[joe friday]

why can't we maintain the hours we have in the summer this time of year? in the
crappiest time of year, wouldn't it make more sense to have an extra hour of daylight
in the evening when most people can enjoy it? isn't cold and sunny better than cold
and dark? Who benefits other than the beer/suger/prozac industry? i haven't actually
researched the history of it--it's easier to just b*tch about, but really, anyone know
why we need an hour in the morning for the precious perfunctory commute?

 

[bimini]

Be thankful the days are getting longer now

The worse is over. The temperature got up to 32 yesterday and the snow was cleared off the streets so I was able to get outside on the bike for an hour and a half after work. First time in a month!

I will be putting away the XC skis and subjecting the Winter bike to the sand, salt and Ice.

 

[Eschelon]

My understanding is...

that Benjamin Franklin suggested it to preserve candle usage for indoor lighting in the summer time and to also allow more daylight to be utilized for the farmers

 

[MarkS]

I agree with you, but . . .

why can't we maintain the hours we have in the summer this time of year? in the
crappiest time of year, wouldn't it make more sense to have an extra hour of daylight
in the evening when most people can enjoy it? isn't cold and sunny better than cold
and dark? Who benefits other than the beer/suger/prozac industry? i haven't actually
researched the history of it--it's easier to just b*tch about, but really, anyone know
why we need an hour in the morning for the precious perfunctory commute?

I agree with you -- I would like an extra hour of light at the end of the day. However, during one of the energy crises of the 1970s, there was one year (maybe two) in which the US stayed on daylight savings time in the Winter as a supposed energy saving measure. There was a great deal of complaint because school children had to wait for buses in the dark and other similar problems with a dark, morning commute. The problem was especially bad in the western parts of each time zone.

 

[TWD]

Well, for one thing...

.....some people actually work outdoors. If you went to daylight savings hours in the winter time, it wouldn't be light until well after 9am in many places.

Doesn't really matter if you work indoors, but some folks don't. And you can't do everything in the dark. Sure, the number of hours of daylight is going to be the same no matter what time you set the clock to, but starting work that late is unheard of in some industries (farming, construction, etc..).

That's just the way it is. Oh, and be happy that we get the extra hour in the evenings from daylight savings time in the summer months, becuase without it, that hour of light would be remain at 4am where it isn't of much use to anybody but the dairy farmers milking their cows.