Friday, March 8, 2013

Spring Forward? Not If I Can Help It...

This weekend is the beginning of daylight saving time.  We will gain one hour of daylight in the evenings and lose one hour in the mornings.  I have never understood the reasoning behind this.  One of the first proponents of daylight saving time was an Englishman named William Willett.  He disliked having his evening round of golf cut short by the setting sun, so in 1905 he proposed advancing the clock during the summer months.  During the First World War, daylight saving time was adopted as a way to conserve coal and save electricity.  We live in a 24 hour schedule here in the 21st Century, and our schedules are no longer governed by the movements of the earth in relation to the sun.  We are surrounded by light, noise and electrical gadets.

"First electricity, now telephones.  Sometimes I feel as if I'm living in an H.G. Wells novel."  ~~ Countess Violet Grantham

I detest daylight saving time.

Most living things are biologically set to a circadian rhythm.  We need a certain amount of daylight and a certain amount of darkness, and our biological functions are tied to the light-dark cycle.  One of the most important of these biological functions is sleep.  Modern humans already live in a desperately sleep-deprived environment.  Indoor lighting and other stimuli already disrupt our circadian rhythm and our sleep-wake patterns.  This, in turn affects our health.  Why in the name of all that's wonderful do we need more light at ten o'clock at night?

Did I mention I detest daylight saving time?  The residents of the animal fraternity house next door will begin to stir, they will venture outdoors blinking at the bright blue sky, and they'll party down -- until the wee hours of the morning.  I'll be lucky to get four hours of sleep.  Folks will haul out their barbeques -- what is it about a summer evening that compels people to cook huge slabs of meat until they're charred to a crisp?

I'm thinking of buying a double-barrelled super soaker water blaster, but I would probably be arrested.  I hear jail is very noisy.

12 comments:

Alicia said...

I dislike the time changing too. I just want it to be one time all the time so I don't have to get used to losing/gaining hours *sigh* all so tiring!

Sextant said...

Back when I worked I liked daylight savings time. I often didn't get home until 7 or 8 PM and if left a little bit of daylight to enjoy. What I did hate was losing that hour over the weekend. So I used to change the clocks the first thing when I would get home on Friday night. Get it over with and have the rest of my weekend with out moaning about losing that hour. For some reason that made a big difference and I didn't feel cheated. Strange dude, I know.

Now I could care less. Clocks are meaningless. Life is bliss. Retirement...I highly recommend it.

Lorna said...

I like it. I like having it light outside at 5PM and prefer having it dark in the morning when I am curled up in my bed sleeping. :-)

~Lorna
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Leslie: said...

I sense a tinge of irony here...I hope! lol I like daylight saving time because I tend to have that SAD syndrome and more light means I feel better. I like the longer evenings to take nice strolls (with the dog now) and sitting on the patio with aromas of burnt meat wafting over me. LOL

Sextant said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tom said...

I like DSL, but I admit, it's because I never get up before 7 a.m. Btw, Sextant, thanks for the racist, sexist joke!

DJan said...

I also appreciate that you used the term correctly, without the "S" at the end of saving. Most people, even TV commentators, get it wrong. I wish we would be on DST the entire year, like they do in some enlightened states. :-)

Sextant said...

Tom,

My apologies. I had no intention to offend anyone. Upon second look, yes the quote was a poor choice and I deleted it. Again please accept my apologies.

PhilipH said...

I too detest all this clock-changing rigmarole twice each year. Absolute nonsense and quite unnecessary.
Man invented 'time' and it helps to know the 'time' but to persist in buggering about with it like this is sheer crappy nonsense.

Tom said...

Oops, I meant DST (not DSL). Sextant, the joke was actually not unfunny, but still, you know ... anyway, in my book you are an honorable person.

Russell said...

I used to go into my classroom on the Monday after we sprang forward or fell back and ask the students "Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?" and, well, that got a mild chuckle.

Of course that was years ago. Today no one knows the group Chicago is .... heh!

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