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Entry bubble Daylight Saving Time Begins Sunday, March 9

By: Joanne | March 04, 2008 | Category: General

clock I’m still not used to Daylight Saving Time starting so early in the year, but here it is! On Sunday, we turn our clocks ahead one hour. That is, if you live in a place that observes Daylight Saving Time. I always thought it was goofy that some states observe Daylight Saving Time and other don’t. Can someone answer a question that’s plagued me since I was a child? Is it confusing to live in one time zone and work each day in another? I always thought this would lead to a lot of missed appointments, but maybe you’re more adaptable than I am.

We’re in our second year of extended Daylight Saving Time, brought to us by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The change is meant to save energy by providing more daylight during the evening, although the savings may be offset by increased energy use in the morning. Interestingly enough, a draft report on the impact of lengthening Daylight Saving Time has recently come out of the University of California, Santa Barbara that suggests just the opposite. The law requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to study the impact of the Daylight Saving Time extension and report back to Congress, so stay tuned—it just might change again one of these days.

The University of California draft report has generated a lot of anti-Daylight Saving Time discussion, but personally, I just like Daylight Saving Time because it gives me long evenings to spend outside with my family and friends. It’s as simple as that.

| Comments [4] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: daylight   joanne   saving   spring   time  

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Joanne,

Its going to take me a bit of time to get used to the new daylight savings time plan. Growing up I became accustomed to the saying "Spring forward, Fall back". I am looking forward to the evenings though just like you. There is just something about leaving work when it is dark outside that makes you really just want to go to sleep when you get home hehe. Also it is alot easier to get motivated to go outside in the evening for that walk, or jog if there is light outside. Thankyou for the post and the reminder to set the clocks forward an hour this sunday and I look forward to your next blog. : )

Posted by Joe on March 04, 2008 at 12:40 PM EST #

Thanks Joe, and enjoy the light!

Posted by Joanne on March 04, 2008 at 12:57 PM EST #

Well it's been snowing in westernn Maine pretty much non-stop since Thanksgiving and as we rapidly close in on the 200 inch markwith approx. 6 feet still covering the ground, an hour extra of daylight means more to people in this region than you can imagine. I work in a Paper Mill on rotating 12 hour shifts running from 5:00 to 5:00 AM and PM days and nights. Basically it's two 12 hour jet lags a week, so 1 hour is nothing to us. The extra hour in the afternoon folowing a 12 hour day shift is priceless for us. Often in Dec, Jan, and Feb week go a week at a time not even seeing daylight because the mill has few windows and it's really dark by 5 PM. The heating oil, deisel (which affects food transport prices), food price increase, and straight up gasoline prices are among the highest in the region so energy savings are always on our minds. Those that have wood heat (like me - 13 cords cut, split, stacked, and burned this season) or pellet stoves may be a little better off than the rest. We need the extra daylight to cut more wood and get ready for next winter. But seriously the social benifets of more day light in the evenings is worth it. (although I live in the country and my closest neighbor is 1/2 mile down our dead end road... I might need the daylight to find his house !)

Posted by Robbie in Maine on March 09, 2008 at 08:11 AM EDT #

Hi Robbie in Maine,
Enjoy the daylight, it sounds like it means a lot to you. I know it'll help me feel better and I'm lucky enough to work next to a window all day. It'll be better still when it warms up and we can start enjoying some daylight outdoors!

Posted by Joanne on March 10, 2008 at 09:36 AM EDT #

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