What Time Did You Need That Again?

Time is a funny thing.  When you are sitting at your desk, with not much to do, it's amazing how it can take forever for 5 minutes to pass.  Conversely, if you are up against a deadline, an entire morning can fly by before you've even managed to get the Mr. Coffee percolating.  To mess with your head even more, add time zones to the mix.  I have clients with locations in various parts of the U.S., and because of this, I have to be on a somewhat flexible time schedule.  For the most part this isn't a problem since I know (generally) when my kids are going to take naps, want to eat etc so I can plan around a lot of things.  The ideal afternoon meeting times are between 2 and 4 PM, since that's when at least 2 of the three will be in 'Quiet Time.'  The term "Nap Time" has been phased out since #2 goes into fits and tears at the mention of 'Nap.'  (Funny how that works.  My kids hate having to take naps, where as if given the opportunity, I'd institute National Siesta from 1-3 daily).  In the mornings, meetings are best between 9 and 11.  The baby is usually asleep during the majority of that period and the older 2 are usually off with my wife doing something leaving the house pretty quiet.  Seniority, of course, sets the schedule, so if I'm planning my day, I usually get to work within these time periods.  If the client or my supervisor sets the meeting, then I usually just have to roll with the punches.  (more on that in another Post)

One trip-up that the great computer age hasn't sorted out is that because we're in different time zones, setting meeting times isn't always so cut and dry.  I've agreed to 2 PM meetings only to have no one call in to the conference line ("Hello?  Hello?), followed by calls and E-mails at 3PM and 4PM asking "where is everyone?"  Or else, I'll be on a meeting with a lot of people who I don't know (various clients' clients) where they'll all agree that Bob will set a meeting for 4PM Thursday and no one realizes that Bob lives in Adack Alaska and we just committed to a 9PM call.  A minor tip of the hat to Microsoft Outlook that recognizes time zones and adjusts the meetings accordingly when they come to be the appropriate time on your personal calendar.   I've been caught off-guard by this once or twice and received a call from my boss asking "You joining us?" and answered "Yup calling in now" when what I really mean to say is "No, I totally missed that the meeting is CST not EST and I'm currently chasing a bare-assed 10-month-old under a table and trying to catch him before he smears poop all over the carpet.  Honey!  I need some help!!!"  *Sigh*

Things would be much easier if everyone accepted the idea that whatever timezone I'm in, should be the world standard.  It'd be perfect, you'd never have to worry about what time a meeting was.  There would never be any confusion as to what time your flight would be getting in or how long that flight was.  You'd always know that the booking agent only gave you a 15 minute window to make it to your connecting flight that's 25 minutes across O'Hare International.  The more I think about this, the more I like this concept.  Football and baseball games would always start at 7PM.  Mind you, that's 7PM MY TIME.  Sorry if that seems insensitive to my West Coast brethren, but you can always turn on the radio or Internet and have the game going on in the background.  I have no desire to stay up until 2 AM to see how a game ends.  I'm not saying the whole world would have to work from 9-5, they could work from 1-10.  Doesn't matter to me.  As long as my 3PM is their 3 PM.   The other nice part about this is that it would make Daylight Savings Time completely unnecessary.  I'm sorry, that's a bit misleading.  Daylight Savings Time IS completely irrelevant.  How is it with all the great scientific advancements we've made, this 19th century concept still has a throttle hold on our society?  Ok, I'm guessing you are one of those people who revel in the 'extra hour of sleep' that comes each fall.  Stop drinking the Kool Aide!  This is what they want you to think!  If you, like me, occupy a house with three little creatures of habit who don't understand that 19th century farmers needed an extra hour of daylight in the morning (because the idea of working an hour later was, apparently, abhorrent) than they are STILL going to get up at the same approximate time the next morning.  So for the first few days after we switch the clocks back, I get to try and convince my kids that they are supposed to understand that the clock now says 4:30 and Dunkin Donuts doesn't open for another half hour so Daddy is not getting up.  What really blows my mind is that a few years back, we actually passed legislation to change the dates of DST to 'save more money on energy bills.'  Seriously?  Why not just pick a time, and legislate the whole concept out of existence.  I mean, we managed to essentially eradicate Yellow Fever over a Century ago and DST affects WAY more people.  Sorry, I'm venting.  The whole time change thing does seriously screw up the sleeping patterns in an already sleep-starved household.  The only way to force the new wake up time on the little critters, is to try and keep them up extra late.  Yeah.  Doesn't work.  Ever watched a baby fall asleep sitting up and faceplant into mashed bananas?  Now's the time.

I think equally as frustrating is the fact that some people that I work with are completely oblivious to the implications of the time zone difference.  I am completely understanding of getting phonecalls in the middle of the night because something has gone wrong.  It happens, and it's part of the job.  What I can't stand is getting phone calls at 4:55 on a Friday afternoon from someone out in California who wants to just 'chat' about some information that's recently come to light.  If it were urgent, late-breaking news, I'd be OK with it, but mostly it's just to ramble on about whether the technical specifications were able to answer a question we've been working on.  It's these times when #2 walks into the room and asks "Who you talking to Daddy?" that I have to control myself from saying both to him and into the phone:  "Some moron who doesn't understand that it's after 5 on a Friday and I need to be making your dinner instead of talking to him."  One of these days I'll have to call them at 6AM (MY time of course) on their cell to discuss the font on the latest employee news letter.  Maybe that will drive home the point. 

It's another bit of mental gym that I have to go through on a daily basis.  It's not really difficult, but it throws a wrench in the works from time to time that takes more effort to clean up than is really worth it.  So I'll check my updated calendar, make sure I'm not missing anything, and go de-poop the floor.