FINALLY

Somebody has exposed Daylight Saving Time. I have asked many people why the entire nation has to go through this insane inconvenience twice a year, and nobody has ever given me a remotely convincing explanation. I don't know why we go along with it. I mean, if the government declared that, every six months, we had to start calling "Monday" by a different name -- say, "Froombleday" -- would we do THAT? No! Or if the government suddenly declared that we all had to switch to new "water-saving" toilets that didn't work worth a crap, would we do THAT?

OK, that last one was a bad example. But you see what I mean.

Comments

[Blogchik]

They have daylight savings time here in Russia, too. (It started last weekend.) What is really wack, though, is that I'm here in St. Petersburg right now, and they have the White Nights during the summer. You know, like 3 hours of dark a night. We need Daylight Savings during the WINTER here. (Not that it would actually save daylight- but if it actually COULD I'd be for it.)

[SteveB]

Daylight savings time helps the grill industry? How the heck does an extra hour of sunlight at night help the grilling industry? And just what is a "grilling" industry?

And when I read that, why do I hear Hank Hill saying, "propane and propance related products"?

[SteveB]

Oops. I have no idea what "propance" is.

[D'Artagnan]

'Fall forward, spring back' is such a convenient crutch phrase. It works perfectly, every year.

Of course, I'm a couple of hours early to all the summer grill parties, which surprises the heck out of the barbecue and golfing lobby people in attendance.

[queensbee]

anything that richard nixon opposed was probably something I will support. so what's the big deal anyway. i needed to synchronize all my clocks, anyway.

[igloo]

Uh, SteveB,
Propance groups started up in the early 60's and the cause was pushed by various womens groups in an effort to convince young women not to wear Micro Mini Skirts.
Boy, I sure loved the 60's. At least I think I did. Lot of memories real hazy about what happened and what exactly I was doing that was so damn enjoyable.

[Sarcasmo]

SteveB, I'm propance (or propants in the states) at least for elderly/overweight women and ALL men (except myself of course).

[Christobol]

Nice use of the term worth a crap, Dave.

I will henceforward be calling Monday "Froombleday".

Can't wait until you're president and it becomes law.

[Marvin]

queensbee: but Disgraced Former President Richard Nixon was both against it AND for it. I suspect it was a last ditch attempt by his posse to force people to agree with him on something.

[Mahatma Kane Jeeves]

Here's an unfunny (non-funny?) NYT article in praise of it . . .

[gop4me]

Richard Nixon's living has decreased to the point he's deceased, not just disgraced.

And speaking of disgraceful politicians, I wonder how John Kerry waffles on this issue ...

[slyeyes]

Huh? I thought this whole thing was done to help farmers, which I never quite understood. Cows don't have watches.

But then, I'm not going to dispute my hometown paper.

[MOTW]

Grilling Industry -
That enterprise that takes care of the cows that produce a few less pints of milk when the time change takes effect. In other words, a long walk off a short grill - nothing to spit at.

[ErnieG]

Don't knock Daylight Savings Time. It's the only thing that can fix the Blog Clock™.

[ceeg22]

I like Daylight Saving Time. How can you be opposed to having daylight till 10 pm as opposed to from 5 am?

[Dave]

ceeg22: OK, fine, then why can't we LEAVE IT THAT WAY??? Why do we have to CHANGE BACK?????

[OTW-May]

Psst! Ernie-ay
Ix-nay onay e-thay og-blay ock-clay. Eway on't-day antway ootay aiseray e-thay ire-ay of-ay aveDay and-ay udi-jay.

[SteveB]

I'm with Dave. I've never understood why we can't just leave time alone. Back in the good old days of my youth, before we had time, we we're quite content to just wake up when we felt like it.

I propose that all of us start a "movement" to ban time all together. Throw away your watches! Write your congressperson! Let's get rid of time!

[Blog Clock Police]

'Ello, 'ello. What's all this then?

[Guin]

Do any of the Geezer Bus riders here remember the 1973-74 Energy Crisis, when there was Daylight Savings all year round? I remember walking to third grade every morning all year in the pitch dark, even in May and June. It stunk.

[SteveB]

Guin: I remember it.

I remember President Carter on television in his cardigan sweater telling us to turn down our thermostats, use less hot water, carpool, blah, blah, blah.

For the most part, we all ignored him. Except for the communal showering part. I remember trying to convince several women that it was a presidential decree we had to take showers together. I also remember lots of beer being involved...

[Guin]

LOL @ SteveB. Now we have Dubya in his cardigan sweater telling us to buy more SUVs to support the struggling oil companies.

[queensbee]

but i so hate it in december when the daylight hours are so short. i hate going home from work in the dark. ewww.
no offence to mr gop man, but richard nixon was a blight on our country. he should have served jail time. not a reflection on your party -- but on nixon, a shameful, lying, antisemitic piece of pooo.

[MOTW]

I remember WIN - Whip Inflation Now.

[hayduke lives]

I have no problem with daylight savings time. I just hope I can get up in time for work on Froombleday.

[Guin]

LOL @ SteveB. Now we have Dubya in his cardigan sweater telling us to buy more SUVs to support the struggling oil companies.

[MOTW]

queensbee - cheer up! Dec. 21 (or thereabouts) is when the days begin to get longer because the sun rises earlier in the day. My dad always says that's why it's his favorite day of the year.

[insomniac]

Smash the clock (you cannot tear the day to shreds). -Peter Gabriel 'The Rhythm of the Heat'

[gop4me]

No offense taken, queensbee. Martha Stewart perjured herself and was sentenced to jail time. Bill Clinton should have served jail time for his perjury, too.

[Dave (not Barry)]

Ba-da ba-da-da-da
Ba-da ba-da-da-da
Ba-da ba-da-da-da

Froombleday, Froombleday..(ba-da ba-da-da-da)
So good to me (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
Froombleday Froombleday, it was all I hoped it would be..
Oh Froombleday mornin’, Froombleday mornin’ couldn’t guarantee (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
That Froombleday evenin’ you would still be here with me..

Froombleday, Froombleday.. can’t trust that day
Froombleday Froombleday, sometimes it just turns out that way..
Oh Froombleday mornin’ you gave me no warnin’ of what was to be
Oh Froombleday, Froombleday how could you leave and not take me?

Every other day (every other day), every other day..
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Froombleday comes, but whenever Froombleday comes you can find me cryin’..
all of the time..

(with apologies to The Mammas & The Papas)

[Zaphod]

Actually I have NO idea what time it is or should be. Especially from the og-blay ock-clay (thanks for the secret code MOTW). I just moved from Pennsylvania to Nevada and have yet to figure out what time it is out.

*Begin minor rant*
I used to be fairly successful at leaping to FIRST on occasion, but now I would have to be up at 0:dark:30 or even earlier to be waiting for Dave's early east coast posts. Now that I'm in this strange time zone, all of the good comments are already posted by the time I get to work - er, I mean log on at home.
*End minor rant *

So, I'm all for this ban time movement.

[Smithie00]

Ft. Wayne, IN does not have daylight savings time. It was very disconcerting having to get used to it in college. That much less time for hangover recovery is never good, even if it is only once a year.

[Eleanor]

'Fall forward, spring back'
Way to go, D'Art - to paraphrase Sundance, when talking to Butch Cassidy, "You just keep thinkin' D'Art - that's what you're good at! :)

Salad dressing, photo - too funny!

Condolences to Zaphod on the move to Nevada - Take heart Zaphod - no one in Nev. ever knows what time it is - no clocks in casinos!!

[Blogging from the gutter]

"The Weekly Standard and former chief of staff to Vice President Quayle, was splattered by a student during a speech Tuesday"

That could be taken in such a wrong way. Not that we would, of course.

[ceeg22]

'cause then in the Winter it'd be getting dark at 3:30-4 in the afternoon! of course, in the winter, it's dark when I'm driving to work, and dark when I'm driving home, anyway, so that sucks, too.

[Writer's Cramp]

Since everyone is so concerned with moving TIME back and forth, well nobody ever thinks that maybe move other things back and forth... like CALIFORNIA for instance. Californians get so weird all by themselves on the left coast, that they could benefit greatly from moving to the east for half the year... provided Florida gets moved somewhere else like Canada, which would save the speedo clad Canadians a lot of time and money... but in any case, mixing Florida and California would... well, it would just put all the weirdness in one place.

How about we alternate the Red and the Blue states so that an aerial map resembles a big smiley face? Well, the time thing is just as arbitrary, so think about it people. Surely there are more things we can screw with!

[D'Artagnan]

I say just mix up all the Red and Blue states really, really thoroughly so we just end up with one big Purple country. Would that work for you, Cramp?

[Barney]

Thank-you D'art. We can rename the United States of America to the United States of Barney.
The Good ole USB.

[Writer's Cramp]

Purple is great! We should be Blue from 4:30-4:35am, Red from 4:55-5:00am and then Purple for the rest of the day! We'll keep moving the Capitol from Washington DC to a different state every day and never tell the politicians where its going next! Fox News will switch out guest anchors with all the other networks on a random basis. It'll be perfect!!!

[Joseph]

OK, Dave, I'll try.

Let's say that in the summer, on normal time, there's daylight from 4:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. This varies depending on your particular latitude & longitude, and by day of the year, but we'll use that as an example.

Now, what good does that hour of sunlight from 4:00 to 5:00 a.m. do? Not much for most people. On the other hand, many people can take advantage of sunlight later in the day, from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. So we trade early-morning sunlight for evening sunlight -- not in any "real" way, of course, but in our modern-life, clock-watching, 9-to-5 way.

"So why not all year long?" you say. Well, here the argument is less clear, but let's say that in the winter, there's daylight from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If we were on daylight savings time, the daylight wouldn't start until 9:00 a.m., which for a lot of people would be an inconvenience.

[Baron Kraft von Easy-Mac]

Now that we have daylight savings time, let's take the next logical step and make a system of metric time.

[Eleanor]

NO METRIC IN THE USA - EVER!!!!

[angel]

Here in Indiana, we still don't have it, but the legislature is trying to pass a bill calling for it. But it will be too late to start when everyone else does, so they're talking about starting it June 5. Spring forward, fall back, summer ??

[1point8metrestall]

You Go Eleanor!
Metrics is a French plot to take over the world. They are still mad about English becoming the language of diplomacy.

[D'Artagnan]

NO METRIC IN THE USA - EVER =

Return A Cheese In Vomit =
Hereticise A Vote, Mr. Nun =
I'm Into A Tush Reverence =
Stir Not A Vehemence, Uri.

Just sayin'.

[igloo]

Thanks, Zaphod. The Blog clock seems to make sense.
So there is
110000011010100000 seconds in Metric and
10101000110000000 seconds in our time.

I think I will need a new face for my watch. And a much bigger watch.

[queensbee]

that's right MOTW - i look forward to christmas, because the days actually are 1 minute longer. but now, now is the good stuff.

[Eleanor]

*zips in*

I am in total awe of people who do anagrams!

*blushes and zips out*

[MOTW]

* crawls in *
Eleanor - here's the secret Anagram Server

* plods out *

[MOTW]

* crawls in *
Eleanor - here's the secret Anagram Server

* plods out *

[MOTW]

* blushes at double post *

[slyeyes]

I was rather amazed to find out that the southern hemisphere participates in this lunacy as well. However, there, they apparently do fall forward and spring back.

Europe participates, so apparently, a portion of Indiana is the sole standout on the planet.

OK, maybe not.

[Mike "Mad's Dork" Weasel]

Oh crap, it's 4:80 already!

[Tamara]

Huh...

Barbeque is an entire industry.

I did not know that.

[igloo]

Tamara,
Barbeque is an entire idustry. It consists of people who, for a fee, wait in lines for the latest incarnation of Barbi dolls.

*Geezer Groaner*

[insomniac]

D'Art - I finally clicked the article about Pat Buchanan being doused with salad dressing.

"Thank you all for coming.", he said

Perhaps it wasn't salad dressing, and perhaps it was more of an expression of ..um..
enthusiasm.

[Eleanor]

*give insom the GROSS Award of the Day*
EEEEWWWW!

So, D'Art - have you been getting your anagrams from MOTW's link and taking credit??
Inquiring minds want to know!

[Jeff P.]

Insomniac - I also wondered if someone had tossed one off.

*ducks*

[Kafaleni]

Who's going to put the blog clock forward at 2am? We couldn't have it reflecting RL time!!

[Blog Clock Police]

ATTENTION!

DO. NOT. TOUCH. THE. BLOG. CLOCK!

We will be watching!

That is all...

[Just]

Insom - I made that same connection, I was just doin' the ladylike thing and waiting for someone else to say it. ;) THANKS!

[Zoodle]

Sly - Saskatchewan doesn't have daylight savings time either although the rest of Canada does.

Eleanor - I think the US is about the only country that doesn't have metric. Just saying.

[Eleanor]

You are absolutely right, Zoodle - and we are proud of that fact, no matter how dumb we look to the rest of the world - we will NEVER go metric - governments have tried to get us to change and we have successfully resisted - tear down those dual road signs!!!!! As a small concession we have agreed to buy soda pop in liter bottles but that's as far as we will go!! :)

*decides to sell No Metric In USA t-shirts on e-bay*

[PeeJay]

Zoodle: We have metric, we just don't use it.

Example: How tall are you? Six foot three. (look of recognition on questioneer's face.)

Example 2: How tall are you? 456 centimeters. (deer in headlights look, hit by a bus with mouth still agape)

We don't need it. We checked it out and said no thank you.

As a country we can bully the rest of the world and attack sovereign nations as we please.

Metric, stinking metric, we don't need no metric. Sorry but true. Besides we hate metric. At least with standard we don't look so stupid. It's harder to divide by 12 than 10: ergo our system is kind'of a workout for the brain.

*Someone paddle me hard* (but no eels)

[me]

We wouldn't need any daylight savings time if Congress would only pass a law to continually adjust the Earth's axis so we have 14 hours of daylight all year round! Sure it might screw up somebody's winter, but who likes winter anyway? Maybe some flying squirrel loving Canucks, but who really cares. Write your congressman today and urge them to pass this important piece of legislation!

[born in the usa]

10 kilometers = .6 miles!

Oh yeah - and what PeeJay said! :)

[born in the usa]

5,280 feet = 1 mile

100 yards = 1 football field (but not Arena football)

2,000 pounds = 1 ton

Born in the USA = Bruce Springsteen

That is all.
Carry on

[Kendra]

Arizona is also a holdout on daylight savings (my theory is that we all feel like we have plenty of daylight already, thank you very much, so we don't need to save any up).
The only kink in the hose is the Navajo reservation, which is technically its own nation, and which DOES do daylight savings time. I have a friend who lives in Winslow, AZ, and works on the res, and trust me, that poor girl NEVER knows what time it is as long as d.s.t. is going on. She finally broke down and bought a second watch, so now her left hand tells Mountain Daylight Time, while her right hand is set to Mountain Standard Time.

[qetzal]

OK, who wants to buy one of my Garfield posters?

"I hate Froombleday!"

$14.95 + S/H

[silver]

Daylight Savings Time dates from WWII. I think it had somethign to do with 'solidarity with England' or something like that. I would check the accuracy of that, but I am far too lazy.

I don't really mind it, personally. That is probably because my alarm wakes up and wants out of its crib...umm... goes off, anytime it wants to anyway, so hopefully, it will sleep a little longer.

[opiesgirl]

I think we should stay with one time. It is such a pain to remember to fix the clok before you go to sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

[D'Artagnan]

Ele, that anagram site can be a source of inspiration, but it's no replacement for linguistivitical genius, a masterful combinatory eye, and an endless supply of sick wit. Not that I'm thinking of any one bloglit in particular...

*whistles, looking at ceiling*

Doug, of course, is exempt from this characterization. The man is just simply insane, period.

So if you'd kindly continue to be in total awe of people who do anagrams, some of us would kindly appreciate it.

[Eleanor]

MOTTO:

ANAGRAMMERS ARE AWESOME!
Anagrammers need an audience!
Did I just make up a word?!?!?!?

Zen question of the day:
If an anagrammer anagrams and there's no audience to appreciate it, is there really an anagram at all?

[Sondra]

Not all 50 states observe DST. And only Half of Indiana observes it.
It's purpose is to prevent children being endangered by walking to school in the dark. Obvious solution: Change the school hours.

[Tami]

SPRING FORWARD FRIDAYS!

Here is my proposal: We should Spring Forward on Friday afternoon!!! That way, Friday afternoon at 4 suddenly becomes Friday afternoon at 5! Then we're into our weekend faster and don't lose a piece of our weekend! This works MUCH BETTER (PSYCHOLOGICALLY) ... I actually look forward to it on Friday afternoon (even though I have to remember that I'm really 'ahead' of everyone else for a day or so -- which is also something to look forward to, as I'm normally NEVER ahead of anyone else). So ... since it is now Saturday, I'm already ahead of y'all and am sending this message from the future! Which looks great so far, by the way!

[susanwob]

Hey Tami, me too! For spring DST I always set my clock ahead on Friday afternoon. Works great -- but why is everybody else always an hour late on Saturday?

PS to PeeJay: Example 3:
Q: How tall are you?
A: 6.354 light-nanoseconds

[Sam]

I believe daylight savings time started in WWI or so, to save electricity.

[Dana Sutton]

I have one of those toilets you're talking about. I call it my "Al Gore toilet" because it's a monument to good intentions gone awry. It consumes three gallons per flush instead of the traditional five, except for acceptable results I have to flush it twice, therefore consuming six gallons. And so, I think, it s a kind of porcelain metaphor for Liberal policywonking in general.

[bloogle]

Egad. Have we erred? Froombleday iasnear the END of the week, not at the beginning. It goes something like: Moombleday, Toozleday, Wenzelday, Thoozleday, and THEN Froombleday. But, I can't remember for sure. I lost my notes.

[Loopy]

Daylight savings reduces the amount of energy consumed in the evening for lighting, television, etc..

However, recent studies by scientists has revealed that the Oh-crap-I-forgot-to-set-my-clock-forward-now-I'm-late -for-work index might outweigh any of the energy benefits. The index measures the lost productivity due to car collisions while engaging in last minute grooming and getting fired for being such a bonehead and not setting one's clock forward--again. Really, the third time. Not that that's ever happened to me.

[U.O]

Waaaayyyyy LTTG, but gotta comment:

Back home, our state is split into two zones (Mountain and Those Eastern Idiots) ... it was simpler once, when the Missouri River was the line ... in the last 20+ years, several towns and/or counties have begun adapting to what they perceive as a change for "economic" reasons ... meaning $ ... not "saving daylight" ...

Two miles south of town, you cross a county line, and you're on Central Time ... but if you travel Highway 49, you stay in Mountain for another 20 miles ...

AND ... !!!

All the coal mines and power plants run their shifts on Central Time, because many (half or more?) of the employees commute from the Central Time Zone ... so, some of the folks who live near our home have two time zones in the same house ... work,

and

school/other jobs/everything else

Besides which, the concept of "saving daylight" by adjusting the arbitrary timekeeping device is one of Dr. Franklin's inventions which I think should have not been ... invented ...

[Meanie the Blue]

test

[Meanie the Blue]

This you, Blurk?