No Time Like the Present

Monday, May 6, 2024

Monday, May 6, 2024

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Time Zones

As we have been sailing eastward across the pacific, we have passed through about one time zone per day. Thus, every day at noon, we have had to set our clocks forward one hour. On most cruises we have taken, these time changes are typically made at midnight or 2:00 am and you just gain or lose an hour of sleep, depending on which direction you are traveling in.

It is a nuisance to change your clocks every day. I have a clock in my phone, my iPad, my Fitbit, and my Kindle. Ken has a camera with a clock in it, his phone, his watch, his Kindle, and an alarm clock. (Yes, we do know that "phones" come with an alarm clock app, but we like "real" clocks on the nightstand.)

It was very difficult to get used to changing every day at noon. You have to be very careful, because all of a sudden it will be 2:00 pm and your body will feel like it is 1:00 pm and you will just be starting to think about lunch. It is very easy to find yourself finishing lunch after 3:00 pm, and dinner is still at 6 or 7.

There was a lot of discussion among passengers  about why the change was made at noon every day, rather than midnight. Obviously, it is much better for the majority of the crew. They don't get very much time to sleep as it is, and it would be unreasonable to expect them to give up an hour of sleep every night for a week or longer.

But losing an hour daily, at noon, is not without cost. You tend to stay up a little later because your body clock doesn't recognize the new time. Your body never has a chance to adjust, because you are losing an hour every day. After a few days of that, you may start to feel pretty tired during the day. I know I did.

International Date Line

It is very weird to cross the International Date Line on a ship. Eastbound, you have the same day twice. The same exact day. In this case, it was Monday, May 6. 

I heard there were people calling down to the Medical Center because they were confused about when to take their meds. Apparently, that's not as dumb as it sounds, because not all meds are taken daily. Some are taken once every two days or twice a week, or on some other pattern. I believe there were also some people who did not bring enough for the extra day, though most folks bring a few extra pills just in case.

You have to be very careful adjusting your clocks, of course. It was a problem to get an accurate step count on my Fitbit for two separate May 6 dates, but I don't really care that much. If you add an appointment to your Calendar app, it may be automatically adjusted to an incorrect time/date when you return home. Make sure you enter the appropriate time zone when you add the calendar item.

Cold!

It has continued to be quite chilly - 30's in the morning, 40's later in the day. Remind me what month this is . . .

We had snow on our balcony one morning as we sailed through a snow shower.

The snow started to stick to our deck chairs

Close-up

We Are Not Alone

We had not seen another vessel since shortly after we left Muroran. All of a sudden, a large ship showed up and crossed our path. Then it was gone. Then, more nothingness.

We are not sure what kind of ship this was. A ghost ship?

 

Today's fabric is Time Travel Luggage, by Urban Essence Designs for Blank Quilting.