bits and pieces

[susandennis]

It is now so light in the mornings that when I get off the bus I find myself in a huge hurry because I assume I am late. Of course, it is generally a good hour to an hour and a half before anyone else comes in but still, it is disconcerting to have daylight in the mornings. I need to look up and see when Daylight Savings Time starts.

I have a beautiful wall calendar right here in front of me. It has all the major days of the year completely annotated. BUT, it is a New Zealand calendar. So I am au currant on when Daylight Savings Time ENDS in kiwi land (Palm Sunday) but I think we don't start it until the end of April.

And here's a fascinating factoid. New Zealand ends daylight savings time on March 20. Australia ends it on March 27. You'd think those two could get their timing act together...

I love New Zealand calendars. US calendars have one maybe two days a month marked as special. Some wild and crazy months, there are three days marked. New Zealand seems to have 3 special days a week! March is a particular biggie... And the 14th has no less than 4 notations:

Commonwealth Day
Labour Day (Australia - Vic)
Eight Hours Day (Australia - Tas)
Anniversary Day (New Zealand - Taranaki)

Ya gotta love Eight Hours Day...

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I am still migrating the big website at work from one publishing system to another. I'm about at the end of 'how in the hell are we going to do this' and really starting the 'doing this' part.

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For some reason I have had Charles Chips on the brain recently. When I was young home deliveries were big. We had a milk man who delivered the full spectrum of his dairy offerings - including ice cream. We had an egg lady who delivered fresh eggs from her farm every week. And we had the Charles Chips guy. He would deliver big wonderful tins of the best potato chips in the entire world. He'd take our empty tins and replace them with full ones. AND often leave samples of the latest in the Charles Chips line of unhealthy and wonderfully delicous treats.

When I think of my teenage years the first image that comes to mind is the family room of the house we lived in the... On the couch... In front of the TV with a tin of Charles Chips. It's a happy memory. I've been wondering if they were really that delicious. I even did some web research and almost bought a tin until I got to the final sales screen and realized that with shipping, I was getting ready to spend $35 on potato chips - with the tin of course, but really. Even I have standards... Low as they are they prevent me from paying $40 for potato chips...

Comments

so so good!

[hlee.livejournal.com]

We used to get both the tins of chips and the pretzels at our house. Don't think I've ever come across a potato chip that's as good either. Just opening a can and smelling the aroma was a treat.

Re: so so good!

[susandennis]

Oh yeah! The pretzels!! We used to get the big fat beer pretzels.

And, I'm glad to hear you agree with the goodness. I think my ass grew a quarter of an inch this morning just writing about them.

[tbone.livejournal.com]

DST is always (in this country, anyway) the first Sunday in April (so April 2nd/3rd overnight) and the last Sunday in October. That's burned me more than once while creating a program schedule.

[susandennis]

It's that first and last that bites me. I can kind of remember April and October but which one is first and which one is last...

Thankgod I don't have a time critical job like yours! It would be a disaster.

[tbone.livejournal.com]

One thing I noticed is that the time when it's on is longer than the time when it's off by about a month. It's not an even split, which hardly seems fair to me. But one way I remember it is that it usually begins around April Fool's Day and ends around Halloween. I used to think they were related.

[susandennis]

April Fool's Day and Halloween??!!! That is a brilliant donkey's bridge! Ohmygod. I can't believe it!

And... Of course it's related!

Calendars

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Susan, I have a wall calendar that has lots of special days on it - it's from the Missouri Conservation Department, and it lists what's happening in nature every day. Today, March 3, my first day of my 100-day break, it says: "Barred owls are nesting." and "Start setting up bluebird nest boxes." I wonder if Washington has a calendar like this!

-Fran

Aah, Charles Chips

[letmesaythis.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Susan. Your post is probably going to cost ME $40. I don't have your resolve! I loved Charles Chips and they absolutely were the best chips!

Re: Aah, Charles Chips

[susandennis]

Oh dear... Well, be sure and google "Charles chips" and do some searching - OH and if you can live without the tin you'll probably get by for less.

[ms-hackman.livejournal.com]

No. Buy the chips. You are going to regret not getting them. Have Sheri design a room around the tin and then it'll all be worth it.

[treebreeze.livejournal.com]

New Zealand Calendars are the best. I save everyone I receive just to look at the scenery later.

I learned something new about the chips, as I had never heard of them.