It's that time of the year again, the tough part of DST. Here's an article complaining about it, and apparently those who run the numbers suggest that this actually costs us energy, instead of saving it. My suggestion last year was that we go ahead and change the clocks but we do it early Saturday morning so that there is more time to adjust before going to work on Monday.
This year I'm thinking a bit more out of the box. What if we (and remember that this is a work in progress) simply move the clock back one hour twice a month? That way we can have that extra hour and never spring ahead. By the end of the year we will be back where we should have been. The only downside I can see is that we'd only have a 364 day year, and frankly who cares that much about that? Yes, at some point, the normal daytime hours would end up in the middle of the night but businesses can simply adjust their hours to match normal times. Really not that difficult.
3 comments:
Here's another idea to toss around - why not put your clocks ahead on Friday night. That way you'll have Saturday AND Sunday to adjust before heading back to the work week. I didn't think of this until after I'd move ahead my 14 clocks last night.
As DST keeps getting longer I'm beginning to wonder why we ever switch back to "standard" time. The adjustment is a nuisance and if we EVER need an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day, it's when the sun's setting at 4:30 in December. Who cares if it stays dark until 9 in the morning? All the more reason to sleep in!
As for your 1 hour twice a month idea, three things come to mind: first, I like the idea of the 364-day year. 364/7=52 precisely, so it tidies up the calendar math a bit. Second, we'd REALLY get a bang for our buck in the summer, as it would basically be light outside all night. The "daytime" hours would be shrouded in darkness, but that's when most of us are holed up at work anyway. Third, did you know about Mark's experiment during January term back in college, when he took the month off and lived on a 25-hour day? Mid-month he was up all night, asleep all day, and by the end of the month things were back in order.
No, I never heard of Mark's experiment. Man, I miss him.
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