Isn't It Ironic, Don't You Think?
I hate the whole concept of Daylight Savings. Turning the clocks back in October is depressing. It makes the sun go down around 5pm, meaning the only sunlight I see is while walking to lunch. The only upside is that it cuts the time difference between California and Hawaii to two hours instead of three, but three hours isn't so bad, and nighttime starting at 5pm is.
So it was with great excitement that I turned my clocks forward on Saturday night. Yes, I would lose an hour of sleep, but it was worth it (and that's saying something coming from me). So what happens? A glorious, sunny weekend suddenly becomes rainy and dark. The sun could have been out until 9pm, it wouldn't have made a difference with this crappy weather hiding it all day. It's like rain on your wedding day. Oh well, at least this storm is extending ski season.
So what's the history on Daylight Savings anyway? Can anyone enlighten the rest of us? I admit I don't get it.
So it was with great excitement that I turned my clocks forward on Saturday night. Yes, I would lose an hour of sleep, but it was worth it (and that's saying something coming from me). So what happens? A glorious, sunny weekend suddenly becomes rainy and dark. The sun could have been out until 9pm, it wouldn't have made a difference with this crappy weather hiding it all day. It's like rain on your wedding day. Oh well, at least this storm is extending ski season.
So what's the history on Daylight Savings anyway? Can anyone enlighten the rest of us? I admit I don't get it.
posted by Chang Kim at Monday, April 04, 2005
4 Comments:
Thanks to Melanie for sending the following...still seems stupid:
BOSTON, April 3 (UPI) -- A U.S. federal law says daylight saving time becomes effective at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of April -- but most Americans have no idea why.
Michael Downing, author of "Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time," says he never gave the time change much thought until it occurred to him he had no idea why he was changing the clock, the Boston Globe reported.
Most Americans think daylight-saving time benefits farmers or saves energy, but farmers have always hated having to get up earlier and energy savings have never been proven, according to Downing.
The idea seems to have originated with Benjamin Franklin, who noticed in Paris in 1784 that people slept while the sun was up in during summer mornings, but complained about the cost of candles used at night. He suggested U.S. church bells be rung at sunrise, and if that didn't rise people, a cannon be fired.
While the U.S. government followed Germany's example in changing the clocks during WWI and WWII, it was unpopular and repealed in peace time.
However, Downing says Wall Street preferred having fewer hours between the markets being open in New York and London and stores found they had more shoppers while it was still light, the Globe reported. The federal government made it official in 1966.
Of course, one negative result annually reported across the nation: the number of people who arrive late for work the Monday morning after the switch.
Standard time resumes in the United States at 2 a.m. the last Sunday in October.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
daylight savings i can understand... i just can't figure out why the f@$@ they decided to spring forward on saturday night? Why not spring forward Monday at 4pm? Or at your leisure, like right before a meeting.
Or how about fall-back, then spring-back 23 hours? One week out of the year, let's just say there's no Monday... just Sat, Sun, Sun2, Tuesday...
Actually, it was "at you leisure" (or rather, at your city's leisure) for years. But that resulted in all sorts of confusion, since there was no guarantee that the neighboring cities would decide to turn it on at the same time. Apparently in one state (sadly, I don't remember which), there were 37 different start/stop time pairs at one time. Confusing, yes?
What I want to know is why they don't just leave it on all the time. It would get light really late in the winter, but since everyone's at work, they would probably prefer their light in the afternoon.
That's basically what I'm saying. Just leave it on permanently, and keep our days as long as possible.
Of course, that's a pretty selfish request, since the sun is up by the time I wake up regardless. :)
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