Monday, March 5, 2007

daylight savings time


I don't know if you know this or not, but we are springing forward this weekend! Hallelujah! I HATE daylight savings time and I especially hate the dead of winter when it is dark at like 4:30pm. It is crazy to me that Congress changed the dates so that we are getting more sunlight earlier and longer this year than ever before. But, hey...I'll take it. Ordinarily, we would have changed our clocks on the first Sunday in April. FYI: You need to manually change pretty much everything in your house, including your computer because they are all set to change in April. This ain't no Y2K situation, but it will cause some glitches. Oh, and you will probably get to change them again in April once they change themselves on the date that they are set to change.

Here is funny bit of information about daylight savings time and that powerful Candy Lobby:

Through 2006, Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. ended a few days before Halloween (October 31). A new law to extend DST to the first Sunday in November will take effect in 2007, with the purpose of providing trick-or-treaters more light and therefore more safety from traffic accidents. Children’s pedestrian deaths are four times higher on Halloween than on any other night of the year. For decades, candy manufacturers lobbied for a Daylight Saving Time extension to Halloween, as many of the young trick-or-treaters gathering candy are not allowed out after dark, and thus an added hour of light means a big holiday treat for the candy industry.

One more interesting tidbit:

While twins born at 11:55 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. may have different birthdays, Daylight Saving Time can change birth order -- on paper, anyway. During the time change in the fall, one baby could be born at 1:55 a.m. and the sibling born ten minutes later, at 1:05 a.m. In the spring, there is a gap when no babies are born at all: from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.

So wow! One whole extra hour each day next week! What will you do with the extra time? Just watch more tv or will you get outside and enjoy it?

3 comments:

Michelle said...

I can't wait for the time change! I absolutely LOVE having it light later in the day so we can play outside longer. Plus, when it gets warm, I love to sit on the patio after the kids go to bed. It's a real treat.
The only downside is getting the kids to adjust to going to bed when it's still light outside. If nothing else, I am really hoping that they can just start sleeping until 7am. Pretty please. Mommy tired!

Anonymous said...

yeah, well, i'll be watching The Hills.

stupid Heidi.

Unknown said...

Stupid, stupid Heidi. Always stick with your friend who has her own television show on MTV over dude with big teeth. When will these kids learn?