how many time zones can there be?

i started this blog for three reasons: a) my cousin has one and it's pretty funny and after reading what he has to say about the world i feel like i have some things to say as well ... 2) i sit at home a lot these days and have nothing better to do ... and d) reason number two all over again, it's important enough to be listed twice.

since my life isn't very exciting, i'll just use it to post about random shit that enters my head. it will serve much better purpose this way.

first topic. i'm adjusting my profile on this website, and it wants my time zone. fair enough. but there weren't just 24 options, one for each hour. there were like 200, including about 30 different cities for the eastern time zone alone (the old -5:00 GMT).

first, what possible reason could there be for the government - or whoever does it - to distinguish all these zones from one another? i know there are some half hour exception deals here and there around the world, but 30 different cities in the eastern zone alone? something else is going on here. do these places really all have their own area-specific time rules? how confusing.

second, why was philadelphia not on this list? hello, 4th biggest city in the country, or something like that. i saw a town called knox, indiana on the list. i have legitimately never heard of this city. if there are any bloggers from knox, this must have made their life. why do some loser towns get listed on these lists but not the biggest ones? something tells me the answers to both these questions are related to each other. begrudgingly, i went with new york, although san juan was tempting...

another thought. it dawned on me that the eastern time zone is probably the best damn time zone in the whole world. think about it. new york, philly, boston, montreal, toronto, baltimore, dc, atlanta, miami, orlando, pittsburgh, knox, even detroit is in our zone (i was surprised to learn this). and that's just in north america. im sure some of brazil is in there too, and you know how hot the girls are down there. seriously, what other time zone is fucking with us? i say none.

be proud, east coasters!

EDIT: nevermind about brazil, i was way off!! check it out: http://www.travel.com.hk/region/timezone.htm look at asia, could these zones make less sense? why couldn't they just draw vertical lines?

EDIT #2: check out the border between pakistan and china. if you walk from pakistan into china, you jump forward 3 hours! when i get enough money saved to travel the world this will be one of my stops.