Friday, March 07, 2008

DST - A Drag

Clock shifts reduce sleep duration and efficiency, particularly for late-risers after clocks spring forward. Effects on circadian rhythm are severe and can last for weeks.The government of Kazakhstan cited health complications due to clock shifts as a primary reason for abolishing DST in 2005.

Clock shifts correlate with decreased economic efficiency. In 2000 the daylight-saving effect implied an estimated one-day loss of $31 billion on U.S. stock exchanges. Clock shifts and DST rule changes have a direct economic cost, since they entail extra work to support remote meetings, computer applications and the like. For example, a 2007 North American rule change cost an estimated $500 million to $1 billion. ~~Wikipedia
There. Health and money. If you don't care about one you're likely to care about the other.

I dislike Daylight Savings Time. We are a swing shift family. I likes my sleep.

I may be cranky for the next six months until the clocks change back.

Please, bear with me...

17 comments:

Wandering Coyote said...

I find that the older I get, the longer it takes me to adjust. I don't mind falling back, but I hate the springing forward.

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Cherie said...

You and me, WC. I don't mind the falling back either, and the adjusting in the spring is a beast!

IndianaJones said...

right there with you. I'm already so beat the last thing I need is to lose another hour...I already seem to lose too many in a day.

tshsmom said...

Yet another thing we agree 100% on!!

I am so vocal about my hatred of DST that even my customers know how I feel! All week everyone has been needling me about DST starting this weekend.

I have yet to figure out how extending DST will save energy. We have the same amount of daylight, no matter what the clock says! I prefer my daylight in the morning, where it belongs, thank you very much!!

Now my internal clock will be all screwed up until we "fall back" again. :(

Cherie said...

I know what you mean, Summer!

All of a sudden, "Bed time.." "I'm not sleepy." And "It's supper time already?" Oy.

Well, Tshs, I wish I could come into your diner and gripe about it with you. I would, too. Grumble grumble. And Bush changed the date beginning last year (was it last year?) so that we have to set our clocks ahead something like 3 weeks earlier because that way more people shop! Studies show that people shop as long as it's light. MONEY again!

I read an article that says it's even hard on dairy cows - milked earlier in spring, then when the clocks go back an our later in the fall milked later. OUCH! They do try to help the poor things by starting only half an hour different. Did you know that cows can tell time and HAVE to be milked at two o'clock A.M. and other specific times during the day?!? Since when? Since farmers learned to set clocks, I guess. Why don't the farmers just change the hours they milk? Am I being naive?

My internal clock will be just as screwed up as yours and we'll celebrate together in the fall.

Mike S said...

I'm with you. Springing anywhere at my age is nigh impossible, but I got the fallin' stuff down to a fine science.
Although we used mostly sun dials and bird dropping color to tell time in my youth on the old farm, I do know that you have to adjust a little bit because of other considerations such as delivery times, school hours(buses are h*ll on delivery schedules),feed store hours, and even simple stuff like Vet's hours.
I also remember being in Japan in the mid-sixties and seeing a TV interview with the head of the rice farming co-op group Assn where he seriously claimed that Japan switching to DST would ruin the rice farmers as the extra hour of sunlight every day would "burn their crops".
On the other hand, can we set them ahead enough to appreciably advance the date Dumbya leaves office?

Mike S said...

p.s....not a typo, the name was actually "The Rice Farming Co-operative Group Association". Loadsa 'Jenglish' stuff there then:)

Ann said...

I've always been somewhat of a fan of DST....I wonder if where one lives has any bearing on one's opinion! Anyway, just wanted to say how much I like your sidebar! Very poetic, gentle and welcoming in a not-overwhelming way!

Cherie said...

Or it will burn their crops!! Hilarious, Mike. Yeah, hurry and get one president out only to usher in.....who, what? Scary stuff. I love the sundials and bird droppings. Looks to me that, barring buses, stores, and schools, you could lead the way in living 'clock-free'!

Ann: Balance is always appreciated around here. Maybe it does have to do with where one lives. The mornings are so cold and unfriendly sometimes, when it's dark outside. Maybe some of us have more ingrained biological habits or something. One thing's for sure, most of us will make it through DST - one way or another. ;)

Oh, and thanks for the feedback on the sidebar! :D

tony said...

A Timely Warning! I change my clocks in 2 weeks time.A Drag!

tshsmom said...

Ann makes a good point. The further north you live, the worse DST is. Here, the kids will return to waiting for the school bus in the dark. IMHO, this is NOT a safe practice!

Now, I have to rely on the clock to tell me when to start cooking dinner. This time of year we have a LOT of late dinners, as I'm not a clock-watcher. LOL!

Cherie said...

Ah, Tony, at least you'll have fewer weeks to deal with the dratted thing...

Tshs: It's wrong-headed all the way around to make kids stand in darkness. What is wrong with people?

I woke up relaxed and energetic this morning until I realized that I had to set the kitchen clock an hour ahead. "I've been robbed!" Felt like the White Rabbit and will feel that way until November. (Okay, I'll adapt, but I reserve the right to complain about it for I don't understand WHY we have to be treated like guinea pigs - kids standing in the dark so their parents can shop shop shop in the late day so the fat cats can get richer - wha???)

And is it my arithmetic or are we really in DST for 8 months and Standard Time only 4?

And we just sit here with our fingers up our noses and let it happen, like everything else.

(Sigh - I told ya I'd be cranky.)

Sandy said...

Oh changing is good for me. I don't mean to be drag, but I love daylight savings; that is once I adjust I mean, I hate adjusting. But when it's finally over, I see more sunlight and I stop being such a grouch.

Changing that clock back an hour is what I hate the most.

Cherie said...

You could never be a drag, Sandy. I very much appreciate your point of view - balance is a good thing, a calming influence. It's good to have a fresh perspective!

It's all about harmony, right? You support me in the spring when I'm having time change crankies, and I'll support you in the fall.

:D

Gardenia said...

DST is a travesty - I love the extra light at the end of the day, but why take it away in the first place? My daughter is a night nurse and has been a walking zombie since Sunday and we're sort of following close behind.

Cherie said...

Gardenia: Oh, your poor daughter. Why take it away in the first place is my question, too - I mean, can't we just stay one way or the other? All this messing around with nature, with our internal clocks. Menacing!