Wrong Way Time Zones

The Sienna’s battery was indeed powerless, permanently so. Now a new box of acid and mysterious electrons is fixed into the car, and the cars drives. Naturally, the shop found something else to do, for more money, but it isn’t wise to argue with fixing the brakes. The cost of bum brakes would be high indeed.

Here’s how the mind works. Mine, anyway. Yesterday I set up an interview with a man in California. He said he wanted to talk to me the next day, today that is, early -- 9 his time. I made a note of it: call the guy at 7. Sure, that’s an early interview, but I’m a pro. So I set the alarm for 6:45 or so. I have a short commute.

Around 4 a.m. or so, there was a little thunder. Distant thunder. I woke up for it, and thought good, we need rain. (There was no rain.) Then I thought, the interview is soon. Then I thought 7 a.m., which is... 5 a.m. in California. Dunce. I’ve been through all the time zones personally and I used to pride myself on knowing the difference between Central Time and Japan Time without having to look it up, any time of year. (I’ve forgotten this now.)

I was relived that I could sleep a little longer, but baffled that I could get something so simple backwards. Oh, well. Call it a Wrong Way Corrigan sort of thing. (Whom I just looked up. He lived until 1995.)