Does changing the time really matter?
Last Sunday morning we all put our clocks forward back by an hour, and
as usual there was the usual media debate about all this. I checked it out
on the internet, and found this interesting article on the subject ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11643098
I'd forgotten that back in 1968, a three-year experiment was started to
fix GMT at British Standard (Summer) time. It was found that northern
Scottish folk fared worse than those living further south, owing to
prolonged darkness in the mornings in winter, and there was a higher rate
of road accidents.
This morning our daughter L who lives in London, told us that her little
ones weren't used to the hour change yet. Little D is now waking at
4.30am instead of at 5.30am! Poor L!
I wonder how many mums and dads with very young children are going through
hell, at this moment in time?
BTW, Mrs C couldn't get off to sleep until 2am (new time) this morning,
and had a restless night's sleep too … the hour change is not helping her.
A few years ago, the incoming president of Venezuela announced that from
then on, Venezuela would fix its time half-way between winter and summer
time on a permanent basis. This is still the case.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7134927.stm
What a brilliant idea, I thought at the time … so why haven't other
nations adopted this idea, I wonder? Let's stop messing around with our
clocks.
as usual there was the usual media debate about all this. I checked it out
on the internet, and found this interesting article on the subject ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11643098
I'd forgotten that back in 1968, a three-year experiment was started to
fix GMT at British Standard (Summer) time. It was found that northern
Scottish folk fared worse than those living further south, owing to
prolonged darkness in the mornings in winter, and there was a higher rate
of road accidents.
This morning our daughter L who lives in London, told us that her little
ones weren't used to the hour change yet. Little D is now waking at
4.30am instead of at 5.30am! Poor L!
I wonder how many mums and dads with very young children are going through
hell, at this moment in time?
BTW, Mrs C couldn't get off to sleep until 2am (new time) this morning,
and had a restless night's sleep too … the hour change is not helping her.
A few years ago, the incoming president of Venezuela announced that from
then on, Venezuela would fix its time half-way between winter and summer
time on a permanent basis. This is still the case.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7134927.stm
What a brilliant idea, I thought at the time … so why haven't other
nations adopted this idea, I wonder? Let's stop messing around with our
clocks.
posted by justin at 10:14 pm
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5 Comments:
You put your clocks FORWARD an hour?
Tut, tut. . . You aren't paying attention are you?
"In the Spring, the clocks spring forward by one hour; and in the Fall the clocks fall back by one hour."
Write that out 200 times and let me have it by playtime, or you will stay behind after class!
Whoops, you're right of course, Keith !!
"In the Spring, the clocks spring forward by one hour ... "
Sir, do I have to write this out 200 times?
Yes, and as the centurion said to Brian "If it's not done by morning, then I'll cut . . . " Well, if you've seen "The Life of Brian" then you'll know what the next bit is.
Well Justin could have been right as I had to put my main clock in the lounge FORWARD .......... errr, but, by eleven hours, as it's a forty year old 4x4 Westminster Chime that doesn't like being forced backwards.
I remember that experiment in 1968 and also remember (as a smart know-it-all teenager) complaining that they'd taken it the wrong way.
What they should have done is not move forward one hour in the Spring, thus remaining on GMT through the Summer, and then there'd be no need to change anything in the Autumn.
Thus "when the sun is directly overhead at Greenwich in London it will be 12 o'clock noon" and regardless of the time of year.
The worst of it is that the French still alter their clocks twice yearly, but a week or two later or earlier than us. So much for European integration!
And please don't dare mention CET (Central European Time), or even UST (Universal Standard Time).
Thanks for your comments, Keith and Kevin.
Kevin, I don't think I'll bother with either CET or UST, as I'll just get even more confused. :)
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