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

We Need Awe More Than Ever

In this episode, Why We Need Awe More Than Ever Yesterday morning, I slipped into the cool stillness of my backyard before dawn. The air was crisp, the silence deep—broken only by the faint rustling of leaves and the familiar calls of birds waking early. Then I looked up. A thin crescent moon hung low in the east, with Venus just above it like a shining jewel. The sky was clear and full of stars, and for a moment, I felt something I hadn’t in a long time: Awe! For thousands of years, the heavens have carried on their steady dance, untouched by human noise. No ruler, no election, no breaking news has ever changed their rhythm. And yet here I was, tempted to reach for my phone—to trade the eternal for the urgent. Instead, I stayed. I watched the moonrise, the sky slowly lighten, and the world around me stir. Ducks passed overhead in a loose V, hummingbirds zipped past to visit their feeder, pausing mid-air as if curious about me sitting so still. Little by little, the static in my mind f...

The Birth of a Cubs Legend

In this episode, The 162-Game Exhale — and the Birth of a Cubs Legend There’s a hush in the baseball world on Game 162 — a collective breath drawn in and slowly released. Scoreboards stop flipping. Dugouts empty. For six months, the game has been our steady heartbeat, pulsing from the cherry blossoms of Tokyo in March to the crisp, playoff-charged winds of late September. And now, as the regular season exhales, baseball fans everywhere pause to absorb the story we’ve just lived. For me, that story has been deeply personal. This season unfolded in the rhythms of my daily life. It was the summer soundtrack echoing beneath the constant turmoil of politics and sensational headlines. It was a handful of carefully chosen ballpark pilgrimages stitched together with countless nights in front of MLB.TV. And at the center of it all, for a lifelong Cubs fan like me, it revolved around one name — a young center fielder who turned hope into history: Pete Crow-Armstrong. The 2025 season didn’t begin...

The Pessimism Aversion Trap

In this episode, The Pessimism Aversion Trap Picture this: a room full of bright minds nodding in agreement as a bold new strategy is unveiled. The slides are polished, the vision is grand, and the future, we're told, has never looked brighter. Everyone beams—because who wants to be the one to say, "Um… this might not work"? Heaven forbid someone spoil the mood with a dose of reality. Better to smile, add a buzzword or two, and march confidently toward disaster. That's how the Pessimism Aversion Trap works. Even now, I can still hear the sound—a high-pitched shriek and a digital hum, followed by the slow, rhythmic clatter of data pouring from a 5¼-inch floppy disk. It was the late 1980s, and my makeshift home office (our living room) was dominated by what felt like a marvel of modern engineering: a used Tandy 1000 PC with not one, but two floppy drives. To top it off, we purchased a 'blisteringly fast' 300-baud modem—which, for the uninitiated, could downloa...

Pushing the Pause Button

In this episode, Pushing the Pause Button: Stepping Off the Treadmill Hello, friends — If you're reading this, I'm already off the grid. Today begins a much-needed vacation, and for the next few weeks, On the Fly is taking a break right along with me. For a long time, my inner voice has said, 'Keep every commitment, no matter what.' That's meant early mornings, long days, and a calendar packed with posts, podcasts, and projects I couldn't seem to say no to. I've been trying to be the tireless workhorse—but that kind of grind doesn't end well. Lately, I've noticed I'm not quite myself—shorter fuse, louder sighs, and a few too many grumbles (Lori deserves a medal). That's when you know it's time to hit pause before the spark burns out. So, I'm stepping back to rest, recharge, and remember what it feels like to not live by the next deadline: no tech, no to-do lists, just some space to breathe. Thank you, truly, for all your support and ...

On The Fly

Search This Blog