Daylight Savings: 3, Zimmerman: 0

Pin It Ever had your tail kicked before?

I love the scene in “Rocky” where Sylvester Stallone is training and he runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As I’ve watched this scene I’ve come to the realization that sometimes you’re Rocky…and sometimes you’re the steps. The past two days have been some of those “steps” days.

So, what is it that has taken me out of the ring? Who’s the boxer that’s given me the sucker-punch to the face? Who else could it be? None other than that dreaded day that only comes twice a year. You got it, Daylight Savings.

I hate it.

I know, hate is such a strong word, however, I believe I am justified in using it…after all, with the spring version of this day, we actually lose an hour…a whole hour! And just where does this precious sixty minutes go? Nobody knows…it’s just gone. People try to tell me not to worry and that we’ll get it back in another 6 months, but that is little consolation in the here and now. It’s like that old adage, “A burrito on your plate is worth two in the microwave.”

Well, I woke up yesterday morning—early. Something woke me up. I didn’t know what it was at first. After a few moments I realized that it was my roommate getting ready to leave for the day. I looked to my alarm clock, my trusty old Nokia “brick phone.” I have used this old reliable phone as an alarm clock for several years now since upgrading to something a little less bulky.

Like I was saying, I looked at my alarm clock and it read: “early-thirty.” Hmmmmm, that’s odd, why would my roommate be up so early on a Sunday? He didn’t usually get up for another hour or so. I grabbed my cell phone and looked at the display. What? The time was different…it was not-so-early-thirty. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs…the clock on the microwave and the oven both read early-thirty. Hmmmm…something was afoot here.

I was feeling pretty confused as I turned on my laptop, because that one clock in the house was different…whoa, hold the phone, my laptop time was messed up too! I then turned on my iPod and checked the time on it…early-thirty. Okay, who had messed with my computer and cell phone? Was this some elaborate hoax?

Well, suffice it to say that I was totally confused and finally went online and typed in, “current time, Utah.” This is what I got:

UTAH, US — Current local time: Not-so-early:30 AM on Sunday, March 9

Well, to make what might be a more interesting tale somewhat less drawn out, I finally figured out that it was actually not-so-early-thirty and it was getting not-so-earlier by the minute. After jump-starting my muscles, I was finally able to get things rolling and was only behind one hour…the whole day.

Fast forward 10:00—or 11:00—Sunday night, (depending on how you look at it).

I was entering students’ grades when I realized that it was getting late. At about 10:20 I decided that I had better get to bed so I could wake up for work the next day. As I looked at the display on my computer I realized that I’d forgotten to change the time on my kitchen clocks…it was nearly 11:30! I quickly shut down my computer, brushed my teeth, and jumped into bed, willing myself to immediately fall asleep, while the whole time thinking about the fact that it was nearly midnight and I’d be getting up a whole hour earlier than usual…I’d be getting up at 5:00. I looked at my alarm clock several times, it passed midnight. I was in for it.

I probably fell asleep, and I am pretty sure the alarm must’ve gone off later sometime this morning. In fact, I am positive of that fact even though I woke up and just laid there. What time was it anyway? It was so dark and I felt like I’d been steamrolled.

I just laid there.

Finally, I forced myself to get up and get ready, thinking of my students at school waiting for me. Well, by the time I got out of my house it was 8:00—by somebody’s time. I arrived at school about 10 minutes before it started…zero energy. Luckily, my students were completely drained as well and the morning hours were very serene. I wanted to laugh about it, but I have to be honest…I was much too tired to laugh, I thought I’d probably fall down.

It is now 7:00, Daylight Savings Time, and I wanted to rewrite this blog so it sounded funny, but to be honest, I’m too tired. I’m going to bed now.

Daylight Savings: 4, Zimmerman: 0