Of course, I get up early enough that I barely ever see the morning light anyway

The US is changing daylight savings, extending it a month in either direction in order to keep the light in the evenings longer. So naturally Canada is panicking, and trying to decide whether to do the same. The thing is that it's a provincial decision (currently Saskatchewan doesn't follow daylight savings at all), so we could end up with every province being on a slightly different schedule. Ontario, of course, is looking at changing, because they're all worried about business dealings with the US. Quebec and Manitoba are apparently thinking about it as well.

How weird would that be, if we were an hour off (in some direction - I have a hard enough time working out daylight savings in my head; I can't figure out who would be earlier and who would be later for March and November) from the States? Of course, if we did change, then we'd be another hour ahead or behind the other provinces for that month, unless they all changed as well.

Time is such an artificial construct; I tend to forget that until I'm confronted with things like this. Daylight savings, in particular, is just wonky. At this point I really question why we don't just stay on DST all year round, like Saskatchewan. So few people live in a way that follows the daylight anymore. I think it's interesting, though, that the reason behind this change is supposedly an energy saving one, and that there was even one year when the US didn't follow daylight savings at all (during the 74-75 oil crisis).

Stuff and randomness

1. This morning there was a little blip in the power as I was eating breakfast, and now my wireless network has disappeared. I don't really understand, because the power's been out for hours before without causing any problems. I tried to go with the magic solution of unplug and replug, but the mass of cables behind the tv was too much for my brain at 7 in the morning, so I'll have to look at it tonight.

2. dramaqueen_23, I finished season 2 of Six Feet Under. Thank you for the loan! I'm giving it to starfishchick tonight, since you'll probably see her before me. Also, awesome.

3. I must have slept funny last night, because my jaw is all wonky and sore. I really thought I'd defeated that.

4. Also in sleeping news, I didn't get nearly enough last night, despite going to be early and sleeping right through the night. I'm very spacey this morning, and having a hard time concentrating. [And, apparently, not reacting to people around me, or so says the person who had to call my name three times before I registered that he was talking to me. Oops.]

5. I am drinking water from a mug, water that comes not from the water fountain, but the cooler in the office. *love*

6. If you are a tea exchangee and you have not sent your tea, please do so! Not to be a huge nag, but-- no, I think I am intending to be a huge nag. :)

7. Someone needs to develop earphones that really keep all the sound in. Because each of the 4 people working near me are listening to different music, and it's becoming very Ivesian, only not in a good way. I would put my headphones on, but I'm afraid that might just be the last step before me losing conciousness.

8. Persian food. Has anyone had it? Is there anything special that really must be tried?

ETA: 9. Poor London! Not again. Looks like there weren't any deaths this time, which is a relief.

Booktalk

Ahaha! I finished both the Books of Enormousness. Life is good.

Mary Balogh Simply Unforgettable

Oy. I felt like this book was scolding me, since the whole (continually brought up) theme of the book was that being content or mostly happy (like the heroine insisted she was before she met the hero) isn't nearly good enough, that life isn't worth living if you're not out there trying to find perfect happiness (which, of course, only comes from true love). What's wrong with being mostly content? What if I don't want to open myself up to the possibility of being miserable on the road to being actually happy? Bah.

Colin Bateman Divorcing Jack

Colin Bateman really wants to be Christopher Brookmyre, but he's just not. Not that the book was actively bad or anything, but I was bored and uninterested and only finished it because I was standing in Fringe lineups.

Gideon Defoe The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

So cute! So funny! So unbelievable that he actually got paid to write this!

Judith McNaught Almost Heaven

Light, fun historical romance, featuring lots of scandal, plot complications, and interfering secondary characters. Enjoyable if forgettable.

Vikram Seth A Suitable Boy

Nominally it's about Lata, whose mother is trying to find her a suitable husband, but really it's about India after the partition, family dynamics, politics, religion, love, and how all those things affect each other. I think I did myself and the book a disservice by reading it in small chunks - I had a hard time getting into it at first, because there was too long between each instance of the various plotlines, and I found that some of them seemed to have no relevance. The beauty of this book, though, is how things tie together (and also occasionally how they really don't). By the time I hit the last few sections I was completely engrossed. Absolutely worth reading.

Neal Stephenson Cryptonomicon

Awesome, awesome book. The present day plotline involves complicated e-business dealings in the Philippines, the historical one codes and World War 2, but it's so much more than that. Although I skipped over some of the seriously in-depth math stuff. Ok, I'm totally making this sound like a lame book, but it's really not! You should read it! Although I have to say, the problem with books written in 1998 that are at least in part about new, highly astounding computer technology is that it's not that astounding anymore, and I had to keep reminding myself of when it was written every time I caught myself saying "So?".