I think Glen is right -- people are making way too much fuss about this issue. It's especially ironic at this time of year: people howl about the aggravation of spending 5 minutes changing clocks, but don't mention the hours (or days!) wading through a bewildering array of tax forms. That's a complaint I can sympathize with.
Anyway, DST means I have an extra hour of daylight to play 9 holes after work or socialize with my neighbors on the patio. If my part of the country (New England) were on standard time all year, sunrise in summer would be 2 1/2 or 3 hours before I wake up in the morning. Not much use to me.
I have made this comment a few times today. Best answer I have is this fall move back 30 minutes and leave it alone after that. Make everyone half happy!
Trump has stated that the issue is split 50/50, that he doesn't have any idea what to do, but that he thinks changing the clocks is silly. 50/50 is my experience as well.
Nothing is saved either way. Personally, I think it's backwards. We should be on normal time now and change the clocks this fall, if it has to be done.
Part of the problem with the change is that we've been living on this "change the clocks" paradigm for so long, people forgot what it was like before DST became mandatory. The length of the day changes so much over the course of the year that it swamps out anything we can do with the clocks. The closer to the poles you live the bigger the differences. You can call it whatever you like, but the "midnight sun" has the final say.
Of course, that's just another incentive to live in Florida, just north of the tropics, where the length of the day doesn't change as much.
I figured one time that on the summer solstice, our day is just short of 14 hours long - 13:55:30. On the winter solstice it's 3 hours 34 minutes shorter, 10:21:43. (source) In Minneapolis, MN, the longest day lengthens to 15:36:48 - just over two hours longer than ours and the shortest day shortens down to 8:46:12, virtually seven hours shorter than their longest day. Nothing can be done about that. All DST does is change what we call those hours.
7 comments:
Honest question - would it make people any happier?
Folks could do more for themselves by waking up earlier and watching the sun rise from time to time...
DST delenda est!
I think Glen is right -- people are making way too much fuss about this issue. It's especially ironic at this time of year: people howl about the aggravation of spending 5 minutes changing clocks, but don't mention the hours (or days!) wading through a bewildering array of tax forms. That's a complaint I can sympathize with.
Anyway, DST means I have an extra hour of daylight to play 9 holes after work or socialize with my neighbors on the patio. If my part of the country (New England) were on standard time all year, sunrise in summer would be 2 1/2 or 3 hours before I wake up in the morning. Not much use to me.
I have made this comment a few times today. Best answer I have is this fall move back 30 minutes and leave it alone after that. Make everyone half happy!
Trump has stated that the issue is split 50/50, that he doesn't have any idea what to do, but that he thinks changing the clocks is silly. 50/50 is my experience as well.
Nothing is saved either way.
Personally, I think it's backwards. We should be on normal time now and change the clocks this fall, if it has to be done.
Part of the problem with the change is that we've been living on this "change the clocks" paradigm for so long, people forgot what it was like before DST became mandatory. The length of the day changes so much over the course of the year that it swamps out anything we can do with the clocks. The closer to the poles you live the bigger the differences. You can call it whatever you like, but the "midnight sun" has the final say.
Of course, that's just another incentive to live in Florida, just north of the tropics, where the length of the day doesn't change as much.
I figured one time that on the summer solstice, our day is just short of 14 hours long - 13:55:30. On the winter solstice it's 3 hours 34 minutes shorter, 10:21:43. (source) In Minneapolis, MN, the longest day lengthens to 15:36:48 - just over two hours longer than ours and the shortest day shortens down to 8:46:12, virtually seven hours shorter than their longest day. Nothing can be done about that. All DST does is change what we call those hours.
Post a Comment