How Daylight Savings Time Screws Up My Life

I hate two weekends a year. Yesterday was one of them. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, we lost an hour when we turned the clocks ahead. You know the way to remember, right? Spring ahead; Fall back. It doesn’t matter to me whether we lose or gain an hour. It’s a pain in the rear.

Anyone who watched National Treasure knows that Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea of DST. While that fit the movie, that’s not exactly true. In a newspaper article, Old Ben (when he was envoy to France) suggested it to Parisians as a way to economize on candles. Of course, he also suggested a tax on shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public at sunrise by ringing church bells and firing cannons. And I thought losing an hour of sleep was a pain. Thanks, Ben.

So if it wasn’t Ben whose fault is it? A New Zealand entomologist named George Hudson in 1895 wanted more time in the evening for hobby of collecting insects. Insects? Really? As with many concepts, another man claimed credit. William Willett, an avid outdoorsman, disliked ending a round of golf because of dusk. C’mon, guys. Golfing? Why didn’t he just start earlier?

It doesn’t matter who came up with the concept of changing the clocks, or why, we’re stuck with it. I always thought it was to give farmers an extra hour in the evening to work the fields. Since we’re not an agrarian society anymore, what good is it? Supposedly, it’s to cut down on energy consumption. Since it’s light longer, we save on electricity. Okay, I’ll buy that.

It’s still a pain. Until 2006, my sister in Indianapolis was always an hour behind us in the summer. Good thing she doesn’t live in the northwest corner of Indiana. They changed to Central Time. She didn’t like the governor at the time but conceded that at least he gave them Daylight Savings Time.

With the exception of Hawaii and Arizona, all of the United States goes on DST. I can understand Hawaii. They’re in the middle of nowhere (actually the Pacific). But Arizona? It was bad enough that Hubs and I were two hours later than Son & Family. Now, it’s three hours. Figuring out phone calls and Facetime with Baby Girl is harder now. If it’s nine o’clock here, what time is it there? Would they be in the middle of dinner? Or if they called us at eight, would we be awake? When we drove to Arizona, we wouldn’t change our clocks until morning each day. That made it easier for our bodies to adjust. However, when we fly, it seems to take me days to readjust—especially on the return flight. Three hours is a big change.

Unfortunately, it makes sense why Arizona doesn’t go on DST. With the extra hour of sunlight, people used their air conditioners more resulting in more energy consumption. Interesting note: the Navaho Indian Reservation, which extends from Arizona into Utah and New Mexico, does observe DST.

I suppose that since I’m “retired” (from my job in the work force—writers never retire) DST shouldn’t bother me. I can go to bed when I want and sleep as long as I want. But it does throw my schedule off. Change is hard. Harder yet in November when we change back.

I’m also blaming DST for this post being late. Well, I was musing this morning. Does that count?

 Don’t forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.

Refilling the Well

For the past month, I’ve written little other than blogs. Oh, a sentence here, a paragraph there. I have three works-in-progress, yet I can’t seem to stay focused on any of them. One came back from my freelance editor with strong suggestions for change. I set it aside because of family events. (I promised not to mention the happy event at the beginning of August again.)

I have been reading more. Not procrastinating, though. In reading other works, I’m filling up my imagination. (That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.) I read to see how other authors create their characters, develop those characters; how they describe the character’s surroundings; how they show emotions. Unfortunately, I’ll start examining structure then get so caught up in the story that I forget to pay attention to plot development or anything else. It’s better for me to reread a favorite book. I’m also trying to examine why a book doesn’t appeal to me so I can avoid that.

It’s the same with movies. I love movies. No surprise there. LOL Or television shows. What makes me return after the pilot episode and what turns me off? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. The premise may be intriguing, but if I don’t like the main character I won’t continue to watch. He can be irascible yet give him a hint of vulnerability and I’ll give the show another chance. One recent show I haven’t decided on yet is Legend. I’m not fond of the roles Sean Bean has portrayed—the first I recall was Patriot Games. He was a convincing villain. The same in Golden Eye and National Treasure. So it’s hard to envision him as the hero. Yet something in this new role, something in his portrayal of a man who has been undercover too long makes me want to see where the story will go.

As I continue to read, watch movies and television shows, I’ll work my way back into my own WIPs. Leaving my current work—the one I thought I would release in August—at least for a while, may be the best option. When I return to it, it will be as if it’s new and I’ll see my way through on how to fix it. Meanwhile, I’ll get back to the newer ones.