Daylight Saving Time: A nuisance

[WC8KCY]

A bill has been introduced again in the Michigan Legislature to end the observance of DST in Michigan. Bills have also been introduced in a number of other states to the same effect.

I, for one, would be thrilled to see it gone.

My hometown, near Escanaba, Michigan, historically observed Central Standard Time year-round. Solar high noon occurred at 11:58AM CST. Now, wasn't that a perfectly logical time convention?

In 1972, Michigan adopted Daylight Saving Time statewide. We were still in the Central Time Zone. High noon was at 12:58PM Central Daylight Time. That still sorta made sense, since we were economically connected to Wisconsin, which was already observing Central Daylight Time.

In 1973, the Michigan legislature moved us in the Eastern Time Zone and kept observing DST. When DST kicked in, high noon was at 1:58PM, effectively putting us on Double Daylight Saving Time and keeping us in daylight until nearly 11PM in the summer, since we are so far North.

It's a wholly unnatural convention in many parts of Michigan and Ontario, and a nuisance that people somehow accept as "normal". I hope people come to their senses and modify or eliminate this disdainful convention.

[bort]

My wife went to college in Indiana -- Daylight Saving Time is a mess there, too, because it is inconsistently applied.

Grammatically, it's bothersome too -- "Daylight Savings Time" drive me crazy every time.

PS -- my mother-in-law is from Escanaba. Her dad used to be the mayor!

[roweenie]

Too bad we can't "split the difference", and change the time to half-way between Standard Time and DST, and just leave it there - obviously the entire world would have to be in on that decision, which makes it impractical and unlikely

Personally, I much prefer the longer daylight in the evening (DST), and actually look forward to putting the clocks ahead, but that's just me.....

[WC8KCY]

Technically, your topic has to do with American politics, and is banned. We'll see, though, whether-or-not your topic irritates those in control.

Oops, in my ongoing frustration with the DST situation, that didn't occur to me. Note that this applies to western Ontario as well as western Michigan.

I could live with DST year-round if Michigan returned to Central Time.

[MaryAnn]

In 1973, the Michigan legislature moved us in the Eastern Time Zone and kept observing DST. When DST kicked in, high noon was at 1:58PM, effectively putting us on Double Daylight Saving Time and keeping us in daylight until nearly 11PM in the summer, since we are so far North.

I remember when I was growing up in Indy (1950s-60s) we had a period when sunset was very late due to whatever they were doing with DST. There were bumper stickers that said "Indiana land of the midnight sun."

[WC8KCY]

I remember when I was growing up in Indy (1950s-60s) we had a period when sunset was very late due to whatever they were doing with DST. There were bumper stickers that said "Indiana land of the midnight sun."

Well, that's exactly what we've been stuck with in Northern Michigan since 1973. The switch to EDT single-handedly wiped out the drive-in movie theatres where I grew up. With dusk occurring way after 10PM EDT instead of 8PM CST on clear nights, movies didn't finish until way after midnight.

Taking your kids to the drive-in, a time-honored, budget-friendly entertainment choice in an area not known for wealth, no longer was a viable option unless you and your kids were all night owls and you didn't mid getting home after 1AM EDT.

[Donn]

This is kind of like changing the months around so December is in the middle of summer, because we can't decide when we want to take our vacations.

If we want the morning to start earlier in the summer, then let's do it. We don't need to change the clock.

[tubasoldier]

I never thought of randomly changing time one hour twice a year to be political; just illogical.

[MartyNeilan]

In 2006 I moved from Eastern to Central time the weekend of the time change. No clocks needed to be changed and I didn’t lose any sleep. That would be an easy solution for a few years until I hit the Pacific Ocean.

[hup_d_dup]

Just have everyone go to Zulu time.

Also known as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

Then everyone's clocks all around the world show the same time, and clocks never shift for time zones or seasons. Just adjust your work/sleep cycle according to your location on the planet.

Probably won't happen.

Hup

[humBell]

I like this single time zone idea. One less thing to adapt to when we go into space.

And we could tell our latitude by how far off the stars are from our clocks.

And i am going to remeber DST and use it as an excuse next time i miss an entrance.

[humBell]

In 2006 I moved from Eastern to Central time the weekend of the time change. No clocks needed to be changed and I didn’t lose any sleep. That would be an easy solution for a few years until I hit the Pacific Ocean.

Just remember to move back in the fall each year, and you've got something...