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“Hello, everyone,” Jack Carter, the Sheriff of Eureka, who was currently in his Jack Carter Morph, began his speech from Henry’s office in GD.

“Bobbi C told me that, based on global time zone offsets, the place where the sun rises earliest is in the Line Islands of the republic of Kirbati, which is in the Central Pacific. The time zone in the Line Islands is plus fourteen hours of UTC (UTC means ‘Coordinated Universal Time,’ as you know).

“She also says that the place where sunrise happens last in the world is in America’s Baker and Howland Islands, out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The time there is minus twelve hours of UTC. Both islands are uninhabited, by the way, so this time zone is actually sort of unofficial.

“Therefore, since it is now 4AM here in Eureka, it means is that it just turned March One on Howland Island, and it turned March One in Kirbati twenty-two hours ago.

“Why is this important? Well, all it means is that, officially, February 28 has now passed all over the world. And since voting for the Reader Retention Story Contest is officially only until February 28, then voting for the contest is now officially over.

“And though Bobbi has done her best to to run a campaign for our favorite story, “Eureka: The Day's Not Over Yet,” to be able to place in the contest, it is not to be. And, unless our count is wrong, we think there weren’t enough Kudos clicks. If it turns out we did place, then I take it back. Heheheheh.

“I have to tell you, Bobbi really busted her buns to innovate and change the storytelling paradigm here in BCTS - over and above trying to write a good story, she spent lots of man-hours making up graphics and splash pics up the kazoo to keep the readers’ attention and make an already fun story even more fun, pushing the concept of TV series-style storytelling and doing above-board open lobbying for votes (and no other lobbying by other means)… although I’m sure that she wouldn’t have used the term “man-hours” ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…

“But despite her open appeals, a different way of storytelling, a unique and nostalgic story source, an excellent, action-packed, funny, sexy and dramatic story, as well as excellent story-telling… Hey! Don’t blame me! Her words, not mine! Anyway, we think her story didn’t get enough votes to place. There were probably other things that she didn’t consider. Stiff competition, I would think.

“Oh, well.

“But the campaign wasn’t really a failure, as we still got lots of votes as well as lots and lots and lots of reads. Bobbi says that she, actually, as do I and everyone else in Eureka, too, is very appreciative and grateful for the support of everyone who read her story. There were lots of readers, but not enough cared to click, unfortunately… Well, I, for one, am grateful because, after everything I went through - you know, getting whipped by that robot, getting zapped with static electricity, getting blown up by ginormous pea pods, and getting stuck as a girl - I think it was all worth it coz you guys read my story and some of you even clicked the button… I mean, our story! … ummm, don’t tell Bobbi I said ‘my story,’ k’?

“Bobbi actually said she was fairly sure she wasn’t going to win in the contest. She said she never does here in BCTS, and she thinks she never will, so she said this will probably be the last time she’ll try joining BCTS contests for a while.

“But thanks for reading. As she said, the best kind of prize is that people read her story and enjoyed it.

“For those who haven’t read the story, yet, here’s the organizer page.”

https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book-page/77320/eureka-days-n...

“And no need to click the kudos button anymore - the voting’s done already. But you’re welcome to still click just because you feel like it. Heheh.

“Anyway, if you’ll all excuse me, Henry, Allison, Andy and I have to go and meet some folks from Warehouse 13 and the Secret Service about a job. Sorry I can’t tell you anything more - it’s kinda secret… Anyway, thanks, and see you all again sometime.”

  
Note:
Lots of graphics in Bobbi's posts use publicly-accessible pics from the net (the collage above includes pictures from the SyFy TV show, Eureka and other pictures): No ownership is claimed for these pics nor IP infringements intended

Comments

Therefore, it means is that

Submitted by on

Therefore, it means is that it turned March One on Howland Island twenty-six hours ago, and it just turned March One in Kirbati now.

I think you have that backwards. Kiribati is twenty-six hours ahead of Howlan Island.

thanks... i guess...

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bobbie-c's picture

You are absolutely right. I am rightfully caught in a mistake in public - thank you for showing everyone: I am most properly embarrassed in front of everyone.

I shall be correcting my post now.

Perhaps you might consider not doing this again in the future, and sending someone who has made a mistake like this a private message instead of a public announcement? There is a private message function, after all. Though I know there is a wonderful zing-y feeling associated when publicly embarrassing people, it might be nicer if you just do the correcting privately and forego this momentary enjoyment. I am sure the writers you have caught in a mistake will appreciate it a lot if you do. But then again, you posted anonymously. I suppose your intention really was to embarrass me in public.

Anyway, since I am feeling a little, let us just say, put off, I will correct you back. It is "Howland Island," and not "Howlan Island." Sorry for that - I guess it's a minor kind of "tit-for-tat" thing - consider it as a minor retaliation, but I guess you're safe - you've posted anonymously, after all.

Anyway, I now go and correct my post.

Look for the...

Submitted by on

tmf's picture

Send author a message

at the far right under the Kudo (thumb up)/ Like / Love / Thanks buttons.
Same line as the Add new comment

Peace and Love tmf

I love the post, but...

Submitted by on

Beoca's picture

As a time zone nerd, I love the idea of the post. However, I am a bit of a time zone nerd. Thus, I have to echo our guest reader in noting that you have the time zones backwords: the Line Islands (UTC+14) are twenty-six hours AHEAD of Howland Island (UTC-12). Similarly, the Line Islands have the earliest sunrise of anywhere in the world due to being as far east of the date line as Hawaii (and substantially further east than any other territory that is ahead of UTC).

So, if it had turned March 1 on Howland Island twenty six hours ago, it would in fact be March 3 on Kiribati.

That 26 hours...

Submitted by on

tmf's picture

the Line Islands (UTC+14) are twenty-six hours AHEAD of Howland Island (UTC-12)

Beoca

Peace and Love tmf

The best prize?

Submitted by on

Andrea Lena's picture

Me getting to read your story!

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

guest reader PM

Submitted by on

I'm not sure how system works. But when I tried to PM a guest reader it was a public comment. On reflection, I realized this had to be because Guest reader probably does't create a PM address, it may or may not work in the opposite direction.

But your point is well taken. Use PM for most corrections.

my stand, and public posts

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bobbie-c's picture

Well... I did not intend to send the anonymous commenter a Private Message. Rather, I was telling him (or her - I don't really know as he was posting anonymously), that if one wants to point out a technical mistake to a person, that he should do it privately via a Private Message. And I wanted to say that publicly.

I'm sure many know my stand on commenters publicly embarrassing amateur writers needlessly. I have often posted about it via my public responses to such posts.

Essentially, my stand is this:

I believe that discussing matters that have to deal with story, and matters relating to storytelling is fair game, and could and should be discussed in a public manner. This is a healthy way of encouraging chats and discussions on the way writers write, and the way readers feel about stories they read, all with a point of view to having fun and learning to improve one's craft (if I may use a snooty word such as "craft" lol). But openly correcting someone about a technical error in the writer's post is not constructive, as it does not really help anyone learn or enjoy anything, and all it really does is publicly embarrass someone.

Of course, such corrections could and should be made, but these are more akin to proofreading corrections than anything else, and should be pointed out to the writer privately. Making it public is unnecessarily mean.

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