The myth about franklin and daylight saving time

[Mel Fulks]

Today the news papers and tv news readers will again be telling us that Franklin thought up DST. Total nonsense. I found his article several years ago and read it. It is a satirical commentary on the people of France sleeping late ,staying up late and having to burn expensive candles. I have always thought that the idea made no sense since he published an almanac and understood the movement of the earth.

[Jason Roehl]

My take on it is this: there is no daylight "saved", as there is only about a minute more of daylight today than there was yesterday, but many/most of us will lose an hour of sleep, so it could be called "Daylight Losing Time". On top of that, you'll also waste a bunch of your time switching the myriad clocks in your houses, vehicles and workplaces.

Okay, now for some of my more serious objections about it. I understand that the "saving" part is about pushing the daylight later into the day, so that, in theory, we need less electricity to light up whatever we're doing in the evening. That may have been true 50 years ago, but we're a 24-hour society now. We'll just burn that electricity when we get up in the dark in the morning. I have doubts that there's any real conservation of energy. In fact, when Indiana first made the transition 10 years ago or so, I actually started using MORE electricity because my house only had a window A/C on the main floor. In order to put my young children to bed at a reasonable hour, I had to install another window unit upstairs to cool it off so they could go to sleep in the summer, since the evening cool-down was now pushed back an hour (it's now light until almost 10:30PM at the summer solstice here, since we're near the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone).

I hate DST. With. A. Passion.

[Mel Fulks]

I'm with you . The real reason for the extension of it was lobbying by sports equipment manufacturers.

[Jerome Stanek]

Some people say it was fro the farmers. But when I was growing up we had a greenhoue and grew tomatoes. My parents liked standard time better because they could get out and pick an hour earlier and the truck would come at around 3 pm and they would have to have all the tomatoes sorted and packed by then. It didn't matter if they started picking at 6 am or 7 am the truck would be there at 3 pm that extra hour sure helped out.

[Mike Cozad]

I would prefer to stay on DST. Being toward the western end of the eastern time zone I can play golf a whole lot later in the summer.. Just my preference though. I leave in the dark in the morning regardless so I just get tired of the change twice a year...

[Wade Lippman]

I don't care what we do, as long as we do it all year long. Every study has shown no benefit and significant costs to health.
But it will never happen because politicians don't see it as getting them votes.

[Mel Fulks]

I hope no one thinks my comment about the sport lobby was a joke .It is the truth.

[Jerry Bruette]

I hope no one thinks my comment about the sport lobby was a joke .It is the truth.

You sure it wasn't the smoke detector people?:confused: How else would we know when to change the batteries?:rolleyes:

I will agree it's useless. Seems like the older I get the more it bothers me.

Jerry

[Kevin Bourque]

Franklin was a notoriously randy bounder. Today he would be referred to as a "pimp". He invented DST so he would have more time with his ladies.

[Keith Outten]

I doubt the time change has anything to do with farmers because they go to work when the sun comes up here on the East Coast. The time has nothing to do with when they work......its sunup to sundown.
.

[Mel Fulks]

Not only was he joking ,he never mentions one hour . It basicly and sarcasticly says if you sleep at night and are awake during the day you will save money on candles. And they trot out this out every year to associate a respected guy with a marketing scam.

[Jerome Stanek]

I doubt the time change has anything to do with farmers because they go to work when the sun comes up here on the East Coast. The time has nothing to do with when they work......its sunup to sundown.
.

Not to day I work for a crop service in the spring and the farmers here sometimes work from sun up to afternoon the next day and then take a 2 hour nap and work another 24 hours. My brother also works there and the one week he went to work Monday and went quit Thursday with a couple of naps while his tractor was being serviced in the field

[Harold Burrell]

Personally...I like DST.

Hate me if you will.

:p

[Jim Stewart]

I hate DST. Especially here in Indiana where we are on the line between CST and EST. For years we resisted DST and it made sense. We are on EST although it might make more sense for us to be on CST considering our geographic location.

I believe the change was for retailers in hope that city folk would shop later in the day. The we still have daylight at 10:00 PM when we are near the Summer Solstice. I see no need for this time change. If you want to stay up later or get up earlier just do it.

[Jim Matthews]

I love it - it means my kids are awake in time for school.

Going back to EST, not so much.

[Jeff Monson]

I love it - it means my kids are awake in time for school.



Amen to that, tomorrow morning will be a joy to have them ready. Tonight may be another page though.

[Brian Elfert]

I think we should just stay on daylight saving time permanently. During the peak of summer it stays light here in Minnesota until 10 pm or so. It would suck if it only stayed light until 9 pm in the summer. By labor day it gets dark before 8 pm now and it would be before 7 pm if not for DST.

I do think changing clocks twice a year is silly although reprogramming computers would be expensive.

[bob svoboda]

My wife's grandfather was a wheat farmer in eastern WA. He referred to DST as "Crazy Time" and refused to change his clocks.

[Mel Fulks]

I usually refer to it as "fools time" but he was certainly on the right track. I keep one clock on EST and one on LOCAL MEAN TIME ,which is based on suns highest point being noon where I live. That is what everyone used before passenger trains. When you traveled east or west you just adjusted your watch to where you were . I also have a noon mark line drawn on kitchen ceiling . A small round mirror in the window reflects the sun. Observing noon is both comforting and practical.Yeah,got to have some clocks on fools time too.

[Rod Sheridan]

Of course you could always do what we do at work, use GMT.

My kids always hated looking at my watch, GMT in the 24 hour clock of course...................Rod.

P.S According to the clock here it's also day #70......LOL

[ray hampton]

I usually refer to it as "fools time" but he was certainly on the right track. I keep one clock on EST and one on LOCAL MEAN TIME ,which is based on suns highest point being noon where I live. That is what everyone used before passenger trains. When you traveled east or west you just adjusted your watch to where you were . I also have a noon mark line drawn on kitchen ceiling . A small round mirror in the window reflects the sun. Observing noon is both comforting and practical.Yeah,got to have some clocks on fools time too.

HIGH NOON is not high noon all of the time , its will depend on the time zone that KY are using , the Sun are usual at high spot at about 1 pm

[Mel Fulks]

You are correct on the time zone thing ,Ray. But they didn't come in until 1880s. Noon is not a time as much as a thing .When the sun is at its highest point in the day ,aligned with a north south line it is noon, and the middle of the daylight hours. Before time zones clock time was based on local position of sun, Local Mean Time ,and clocks were regulated by a sundial or town clock. That continued in many places until radio time checks came in.

[Brian Kent]

I am for all year around. I like seeing sunshine when I get off work.

[Mel Fulks]

Something is not right here,Brian. You are the minister, but I am promoting "GOD's TIME"!

[Jim Stewart]

You guys are confusing Daylight Savings Time(DST) with the time zones. I don't really care about the time zone, so much as I just don't like changing the time twice per year. As I said I think geographically Indiana should be in the Central Time Zone (CST) not the Eastern time zone (EST). I really don't care what time zone we use as long as we stay on one time year around. I am 66, pushing 67 years. Your body does not like changing the time you do things like going to bed, getting up as you get older. I think kids have trouble with that as well.

[Mel Fulks]

Jim ,you are exactly right . I add that it is a medical fact that many suffer from light deprivation in winter and need treatment for it .The most beneficial time to be exposed to light is morning. Discussions like this show how far removed modern people are from understanding their relationship with the earth. Not much more than a hundred years ago people knew how to use sundials and noon marks and understood the foolishness of creative time keeping.

[Brian Elfert]

I don't have any issues with the time change and my body. I set my clocks ahead on Saturday evening and go to bed at my normal time in DST. (An hour early by standard time.) I had to be up at 6 am Sunday to help with a pancake breakfast.

[ray hampton]

Jim ,you are exactly right . I add that it is a medical fact that many suffer from light deprivation in winter and need treatment for it .The most beneficial time to be exposed to light is morning. Discussions like this show how far removed modern people are from understanding their relationship with the earth. Not much more than a hundred years ago people knew how to use sundials and noon marks and understood the foolishness of creative time keeping.

carry a sundial around all day are not possible but some people still tell time by the sun ,your next-door farmer could be one of them

[Mark Eisen]

Glad we don't have DST here

http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s356/wm460/Jokes/imageDLS-3.jpg

[Alan Melbourne]

i hate it every time the clocks change.
my body clock gets all screwed up. i cant sleep properly. im iratable
its a total waste of time all that changing. i would rather have more light in the morning in the summer. it is bricght at about 10 30. thats a total night mare. you are up and about doing jobs around the house when you should be inside relaxing getting ready for bed.
in the winter the clocks are an hour too early. its dark in the morning when you get up anyway so what harm. but its dark at 4 pm . that always screws up the end to the working day. im cock eyed in the mornings so i wouldnt know if it was bright out side or not


leave it alone and stop medeling in this