Time Zone Challenged

I don’t do time change well. My husband, Kent, has spent almost his entire life living right on a time zone border and he’s good at it. I’m time zone challenged.

Early in our marriage I worked on Central Time and he worked on Eastern. Some friends were passing through the town where he was employed and we arranged to meet for dinner. The plan was for me to pick up Kent after work and we’d meet at the restaurant.

I drove into an empty parking lot. “Where is everyone? Did work get out early?” “No, work got out on time. You’re an hour late.” Our friends had to leave. They couldn’t wait. Oops. Time Zone Challenged here. I think it would help my case if I improved over time (there’s that word again) but nope. Still challenged.

As I write, I’m sitting here on my youngest’s couch in Alaska. Saturday, I spent eighteen hours traveling over four time zones during the change to Daylight Savings Time. I think my brain has given up on me. It’s refusing to respond. It’s kind of fried.

On a normal trip I’d spend a day or two being tired and then get on with life. But the spring forward thing in addition to being time zone challenged has broken something.

Complicating the whole matter is that after two and a half hours of sleep I got up at 2 am to drive to the airport Saturday. And, when you’re flying cross-country, on two flights with a ten hour layover in between, arriving eighteen hours after you left, when does one eat breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Also, in the interest of good eating habits, is second breakfast allowed?

Of course my brain woke me up at 6:30 CST Sunday morning. Wide awake. And ravenous.

Sunday was filled with stocking up on groceries and attempting to get my fuzzy brain to focus on taking in all the details necessary for my task while I’m here. Pretty important since I’m dog/house-sitting for my youngest.

She made us an offer before Christmas. “If you’ll consider coming and taking care of my puppy and my house for six weeks, I’ll pay your airfare.” It was a win-win. She got a good deal on pet boarding and house sitting and we got six weeks in Alaska–in winter with free airfare and accommodations. Didn’t really have to think about it. “Uh, yeah!”

Kent took the first shift and worked remotely for a month. He got to see the Iditarod start, eat at cool local restaurants, and celebrate “No Shave February.” We planned to overlap for a weekend so we could see each other and so he could pass on the knowledge of how to care for a home and a puppy in frigid temperatures.

By Sunday night Alaska Standard Time, my internal clock was asking me “Are we lost?” and winding down for a crash. I needed a solid eight-hour nap. Instead, we decided to go see the World Ice Art Championships at the local fairground. Great choice. The incredibly detailed ice art was beautiful. We spent a couple of hours wandering through it marveling and taking pictures.

Then, we realized the ice slides we had seen along the way were free and that sleds were included. We spent the next hour zipping down ice that was lit up with colored lights. It was amazing!

It was another late night, especially when you consider that after the Ice Art Show, the Northern Lights made an appearance, so of course we stayed up to see. We are, after all, on an adventure and crazy hours are not only permitted but encouraged.

Monday I had only two major tasks: take Kent to the airport and attend a Zoom Q & A meeting with fellow writers. I got Kent to the airport on time and I was able to drive safely on icy roads. I was quite proud of myself. The Zoom, however, was another story.

A month ago I had put it on my Google calendar for 4 pm because I knew I’d be in Alaska and it was scheduled for 7 pm CST. Perfect, right? But a week ago, I looked at my calendar and thought, “Oh, no. I need to set this three hours early because I’ll be in Alaska.” And I moved it up to 1 pm–without checking the original email. A few days ago, my overloaded brain–again without checking the original email–decided “Oh, I need to move this up to account for the time zone difference.”

Monday, in my time travel brain fog, I realized that not only did my watch and my phone convert to local time, but Daylight Savings Time happened over the weekend. My jet-lagged brain couldn’t handle it. I signed in at 10 am and got a “Waiting for the host to begin the meeting” message. Then, I realized, “Oh. The meeting is at 1 pm.” At 1 pm I signed in and got another “Waiting for the host to begin the meeting” message. Finally, I looked up the original email from weeks ago and realized, “Wait, it’s at 4 pm. I have plenty of time.”

I, of course, got side-tracked and signed on at 4:01 pm. But I made it, had a great time, and met lots of other writers. It was worth all the confusion.

I have two more Zoom meetings this week. My time zone challenged brain is finally settling into the new time zone. We’ll see if I can get them right.

However, right now it’s seven degrees outside, a beautiful day, and I have a puppy who’s begging to take a walk. As long as we don’t meet the moose that was walking down the street Sunday morning we should be fine. I’m loving this Alaskan adventure.

By the way, what day is it again?

Happy almost spring wherever you are!

Blessings!