Spring Ahead (with poll)
 

Time for my pointless semi-annual assault on the pointless semi-annual clock change. Lets try a poll this year.

Yes, yes, sunshine to the farmers, props to the crops.
Gosh, I hope the extra hour of sunlight doesn't burn the young plants before they can bud.
Well, at least the clocks in my cars will be right for 6 months.:D

Griff,
Daylight saving time saves us an unbelievable amount of money on utilities each year. I think Reagan changed it from end of April to the beginning, and there was a large number thrown out that it was projected to save the nation. We turn lights on later, so we use less electricity.
I'm for it.
I didn;t vote on the poll, though, as there was no " yes, it makes good financial sense" selection

Daylight Savings Time is dumb.

The original reason had to do with the time children had to be in school and the farm chores that they had to perform at home.
We no longer have much farming to do at home, and this only carries on a traditiion.

The daylight isn't "saved". You will get the allotted amount of daylight in spite of the clocks, and the farmers will get up at dawn regardless of the clock anyway. If sunset is at eight, changing my clocks will not change the time of sunset, only the perceived time.

The time change only screws with my internal clock for a few days until I adjust and reset. And makes me find out just how many timepieces I really have...VCR, two watches, three computers, stove, microwave, wall clock, car, motorcycle (yes, it has a clock) etc. Just a lot of work for no real benefit, sez I.

Bah on time changes.

Brian

LOOKY HERE

Under the US Uniform Time Act of 1966, the Department of Transportation is in charge of time zones in the United States and ensuring that jurisdictions observing daylight saving time begin and end on the same date. The federal law that established "daylight time" in this country does not require any area to observe daylight saving time. But if a state chooses to observe DST, it must follow the starting and ending dates set by the law which since 1986 have been the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.

The concept of DST was first proposed in by Benjamin Franklin in his 1784 pamphlet entitled "An Economical Project." He meticulously calculated how much money people would save in candle wax, wicks, lamp oil, etc, if they could effectively have an hour of daylight shifted from the morning to the evening hours. This move would postpone the need for lamps and candles being lit for another hour, hence saving money. Since fewer people are actually active at or before sunrise, he determined that the energy savings alone would justify changing clocks twice a year.

Daylight Saving Time was implemented during World War I and World War II to conserve energy. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which requested all states to observe Daylight Saving Time, unless a state exempted itself. Currently, 47 states in the US and over 70 countries observe DST.

By observing Daylight Saving Time we, in effect, create an extra hour of daylight in the evening. An hour in which less lighting is used and thus less electricity. Studies from the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation have shown that we reduce the entire country's usage of electricity by about 1% each day with Daylight Saving Time.

Other studies have shown that the extra hour of evening daylight relates to a reduction in traffic fatalities and the likelihood of pedestrians being killed on the roads. Crime is also reduced since more people have the opportunity to arrive home before darkness sets in, a time when burglars prefer to operate.

So why not just leave it "on" in the fall and winter then?

Yeah, that's what I've always wondered, especially when I'm going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark.

the same effect would occur in winter, just in the morning. we'd be in the dark until 7:30 am in December.

OK then: make work change, instead of forcing the *time* to change.

The original reason had to do with the time children had to be in school and the farm
 

Dude, you're just like making shit up aren't you?

I never heard that one, you're like Cliff from cheers and just pull stuff outta your ass aren't you?

Here's one for you....I f I was a castle guard in say the 12'th century, would I work 8 hour shifts? Have weekends off? Be on some sort of on call schedule?

I'm mostly just giving you shit big guy, but I really do want to know.

I'm all for daylight savings time. I LOVE the fact that I'll be able to sleep later in the mornings, because my room won't be flooded with light until 7:30 instead of 6:30.

I love it too. Love the way the days get longer, and then comes the summer solstice, the longest day, and it wouldn't get completely dark until damn near 9pm! I Loved that as a kid...that meant me and my friends would get permission to stay out in the streets later (as long as we stayed near the neighborhood within sight of adults, of course!). :D

Not this time, Blue. Read this.

Thank you Bruce. I was just going to say that.

:beer:

Someone on Fark had a great idea: just move the clocks up a half hour and leave them there, split the difference.