Tail End Charlie - Almost an April problem
It's not entirely my fault that I’m writing my Tail End Charlie text at the last-minute again. I scheduled my work quite responsibly yesterday, Sunday, two days before the current issue was due out. However, somehow I didn't keep up at the end of the day. Understandably, I could blame my slow work, my tendency to run away from responsibilities, orstimuli that release the right hormones into my brain for the wrong mood, and a thousand other things rooted solely in my nature, irresponsibility, and laziness. But this time it's different my friends.
It's not entirely my fault that I’m writing
my Tail End Charlie text at the last-minute
again. I scheduled my work quite responsibly
yesterday, Sunday, two days before the current
issue was due out. However, somehow I didn't
keep up at the end of the day. Understandably,
I could blame my slow work, my tendency to
run away from responsibilities, orstimuli that
release the right hormones into my brain for
the wrong mood, and a thousand other things
rooted solely in my nature, irresponsibility,
and laziness. But this time it's different my
friends. THEY took an hour out of my day
yesterday. And that's why I couldn't keep up.
The change to daylight saving time caught me
surprised almost as change of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire railway schedule surprised
Cimrman near the village of Stredoplky.
I recommend our English-speaking readers to
supplement their education by a proper search
of the encyclopedic entry Jára Cimrman.
You will learn where American, hence Austrian,
self-confidence would be and with them
Thomas Alva Edison or well I dare smuggle this
word into my apolitical article- Nikola Tesla,
if the world had discovered the brave Czech
Cimrman a little earlier.
I'm a little out of scope, aren't I? However,
since my colleagues and I have given ourselves
pretty much free rein as to what may be the
topic of our final reflections innthe Tail End
Charlie column, I can allow myself to do so,
and I trust you will forgive me for avoiding the
technology and social issues.
In short, I missed an hour yesterday. With the
time shift from winter to summer. It was taken
from me by technocrats and foolish politicians
sometime in 1916 and THEY won't give it back.
Even though the idea of daylight saving time
seems to be obsolete nowadays, the various
cabals controlling the world, the Wall Street
vampires and the European oligarchs who are
guaranteed to benefit from it, still don't want
to give it back to me (not referring to the clever
Russian oligarchs, because there daylight
saving time is no longer used).
The transition between daylight saving time
and standard time is quite a chaotic all over
the world, as if time zones were not enough.
For example, the southern hemisphere doesn't
use it, it was never introduced in most of Africa.
In different parts of the northern hemisphere,
the transition between winter and summer
time occurs on different dates.
There are debates about to abolish these
time shifts altogether. Whether their original
reason is outdated or not. The European Union,
for example, set out to abolish daylight saving
time back in 2019... But since then its member
states have still not agreed on how this should
be done... Well, yeah...
Hopefully I'll live to see it someday, and
so will my dog who doesn't understand why
he suddenly has to start getting up an hour
earlier or an hour later. The wolves that roam
the woods around my homeland in the border
mountains don't care. They wisely get up
(or rather go to bed) according to the sun.
... à propos, do you actually know which of the
two times is the correct, original one? Summer
or winter? The summer/winter time switching
is used in most of Europe. And also in the USA...
Ah ... Did you know that of Europe, Greenland,
for example, doesn't use it? I learned this
a while ago when I was trying to clear up some
of my ignorance, and I have to admit that there
are things (and I write this without giving wise
counsel) that finally make sense to me now.
I guess I'll have to put up with being as
confused in my biological clock as I probably
am in my head for some time to come. On top of
that, it snowed again this morning. But let's not
be sad. Spring is here anyway!
ALMOST AN APRIL PROBLEM
Jan Zdiarský
INFO Eduard106
April 2025