I love the return to standard time!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

I know it is common and popular to trash the change, but I honestly love both changes, although I wish we went on DST later, as in the first of April, and went off it earlier, as in the end of September. But I am quite happy with the change.

Apparently my brain is programmed to go to sleep some specific time after sunset, which means that once we're back to standard time, I simply go to sleep at least an hour earlier than before. And still sleep in until the sun has been up for several hours. Hooray! Lots of sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

The change of time completely aside, I often wonder how indigenous peoples in the far north (and perhaps also in the far south) actually manage in a place where in part of the year the daylight is close to, or maybe completely 24 hours, and similarly with darkness. Well, okay, the question also applies to any indigenous or not, who live very far north or south.

Personally, I have no problem with the change from standard to daylight and back again. I actually enjoy it a lot that the length of daylight or dark can vary a great deal. It's part of what makes life interesting.

Meanwhile, It's currently about quarter to seven where I am, and I'm hoping to stay awake long enough to watch Rachel.

Happiness and health to you all.

[Generic Brad]

1. Somebody tell my cat about the time change

He's getting me up at 4 AM to feed him now. He's not letting me sleep until my alarm goes off.

[Rorey]

3. Same here

My cats forgot to reset their little watches.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. My cat has long since learned that she does not get fed until I finally get up.

And honestly, there's at least a three hour range.

My personal advice to anyone with a cat (or dog) is NOT to feed them at the same time every day. Make sure you change the feeding time by at least an hour, maybe even longer. That way they are grateful when you finally feed them.

Slightly more to the point, since I'm not someone who goes to bed or gets up or eats at the same time every day, I have difficulty understanding the rigidity of those who are like that. Calm down. Just go with the flow.

And this has only a peripheral connection to any time change. It has to do with not letting your otherwise wonderful furry friends running your life. They need to relax, know they will eventually be fed, and chill out.

[MFM008]

28. i leave a small amount

of dry food out for mine all night.

[Generic Brad]

43. So do i

Mine starts panicking once he can see the bottom of the bowl despite there still being food there. And if I give him too much, he overeats and gets sick.

Sometimes you just have to roll with their quirks.

[redstatebluegirl]

37. Same with my three dogs.

We were up at 4:45 this morning. Just pick a time and stick to it, I hate changing the time.

[Phoenix61]

2. It really depends how close to the time zone line

you are. I’m a 30 minute drive west of the eastern-central line. Sunset was at 4:48 today and we are 6 weeks from the darkest day of the year. If I drive 31 minutes east it’s dark at 5:58.

[Jerry2144]

7. Exactly right

Las Vegas is the easternmost edge of pacific time. Sunset is too early at 4:40 today. Stay on daylight saving time year round. Give us some little bit of evening light. Sunset is too early to do any yard work.

Too bad the earth is not flat, then maybe we could have constant sunrise and sunset times. How do those work on a flat world anyway?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. No, no, no, no, no.

Year round DST means a horrifically dark morning in the winter. I recall all too well the brief and aborted experiment with year round DST. It was ended in part because little kids were being killed by cars while waiting for school busses in the early morning dark.

I really think the problem these days is that we go on DST far too early, and get off it far too late. If we went to DST at the beginning of April, and ended it at the end of September, the change would not be quite as shocking. It used to be that way.

The recent excuse for the late change from DST to Standard Time is so that kids can Trick-or-Treat in daylight. Really? In recent years I got a small number of young children trick-or-treating in daylight, and I was happy to give them candy. Last year, of course, no kids. This year I decided I didn't want to be bothered, so I didn't turn on outside lights and stayed indoors. But before that, when it was still light and in previous years would have gotten kids, this year not a single one showed up. Every so often I went into my kitchen and look outside and saw a reasonable number of older kids doing their thing.

For any number of years I've thought that the delay in going from DST to Standard Time is total bullshit, and this year absolutely proves it. Plus, in the distant past, as in when I was a kid (I'm now 73 years old) we went off DST well before Halloween, and somehow survived.

I think that next year I will give out candy. It's not that hard, and I'm beginning to feel about guilty and selfish. Plus, if I'm lucky I have candy left over.

[kcr]

42. Year round DST can work with a simple solution

Start school at a later time. It's better for kids anyway. I do not believe that Halloween is the reason for the change. Trick or treat still starts after dark.

[LeftInTX]

26. Yeah, I think sunset here is the earliest on December 1st 5:34

On December 21st, it sets at 5:40.

The earliest sunset is probably also around December 1st where you are.
My latitude is 29.5 degrees N.

The sunset time does not correlate with the shortest day.

[dem4decades]

4. The dogs know to lay on the bed until I move, whether it's light or dark.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Lie on the bed! Not lay!

Okay, the Grammar Witch has taken over. I apologize.

But I do know what you mean, and the dogs staying on the bed until you move is perfect.

[dem4decades]

41. Her name is Lady, Lay Lady Lay, Lay across my big brass bed.

[Haggard Celine]

5. I like it, too.

I wish it could always be about like it is right now, getting dark about 5:00. We still have days that are about 10 hours long, and I think that's enough daytime. I've just always loved long nights. Maybe I should go live in the mountains in a hollow where you don't see the sun until 10 am and it goes away at 3 pm. I don't know, though, that might be too much night for even me.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Long nights. Yes.

Don't know where you live. I'm in Santa Fe, NM, and there is a lot for me to love here. I've lived farther north (upstate NY and Minneapolis) and a bit farther south (Tucon, AZ). It also matters how close you are to the eastern or western edge of your time zone.

I would join you in that hollow in those mountains. PM me when you find that place.

[Haggard Celine]

20. Will do!

I'm in Gulfport, Mississippi, by the way. It's fine here except for the 7 month summers and the hurricanes, which I suppose are pretty big things. I was born and raised on the Gulf Coast and I've lived down here most of my life. I've been around some, though, and I like the mountainous areas more than any other places. I've been through the southern Appalachians, the Ozarks, the Rockies, the Cascades and a few other mountain chains, and I love them all. I can't wait for my next trip! Maybe next time I'll get to stay.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. Thank you.

We all have different life experiences. I have visited the gulf of Mississippi, but never lived there. So there is a lot I don't know, and I sort of get that.

Personally, I love mountains, having grown up originally in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. I've also lived in Tucson, Arizona, near several mountain chains, and in Boulder, Colorado, in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.

I love geography and I love geology.

Personally, I am not much on things like heat and humidity, but your life has been completely different from mine. I hope you do get to visit other places.

[Tomconroy]

6. I like it getting dark early until January. Then for a lot of

reasons I want it to be summer.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

22. I get that.

The change of seasons is wonderful, yes?

[TomSlick]

8. What's not to love?

It's dark when I go to work and dark when I get home. I love the annual reminder that the cold dark winter is coming.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. It depends on what kind of hours you work.

Probably the best shift is something like a 3-11, because (at least in this country) you will always go to work in the daylight, and always go home at night. Any other kind of "normal" shift can result in going to work sometimes in daylight, sometimes in dark, and/or going home sometimes in daylight, sometimes in dark, depending on where you live. As you've pointed out.

When we were first living in the Denver area, my husband started getting very depressed because that first winter he was going to work in the dark and then coming home in the dark. Honestly, among the reasons I've preferred shift work is that I was much more likely to see daylight at either the beginning or the end of my day, depending on the shift.

[TomSlick]

15. A small town law practice is a great part-time job.

The only question is which twelve hours each day you work.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Oh, dear.

I've been a paralegal, so I sort of know what you are talking about.

I actually loved the work, had certain failures.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. When we moved from Phoenix, AZ, to

Denver, Co, my husband was stuck going to work in the dark, being inside all day, and then coming home in the dark. That would have happened regardless of Daylight Time or Standard Time. The real problem was that he was stuck inside and office, with almost no chance to go outside. And that's sadly true of lots of people. I keep hoping that among the many changes that will happen with Covid will be a humanization of work.

And I'm guessing that it doesn't matter if it's DST or standard time, you'd still be going to work and coming home in the dark.

[shanti]

29. Perspective...

After our triple digit summers, winter is blissful here.

[Golden Raisin]

11. I wish they'd pick one and just stay with it.

No biannual futzing around with changing clocks, etc.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. In which case, standard time is absolutely the best choice.

I recall all too well the disastrous year round DST back in the 1970s. One problem was that little kids were hit by cars while waiting for school busses in the dark. Not good.

[Sympthsical]

17. My favorite new meme this week

I can't find it. It's from Squid Game and says, "Your next challenge: Go three days without saying how dark it is by 5 o'clock," then a pic of the contestants looking terrified.

It's hilarious.

[hatrack]

18. Once again it's possible to actually GET UP IN THE MORNING BEFORE 8:30!!!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. 8:30????

I rarely get up before 9:30!!

Lucky me, I am retired. It's kind of fun when I need to make appointments for various things to tell the appointment person that I don't do mornings.

To be honest, much of my working life I worked some kind of afternoon shift, usually starting work at noon or several hours later. It was wonderful. It's my opinion that most people who work some kind of "normal" shift don't get enough sleep. I have always been obsessed with getting enough sleep, and have usually been able to do so. Lucky me. I wonder if that's why I've always been the healthiest person I know?

[Mad_Machine76]

19. My state was a VERY late adopter of DST

Having spent most of life on "normal" time, I absolutely hate DST and my body feels out of sync approximately 8 months a year now. Everything feels right switching back.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

32. How late?

I believe the standard DST happened in about 1967. I was in Arizona at that time. We had one summer of DST, and it was obvious to the most casual observer that DST was a very bad idea there.

Some years later, when I was in Phoenix over the summer, I was a bit annoyed that it got daylight at about 4am. Sigh.

[Mad_Machine76]

40. 2005-2006?

Indiana

I was already 30 years old at the time.

[jcgoldie]

24. I do not

For anyone who has outdoor responsibilities at home in the northern half of the country standard time is always going in the wrong direction.

[AnyFunctioningAdult]

30. Another reminder why I love Arizona

No clocks moving here. The states should pick one and stick with it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. I lived in Arizona during the one year that state went to DST.

The important thing here is that it is so fucking hot in the summer, that there is simply no point in having a later evening, which is what DST provides. You may as well turn out the lights and go to bed as soon as possible, because it is simply not possible to function in that kind of heat.

DST or standard time, it's simply too hot to do anything at all. So close down shop and go to bed is a sensible response.

[Xolodno]

31. Agreed.

Want more daylight? Get the fuck up earlier. The majority have set hours and have to deal with it. I get up early because I need to work with people on the east coast. Likewise, they have to stay late to deal with us. Sorry, not going to have sympathy for those in the north.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. Ohh, yes. Get up earlier.

That really would work. No sarcasm or irony at all.

I happen to be someone who does not function well in the morning and so I'm happy to sleep late. Whenever I need to make an appointment of some kind, I tell the scheduler that I don't do mornings. But I absolutely agree with your "Get up the fuck earlier" statement.

Some years back I spent time in Honolulu, and I knew a man who worked for some kind of company that dealt with the investment world on the East Coast. So his workday was something like 3am to 11 am local time. Oh, dear lord.

And I am likewise not at all sympathetic to those who piss and moan about a one hour change on the clock. Apparently (Poindexter says sarcastically) none of them have ever crossed a time zone. Or woken up an hour early or later than normal. Or gone to bed an hour earlier or later than usual. Really? I honestly don't think most people really do live in such a narrow world.

Get over yourself.

[3catwoman3]

33. We lived in the UP of Michigan for almost 4 years...

…while my husband was stationed at KI Sawyer AFB. It would be dark by 4 PM, and stay dark until 9 AM in the winter. In summer, it would be light by 4 AM, and not get dark until after 10 PM.

Moms of little kids did not like summer because the kids did not want to go to bed while it was still light out.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. I did not live that far north, merely being a bit north of

Utica, NY. But I clearly recall as a child how hard it was to go to sleep in the middle of summer when it was still light outside.

What really matters is how far north or south you are. I wonder how those in northern Europe manage.

My sister, who was married to a career Army person, has told me that when they were stationed in Germany, they had serious blackout curtains in their home.

[malaise]

38. LOL - I hate it because we don't have DST anymore

so all my favorite prime time programs are one hour earlier during your DST. Now I am sleeping before Lawrence.