True fans of Rocko's Modern Life will understand the title of this post.
So, I've been continually bothered by the knowledge that, someday eventually soon, I'd have to figure out what time it is on Athesea. The problem with writing in a mechanism for nearly-instantaneous travel between worlds is that you know some clever bugger reading the book will create elaborate time tables and then ask you to explain the contradictions. And I couldn't find a damned widget that would allow you to plug in a few values for rotational period, orbit stuff, etc. and automatically calculate what the sun's doing in Tarmahn in relation to Seattle at any one particular moment.
Thus, I spent the scant time in between calls at work today playing with spreadsheets. I still haven't got seasons and so forth worked out, but I can tell you what time it is on Athesea. Lessee. It is nearly 10pm Seattle time, Saturday. Call it 9, because I calculated this shite on Daylight Savings Time. Soooo, in Tarmahn it is (drumroll please) around noonish.*
This may not look like an enormous triumph, but it is. Indubitably. And it took me way too fucking long to figure out something perfectly simple. Not a numbers-or-math person, y'see. It wasn't until I had the color-code brainwave that I was able to get it all straight in my head. Thankee software geniuses for spreadsheets with fill color options.
Now I'm off to fiddle with all those times I'm sure I fucked up when writing with no fucking idea what time it was in Tarmahn...
*I reserve the right to change my mind about that. Just so's you know.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.