November 7, 2021

Does anybody really know what time it is?

 So it is 5 something on this Sunday, after the clocks were turned back to Standard Time, from Daylight Savings Time. This arbitrary changing of time feels so wrong.  

Many people and their governments have different ideas about this annual change. Two years ago Washington state passed a law to keep Daylight Savings time on an annual basis, with no changes in Fall or Spring.  Our province of BC in Canada looked at a similar law.  

But this state law was never enacted,  as it requires Federal Congressional approval.  As we know, getting Congress to agree on anything beside raising their own pay is near impossible.  And BC would never make a change unless Washington, Oregon and California all made the same change, as that would cause nothing but chaos.  

Personally, I have always had challenges with sleeping, but especially since this past month after my surgery. Truth be told I have always had sleep issues.  From a young age, I tried to stay up late and get up early.  What is it about night and sleep that bothers me?   

Is is a fear of the dark, or a fear of missing out?  Is there a relationship between my reading encyclopedias under the covers with a flashlight and waking at 3 in the morning on Christmas?  

I remember a time in my teens, I was leaving a house party around 4 in the morning.  I was surprisingly loud, and woke one of the neighbours. 

“ Do you know what time it is?”

I replied at top volume, singing Chicago’s hit,  “ Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really know …..about time?”  

Needless to say my drunken existential humour was lost on the sleepy homeowner.   Being serenaded by an asshole singing Chicago at 4 am is not on most people’s bucket list.  

I grew up in the Sixties, which was a very different time. In the Sixties, we had crazy TV shows like The Time Tunnel, with former Beach Blanket star James Darren, where these two young scientists who invented the time tunnel accidentally become trapped and travel through time into different historical events and the future.

We also had My Mother, The Car, where someone’s mother is brought back to life as a ….car. 


Then there was It’s About Time, where time travelling astronauts are sent back to the caveman age. 

This sitcom nonsense went hand in hand with race riots, assassinations, War in our living rooms, the Sexual Revolution and The Beatles. 

Seriously, time and lack of sleep can really mess with your health, reducing your …ahem…time on this planet. Lack of sleep is a major cause of heart issues, as you might expect, as your heart is the body’s timekeeper.  Nobody fucks the drummer and gets away with it. 

Drummers are the first to arrive and the last to leave. They have the most gear to set up and tear down. It is not uncommon for drummers to play other instruments as well.  Drummers are the original multitaskers.   

To summarize,  we’ve gone from clocks, to TV to drummers. Is is any wonder that I can’t sleep?   Actually, I have spent about 90 minutes ruminating and either have to make coffee or go back to bed. 

Don’t get too excited.  I only drink decaf. 





1 comment:

  1. The drum. The first musical externalized musical instrument. Play on!

    ReplyDelete