Telling Time while Traveling

Yes, I know how to tell time.  And unlike the younger generations I can even do it by looking at the ‘long’ and ‘short’ hands of the clock!

 

But when I’m traveling east/west it is sometimes difficult to keep track of time.  And Wanda’s dashboard clock does not automatically reset like most cell phones do.

 

The fact that some states split time zones complicates the matter even more.  When we were recently traveling east from Texas we threw a Florida panhandle stop into the mix.  We told relatives what time to expect us thinking we would switch to Eastern Time when we crossed the border with Alabama.  Nope.  Doesn’t work that way.  Much of the Florida panhandle is still Central time.  Oh well.  We ended up being either a half hour early or a half hour late—not sure.

 

Years ago I had an elderly, nocturnal Aunt, who I loved dearly.  But because she could live off of two hours sleep from 4-6 AM she was always busy.  If she remembered something she wanted to tell me she would call to leave a message.  (These were the days of land lines, fax machines, and bulky answering machines.)  One time she needed to RSVP about a family gathering at my house.  It was 3:30 in the morning but she assumed that was fine because the answering machine would pick up. She didn’t realize the phone had to ring first! (She had never owned an answering machine of her own.)  She was a little surprised when I groggily answered so she apologized and said she would call back in the morning to leave a message.  Did I tell you I loved her?

 

Technology doesn’t always help.

 

When we are traveling in different time zones we have the hardest time keeping up with a church group that meets via Zoom.  You say ‘oh it’s okay to miss once in a while.’  That might be so; if we weren’t the group LEADERS!  One time we had prepared and eaten our dinner in the van and washed the dishes when I looked at my phone and said ‘oh sh-omething you’re not supposed to say if you’re talking about a church class’.  We had missed it by 45 minutes.  We sent an email to everyone apologizing and spent the next several minutes creating alarms and backup alarms for the next week since we would still be in a different time zone.  That next week we had class members messaging us 5 minutes before class to remind us!

 

[Editor’s note:  After typing the previous paragraph I created two new meeting alarms on my phone for later in the month.]

 

By the way, our dog Annie has equal frustration with different time zones.  She is “heavily” dependent on meal times at 7, 12, and 6 EST.  And she knows how to tell time remarkably well.  To put her on a different schedule is just anarchy.

 

Oops! Time to go. ;)

1 comment

  • I have decided that my Calle wears a watch, because she reminds me each day about 30 minutes before her meal time. Do our dogs train us?

    Helen Ammons

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