Saturday
A Public Service Announcement: at two am this morning, most of the USA will set the clock ahead one hour to observe Daylight Saving Time in the second year of its new, longer schedule--in effect robbing a daylight hour from the morning and adding it to the afternoon as the days in the temperate northern hemisphere begin to lengthen toward spring. In a jaw-dropping display of virtuoso egocentricity, we take our banking hours with us, forcing the rest of the world to comply. A lot of international dealing goes on in an hour. This is our head-scratching solution to a "problem" more easily solved by merely asking appropriate businesses to adopt seasonal hours of operation, equally effecting nations south of the equator who must negotiate US summertime changes as local autumn begins. The side effect, since Vietnam doesn't bother lining-up in this way, is that we're one hour closer to home from tomorrow through the second Day of the Dead in November. By eleven thirty this morning we had been transported almost three hours north of Saigon to the Cao Đài Holy See1 in Tây Ninh, a flat and sun-drenched religious compound studded with dorms and temples. The main building is a vast and ornate temple reflecting the syncretistic mash of the religion's tenet: an involved structure of Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, and Catholic motif weaved together in colorful fancy beneath an all-seeing god’s-eye pyramid logo (which unfortunately rings unintentionally commercial in the eyes of western tourists). The Cao Đài2 recognize the partial development of god's direct will throughout multiple religions and seek to bring these disparate devotions together into a more developed godly devotion, recognizing such saints as Sun-Yat-Sen and Victor Hugo alongside the more predictable figures of Jesus, Lau Tse, and Confucius. Stud* update in comments. [Cavin]
Then, a 2 sided conversation ensued...
Saigon Stud Update: the following is the twenty-first hand of Street Stud since November, 2007. These are the tenth-through-twentieth of forty-three cards picked up March seventh, 2008 between my apartment and the Ho Chi Minh City post office. My had consisted of a King clubs, a Jack spades, a Ten diamonds, and a pair of Threes in clubs and hearts. Well, that's not much. Not enough, actually, since the City drew a Four clubs, a Two clubs, a Five clubs, a Queen (eek) clubs, and a (eek) Queen in thank-god spades. Why I would rather be beaten by a pair of Queens than a flush I do not know. My streak is definitely over.
The other time that spring-forward is weird, even in this hemisphere, is when you are actually Working All Night and you have very specific tasks to do at 01:00, 02:00, 03:00, 04:00, etc. At first we were all pretty thrilled to get paid for the eaten-up and missing hour. Then suddenly at 01:59 we realized we had a Lot Less Time to get things done!
In contrast, I also worked the night of Fall Back, which was great. I spent the extra 01:00-02:00 talking about sharks and looking at pictures of sharks. Later I found out that my friend Sarah (also Sunshine's friend) gave birth to her son during the FIRST 01:00-02:00, making him Brigadoonish and magical all around.
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