Monday, November 03, 2008

Time

Place: Subway
Lunch: Foot-long Chicken Pizziola, Lays potato chips, Dr Pepper

A SIGN ON THE DOOR says they can't take credit or debit cards because the machine is down. The whole register is down, actually. They're using a calculator to complete orders. The cash drawer just sits wide open for money handling.

Why does Subway need to take credit cards, anyway? Who doesn't carry enough loose cash to eat at Subway?

The Chicken Pizziola is a limited-time only addition to the $5 footlong menu. It would be better if the chicken and marinara were hot before being put on the sandwich...the convection oven just doesn't toast that well...but it's still $5 well spent.

The local moldy oldie radio station being piped into the Subway dining area has apparently broadened their horizons past the fifties and sixties...they're playing the Carpenters. I haven't heard the Carpenters on the radio in decades. That's too bad. They did some great songs. It kind of put me in the mood to fire up some old Carly Simon.

The clocks moved back one hour over the weekend. It was well into Sunday before I figured this out, and it's been wreaking havoc with me ever since.

I can't explain why. Normally, I'm fine with the change. But I was confused about what time it was and messing with clocks until late this morning.

First, I got up 6:30am on Sunday and drove up to the QuikTrip to get gas and a soda. On the way, I noticed that the fast food places that normally sell breakfast were all closed. That was just odd.

It was a few hours later when I heard somebody at say "No, it's only 9:30, the clocks moved back an hour last night" to somebody else that I realized it was actually 5:30 when I drove to the QuikTrip.

Then I forgot about the change again and didn't change my home clocks, so every time I looked at them, I'd think it was later than it was. The cats took full advantage of this and started bugging me to feed them like two hours early. And I fell for it. Then later, they started bugging me again. Then I couldn't figure out when I should eat.

So I finally changed all the clocks. But everything just felt odd the rest of the day.

This problem has continued today. I woke up and thought "Why is it so light out?" And I had more clock problems at work. My office desk clock and my watch auto-change by reading a radio signal from the Atomic Clock in Colorado. But neither received the signal since the change, so they didn't change. It got so annoying that I flipped my clock around so I couldn't see it because I kept thinking it was earlier than it was.

I kept forcing both to find the signal, and they finally got it.

Life is better now, maybe.

I don't remember ever having so much trouble with a time change before.

But I do like that it's now dark earlier.