Ripping Yarns! - 08 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 698

Micah 6:8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah+6%3A8&version=ESV

Yes, your life matters. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+30:19&version=ESV

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today marks what would have been, had he lived, Jules Verne's 194th birthday. I have a "Complete Works of Jules Verne" on my Kindle, and have been working my way through his stories and novels for quite some time now. Frankly, I'm more impressed than I expected to be when I started. I knew 20,000 Leagues and Around the World in 80 Days and a few others, but the breadth of his output is quite remarkable. Nor is is all some sort of proto-science fiction - he wrote political stories as well as straight adventure novels.
I'm quite happy to be in the process, and wondering what I'll read next when I finish the last 20% of the volume.
Why not celebrate by reading one of his stories? They're fun!

Speaking of writing, today's freewrite prompt word is Pitch

It's quite amazing to realize that there were no standard time zones until way at the end of the 19th century. Everyone simply set their clocks by the local noon indicated by the sun. Then, on 08 February 1879, Sandford Fleming pitched the use of time zones. The later introduction of Universal Standard Time, which is based on time zones, revolutionized time keeping. Imagine how difficult it must have been to figure out the time when traveling across this continent by rail when the conductors had their watches set to whatever time they started with. Pretty bizarre.
This sort of takes me back to my occasional rants about Daylight Saving Time. Detroit needs to simple settle on Eastern Standard Time and stay there. It's already nearly DST for our longitude, based on solar noons here. Enough already!

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.