kirktastic

DST. Perhaps it is the fact I was born in Arizona, a state that doesn’t participate in the whole Daylight Saving Time thing, as to why I think it is a pointless, antiquated stupid thing for much of the world. Daylight isn’t saved. At least those in Europe refer to it as “summer time.” I’ve always lived where the days aren’t that short, even in the dead of winter. What is especially frustrating is how former Presidente Bush and Congress changed our spring forward/fall back dates from the rest of the world in the name of saving energy. Which is bullshit.

The Weather. Another silly thing is how no one understands what the X% chance of rain means that the weatherman throws out all the time. They idea that many people don’t understand it but they use it anyway is telling of our society’s laziness. It also provides safe cover for the weatherman when their forecasts don’t come true. I’ve always lived in places where it doesn’t actually rain a lot. Like Phoenix where it rains 7″ or less a year. In Austin and the places I lived in California the rain is closer to 30 or so inches. So when the rain comes, it just happens and is a nice break from the 300+ days of sunshine a year. Right now it is kinda cloudy as I sit outside with my coffee but otherwise nice for shorts + short sleeves. But the weather people say there’s only a 10% chance of rain. I, of course, can make it rain by getting my car washed.

(a bunch of Chinook helicopters just flew overhead in a what looked like a scene out of Apocalypse Now without the napalm. I would have taken a picture but all I have is the iPhone which doesn’t do well with objects more than about 20ft away).

Where I’m from. I sometimes get hung up what to put down as “hometown” on forms and interwebs. Turns out I’m not alone. What is also interesting about that research is just how many people never leave the town in which they were born. I left my town of birth at six months of age and didn’t have much say in the matter. I left the state of my birth when I was six. When people in Austin ask me where I’m from, I usually truncate it to being “from Northern California” (which everyone almost assumes = Bay Area but in my case it is not). It is hard to consider the town I grew in as my hometown since my parents left there when I left for school and almost all of my friends from high school scattered in all directions at HS graduation just like I did. I don’t consider where my parents live now as “home” since I really never lived there. It is “mom’s house.” Austin is home for me now. But it doesn’t feel like my hometown.

Although the survey doesn’t talk about it specifically, many American’s lack of mobility is telling of American’s travel habits as well. Very few Americans have passports and lack the curiosity to travel to other countries. Usually these are are loudest USA#1 people you find. And those who do travel outside the US tend to not get as far as Tijuana or Vancouver. Some may go nuts and go as far as Cancún or Puerto Vallarta. But the Mexican border towns and the Mexican tourist resorts are not the real Mexico. And going to Canada — a country and people I love — is not that much different than the US. I know a few people — mostly proud native Texans — that have never traveled internationally and ask why they should? “We have everything in America.”

Lack of money is a really good reason for not traveling internationally and why I got a late start. But I’m not talking about people that can’t afford to travel. These people could go anywhere, they just don’t. If I had the means, I’d travel the world and not stop until I’ve seen the whole damn planet. I’d love to work in another country (as long as it isn’t cold there). Only when you see the rest of the world can you really appreciate your home.