This morning Yilin told me that the whole 'daylight savings time' thing was shifted forward thanks to congressional insight (not to be confused with 'oversight'). I applaud Congress' effort to save energy, and wonder if it's an election year (is it? I honestly don't know). However, Yilin told me that most computers and cell phones won't change time properly as we are used to them doing, obviously due to their programming.
So now I am going to change my clocks twice because they won't change when they are supposed to (now), but will change when they are supposed to (before)? No thanks. I see no need to have daylight savings time anyway. I certainly can't be bothered to change my clocks twice. (Yesterday I was in lab for 17 hours, longer than usual these days, but not by much. I certainly didn't know or care what time it was, either.)
What ever happened to waking up and going to bed with the sun, and having noon at midday? What's wrong with that? I am pretty sure that is what France does. How else would they have a 35 hour work week, and take a month off in the summer when days are longest (the holiday compensates for working those long summer hours, I am sure)? I don't need time zones, especially not in graduate school where everyone wakes up whenever they want and starts their workday whenever they feel like it. (A labmate of mine is seldom in before 3pm, usually showing up between 4 and 5pm. However, he works until 5 or 6am.)
What I need is my own time zone. From now on I work on Josh Standard Time. JST is based on a fallible and whimsical interpretation of the lunar calendar, adjusted for the average nighttime temperature and precipitation. The algorithms used to convert more conventional times, such as Eastern Standard Time, are far too complicated to go into here (not to mention that they are copyrighted), so you'll just have to ask me what time it is in JST to know the answer. (Note that JST uses a metric clock and no unit of time is equivalent to your notion of 'second', 'minute', or 'hour'.)
(The previous paragraph was a joke, and should not be interpreted as a sign of impending madness.)
I am starting to think more and more that I am a Luddite. I could happily do without cellphones, clocks, skyscrapers, TV, radio, cars, and anything that is powered by something other than me. This is odd because I enjoy photography (which often incorporates a fair amount of technology) and keeping a blog (which is entirely technology driven).
"He is one of those men who have overshot their true generation." -Dr. Watson, The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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6 comments:
>> I am pretty sure that is what France does.
You're setting yourself up for a lot hurt, if you're starting to look to France for good ideas. Something like 10% of France works for its government (I'm sure that % is incorrect but I'm also sure the % is whopping), and that's not counting their unemployed, which hovers, perennially, at, like, 75%. So, 3 out of 4 people are unemployed and 1 out of ten works for the government.
IT'S ALL TRUE! Honest.
LOL. I don't know why Francophile-bashing can be fun, but it is. I try not to, but they were the only country I could think of that took off a month in the summer. I am sure citizens of other countries do so as well, but none came to mind.
However, Dan, you took the bashing to a higher level of humor, which I appreciated this morning as I sit in lab doing experiments.
i think arizona doesn't do DST 'cause, well, it doesn't really SAVE anything at all in terms of energy. and if anyone knows about AC and energy...its those sun devils. more activity in more light means more heat and more energy.
as for france....in addition to having no air conditioning in the office (a co-worker told me something to the effect of 'just wait and see, le hahahha'), i was also told that i will be the only person around at points during the summer. these guys have minimum five week vacations, and one of my bosses, officially, has 12 weeks, altho he doesn't take them all...cuz then he'd never be working. the french unemployed get pretty good benefits, thus remaining unemployed. benefits for like..everyday life..discount movies, museums, etc.
that said, my coworkers and other people i know working in france work at least 50 hour weeks, if not more. doesn't make it right to get 5 weeks of vacation tho...that is unless we could get it too in the us...then it would be ok.
photography can be etched into stone. and communication...there is always smoke and light signals.
Hahaha... I love this post. I was watching CNN a few days ago and they had some kind of "analyst" with an interesting theory: Congress doesn't approve of Daylight Savings to save on energy costs, it uses it to appease the Commerce lobby. Apparently, the more hours of daylight there are, the more shopping people are likely to do. I don't know if I buy it (no pun intended), but it was interesting nonetheless.
How can I set my watch to JST?
vijay, i think it does make it right that your french coworkers get 5+ weeks of vacation, and we should too. as for their >50 hour weeks, i can't help but laugh. i long for the day when i can work a mere 50 or 60 hour week.
and photography can only be etched into stone if you have one of those nifty flintstone's cameras.
katie, that probably is closer to the truth, i fear.
But Josh, you must consider: they work for the government. Imagine government employees HERE working 'at least' 50 hour weeks. That's not bad.
Actually in all seriousness I hear the white collar types over in France work more or less like Americans, though with way more vacation.
Although, counterpoint: at Goldman where I used to work, the higher ups had 5 or 6 weeks vacation, not counting sick days... and in theory they were encourage to take them all. Even I had 5 weeks vacation one year (cos I took only one the year before).
France is right about vacations. It is wrong about everything else. Except maybe pastries. And boots. The girls there all wear hot boots.
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