What is time

This post would be just as well paced in the ran't column as it's something I've been having to contend with for years. Time zone's and in particular daylight saving has plagued computer systems for years, and even today some systems do not automatically change the time offset as required and one has to manually fix the time, just like any analogue clock. In the 1990's I was working on timetabling systems for the always, and many of the older systems could not actually run a train over night on change over days. They used to only run up to 2AM and then start with a clean sheet for the next day - every day of the year. My own systems simplified things by running UTC clocks on the machines and then applying the correct offset to provide the current local time. Even this can be fun when scheduling meetings for the months ahead after a DST switch, but simply always assuming 'local time' can be just as problematic.

So why is this a health post? Because neither of the apps that I use can cope with the missing hour! I deliberately went to bed a little earlier last night in order to get 7 and a bit hours sleep, and 'snoozed' for a little this morning so 7 hours 20 minutes. Just 10 minutes under my target period. The manual settings on HealthForYou allows for these times to be set, but gives me 8:20 rather than 7:20, while the Samsung Health app initially recorded the times as 10:20 to 6:40 and gave 7 hours before 'correcting' the 10:30 time to 11:30 and now complains that I've only had 6 hours sleep. No way to manually adjust it to correct the actual sleep time so things will be messed up for the next 7 days.

To add to the fun I did actually manage to see one of the doctor's at the surgery last week, but I am none the wiser as to if I am doing the right things at all. The heart condition the cardiac consultant is 'monitoring', but without any contact then how can he do that? My knee is a separate problem even if it's affecting my exercise attempts. The only good thing is that the blood results are still abnormal and I've got to make an appointment tomorrow to speek to another doctor (who only works Monday to Wednesday) to find out just what the problem is. At least all of this IS appearing on the NHS app even if the actual March results have not been posted yet.

Am I stressed? Well the watch says no, but then it also says no to producing blood pressure or ECG readings and only randomly produces oxygen saturation ones day or night. Being told to move it up and down my arm to 'help get better readings' is an irritation that could become stress! It's just a good thing that I know perfectly well that none of this technology can be relied on, and fingers on the wrist are the only way to check what mode my heart is actually in. Being told 'If things change contact the surgery' is another irritation if I'm unable to but down any rules as to just what a 'change' is ...