May 22 the second - or, I owe you one

Dear Internet Police,

I was busy yesterday. So I didn't blog. Thanks for pointing that out.

Catching up today, I post this make-up blog on the topic of time-shifting. I hereby declare this blog-space to be May 22, not May 23, in the time of blog. While this is unprecedented in my blog practice, it is related to past practices in my real life.

When I was a teenager, my sister had a bunch of friends over for a sleepover in our basement. These girls were all good girls, serious students with busy lives. Several of them had piano lessons and other such stuff on Saturday mornings. My sister and her friend played a trick on them. She and her friend woke up early and set the clocks, and their friends' watches, ahead by an hour, then they woke their friends, all in a fake panic. "Look! OH NO! you missed your piano lesson." A hilarious freakout ensued. My sister has many friends still from this time, so I think they must have forgiven her.

More recently, about 10 years ago, we celebrated New Year's Eve at our house with family friends. One family has a girl who was 3 or 4 years old (Hi Emma!) I remember that we counted down and shouted Happy New Year at 10pm, so that family could go home at a decent hour. It was fun opening the door and shouting into the street, banging pots and pans, two hours early. Our neighbours must have thought we were nuts, or at least seriously confused. We celebrated our 10pm New Year with as much gusto and enjoyment as the real midnight one. Then two hours later, we did it again, with all who remained at ur house for the rest of the evening. That was one of our best New Years.

On New Year's Eve two years ago, we did the opposite. This time we were at a neighbour's house, again celebrating with families. Everyone's kids are young adults now, and one son had to work until just before midnight (Hi Alex C!) This time, our host used his PVR to record the New York Times New Year (which actually happens 3 hours before our New Year) until our last guest arrived. Half an hour later, when Alex C arrived, we played the recorded New Year, and celebrated together, so everyone could be there for the shouting and the kissing and the champagne popping.

The other night, at a family dinner, we were discussing how my niece's birthday this year will fall on the last day of the world as we know it, according to the Mayan calendar. Funny, my niece's name is Maya. Now did that make shivers go up and down your spine? We're not seriously worried that the end of the world will happen on Maya's birthday, but we did get to wondering: Will it happen at the same time all over the world? (the end of the world, I mean, not Maya's birthday) or will the world end one hour at a time as it arrives in each time zone?

So there now, Happy May 22nd! I mean it.

question: Have you ever time-shifted?

mompoet - besides recording or watching your favourite TV show on another time zone's network affiliate, I mean