so we're only a few days off daylight saving time, and i'm already feeling it. seasonal affective disorder hits me pretty hard this time of year every year as far back as memory goes. whether you ascribe to the theory that it's all in my head seems immaterial, as my head is devastatingly powerful and is not to be underestimated.
the point is this: gah! i'm tired of being messed with. as i've whined before and will whine again (to anyone who will listen), daylight saving time is altogether annoying. it's a mightily dumb law and we don't really save any time no matter what we do with the clock.
unless, that is, we were really damned serious about getting more daylight hours, and did something really damned drastic. something like redefining the very notion of the 'hour.' we'd have to compress twenty-three hours per diem into the daytime, and expand the remaining hour to fill each night. think about it: we'd work eight hours (we, the soul-crushed wage slaves) daily and still have a monstrous fifteen daylight hours in which to play. we'd sleep a mere one hour a night and be fully rested! think of everything we could accomplish! … lan parties every morning … maybe some other stuff too …
or if we really wanted to shake things up, we'd launch into space a giant sunblocking obstacle, the shadow of which would bring a premature end to the day; complementary to this, we'd launch a giant mirror, positioned such that it reflected some otherwise wasted sunlight and hit the earth where it would otherwise be one hour pre-dawn. we wouldn't have to mess with clocks at all! i wave my magic wand of science, presto-chango!, and the semiannual temporal vertigo disappears into a very silly past.
or we'd just agree to get up earlier, but how lame is that? it doesn't even involve lagrange points. seriously.
Ugh, I was indulging in mental rants on this very same topic this weekend. You were just quicker in getting it to your blog. In any case, I totally agree. I think a much more "free market" solution would be for businesses and schools to voluntarily decide whether they want to engage in winter hours and summer hours. No requirement, no silly social experiments where we all try to change our clocks at the same moment (if they want to do a really fun test, make everyone flush at the same time in fall and spring and see what happens). Isn't it easier for a business to change a sign or two with their hours than for everyone to change multiple clocks at home, car and work? Ugh. Not to mention the irritation if you work a night shift on the night the time shift occurs. So, in short, I agree with you. mostly. I wouldn't say we all need to agree to get up earlier, it should just be voluntary on a personal or professional basis. Actually, I take it a step further. Screw time zones. GMT for everyone!
Matt… Man, I was just running to your house to show you the new thing we got here called Daylight Saving Time only to find that you do not approve of it. We just wanted to be like you! What do I have to do to gain your approval?? You are like the kid across the street that said my Super Nintendo was gay.
hbot, If you move to China you can be building a Great Wall on the East end of the country in the morning and then go ranch cattle 3000 miles away on the West end in the mountains in the afternoon for 3 cents an hour and be assured that your the time will always be the same.
this comment box with the font, and the layout, is amazing. i couldn't resist commenting on it, and i tried. my wildly out-of-proportion awe could not be stifled, though.
on the wonkyness of daylight savings and mood—coworker and I just had a conversation about that today. It's not you.
around here, D-Day was thursday. That day three people I know of (only one on my caseload) were hospitalized for mental health issues. The sun's disappearing, moon is waning, it's cold. Triple whammy?
Dan, I don't get it. Only communists don't approve of time zones? Capitalism makes the time zones work? China is an odd, poor place? It's odd that such a huge country has one time zone?
Well, as an addendum, let me just be clear that I don't think my desire to abolish time zones entirely resonates with a lot of people. That will change once my hypnotoad and I get on the TV. All hail the Hypnotoad.
But my argument is essentially this: Is it easier to try and remember which time zone my friend out east is in, how many hours that is, or just to know from previous conversations that he goes to bed by 0200 GMT? It's a one-time information transfer about when to call him. Likewise, not too hard to figure out if you can call your tech help line located back east, if you're all using the same time. It just rankles me is all. In modern, connected times it seems a tad antiquated to me. But again, I perfectly understand why 99% of the planet wouldn't go for it. Just that I'd make them if I could. Ah, blessed ego. Where would I be without you.
Oh, and I've never suffered from SAD. I'm like this all the time. Yeah, I know. Seriously, I actually get happy when it's cloudy. What's up with that?
Why do I kill the conversation whenever I post here?
Matt, you probably already know that I lurk here, but I had to register today just to say that I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I'm starting my second winter in Ohio (Nebraska was much easier than the northwest, for me), and knowing it's "just" bad brain chemicals doesn't really help. What has worked for me is forcing myself to be as physically active as possible—biking, rock climbing, jogging. That may or may not be helpful for you, but in any case, I wanted to let you know I can totally empathize.
HAUSS it is because no one loves you like i do. people should switch to the dvorak keyboard but won't because qwerty is entrenched. see also metric system, two-party politics, dentists.
CERI i am always pleased to find out where a new imaginary friend lives. jogging in the cold makes my lungs burn (jumbo shrimp) and that is a huge turnoff; does walking to the kitchen to make tea and toast count toward being physically active? if so i am surely the world's fittest man.