M@ Can't Tell Time

Hopefully M@ will actually read this, get perturbed, and leave a snarky comment. Whether he does or not, it's been a fun exchange.

A couple of days ago, M@ sent me an E-Mail informing me that he was having a party on Saturday night, and inviting me. Today I got this E-Mail; keep in mind that M@ is in the Air Force Reserve.

The reciever changed to 0100Z 2006036 day.

SSgt [M@]

I replied:

SSGT [M@],

>The reciever changed to 0100Z 2006036 day.

Receiver? Okay, let me try to decipher this...

5:00 PM, Monday, 6th March 2006. Okay. What's happening then? Certainly not the party that's scheduled for this Saturday.

Fly

I received the following response.

Close, party, 6pm, sat 4 feb 2006, I think there is a 7 hour time diff now between here and z time(silly daylight savings time). but that changes over at 5pm local to the next day, so thats the 36th day of 2006 aka 5th feb, 1am, but adjust back 7 hours for local time, and you get 1800L 4feb. Just gotta keep ya on your toes.

M@

This is, of course, wrong, and I pointed that out.

M@,

>Just gotta keep ya on your toes.

It's gotta make sense. And no, according to this...

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/questions/zulutime.html

... it's only eight hours. So if you're going to keep me on my toes, you're going to have to at least make some sense.

Fly

I received the following spirited but fun-loving reply from M@:

8 hours under standard time, daylight savings makes it only 7 for here. But ya, that was fun anyway, common, your suposed to be the intel guy, I am just a stupid sargent who works here. Its not exactly easy to pick up, it really threw me for a loop when we changed up our time frame, I fear change Mr. Fly.

Again, this is completely incorrect, so I responded accordingly.

M@,

You're completely and totally hosed up. When we change to daylight saving time, which we are NOT on right now, THEN we are only seven hours. The standard deviation is eight hours, as is evidenced by comparing the time on the link that I sent you to your wristwatch, assuming your wristwatch is correct. Under daylight saving time, we are still eight hours separated from England (as they participate in daylight saving time as well), but only separated from Zulu/GMT/UTC by seven since it doesn't change; of course, this asinine "energy bill" that they passed that extends daylight saving time by four months starting in a couple of years or whatever.

The point is that since we're not on daylight saving time, 0100 minus eight hours equals 17:00, or 5:00 PM. I don't always have to be right, but in this case, I am. I suppose that's why I'm the intel guy, and you are just the stupid sergeant who works here.

Fly

I just got the following response...

Oh, wait, your not an intel guy, where are you working again? And I think that only one of us has a cozy fed job waiting for them in a few weeks.(ouch, but dont worry, a few beers(or one gini) and that little sting will go away)

M@

PS, stop turing red, its not that bad.

... which, while being true about him having a cozy federal job lined up, and me still looking for work, once again ignores the fact that I was right, and that he can't tell time.

Like I said in my E-Mail: I don't always have to be right, but in this case, I am. It reminds me of an episode of Sports Night...

Jeremy: It was one night. It was tennis.
Natalie: It was the only night we've had the same night off together for like two weeks.
Jeremy: We're together every night anyway, so--
atalie: At midnight! We go back to my place, or we go back to your place, we have a lot of sex, we watch the two a.m. wrap-up, we go to sleep, we come to work. What kind of relationship is that?
Jeremy: It's working out pretty well for me. It was a joke! I made a joke! I like to make you laugh. Why? Because I like you very much.
Natalie: Jeremy...
Jeremy: Yeah?
Natalie: It wasn't the greatest joke I've ever heard.
Jeremy: I never said I was opening for Jack Benny.
Natalie: You meant Henny Youngman.
Jeremy: I meant Jack Benny.
Natalie: Jack Benny plays the clarinet.
Jeremy: Jack Benny plays the violin. For that matter, so does Henny Youngman, but you're thinking of Benny Goodman.
Natalie: Do you really always have to be right?
Jeremy: No.
Natalie: Then why are you still talking?
Jeremy: Because I am right.

Of course, the situations are different; neither M@ nor myself play the violin or the clarinet, we're not in the television industry, and Jeremy and Natalie aren't known for their expertise in national defense, as M@ and I both are.

This post is too long. I'm going to publish it now.