Sunday, March 10, 2013

A Thought or Two on Daylight Savings Time

The government-imposed theft of one precious hour of my sleep time in March has rolled around again.  Daylight savings time began at 2 AM and will be here until November 3rd.  Mmph -- more coffee.

They impose it on a Sunday so that the impact on the Monday to Friday work-world is minimized.  If you've partied 'til you dropped on the Saturday before DST kicks in, however, you will have one less hour to recover before you must be functional on the second half of the weekend -- and no, I didn't.  Nyah.

They claim there's a significant conservation of resources when the day is brighter longer into the night.  However, in the 24/7/365 existence which has evolved since the regular use of daylight savings time, I question whether it's really worth the effort anymore.  Someone's going to have to show me the statistics to convince me.

Not that it makes any difference to prove it just to little ole me.  Daylight savings time is here to stay.  According to some, it might go to year-round.  Now, really, what's the point of that?  Is there any significant measure of improved usage of fuel, electricity, etc. from one more hour before sunset in the dead of winter?

I think why we really need daylight savings time is so that the the birds aren't chirping and the dawn isn't starting to creep into our world at 4 AM, an hour when most people are still catching sleep.  It's an obscene hour of the day to be awake when you don't have to be.  I ought to know.  I'm up at that hour whether I like it or not because my brain seems to be hard-wired for it and has been for most of my life.

And now, they've gone and snatched an hour from my sleep time again and won't give it back until November.  I can't wait that long.  Mmph -- more coffee.