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[Ed note: In Europe the clocks changed last weekend 26/27 Oct. And, as an aside, the EU is proposing scrapping the entire idea of changing clocks forwards/backwards which is receiving a lot of support.]
Daylight Saving Time - innocently conceived by the notorious early riser Benjamin Franklin, was not instituted in the United States until 1918 (because the Germans did it two years earlier and were already up taking advantage of the extra hour of daylight, so the hyper-competitive USA just had to do it also), has a variety of downsides (more prevalent in the Spring) including - Disrupted Sleep, Car Crashes, Stress, Heart Problems, Disrupted internal Clocks, and a variety of negative effects related to these (Obesity, depression, reduced performance, reduced alertness, increased blood pressure, inflammation, harsher sentencing, etc. etc.)
It is Fall however, and this Sunday is the better half of the DST coin where we gain an extra hour of sleep, and on Monday potentially smile briefly at our co-workers before staggering eerily towards the break room muttering cooofffeeeeeeee.
This Sunday, people across the United States can rest easy, literally, as they'll get an extra hour of sleep because daylight saving time comes to an end.
The change happens at 2 a.m. local daylight time on Nov. 3. While most wireless devices will "fall back" on their own, it's up to you to switch manual clocks — including those on microwaves, ovens and wristwatches — one hour back.
This means that as soon as the clock ticks to 2 a.m. on Sunday, it can be turned back to 1 a.m.
Daylight saving (not savings, as it's sometimes called) time won't start again until March 8, 2020, when the United States will, once again, "spring forward" an hour. [Daylight Saving Time 2019: A Guide to the When, Why, What and How]
So enjoy it for now, but unless our government suddenly decides to randomly do something that would be hugely popular across constituencies, inexpensive, relatively non controversial, and generally beneficial for the populace, know that you'll pay again for this brief respite in a few short months.
(Score: 2, Informative) by clive_p on Sunday November 03 2019, @09:26AM (5 children)
I know all the arguments about more accidents after a clock change, but I have to say that from personal experience the lack of daylight saving time is worse. Here in southern England, latitude 52 degrees, there just aren't enough hours of sunlight for the winter months for it to be light both going to work/school/whatever and coming home again in the evening.
In the mid-60s the UK Government had as an "experiment" a period of a couple of years with permanent summer time. This meant that it didn't get light until around 9am and got dark again around 5pm. So both journeys to and from work (etc.) were in the dark or semi-dark. I found that horrible. At least with daylight saving time my morning journey was in the light, even if I needed lights on my bike to get home again. At different latitudes, of course, YMMV.
Incidentally, even though the change of law was supposed to be an experiment, this was a ruse by politiicians, and it was actually intended to be permanent. But the outcry from people like me was so great that the Government was forced to chang back to a twice-yearly clock change as soon as it could be done.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 03 2019, @11:41AM (1 child)
Not to worry. When the socialists take over, we'll only work a couple hours per day, two or three days a week. No more driving to OR from work in the dark!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 03 2019, @04:49PM
can you dig enough grubs out of the ground to cover your daily caloric requirement on a couple of hours a day?
(Score: 2) by pe1rxq on Sunday November 03 2019, @08:35PM (2 children)
Winter time is the proper time.
This experiment sounds like it was thought up by the same idiots who think DST is good because without summertime there would be no summer.....
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday November 03 2019, @08:55PM (1 child)
No attack meant, but I think too many people make such strong sweeping absolute statements.
Winter time might be the proper time for you, your lifestyle, schedule, latitude and longitude, etc., but it is NOT good for me. Early outdoor light does not help me at all. It's kind of depressing to get up and dressed in the dark, but later sunset would help me greatly. YMMV.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 04 2019, @07:45AM
I think what they meant is that "Winter time," or Standard Time, is when the Sun is (was) directly overhead the defining city of the time zone. DST is defined as an offset from the standard time.