Click the image above to catch other fantastic Fatherhood Friday posts at Dad-Blogs!
Yesterday afternoon, as I was putting the finishing touches on what was sure to be the most inspiring, life altering, moving post in Fatherhood Friday history, a horrible tragedy occurred. My laptop burped, hiccuped, froze, gasped...then spat the dreaded BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH at me. Ordinarily I rather enjoy the color blue. But the particular shade of blue that Microsoft chose to use for the BSOD is truly frightening, a color that must be mixed and created in the bowels of hell itself, somewhere around the 8th or 9th circle most likely, where Satan does most of his creative work.
After much weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth (and that was just the calls to Dell Support!) I took my beloved laptop to a local wizard, with the hope that he will have her healed and once again back in my loving embrace.
Needless to say, the article for today's FF is floating somewhere in the 1st circle of hell, awaiting deliverance. Until I can make that magic happen I offer a post I wrote back in March about a conversation between myself, The Wife, and The Peanut during a morning commute.
I hope you enjoy and, if you get a chance, light a candle for my laptop.
Daylight Savings Time...With Bibles...
Making our way along the hallowed asphalt of I-95 on the 40 minute commute this morning, the wife and I were having a discussion concerning daylight savings time. Had you been a fly on the window, you would have been witness to a conversation that went something a little like this...
Wife:
Me: Hrmm. (While driving and Twittering on the phone at the same time...an activity I do not recommend)
Wife: I said I am really super tired this morning. Almost painfully so.
Me: (Putting the phone down and concentrating on the road before I mistakenly plunge the three of us into a fiery death) Why is that?
Wife: Well the clock right now says that it is 7:00, but the internal clock in my body is telling me it is really 6:00 because of the time change. So...I'm tired.
Me: (Pausing to digest the comment) That's crazy.
Wife: No it's not actually. It takes the body several days to adjust to the change of time when daylight savings time occurs. It's true, I saw it on Oprah once.
The phone beeps. I pick it up, new Tweets coming in. Swerve to miss car in front of me that was driving too slow. Heart rate increases. Resist urge to toss an offensive finger gesture to little old lady driving the Pinto I almost rear ended. Put phone back down, resolving not to pick it up again while behind the wheel.
Me: (slightly out of breath from my racing heart) That's silly. The clock said 10:00 when you fell asleep (You read correctly...10:00...I know, right?) and 5:30 when you woke up...as always.
Wife: Yeah but that was really going to sleep at 9:00 and getting up at 4:30.
Me: (Pausing once again while I try to get my head around this logic) But...it's still the same amount of time.
Wife: No...its not...its an hour earlier.
Me: But...its still the same amount of time.
At this point The Peanut, sitting in the booster seat in the back, breaks out in a rousing chorus of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. I can't make this stuff up. Not sure if it borders on broadening my daughter's horizons or bad parenting that she likes the Beatles...but it is the truth.
Me: Sweety, please sing a song that is not about mind altering drugs...we will be at preschool soon.
(REALLY don't want that call)
The Peanut ignores me and continues her Beatles tribute. I guess there are worse things...
Wife: It is not the same because my body -- Peanut, sweetheart...it's diamonds, not bibles -- because my body is used to the time the way it was, not the way it is now.
Me: (At this point feeling like I have taken LSD myself) WHAT? Whatever time the clock tells you, that is what time it IS. I went to sleep at 12:18...got up at 6:05...that six hours felt like the six hours all the weeks before it. I don't understand this metaphysical trickery you are talking about.
Peanut: Mommy...why does Lucy like diamonds? Are they like the diamonds you have on your ring?
Wife: Yes sweety...Lucy just likes expensive jewelry. Honey, I really think more people would agree with me on this than they would with you.
Me: No way. Maybe it is a male/female thing. Most guys I know don't walk around whining about their "internal clocks" being messed up because of daylight savings time.
Wife: That's because most men aren't smart enough to bother to read their internal clocks. Trust me...all normal people struggle with this when the time changes.
Peanut: Lucy in the sky with bibles...Lucy in the sky with bibles...
As you can see, our morning commutes are quite interesting.
I would like to pose our morning's debate question to my 6 blog readers out there. Which side of the fence do you live on?
Are you in my camp where the clock says what it says and you don't need to rely on tricky, mind/time bending excuses for why your body feels off?
Or are you in my wife's camp, where your "internal clock" takes days or weeks to reset because it is now confused. (No wonder women can't program VCRs)
If you feel so inclined...drop me your opinion (along with any other comments or backyard BBQ recipes) in the comments section here.
And, if you feel further inclined, subscribe to the feed here at the Hideaway. I LOVE my 6 readers...but there is always room for more!
daylight savings time really does affect your sleep cos it puts stress on your internal rhythms. people have been causing accidents cos they fall asleep at the wheel, or work accidents, and did you know that young kids who have naps & early bedtimes schedules usually screw up their parents' schedules? lol i'm tired 365 days a year, so it doesn't matter about daylight savings for me lol
ReplyDeletehope your laptop comes back all shiny & working again :)
Sorry to the Mrs, maybe it's a guy thing? But, I am right there with ya buddy...same amount of time, IS the same amount of time ;-)
ReplyDeleteI don't get affected when we lose an hour but man do I ever enjoy that extra hour of sleep in the fall :)
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I agree with your wife. Every time there is a time change, it takes my body a few days to adjust. I walk around more tired than usual, and that's saying something. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI've lit a candle for your computer. When our computer crashed and we lost the hard drive there were actual tears. Mine.
This is absolutely a male/female thing. And it's not just daylight savings, it's time in general.
ReplyDeleteMy wife (and my mom) for that matter, try to trick themselves when it comes to alarm clocks. They set their clocks roughly 20 minutes ahead, hoping that when they wake up and see the time they'll think they're running late so they'll hurry, and then actually be on time.
Except that's not what happens.
They set the clock ahead, wake up, remember that the clock is set 20 minutes ahead and then they go back to sleep. WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT?!? So when I saw she wasn't waking up on time I moved the clock back to normal...and then I got yelled at for messing up her system!!
The lesson, as always, women are crazy.
I'm with you on this one, and judging by the comments it appears to be a man vs. woman thing. I need at least 6 hours of sleep to function properly. I don't care what the clock says when I go to sleep and when I wake up, as long as there are six hours in between those two numbers.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the BSOD is concerned, I feel for you. My best friend in college got it in the computer lab just as we were finishing our 75 page business plan opus for our policy class. Fortunately most of our brilliance was retrieved.
So the consensus now, as when I originally wrote this seems to be split male/female.
ReplyDeleteNo word on my laptop yet.
My wife found me sitting in the corner drooling today, trying to eek a WIFI signal out of an old, 80s era Sony Walkman.
I need my laptop.
Love that Oprah was the ultimate voice behind this theory. And also love your child was singing the same Beatles song I sang growing up with my Dad.
ReplyDelete