This week we have a guest blogger as I have been at a conference on Aging and Senior issues. Mr. Blogger (Ed Mund) sends this our way:
What do we really know about DST?
As daylight saving time (DST) comes to an end this weekend, it’s a good time to ask, “Just what do we know about this annual change?”
First of all, it is really called daylight “saving” time, not daylight “savings” time as most people say it. Your high school English teacher will tell you that “saving” is one of two adjectives modifying the noun “time” so the singular usage is correct.
Contrary to popular belief, DST in America was not begun at the request of farmers. In fact, the opposite was true. Farmers’ days were dictated by the sun, not the clock. DST disrupted schedules. Farmers had to wait an extra hour for dew to evaporate to harvest hay, hired hands worked less since they still left at the same time for dinner, and cows weren’t ready to be milked an hour earlier to meet shipping schedules. Agricultural interests were successful in getting Congress to repeal DST a year later in 1919.
After the repeal, DST became a hodgepodge of local decisions of whether to change clocks twice a year or not. Nationwide DST returned during World War II, but was canceled again mere weeks after the war’s end. Confusion once again became the norm. At one time, Iowa had 23 different pairs of start and end dates. A trip from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, passed through seven time changes in just 35 miles.
All the chaos ended in 1966 with the enactment of the Uniform Time Act, which standardized daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. Well, actually, no it didn’t. States may still choose to opt in or not. Currently Hawaii and Arizona do not recognize DST.
In the end, has springing the clocks forward saved energy? Most official studies say no. Oh well. A least we get an extra hour of sleep Saturday night. That sounds like saving energy to me.
Source:
http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-daylight-saving-time
Quote of the Week:
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. – Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Weather:
It was a dark and stormy day… here is a weather advisory posted on www.wunderground.com
… Wind Advisory in effect from 9 PM this evening to noon PDT
Saturday…
The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a Wind
Advisory… which is in effect from 9 PM this evening to noon PDT
Saturday.
* Timing… late tonight and Saturday morning.
* Winds… south 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph.
* Impacts… downed limbs and local power outages.
Precautionary/preparedness actions…
A Wind Advisory means that winds of 35 mph are expected. Winds
this strong can make driving difficult… especially for high
profile vehicles. Use extra caution.
Albrecht
weather.Gov/Seattle
Have a great week ahead. – Cindy
1 COMMENT
While growing up in Kelso, I remember one year that Longview was on DST and Kelso stayed on standard time. What a challenge for workers, especially as most jobs were in Longview!
Good article!
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