Sun 29 Oct 2006
| I didn’t mistype that. It’s Daylight Saving Time not Daylight Savings Time like everyone says. Then again, people say a lot of things wrong, like “perscription” for “prescription” or pronouncing realtor “real-uh-ter”, instead of the correct way: “real-ter”. | ![]() Areas that observe daylight saving time Areas that once observed daylight saving time Areas that have never observed daylight saving time |
But the main point here is that I’m sleepy. I’m sleepy because even though the clock says 10pm, my body thinks it’s 11pm. That’s because last night I set my clock back an hour. That’s because in 1784 Ben Franklin wrote a letter to the editors of a French newspaper where he proposed the idea. He called it summer time and the French thought his concept was dumb. That was probably ok with Ben because he was kidding anyway.
Not all the states are together in this time changing mania; Arizona and Hawaii stay on standard time all year long. So do the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.
Way back in 1997, friend Lowell A. Nelson, then a Utah State Senator, introduced a bill in the Utah Legislature to end the practice of Daylight Saving Time. In fact, he asked me to help him with the project, but limited time prevented me from doing so.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this half of Saving Time. Falling Back is good. Springing forward, on the other hand, is not nearly as enjoyable. In fact, it sucks. That’s because it’s hard for my body to adjust to a lost hour. In fact, as a world traveler, my slowness to cope to changing times is a deficit. When I first went to Switzerland, for example, it took me several weeks to adjust to the jet lag.
But all of this speaking of circadian rhythms reminds me of something I read the other day. I don’t know if it’s true: a certain writer claimed that when people die of natural causes, more often than not, they die at about the same time of day they were born. If that’s true, it’s pretty interesting.
Fun Fact of the Day: China only uses ONE timezone. (Thanks Grady Kelly!)

October 29th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
That map of yours needs a legend.
October 30th, 2006 at 10:19 am
good point. when I steal stuff from wikipedia, I should be more thorough in my thievery. done!
October 30th, 2006 at 11:32 am
It would appear that Indiana is still roiled in a heated debate about Daylight Saving Time. When I was there 2002-2004, part of the state followed CST/CDT, part followed EST/EDT, and the rest didn’t observe DST and followed EST all the time. It would appear things have changed in the last couple years but may change back…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Indiana
October 30th, 2006 at 11:35 am
Cool word of the day award goes to Spig for using “roiled.” Strong work, my friend.
Ryan