tinkering with clocks

[cellio]

It seems ironic that we are back on "standard" time -- ironic because we spend more of the year now on the other sort, and it will get worse next year. What'll it be then, close to eight months of daylight savings time and four of standard time?

I understand the motivation to re-align the window of daylight to fit one's preferences, but that's doomed because we don't all have the same preferences (so the strongest lobby wins) and it's not as if clock-tinkering can actually extend the amount of light in the day. It might be wiser to just admit that noon comes at noon and sometimes that means dark mornings or dark evenings, and suck it up. Do we really need sunsets at close to 10PM in June? Does that get you anything that you can't get enough of with a 9PM sunset? And what's the harm of a 5:30 sunset in late October instead of a 6:30 one? If you work normal hours that extra hour of light probably doesn't let you do anything enjoyable (you're on your way home or eating dinner, most likely), and kids have been out of school for a couple hours by then so they've had plenty of running-around-outside time.

On Thursday I drove to morning services in pitch dark, and I had to consciously dawdle in leading the service so that the sun would rise before the first prayer that must be said in "the morning" hit. I don't know what this group will do next year, when DST continues through November. The minyan is when it is so people can get to work on time.

Comments

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what people around here are planning to do re morning prayer timing then. Having shabbat start later for longer into the fall/winter will help me a bit ('cause I won't have to leave work as early on Fridays), but I don't see it as worth that much 'cause either way by mid-winter I'll be racing home (leave 3:00, shabbat starts as early as 4:10).

The 2 groups who I remember being on the news saying that extending DST was a bad idea were firefighters and advocates for children's safety, the first because they had built a public awareness campaign around the (roughly) 6-months-apart changes between standard and DST as when to check/change fire alarm batteries, and the second because they were worried about kids in rural areas being vulnerable standing around in the dark in the morning waiting for their school buses.

Btw, do you know if anything has been done about the fact that all the automatic time-changers in software will have to be adjusted? And (as far as I've heard) the fact that Canada isn't going along with this?

[cellio]

Our earliest Shabbat start is 4:33, so I've got a few more minutes of wiggle room than you do. But I seem to find early starts less challenging than late ends, probably in part because not everyone in my house observes Shabbat. It can be hard to be unable to see a show or go to a restaurant on Saturday night after Shabbat ends because it's too late.

I hadn't heard that the firefighters objected, but I'm aware of the campaign so it makes sense that they would. I do wonder, however, if smoke-alarm batteries aren't good for a year anyway; if they are then this will have to shift to picking one of the dates (I'd say fall) and ignoring the other. But that's harder than "change the clocks, change the batteries", because people have to remember which one.

Children: this didn't seem to be that big a deal to me when Nixon reverted to DST one year in January, but I do remember parents screaming about it. March won't be nearly as bad as January was, at least. (The difference is (checks) about 50 minutes at that time of year.)

Software: not a clue, and I've wondered about it too. Operating systems will be patched, I presume, but we're probably out of luck for the VCRs.

[cafemusique.livejournal.com]

Last I'd heard Canada hadn't decided. I think it's purely a provincial matter. I know I've seen articles suggesting that Ontario and Quebec will follow suit. There's been the odd article wondering what would happen if we don't, but I haven't seen any province say it won't follow.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

The ones I know that hate the clock-changes are the medical folks. If you've got a patient who gets meds at a certain time, you have to adjust all the orders for the new clock time. Taking it an hour sooner or later is not an option.

[cellio]

Ooh, that's a very good point. And you probably can't just write "10:00 DST" on the orders before the change, because asking harried nurses/aides to notice that "DST" and do the adjustment when lives hang in the balance is Not A Good Idea.