* I don’t have a source for this one as it came by email. If someone recognizes it and wants to source it, please let me know.
Well, here we are suffering through DST (Daylight Savings Time) again. While “Falling Back” isn’t a traumatic as “Springing Forward”, I still prefer leaving things alone. I used to think Indiana was progressive for not participating. That was confirmed when I lived under DST for a few years in Georgia that pretty much confirmed my feelings, so I was pretty vocally against the change when it happened.
I ran across an article by an economist, Allison Schrager, titled: “The US needs to retire daylight savings and just have two time zones—one hour apart” I learned a few things including how little of the world observes DST. The cool map above is from her site. The Wikipedia link to Daylight Savings Time above shows a map that indicates large portions of the globe that did observe DST no longer do so.
I am one of the groggy people you met on the road this morning. My internal clock is harder to reset than the digital clock on my oven. I grumbled yesterday resetting my watch and various clocks, but the fact that my alarm clock and cell phone reset automatically was almost as annoying! How dare they make it seem so easy!
If you want to commiserate with me, maybe we could meet for brunch sometime. By then it will be light out and I will be more civil…
I’m not a big fan of Daylight Savings Time as my lurkers already know. It’s not getting any better. Becky’s not a big fan of the deserts of Arizona, but its position as the lone state refusing to participate in this madness makes living there seem more attractive.
I was dragging when I got up this morning and I was dragging all the way through lunch. It’s about 11:00 pm as I’m writing this and I’m not sleepy. It will take me a couple of weeks to get on the new cycle. For those of you that have to deal with me, bear with me please. I will try not to be any more surly than absolutely necessary.
As I was trying to wake up this morning I ran across this article in the LA Times which didn’t make me feel any better with its discussion of the dark side of DST including anxiety, heart attacks and car accidents. Sleep deprivation is a wonderful thing… NOT! Can you imagine having Daylight Savings Time listed as the cause of death in your obituary?
Once again, in an attempt to make lemons into lemonade, I’ll remind you that this is a good time to check/replace the batteries in your smoke detectors. Those of you that are sleep impaired like I am need all the help you can get as you acclimate to this unnecessary assault on your internal clocks… Sweet Dreams!
Anyone that knows me is aware of my disdain for Daylight Savings Time (DST). I humbly request that you take my grumblings with a grain of salt the next few weeks as I adjust. I am generally a fan of Benjamin Franklin and like to carry his likeness with me at all times, but when I found out that it was his writing of An Economical Project in 1784 that fostered DST, my respect for him dropped considerably! Honestly though, he would probably be quite amused that his tongue-in-cheek treatise based on his desire to stay up late and sleep until noon was adopted as international policy!
So, can we make lemonade from lemons here? The time change is a good time to check your smoke detectors. This is promoted by fire departments across the United States. First, minimally, go around and press the test button to be sure they’re working. Best would be to go ahead and change the batteries. Even the hardwired detectors often have battery back-ups. If the battery died while you were on vacation, you might not have heard that annoying chirp. Also, someone may have robbed the detector of its battery for a use they considered more of an emergency at that time. This is ALWAYS a bad idea! Drag your lazy butt to the store if the TV remote needs a new battery!
Second, review your smoke detector locations. If you have an older home, you may not have smoke detectors located to meet current codes and recommended standards. Check with your local building inspector for code requirements in your area. Check with your insurance company for their minimum standards which could be different. If you are adding smoke detectors, be sure and review the types available. Ionization smoke detectors are the most popular, mainly due to price. These economical units are reliable, but may not detect a slow, smoldering fire quickly. A photoelectic smoke detector uses a beam of light that is refracted when smoke is present. This is generally considered a better detector, but is also more expensive. You can find a well written comparison of the two here.
Third, consider adding carbon monoxide detectors. These devices give you another form of protection against unsafe air conditions.
Fourth, review your escape plan. The lives of you and your family may depend on it. Cool heads are rare in a fire, so make up for this by having an easy to follow plan that everyone in the family knows and understands. There is a good template on developing a fire escape plan here.
Lest you think I’m softening my position on DST, it is recommended that you check your smoke detectors once a year. It would be much better to do this on a once a year holiday such as Valentine’s Day (to protect your lover) or the 4th of July (because fireworks are fire hazards) or Christmas (you have the ladder out to put the star on the tree anyway). DST causes you to change the clocks twice a year, which will undoubtedly lead to confusion for some. But since the firemen have chosen the Spring DST clock change for this, there’s no sense bucking city hall… You’re already late! Check your smoke detectors now.
Ed. Note: Fire Chief Andrew made a good point in the comments: One additional item to mention comes from the NFPA website. “Having a smoke alarm cuts your risk of dying in a fire NEARLY IN HALF. Test yours today”