OT: Daylight Saving Time
Personally, I'm not a fan of Daylight Saving Time. My internal clock seems to have a hard time adjusting to the spring forward bit.
Fortunately, someone introduced a proposal in the MI House to end it. Not trying to get political here, as I'm pretty sure DST hate (or love I suppose) is a non-partisan issue.
Also, is MGoBlog boycotting DST? Or has someone just forgotten to reset the server clocks?
EDIT: Savings to Saving
March 12th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
I like DST but changing the clock in early March doesn't work as well as when we changed the clock in April when it isn't so dark in the morning.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
It was much better springing forward after daylight hours had already crept substantially into the morning. Waking up in the dark after having already noted the pleasant expansion of AM daylight is irritating and makes mornings less relaxing.
The 3 of us could be friends. I get to work between 7:00-7:30 every day and I hate how I got one week of going to work when it's light out then suddenly having to wait another month to see that again. Personally I don't get the whole "like the sun up later" thing? I've found that whatever I do at 7:30pm, I'm going to do regardless of whether the sun is still up or has set. Obviously in the deep winter things pretty much suck all around when there's barely any sunlight at all.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
"In every revolution, there's one state with a vision"
Michigan, please lead the way in reversing this vile process of changing the clocks. I'm old now and I am not adapting well to this loss of an hour in the spring. I don't even notice the extra hour in the fall.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^
Indiana observes DST. They just let thier counties determine whether to be on Central or Eastern Time. Been that way since 2006.
March 12th, 2015 at 12:35 PM ^
Hawaii doesn't use DST.
That's cause they are on "island time"
March 12th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
It should be DST all the time. If you get rid of it altogether, in the summer the sun is rising at 4am in places and it's wasted instead of having it later on when eveyone is awake and can do things with sunlight. Plus I'm sure in the winter most people would sacrifice some sunlight in the morning to have some sun when getting home from work.
March 12th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
There is sun light in winter?
I never understood this argument? Can you tell me what you are doing at 8:30pm in the summer that you absolutely wouldn't be doing if there wasn't sunlight? Just asking because I've heard many people use this example yet not one of them has given me a quality response.
Also, unless you are on the very East side of a time zone, the sun wouldn't be rising at 4:00am. Detroit shows sunrise at 5:55am on the earliest day, which would be 4:55am without DST.
playing basketball
playing baseball
soccer.
camp fire
smores'
going for a run in the evening
pretty much anything outside at all
I play sports too. Literally all those you can do under the lights. Last time I checked, you don't start a campfire until it gets dark anyway, ditto for smores. I suppose in the early spring you can run outside in the light between 7-8 which would be nice. Not sure what you're getting at with "Anything outside at all"? I personally can't list more than 1-2 things that if I want to do, the sun being down stops me.
you *can* do them under the lights, but it sucks. have you played hoop under lights outdoors? baseball? plus, how many fields have lights?
sure, campfires are good at night, but I mean at dusk. anyway, it's not too hard to understand why people want the day to not feel over at 6-7pm. as mentioned all over the thread, your body naturally reacts to the sunlight, so you feel like going to bed at sunset and getting up at dawn. which is ridiculous timing in standard time for most 21st century activity.
ST sun rise on the eastern side a time zone in May-June-July would be like 4:10am, which means it would have started getting light outside around 3:45am
March 12th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
I heard them talking about that on the radio in Texas today too. There is a representative who wants to end daylight savings time. Article brings up a good question though... Fall back forever, or spring forward forever???
March 12th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
#7) "Chaos of Clocks"
Starting with World War II, daylight saving time caused a “chaos of clocks,” according to one mid-century account by Time magazine. Until 1966, states and other governments could arbitrarily start and end day light saving time. At one point, it was possible to travel through seven time changes on a short train ride from Ohio to West Virginia.
Now that's just f'd up.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
Necessarily, some folks will be on the east side of a timezone, some folks on the west. DST most helpful to folks on the east side of a time zone. In Maine, for instance, even with DST, the sun is coming up 4:45-5:00AM near the solstice. Without DST, it would be rising at 4AM. That's just stupid.
On the other hand, near the western edge of a time zone like MI, DST can be a pain in the butt, especially in late winter / mid fall. There's nothing fun about sunrise after 8AM, like is happening in Grand Rapids this week.
For the bulk of the population in the Eastern time zone, at least, DST is a plus, since the east side of the zone is so densely populated. But there's no question that comes at the expense of Michigan and other similarly situated states.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^
Who cares what time the sun comes up, so long as it is still there at dinner? I have not once in my life said "Woe is me, it is 7:45am and the sun has yet to crest the horizon. What is life?"
March 12th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^
The sun being up during sleeping hours is allegedly disruptive to sleep, which flows through to public health. Pre-timezone, folks would adjust their sleep hours to coincide with periods of darkness, but that's not possible anymore.
Similarly, the sun not being up during the "active" part of the morning is allegedly correlate with an increase in morning rush hour car accidents, and folks are particularly focused on an increase in accidents associated with school buses. Night driving is fundamental more dangerous than day driving.
Automated cars. Boom. Solves all of our problems.
In all seriousness the traffic thing does jump out to me as a big concern about a permanent shift but I would be curious to see if that is born out in studies.
For someone who gets to work before 7:30 each day, I care about when the sun comes up. Something about not seeing the sun until lunch time, or when leaving work at 4:30 if you worked though lunch, can really make your work day suck. I don't care too much about it being there at dinner because I will eat despite the difficulty of turning on my dining room lights.
Another thing you didn't mention on the West side of time zones is how late the sunset can become. For people who get up early in the morning for work, having the sun still up at 9:30-10:00pm can make going to sleep a challenge. I admit it's a smaller issue than others, but just illustrating how everything can be a double-edged sword.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
Necessarily, some folks will be on the east side of a timezone, some folks on the west. DST most helpful to folks on the east side of a time zone. In Maine, for instance, even with DST, the sun is coming up 4:45-5:00AM near the solstice. Without DST, it would be rising at 4AM. That's just stupid.
On the other hand, near the western edge of a time zone like MI, DST can be a pain in the butt, especially in late winter / mid fall. There's nothing fun about sunrise after 8AM, like is happening in Grand Rapids this week.
For the bulk of the population in the Eastern time zone, at least, DST is a plus, since the east side of the zone is so densely populated. But there's no question that comes at the expense of Michigan and other similarly situated states.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
[professional people problems]
At least prime time cable shows start earlier.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 10:44 AM ^
Should really be an international thing.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
All of Indiana observes DST. Individual counties can determine if they want to be on Central or Eastern Time.
March 12th, 2015 at 12:03 PM ^
Don't be confused. Indiana counties around Chicago Il (Northwest) and Evansville IN (South West) prefer to be on Central time while all the other counties are on Eastern Time. All of Indiana observes DST and shifts their clocks in the spring and fall. Been that way since 2006.
March 12th, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^
the West Wing did an entire episode about the time zones in Indiana (in 2002). I need to start watching some newer shows for pop culture references.
March 12th, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
Oregon has TWO bills being discussed to drop DST (one implements it immediately, the other phases in).
Of course none of these bills in any state will go any where, no one really wants to trade whatever small benefit one might get from dropping DST for the pain of being the outlier of all of your surrounding states given how interstate life and economy are.
How exactly are they proposing to "Phase In" the drop to DST?
March 12th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^
For 3 weeks a weekly morning conference call w/ Europe is an hour later than usual.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^
Another vote for this way. Yeah, you lose the fall back extra hour in the autumn but people who work in offices until five should have some sunlight after work.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^
March 12th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
i am sure all the golfers that can get extra time to play after work. i say leave DST as the default if changed.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
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March 12th, 2015 at 11:01 AM ^
The only thing that really irks me about the changeover to DST is that now, by the time we do it in early March, I am just becoming accustomed to not driving to work in the dark and then springing forward sets my goal of having a sunlit commute back a good four weeks or so, or at least a commute where the sun is not just coming up but has been up. It's much more scenic this way. As for the rest of it, the only real pain is it marks the only Monday where I feel like coming to work solely to finish off last night's sleep.
March 12th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
Messed with my daughter's sleep for a day or two, but otherwise I like it. Nice to have slightly longer nights.
March 12th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
is an example of the things on the Michigan legislative agenda I am afraid they are overlooking a few more pressing issues.
March 12th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
I am along the lake, so at the very tail end of the time zone. In the summer, it's still light at 10:15-10:30. As someone who wakes up at 5, to try to go to sleep while its still light out is ridiculous. And the kids, holy hot garbage. We're still trying to get them to adapt. I couldn't care less about light in the morning, I actually prefer to drive in in the dark.
March 12th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^
Both changes are associated with increased accidents: The "spring forward" accidents (and heart attacks) are associated with a short term spike in accidents related to people being "jet lagged"; and the "fall back" accidents are related to people getting in accidents because it's now dark when people are most active (evenings). It's the fact that we change that causes the accidents. Personally, I prefer the light in the evening so I can do some outdoor recreation after work. Mostly, I think the changes should stop.
March 12th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^
But doesn't China only have one time zone?
How'd you like to live in western China and have the sun rise at 10? That's crazy.
But back on topic, I'm a DST lover. Would keep it all year.