slembcke, 21 days ago

@RL_Dane Aviation apparently all uses UTC. I need to get myself very used to that! (ohno…)

RL_Dane, 21 days ago

@slembcke

I wonder why the U.S. military calls it "Zulu hour." (UTC, that is)

RL_Dane, 21 days ago

@slembcke

I looked it up. "Zero hour" (zeroeth time zone) -> "Z hour" -> "Zulu hour" (NATO Phonetic Alphabet)

I also, I believe all of the time zones have letter codes from A to Z.

slembcke, 21 days ago

@RL_Dane Oh yeah. Another thing I need to learn is that international phonetic alphabet. That sounds easy enough though.

railmeat, 21 days ago

@slembcke @RL_Dane What is the "international phonetic alphabet"? Do you mean the NATO phonetic alphabet?

slembcke, 21 days ago

@railmeat @RL_Dane Why yes, yes I do… The international one is for pronunciation guides, heh.

RL_Dane, 21 days ago

@slembcke @railmeat

Playing around with amateur radio is what got me to finally memorize it.

It's really quite easy if you just use it occasionally in conversation, even if it's just in your head.

It also helps a lot when reading something out alphabetically on the phone, so you're not scrambling for words.

...

RL_Dane, 21 days ago

@slembcke @railmeat

...

I remember decades ago I was trying to tell someone to come to "D-K Ranch Road," and I said something like "Dee Kay, like David Kangaroo Ranch Road."

They never found the place, because they were looking for "Kangaroo Ranch Road." XD

railmeat, 21 days ago

@RL_Dane @slembcke

Would it have worked better if they were looking for kilo road?

I have memorized the NATO phonetic alphabet a few times, but I don’t use it enough to keep it front of mind. Usually I look it up after I fail to remember a letter, then forget it again before the next time I need it.

RL_Dane, 21 days ago

@railmeat @slembcke

I also use it as my "lorem ipsum" when testing new fountain pens/ink. ;)

peppe, 21 days ago

@RL_Dane I don't have time to think about the time

dheadshot, 21 days ago

@RL_Dane I use both all the time (I have to living in the UK). Practice helps.

RL_Dane, 21 days ago

@dheadshot

I used it for a couple months. The only real upside was for time zone conversions and reading things like log files. Constantly doing the arithmetic in my head got to be a bother. 🤷‍♂️

joel, 21 days ago

@RL_Dane don't do math, it's just 14, it's just 18, don't translate it

eamon, 21 days ago

@joel @RL_Dane seconding this. What's weird is that now I have this schema for working hours ("it's just 14") but not after-work hours ("wait, what's 20:00 again?").

RL_Dane, 21 days ago

@eamon @joel

It was like one part of my brain was having to always talk to the other part in AM/PM, so I gave up. I couldn't re-train my neuro-concreteified brain. :P