Almost Yearly Daylight Saving Time Rant

Okay chaps, I have tried not to comment on this ridiculous yearly fiasco for a year or two but here it is again. In the fist week(technically second weekend but who's counting eh?) of March. It is not even spring yet. And in case it was not obvious to the powers that be the earth will enter Vernal equinox in about two and a half weeks anyway. We used to to this at the end of April. And ended it, mercifully, at the end of September. Just after the Autumnal Equinox.

The nice thing about waiting til the end of April was the way in which we gain light after winter solstice. Most of it comes in the evening anyway. I remember the joy of trying to get my five year old daughter to bed at 8:00PM for school the next day and her saying rightly that is was hard to sleep with light still peeking in behind the curtains. The main issue for me is summer. You gents who live in the South or just west of the Missouri river know EXACTLY how hot and humid it gets. There is nothing like waiting for the sun to disappear and realising it won't happen til 9:15PM at summer's height. Why couldn't we get the psychological benefit of having it drop out of site at 8:15 instead? This is exactly why Arizona doesn't follow DST. It's just me. I would be happy living in the Misty Mountains with the dwarves but that's just the ice bear in me. Yeah, I like cool weather. So there it is. The useless rant.

The whole idea was Ben Franklin's. While very intelligent, Ben was also quite the jokester (read his fart essay...). Im pretty sure that the DST idea was a joke...that we took seriously.

Phog, I agree 100%. DST really makes no sense to me, especially with the recent expansion of the start and end. At least you are informed enough to use correct name, i.e. daylight saving (no "s") time. It drives me nuts when people add the "s".

During WWII, the US went on double DST. Supposedly saved energy for the war production efforts.

It lets me be more of a slug when I sleep the same hours but get up later in the day.

When I become king, sunset will always be at 9:00PM.

ouch said:

When I become king, sunset will always be at 9:00PM.

Click to expand...

I thought you were already king? The other king? What king? I don't know...who's on first?

Sorry, I forgot; Art is King and always will be. Maybe Ouch will settle for Major Domo of the B&B house?

And just as an aside, DST has nothing to do with farmers. Cattle live by the sun dial. They give milk in the morning and at night. They wake up when the sun comes up and laze around when it gets dark. And any time in between when they want to rest. DST as a Federal mandate with standardised start and stop points is relatively new. I think from the late 1960s as far as legalities go. And it was first instigated as a measure to save electricity in factories in WW1 and 2. Back in those days factories had huge moveable glass windows and skylights so much of the workday was accomplished using the natural light of the sun. By manipulating the clocks it stayed light an hour longer than normal. The thinking was people would rather work later than get up earlier to take advantage of the 'free' daylight at the end of the day. Trouble is, there isn't a factory built in the last 60 years that has natural lighting in it. At least not as part of its primary lighting. They are all sealed and use electric lighting and have to be air conditioned(which includes air exchanges so many times per hour). The later work day brought on by DST means most places that run one or two shifts actually use more electricity since the sun is still beating down on their buildings for an hour after it would normally do so according to the clock. DST is really for the softball and golf crowd...you know who you blackhearts are.

I wish they would just quit messing with time. Bush made it worse. I didn't think that was even possible. I woke up this morning, on my own, just before 7. Perfect. Why mess with it? I haven't bothered changing my car's clock the last two years.

That's why I live in AZ. The worst I have to worry about is missing the beginning of the occasional televised sporting event because I forgot that everyone else changed times.

And please don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke, carbon monoxide and/or radon Detectors.

[FONT=&amp]"We pay back the loan of an extra yawn in spring, with the 'golden interest' of a lengthier snooze in the autumn". Sir Winston Churchill[/FONT]

I prefer the sunrise/sunset schedule during DST rather than standard. I like the daylight being at the end of my day instead of at the beginning. No matter what time of year it is, or how short or long the days are. Thats just me though.

Thanks for the reminder. We set them ahead this satruday night right?

I've been doing this my entire life so it's not a big deal to me . In fact...on the list of Toothpick's Big Deals this falls somewhere between clipping my toe nails and breathing.

Toothpick said:

...on the list of Toothpick's Big Deals this falls somewhere between clipping my toe nails and breathing.

Click to expand...

Same here. I just change my clocks and watches forward or backward 1 hour (less all the time since some magically change themselves) when the time comes to do so and life goes on as usual… really.

I don’t have an issue with daylight saving time. But why in the fall must the clocks turn back when there is less daylight and more need to "save" it. This only benefits people who get up unnaturally early, and they are already getting the best pick of worms so why should they get extra daylight too? What about sensible people like me?

I call it "daylight wasting time." Ugh.

Little Joe from Mexico said:

Same here. I just change my clocks and watches forward or backward 1 hour (less all the time since some magically change themselves) when the time comes to do so and life goes on as usual… really.

Click to expand...

I have an older stove with a "digital" clock- the type that use an analog movement to display numbers instead of hand positions (I hope that makes sense). This time of year is easy- advance it one our. The fall back means you advance it 11 hours. I need a new stove.

BSAGuy said:

? . . At least you are informed enough to use correct name, i.e. daylight saving (no "s") time. It drives me nuts when people add the "s". . .

Click to expand...

Since Jan 2014 I like to refer to it as "Daylight Shaving Time".

I'm glad that most of my time sources adjust themselves automatically ... the computer, cellphone, and cable-tv box will all take care of themselves. I still have to do a few manually. My alarm clock, the clock on the stove and microwave, the coffeepot, an analog wall clock in the living room, and the one in my car. Usually it takes a few days before everything gets switched over.

I know we're supposed to go Spring Forward, but I never remember if that means we get an extra hour of sleep or an hour less. My friend at work insists we get an hour less sleep, but an extra hour of sunshine. I told him they can take that sunshine and stick it where the sun don't shine, because I'd rather have an extra hour of sleep.

T.Orso said:

I don’t have an issue with daylight saving time. But why in the fall must the clocks turn back when there is less daylight and more need to "save" it. This only benefits people who get up unnaturally early, and they are already getting the best pick of worms so why should they get extra daylight too? What about sensible people like me?

I call it "daylight wasting time." Ugh.

Click to expand...

I'm with you. Light in the morning is useless. All I'm doing is trying to get to work, when I go from my lighted apartment to my lighted workplace. Who cares if it's dark outside. I don't really get to see the sun in the morning. All my activity that might benefit from sunlight is in the evening. And what joy it is when it's dark by 4 in the afternoon in winter. Who made "standard time" standard? Leave it on daylight saving all year round. If anything there would be less SAD in the winter.

Actually, I think the most sensible thing is to move the clock half an hour once one year and leave it forever. The vast majority of us have the benefit of, you know, electric lights, and aren't tied to agricultural cycles anymore, so just split the difference, and stop with this semiannual annoyance.

wilfried said:

Who made "standard time" standard? Leave it on daylight saving all year round. If anything there would be less SAD in the winter.

Click to expand...

They did try that in 1978. Children were walking to school in the dark. I don't mean pre-dawn. I mean it was dark. It was a safety issue.
Standard time is not an arbitrary decision someone in Greenwich made. It corresponds to the position of the sun. At 12:00 noon each timezone is at its meridian where the sun is directly overhead. Each hour before or after 12 the sun is at an angle to the meridian. It's how sun dials work and how early navigators calculated longitude.
It also became more important when the railroads needed to set schedules.
Excursus: it is no longer necessary to preserve daylight since WWII has been over for some time. Standard time works for me. I want to stay with it. I will not be participating this year. You may expect me to be an hour late to any future events until November. [emoji1]

Lets not kid ourselves. Kids don't walk to school anymore. Al least it seems that way with those huge lines I see outside of schools every day.