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April 27, 2005
Extending daylight saving time
I don't like daylight saving time. Heck, I don't like timezones in general. They served their purpose at the time they were established but why can't we all just use GMT and let individual offices and communities standardize around whatever time they want?
Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because of this letter to the editor in today's Knoxville News Sentinal:
So now we are going to have Daylight Stupid Time from March 1 through November. Why? Money!When President Johnson gave us Daylight Saving Time, two states voted on it. Indiana and Arizona voted it down.
In a democracy, you're allowed to vote. It should be put on our next state ballot, but it will not be. Why? Tennessee politicians do not believe in a democracy.
This gives us more sleep problems and more sleepy drivers, which means more wrecks. Do our politicians care?
J.W. GLASS
Lenoir City
So while I agree with him that extending daylight saving time a couple more months would be a pretty stupid way for Congress to spend their time, I disagree on his idea about opting out.
I grew up in Ohio and lived and worked within 10 miles of the Indiana state line for the better part of my life. I also worked with many people that lived in Indiana. When the time change happened it was just plain annoying, and generally stupid, that Indiana was suddenly an hour behind us because they didn't recognize DST.
Posted by Paul Witt at April 27, 2005 03:26 PM
Comments
It seems that J.W. Glass needs to quit drinking his/her breakfast. I am quite surpised to find out that Tennessee politicians do not believe in a democracy. To find out more about Daylight Savings time you can cut and paste this link http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/index.html
into your browser. It is very interesting the history of DST.
Posted by: Ron at April 27, 2005 03:08 PM
Thanks. Excellent site.
I just don't see why GMT just couldn't work for everything. Businesses could change their schedules just the same as DST. *shrug* It's not like it'd ever happen in my lifetime.
The discussion about Indiana on the bottom of page 7 is what I was talking about. It also reminded me of the crap around EST vs EDT. Because Indiana in the summer is still on EST and Ohio is on EDT. What a PITA.
Posted by: Paul Witt at April 27, 2005 04:32 PM
While I'm not opposed to the current proposal, a far more palatable concept would be to extend it within it's current boundaries.
My thought is this: from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend thru the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, extend it an additional hour.
The benefits of doing it this way are clear:
1) the need for household electric lights in the summer months would be almost negligible;
2) it would minimize the objections of parents regarding their children going to school in the dark; most children are off from school during those months;
3) it would make the most of those months that people can actually be outside and enjoying outdoor activities after wook.
Posted by: Gary at July 20, 2005 07:24 PM
This is in response to Gary's proposal to exntend daylight savings another hour within the current time frame. Please DON'T. I live in Seattle and it is already daylight until almost 10 pm. Another hour would make it even more difficult to go to sleep. Imagine sunset at 11 pm with the nightly news...
In addition, to those who oppose the extension of daylight savings time because it would require children standing at bus stops in the dark due to it not getting light until 8 am, this already happens in Seattle. In the winter, it doesn't get light until 8 (and closer to Dec 21, after 8). This doesn't seem to stop daylight savings time, maybe it matters now because kids in Houston will be standing in the dark, but kids in Washington have been dealing with the dark for a long time.
Posted by: Jennifer at July 27, 2005 03:36 PM