music

Saturday’s sunrise came at 7:50 AM, flashing sunlight at us for a second like a busy executive stopping by to say hello to the team before sprinting on to other matters. After that flicker of sunlight, clouds shrouded in charcoal moved in, sniffing with disdain, loosing a little drizzle, keeping the air cold. It’s 47 degrees F now but we’re optimistic that it’ll break 50 before the sun’s face turns away at 5:59 PM.

Today is November 6, 2021. That means we’re turning our clocks back tonight in most of the U.S. (Okay, technically, we do this at 2 AM on the seventh. But I’ll do it before going to bed, right?) So tomorrow’s sunrise will be an hour earlier. Sunset will also be an hour earlier: before 5 PM in my niche of season. But we do get that one extra hour to do things. I’ll use it for sleep, cats permitting. The cats don’t recognize daylight savings time and clock changes. They stay faithful to their inner workings. When they start clamoring for their first breakfast at 5:50 AM, it’ll now be 4:50 AM. Some adjustments will be required by them, and some coping by me.

Let’s not let all that stop us from rocking. The plan is to stay inside, warm and dry, except for a late-afternoon constitutional. Eat a little food. Drink a cuppa coffee. Maybe bake a pie. (Yes, that’s my new definition of ‘rocking’.) Meanwhile, “Somebody to Love” by Queen (1976) is circling the morning mental music stream. These words conjured this song:

I just gotta get out of this prison cell
One day (someday) I’m gonna be free, Lord!

h/t to AZLyrics.com

Those lyrics are firmly rooted in the ongoing limitations provoked by the COVID pandemic. I look forward to visiting coffee shops on a casual, recurring basis. On running down to the store without donning a mask. Visiting friends without querying them about vaccines, boosters, and pods. One day I’m gonna be free! Until then, I’ll remain cautious, wary, wearing a mask as needed, distancing, seeking the booster, and trying to remain positive.

Here’s the music, and right on schedule, here is my coffee. Let’s be safe out there. Cheers

3

The Real Time

Well, they’ve done it, they’ve changed their clocks, setting the time back an hour, “Falling back,” as they like to say in America.

It’s an easy task that he does before going to bed. He has five clocks to change. It’s amazing that the house has five clocks. One is mechanical and battery operated. The rest, on the thermostat, bedroom clock-radio, microwave, and stove, are electronic. Strange that they must be changed manually, but there you go. He confirms, while doing his task, that the guest room clock radio is unplugged. That’s to save energy. He smiles at that.

The household has four televisions. It’s a ridiculous number for a couple who spends a few hours with the TV at night, and always watch together. But there’s been a progression, so the older flat screen digital televisions find homes in the master and guest bedrooms. Neither room had a television before. Each television has time built into its systems. Software manages falling back for him. Same with the Fitbits, computers, tablets, VCR, and phones, but not the cars.

Time is everywhere. For days after going through the change, he thinks, “What is the real time? It’s actually really seven now.” He thinks about how this change affects the daylight, and the temperatures he endures, which affects how he dresses, and his daily plans. He likes the light arriving earlier but he misses the late day light.

He wonders, in the end, what the real time is. His body isn’t certain. One thing he notes: the cats admirably adjusted to the change.

3

The Secret Hour

We’ve voted in our house, and agree that we should have a secret hour – that extra one that doesn’t show up anywhere but in your sleep – every night. (Amusingly, it’s called setting the clocks back to conceal the deal the Feds made with the Time Fairies.)

The vote was unanimous and not a surprise that the cats all voted for it. We had to wake them up to vote. As Papi summarized, “If it’s food or sleeping, I’m all for it.”

We know better than to actually advocate for a secret hour every night. There are dangers associated with having the Time Fairies come each night to give you the extra hour. One, your time isn’t infinite. Those hours come from somewhere.

Two, and more worrying, for every hour they give you, the Time Fairies own you more.

Most worrying of all, the Time Fairies are thin-skinned and petty. They’re wont to go for revenge at the slightest perceived insult. You must be careful not to piss them off.  I’m sure you’ve seen some of their victims, listless as they wander around, craving sleep that will not come, not able to die because it’s not their time, but without the energy to do anything, because the Time Fairies own their time.

 

3

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑