Time zones, Islam, Capito-Anarchism, the usual

[dherblay]

In Tunis, it seems that everyone speaks French, and if they don't speak French, they speak Arabic with accents out of the tenth arrondisement. I, misnamed as I am, do not, so communication could at times be dicey. I understood our cab driver when he told us (en Francais), as he whizzed an inch by the fender of the car stopped in the fast lane (they

Comments

[anomster]

I'm just...enjoying your mind & its workings.

But most important: Welcome home to you & your mind!

The intersection of time demarcations & religion can be interesting. For all that "Jewish time" usually means arriving late, in many cases it has to do w/natural time. Candle-lighting for Shabbes & holy days is keyed to local sunset, i.e., the time the sun actually goes down, & doesn't come at the same time all across a time zone. So candles are lit a couple of minutes later in Manhattan than in Brooklyn, & a Jew just west of the border between time zones lights candles a minute later than 1 just east of it--but a minute less than an hour earlier on the clock. (I think. It's late, & I'm tired.)

I haven't had local time change on me upon arrival in another country, but on my one (so far!) eclipse trip, I went to Bolivia from NYC just before the US reverted to standard time, & the effect of the longitudinal shift was basically that it let me wait an extra week before setting my watch back.

"Perhaps a capito-anarchist solution exists in which each individual purchases his or her time zone from a private contractor. Of course, this would mean that the rich would be able to purchase calendars with extra weekends...."

First, "capito-anarchist" made me think of a button you might like; wanna know what it says, or would you rather find out by seeing it at Tahoe (assuming you're going, & assuming I'm going!)? Second, by the time I got to the point where the above quote ends, I was thinking--well, more or less the same thing you said at the end of the sentence: "Isn't that pretty much what we have now?" I'd like to buy the Mountain Time zone--then maybe I'd be in sync w/the one I live in!

[dherblay]

I once, due to no virtue of mine other than my zip code, I suspect, received a calendar from a local Jewish funeral home; In the box for each Friday it would list the time for candle-lighting in ten different cities. I think the cities were Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia or Toronto and of course Cleveland; what is most relevant to this anecdote is that Detroit was not included. Upon realizing this, I immediately went through the entire calendar to plot out which city would have the latest time listed. As might be expected, during the summer months Cleveland would be by far the latest, and during the winter, Miami, and then as the equinoxes approached their times would swing together pretty quickly.

Tahoe is looking unlikely for me; you'd better tell me the joke now. It is a joke, right? Because if it's a purely informational button I'm going to feel a little cheated . . .

[anomster]

Awww, you probably won't make Tahoe? How can we have a Gathering without d'Herblay?

The button is a joke, yes...you'll have to decide how funny it is. It says, "Anarcho-Capitalist for sale or rent." I now realize I was assuming that referred to the button's wearer, but I suppose another interpretation is possible....