Daylight Stupid Time Again

[Ben]

This is just me doing my once a year vent about having to switch to Daylight Savings Time. I know I'm in the minority, but I hate it. I get up early, so my lights are on and I'm not saving jack in electricity. I resent them trying to pull the wool over my eyes with the phrase "daylight savings" when I'm not saving anything of the kind. And starting in 2007, it's gonna be a month longer. Arrrgghh.

[TarpleyG]

And starting in 2007, it's gonna be a month longer. Arrrgghh.

I think it's a month longer now...seems early this year for some reason...isn't it usually only 6 months long and now it will be 7 (end of October, right?).

Greg

[Big Hairy Bee]

Here in AZ they don't tread on our sunlight freedoms...

[Ben]

On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday of March and end the first Sunday of November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.

So about three weeks longer (or nearly a month if you're pessimistic about it like me).

[The Rabbi]

It helps the golf ball and tennis racket manufacturers.
There have been a couple of interesting books and articles on this topic and how it began.

[Kharn]

So now every device that automatically compensates for DST needs a firmware upgrade.  Did anybody ever estimate the cost of that?

[Standing Wolf]

Well, yeah, but it's not still a stupid idea if Congress adopts it, right?

[Silver Bullet]

This is just me doing my once a year vent about having to switch to Daylight Savings Time.

You can do it twice a year if you like !  You just have to add a rant about having to switch from Daylight Savings Time.

  :/

Or, move to Arizona or Indiana.

[Ben]

But I LIKE switching back to standard time.

[gunsmith]

I wish they would leave time alone....I HATE THIS CHANGING TIME STUFF

[doczinn]

It's stupid. If people need to get up earlier, why don't they just do it?

[Justin]

It helps the golf ball and tennis racket manufacturers.

Are you being facetious, or is there some kind of neato story behind the statement?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[The Rabbi]

It helps the golf ball and tennis racket manufacturers.

Are you being facetious, or is there some kind of neato story behind the statement?

Inquiring minds want to know.

If you look at the history of DST, part of the impetus for it came from avid golfers (one guy in particular whose name I have forgotten).  The guy realized that by moving the clock in the spring he would have more time for golf.  In fact golf ball sales increased 20% the first year it went into effect.  The idea got sold later on during WWI as a means to increase production.  The farmers hated it btw.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

I hate it, too.

[Ben]

The farmers hated it btw.

This is what I have always read and understood. Yet it seems popular opinion (AND Homer Simpson) blame DST on farmers. I just got back from the gym where two guys working out next to me were cussing out farmers for DST. And I've heard the same on many other occasions. I wonder where the role reversal got started?

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

Interestingly, the farmers I know don't watch the clock but are task-oriented.

One exception to that is the dairy farmer; he milks three shifts per 24 hours. Cows settle into a routine and show up at that time; cows can't read clocks.

I kinda like DST because at least that way I get to see some daylight by the time I leave work...usually.


Regards,
Rabbit.

[K Frame]

I think Daylight Saving Time made a LOT more sense when the majority of the country wasn't on the power grid, which is why Benjamin Franklin suggested it in the first place.

Some years ago I was living in DC and commuting to the outer burbs. In the deep winter I'd leave the house when it was still dark, get to the office when it was just getting light enough to read by, and then get home just as the sun left the sky.

Talk about depressing.

[The Rabbi]

When farmers had to pay attention to market times in town they had issues with it.  So they had one hour less to get their stuff harvested, packed, and ready for market.  I guess today that isnt such an issue.

[Justin]

f you look at the history of DST, part of the impetus for it came from avid golfers (one guy in particular whose name I have forgotten).  The guy realized that by moving the clock in the spring he would have more time for golf.  In fact golf ball sales increased 20% the first year it went into effect.  The idea got sold later on during WWI as a means to increase production.  The farmers hated it btw.

Rabbi-

I've always dug weird little stories like that.  It's always interesting to see how one small change can ripple through everything, making bigger waves as it goes.

Neat story.  Even if a golf course is nothing more than a wasted rifle range.

[El Tejon]

Silver, FYI, Indiana moved to DST this year.  We set our clocks forward Saturday night and its great!  At last, despite the whining and protestations of those in the General Assembly who are so ignorant that they cannot figure out how to manipulate their clocks (or work a toothbrush), Indiana is in synch with larger markets!  Hoozah!

Indiana joke:  What time is it in Indiana?  1953.

I love DST.  Extra hour for outside play during the warmest weather.  Thank you, Benny Franklin.

[Silver Bullet]

We set our clocks forward Saturday night and its great!

DST must be mighty fine if youve only had it for two days and are already signing up members for the DST Fan Club.  

Things I didnt like about it before I moved to Arizona:  

1. Losing that hour of sleep in the spring.  
2. Trying to figure out how to change the clocks in my car stereos.  I hate multi-function stereo control buttons, especially where some of the functions arent labeled.  

[CatsDieNow]

I grew up in Indiana (who has gone to the dark side!), but I always knew it was DST when my grandparents in Ohio put duct tape over all their digital clocks.

[cordex]

Indiana's switch to DST will save about two and a half seconds per day of thinking for me (my company handles a lot of national and international support calls).

I've lived for years under both systems.  Give me standard time any day.  Unlike some, I can handle a little extra thinking.

[El Tejon]

Silver, I lived under the brutal heel of DST oppression in D.C. and in Chicago.  Loved it then and I'm grooving on it now!

Now if only we had an Irwinian HOA President.

[Art Eatman]

During WW II, milk cost 18¢ a quart in the store; 23¢ delivered to your doorstep.  Work backwards, timewise, for the shipping and handling, from the delivery back to processing to pickup to milking.  Sure, cows don't care about clocks, but the dairy farmer had to have those cans out in time for pickup for the NEXT day's delivery.

Row-crop farmers and ranchers always worked by the sun, not the clock.  The change from 50% on-farm workforce to 3% on-farm has made a big difference in who's affected.

DST hurt the drive-in theaters.

I remember liking it because it meant an additional hour of outdoors play.