# What happens at 09:30 GMT? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168 "2004-08-10T07:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/1 "2004-08-10T07:56:57Z")
I have noticed that every day at about 9:30 GMT the [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com) is down for about an hour or so. [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) is still available though. Is this due to maintenance? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/2 "2004-08-10T10:46:13Z")
I’d been wondering that, too. I guess it must be intentionally done at the same time every day… ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/3 "2004-08-10T11:33:06Z")
Ummm, lessee, 9:30 GMT, add 6, carry the 1, divide by the hypoteneuese… so that’s around 2:30 AM Chicago Time, which is when the boards have their regular maintenance as you surmise. Yes, we know that it’s very US-centric to pick a time when there are few US users on, but could be lots of Europeans. However, (a) most of our users ARE in the US, and (b) now that we’ve got members all around the globe, any time we picked would be inconvenient for some of them. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/4 "2004-08-10T13:36:50Z")
No need to apologise **C K Dexter Haven** 🙂 I was not complaining about that. I was just curious. May I ask what type of maintenance is that? Are you making backups of the boards or something? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/5 "2004-08-10T13:50:57Z")
> [@](#): > > What happens at 09:30 GMT? I shut down my browser and make a coffee. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/6 "2004-08-10T13:56:45Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > now that we’ve got members all around the globe, any time we picked would be inconvenient for some of them. Sorry Unless we have dopers in the Azores, maybe _their_ 9.30 am would be more suitable - how many US dopers are on the boards around 3.30 am Eastern? I’m sure there are a few, but would the numbers exceed the European dopers who get a time-out first thing in the morning? Not complaining, since I’m used to it, just a thought that there are huge swathes of ocean with no dopers in that you could inconvenience instead. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/7 "2004-08-11T00:02:24Z")
I have to think that a 10:30 AM outage for British time zones, and 11:30 for Europe, wouldn’t be any more convenient than a 9:30/10:30 period… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/8 "2004-08-11T00:19:56Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Ummm, lessee, 9:30 GMT, add 6, carry the 1, divide by the hypoteneuese… so that’s around 2:30 AM Chicago Time, which is when the boards have their regular maintenance as you surmise. Actually, the board is down from ~3:30 to ~4:30 a.m. for me. Probably a Daylight Saving Time thing. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/9 "2004-08-11T01:15:56Z")
Given that around 80% of SDMB members log in from North America, it seems sensible that the board closes down between the hours of 1.30am (Pacific Time) and 5.30am (Eastern Time) - daylight saving adjusted. This was traffic is minimally disrupted, as designed, presumably. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/10 "2004-08-11T04:07:26Z")
So. . . what kind of maintenance is it? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/11 "2004-08-11T04:09:01Z")
Changing the paper in the hamster cage? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/12 "2004-08-11T05:07:53Z")
No, they put new paper in the hamsters’ printer. Aaaaaaaand, they cart off the dozens of printouts from [www.hothamsterbabes.com](http://www.hothamsterbabes.com) . Then they delete all the cookies from [hamsters.unite.org/](http://hamsters.unite.org/) Then they take a break. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/13 "2004-08-11T05:09:55Z")
I got a 404 when I clicked on that link, thank Og. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/14 "2004-08-11T05:13:43Z")
It’s convenient, unless you’re up all night like me… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/15 "2004-08-11T08:18:17Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > I have to think that a 10:30 AM outage for British time zones, and 11:30 for Europe, wouldn’t be any more convenient than a 9:30/10:30 period… Wrong way - it would be 7.30 am to 8.30 am European - much more convenient for us, and not terribly inconvenient for you lot. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/16 "2004-08-11T10:47:11Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Aaaaaaaand, they cart off the dozens of printouts from [www.hothamsterbabes.com](http://www.hothamsterbabes.com). Damn you, **AskNott**! Don’t tease me like that! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/17 "2004-08-11T13:03:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Wrong way - it would be 7.30 am to 8.30 am European - much more convenient for us, and not terribly inconvenient for you lot. I guess I was a trifle confused. The original statement is that the outages are happening around 9:30 GMT. I think (I’m not sure) they’re usually done around 2 or 3 AM CST (Chicago time), so that would jive with 9:30 GMT. And that means the current maintainance is around 3:30 Eastern Time. So when **jjimm** suggested moving the outage to 3:30 Eastern time, I wrongly read that as moving it from 2:30 AM to 3:30 AM Chicago time. And that would be 9:30 to 10:30 AM GMT. In actuality, 3:30 AM Eastern Time is where we are now. Moving it up to 1:30 Chicago time, that would be 11:30 PM California time (the night before), which would be inconvenient for posters in California, Alaska, Hawaii, etc. I’m getting a headache. If you’d just use a stop clock instead of one that moves, you could set the stopped clock at a time when you’re asleep, and lo! the board would be down at that time. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/18 "2004-08-11T13:11:51Z")
It’s 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. IST for me. I try to schedule lunch around then, or do regular non-SDMB 'net stuff for an hour. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/19 "2004-08-11T14:54:26Z")
For those of you bummed out by **AskNott** ’s dirty little trick, here are some _real_ [hamster cuties](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://website.lineone.net/~petergrego/hamster6.jpg&imgrefurl=http://website.lineone.net/~petergrego/hamsters.htm&h=706&w=928&sz=80&tbnid=islnBgzB1tQJ:&tbnh=111&tbnw=145&start=9&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhamsters%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8). ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168/20 "2004-08-11T17:14:09Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > In actuality, 3:30 AM Eastern Time is where we are now. Uh, no. The board goes dark from **4** :30 - 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. I’m frequently stuck trying to open all the pages of a thread in new tabs before the shutdown, and then stuck waiting around for 5:30 a.m. (and the 5 a.m. hour is dismal for TV which makes it all the more boring) restart so that I can post my replies. I’d say that I’m on the boards at the blackout time 5 mornings out of 7, so I’m certain of which I speak. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-at-09-30-gmt/259168.md?page=2)