Fall Back

In this episode (179) - Fall Back . . .

Going through the Farmer’s Almanac, I was curious about Daylight Savings Time (DST). Wondering why we “Fall Back”?

Tomorrow, the first Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 2 a.m., is when Daylight Saving Time ends in most areas of the United States, returning to Standard Time. Be sure to set your clocks one hour back before bedtime on Saturday night! Listen carefully, and you will hear the cynics, “Alright! We gain another hour of sleep Saturday night; why can’t it stay this way?

Moving the clocks twice a year is to take better advantage of sunlight. Face it; most folks get out of bed after the sun has risen and gone to bed after it has set. But what if the sun rose and set earlier?

“Pull that shade down. I’m trying to sleep in.”

When we fall back, we’re not really “gaining” time; we’re just giving up a little daylight in the evening and adding it to the morning. Just wait; soon, everyone will be complaining, “This getting dark at 5:00 p.m. sucks!”

Ok, but if it’s darker in the evening, doesn’t that mean more electricity will be needed to get through the night, your energy provider’s peak hours? You bet it does. If you’re interested in how you can save this winter on your electric bill, check out episode 172, Turn off the Lights.

Since Daylight Saving Time was introduced, lawmakers have occasionally seen fit to fiddle with it. This happened in the 70s, during the oil crisis. In 2007, Daylight Saving Time got longer, beginning in March and ending in November, instead of April and October, respectively. But it looks like we won’t be doing away with it soon.

Which States Don’t Observe DST?

According to U.S. law, states can choose whether to observe DST. Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii, plus a few other U.S. territories, are the only places in the U.S. that do not observe DST and stay on standard time all year long.

Indiana did not vote to observe DST until April 2006.

Before that, some counties in the state observed it while others didn’t, which caused a lot of confusion, mainly since Indiana is split into two time zones already!

What about Other Countries?

At least 40 countries worldwide observe Daylight Saving Time, including most of Canada, though most of Saskatchewan and parts of northeastern British Columbia don’t participate. For obvious reasons, most countries near the equator don’t deviate from standard time.

It's said Benjamin Franklin is to blame for all this. Well, yes and no; Ben Franklin is credited for inventing the idea of Daylight-Saving Time due to his tongue-in-cheek letter to the editor written in 1784. However, Franklin seemed to understand rather than changing the clocks; he simply advised us to change our schedules to better align with nature. That seems sensible.

Changing the number on a clock doesn’t add time to our days. Anyway, tomorrow we “fall back” into the darkness, like to or not.

I’m Patrick Ball; thanks so much for listening. See you in the next episode.

Comments

Mom Was Right

In this episode: Mom Was Right (Again!) . . . Remember that old saying, "Mom knows best?" Well, this week, it resonated profoundly. I vividly recall my mother's steadfast remedy for the common cold, which was ingrained in my 1960s childhood: "Rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids, and take aspirin to reduce pain and fever." . . . Or now that I think about it, this may have been a Bayer aspirin commercial–Simple . . . Fast-forward to the age of AI and endless medical information at our fingertips, and guess what? Not much has changed. Yet, somehow, this week, Lori and I were blindsided by a cold—the first in over five years. My incredulous "How could this be?" quickly morphed into a dawning realization. Our company's annual meeting, a melting pot of colleagues from Illinois, Texas, Vietnam, Colorado, Northern California, and the Central Valley, was a veritable petri dish of germs. And, oh, the germs found me! Getting sick, especially after a long str...

Whispers of Spring

In this episode, Whispers of Spring . . . Spring has a way of sneaking in when you’re not looking. One day, you’re shaking off the last chill of winter, and the next, you realize the light has shifted, stretching shadows just a little longer. It didn’t make a big fuss about it—no dramatic entrance, no trumpets—just a quiet unfolding, like an old dog settling into a sunny spot on the porch. Last week, Daylight Saving Time kicked in, which meant we all fumbled with our clocks, grumbled a bit, and then, like frogs taken aback by a warm rain, leapt forward into longer evenings. The sun now lingers, in no rush to set, hanging in the sky like a tossed coin that refuses to fall. With the extra daylight, we find ourselves drawn outside once again, migrating to the back patio like folks are drawn to a warm campfire. The lawn chairs are right where we left them, waiting like old friends. The air hums with wind chimes, their tuned cylinders catching the breeze and weaving together something that...

Special April Fools' Edition: Did You Fall For It?

In this episode: Special April Fools' Edition: Did You Fall For It? (And a Little Baseball Nonsense) Welcome, fellow baseball aficionados and purveyors of the peculiar, to a very special, dare we say unpredictable, issue of On the Fly! Today, the air is thick with . . . well, probably just regular air, but a specific mischievous something is buzzing around. Can you feel it? Does that tingling sensation make you double-check your shoelaces and suspiciously eye any unusual packages? Yes, dear readers, it’s April 1st! A day steeped in mystery, shrouded in playful deception, and frankly, a day where you shouldn't believe anything you read (except maybe this . . .maybe). But before we descend into a whirlwind of whimsical falsehoods (don’t worry, we’ll mostly keep it light!), let’s take a quick, slightly wobbly, historical flight through the origins of this most unreliable of holidays. Whispers from the annals suggest a few intriguing possibilities for why we dedicate this particula...

At 92–Don's Digital Daydream

Listen to the audio here. In a world of his own–lives, ole' Doctor Don, Not one world, but three, 'til the setting of the sun! There’s his Blog-World , so bright, with words all a-whirl, And Book-World , with stories of boy and girl! Then, Day-World , where legs didn't leap, didn't run, Just shuffled and creaked 'til each day is done. But his brain, oh, his mind, it’s zippy and keen, A most curious fellow that ever was seen! At ninety and two, with a twinkle so bright, He met Chatty and said, "What a strange delight!" This box with the answers, so quick and so bold, Of theology and stories, new truths to unfold!" "Integrity, relationships, where do they fit? This thing makes me wonder, bit by bit!" He ponders and pokes with laughter and a grin, "Til POOF! he has gone to a world from within! A world made of words, a fantastical place, Where limits of the body, left not a trace! He Soares, and he zooms, with a thought and a rhyme, Trans...

On The Fly

Search This Blog