Daylight saving time. . . again. . .

[LynnDel]

Daylight Savings starts, for most of the states, on March 11 this year. I am not ready for this. Even though I am an early riser, it is because I want to be up before the rest of the world. It doesn't help when the rest of the world is forced to get up earlier, forcing me to get up even earlier. I want to secede, or move to Arizona!

LynnDel

[Jeannieb43]

I didn't realize Daylight Saving Time had been moved up to that early in March!! Whew! I was just NOW getting used to having some sunlight when getting dressed, NOW!

Arizona would be a help for more sunlight, all right -- at least in the mornings. My sis lives there, and for nine months out of the year (when we here in Calif. have Daylight Saving), she and I are at the same hour. But of course we can't force the sun to stop SETTING early when it's DST.

Boo hiss!

[Neil D]

Here's the article that announced the daylight saving time for those of you who are looking for the official word...or as we say in some liberal circles "authoriatively challenged"

I've got some top secret news which won't be revealed to the general public until March 11, 2007. Unwary people will be getting a rude awakening. On that day, in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, people in most states of the U.S. will turn their clocks forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. to take advantage of longer daylight hours and reduced energy bills.

Previously, Daylight Savings Time was implemented on the first Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday in October for participating states (Indiana, split between two time zones, didn't' participate). The passage of the Energy Act of 2005 now puts the end of daylight saving time to the first Sunday in November. In total, Americans will have about a month of additional daylight to get their chores done. The change is expected to advantage children who celebrate Halloween by 'trick or treating', and also to cut down on traffic accidents, many of which occur in the twilight drive-time hours.

There are some oddities about Daylight Savings time. Daylight Savings was first proposed by the brilliant inventor and statesman, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin's bright idea fell on deaf ears for about a hundred years. Daylight Savings Time was never implemented until WWII when the additional hours of work aided industrial production for the war effort. The extension of Daylight Savings Time is expected to save about $300 million in energy costs. Proponents of the expanded Daylight Savings Time act also point to an additional savings of 100,000 barrels of oil per day, which could have a marginal positive effect on environmental pollution as well. The time change is likely to have some computer users, too, if the hysteria attending the Y2K milestone is any indication. Newer computers are not likely to be affected but the owners of older ones may be subject to changing times on their computers manually.

States don't have to implement Daylight Savings Time by law, but if they use it at all they'll have to make it conform to the Daylight Savings Times conventions of other states. The concept of Daylight Savings Time has less efficacy in a state like Alaska where the summer nights are endless and the wintertime days so short that an hour either way wouldn't make a difference to anyone.

[GreatLakesGramma]

That's ridiculous. We will NOT have an additional hour of daylight. Daylight will still be exactly the same length, it will just be shifted to later in the day.

[LynnDel]

Daylight Savings Time is like putting a crib sheet on a twin bed. If you move the sheet up, you aren't covering more of the bed, because then your feet would be sticking out. If you move it so that your feet are well covered, your shoulders are cold. You can shift it all you want, but you can't stretch it.

That's my parable for the day.

LD

[Amelia]

I think we should all start our day when the sun comes up and end it when it sets. LOL

[LynnDel]

That would work great, Amelia, because if you're really tired, you could take a trip to the Arctic circle this time of year and get a lot of rest -- or if you have a lot of energy, you could go down to Antarctica and have enough sunshine for all your active activities (excepting playing on the beach in one's bikini, I suppose).

[CyberGuy]

Shoot I was just getting used to getting up at dawn. Now I will be getting up in darkness.

[Nan]

That's ridiculous. We will NOT have an additional hour of daylight. Daylight will still be exactly the same length, it will just be shifted to later in the day.

Aren't you worried about the extra hour of sunlight fading your curtains? That is the old favourite that gets dragged out here.

We go off daylight saving at the end of March but I believe next summer it will come in at the beginning rather than the end of October......

[Woody]

On the news tonight they mentioned that some are concerned that with the early start of DST ... our computers might CRASH.

It sounds like shades of Y2K.

Apparently a new law in 2005 changed all this. Now we have to wait until November for all this to end.

That is if we make it without our computers operating.

[GreatLakesGramma]

They have it totally backwards. Daylight already lasts late enough during the summer. The time we really need more light at the end of the day is in winter.

[Stan]

so now we have to pay more to heat our homes in the morning...????