The clocks changed

Here we go again: New Zealand just changed their clocks again, this time back one hour to New Zealand Standard Time (NZST). All of mainland New Zealand is one time zone, but the Chatham Islands are 45 minutes ahead of us. Even so, they do seasonal clock changes the same as the rest of New Zealand, which makes sense. Makes sense? Do these seasonal clock changes make any sense?

I’ve mentioned before that I never used to be bothered by seasonal time changes, but that as I’ve grown older I find them harder to adjust to. Fortunately, I seem to have less trouble adjusting to the autumnal change than I do the “springing forward” thing. However, “less trouble” doesn’t mean it’s easy.

As is usually the case—perhaps contrary to a belief popular among people who know me in real life—I was in bed well before 3am when the clocks suddenly went backwards one hour. All was fine until morning: I woke up, as I usually do, some seven hours after I fell asleep, but that was just before 8am, quite a bit earlier than I usually get up. I laid in bed for awhile, just resting, really, but just before 8:30 I gave up and got up.

My day today was filled with minor chores, since I did this week’s big one—mowing the back lawn—yesterday (and, side note: I think I can now switch to mowing every other week). I spent some time, as I often do, thinking about how I want to prioritise various tasks, things that aren’t necessarily related to any project, but I did decide I should pack up the stuff I’ve been gathering for the op shop, which I talked about this past Friday. I still have what I might call “home stuff” to go through (kitchenware, serving dishes, tchotchkes, etc.), but I expect there’ll be a lot of that, so I’m better off donating all the clothes I’ve gathered together—well, yeah, but maybe I’ll do just one more check of my closet first (because I know I’ll find more stuff to donate).

There was one somewhat unusual thing about this particular clock change this time: The oven. When the power was turned off last Thursday, I switched the oven off at the wall. I used the oven this morning to cook some bacon, and that meant turning it back on again—but it was too early in the morning to re-set the clock using my old man Life Hack—though, full transparency, and all that, the clock hasn’t been right for months because the power was shut off when the derelict air conditioner was removed in December. Well, it's correct again now—even though I found myself waiting around in the kitchen for the better part of five minutes to make sure I didn’t miss my opportunity.

All up, then, so far this particular clock change itself has been a non-event—so far? This coming week will tell.