clocks back

This is correct, but a study proves that it has no effect.

Especially during the oil crisis " in the 70s the "clock change" was established.

The move is to go two hours foward in spring to have double summer time to match mainland europe.

It's one hour today FORWARD today in most parts of Oz. Spring! Love it!

We have here autumn, however yesterday there was 75° F/24°C but today again relative fresh.

How Daylight Saving Time Got Started


The idea behind Daylight Saving Time is pretty simple. Setting clocks one hour ahead during the summer months, when days are longer, adds one hour of daylight to the end of the day, when more people are awake. And that reduces the amount of energy needed to power lights and appliances. Easy, right? Historically, some have said it's nuts.

Big Ben, Meet Will Willett

Maximizing the daylight hours was first suggested by none other than Benjamin Franklin, who wrote about conserving candles in a whimsical 1784 letter to the editor of the Journal de Paris. Big Ben didn't hit on any clock tricks, though. His proposal, to be taken as seriously (or as lightly) as you want, involved taxing window shutters, rationing candles, restricting nighttime traffic, and ringing every church bell--and firing cannons in every street--at dawn to encourage early risers.

The clock trick we know today came largely from one William Willett, a London builder. The plan he put forth in 1907, in a pamphlet titled "Waste of Daylight," called for everyone to set their clocks forward 20 minutes on each Sunday in April, and then to wind their clocks back 20 minutes on each Sunday in September.

"Everyone appreciates the long light evenings," Willett wrote. "Everyone laments their shrinkage as the days grow shorter, and nearly everyone has given utterance to a regret that the clear bright light of early morning, during Spring and Summer months, is so seldom seen or used."

Will Willett, Meet World War

Willett's idea got people talking. Unfortunately for him, the talk was mostly about what a harebrained scheme he was proposing. But skeptics' minds changed in World War I, when saving energy was deemed vital. Germany and Austria instituted Daylight Saving Time in 1916. They were followed later that year by other European countries, including Britain, where it's known poetically as "Summer Time."

The United States adopted Daylight Saving Time in 1918, but abandoned it after only seven months because it was so unpopular. Farmers, in particular, never liked the time change, grumbling that their cows and chickens didn't adjust their clocks.

Yet World War II brought Daylight Saving Time back as "War Time." In the United States, clocks were kept one hour ahead of standard time year-round from 1942 to 1945. In England, they were advanced two hours ahead of standard time during the summer and one hour ahead the rest of the year.

Synchronizing Our Watches

After the war, many U.S. states decided to stick with various versions of Daylight Saving Time. But different states--or even towns--changed their clocks on different dates, playing havoc with railway timetables and broadcast schedules. So Congress stepped in and standardized the time changes with the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

The current dates for Daylight Saving Time took effect in 1987. Clocks are set forward one hour at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and back one hour at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October. Three states do not observe the time change, or at least not entirely. Hawaii and Arizona (aside from the Navajo Indian Reservation) don't take part at all, and just parts of Indiana do.

Saving Daylight around the World

About 70 countries use some form of Daylight Saving Time. Japan is the only major industrialized nation that does not. Canada keeps things simple by resetting the clocks on the same dates as the United States. In the European Union, people set their clocks forward one month earlier, at the end of March, and back again at the end of October.

Countries near the equator generally don't change their clocks because they don't experience wide variances in the amount of seasonal daylight. South of the equator, where the seasons are reversed, Daylight Saving Time is reversed as well. In Australia, for example, clocks fall forward and spring back--lengthening the long summer days between October and March.

whoops, I forgot to reset mine.... I hate trying to figure out the insulin schedule for my cat at these switch overs.

DAYLIGHT-SAVING-TIME
well, the province of sasketchawan/canada does not quite agree with the daylight-saving-time system. i understand that the farmers say that their cows have refused to reset their clocks over the years ! so the cows have it ! COWS REFUSE TO RESET CLOCKS

It is to be expected. The Canadian cows aren't smart enough to adjust. :wink:

I love it it the spring when we get more hours of daylight...but in the fall, it starts to get dark at 5pm

"The Canadian cows aren't smart enough to adjust" - i'd say they are plenty smart; they know that they have the upper hand and the farmer better get used to it. btw. how are the cows in brooklyn adjusting to the time change ? hbg

This is a challenging time for our household, my alarm cat is set to daylight savings time.

Ruby, she's the small one, arrives on my pillow each morning at precisely 4:58AM DST. I foolishly started to give her a little treat each time she woke me before my alarm went off, but she can't do it early (4:20!!) nor are there are any crunchies for cats who awaken me at 5:10AM.

Now there will be a few days of confusion.........

but being smarter than Canadian cows she will catch on by Friday.




Joe

hamburger
Cows who need cows all our milk comes in containers.

msolga, Joe has written some stunningly beautiful prose in the past. He has arranged his words in such a fashion as to capture the reader and transport them to a magical place or event. Only after the words were gone did the reader snap out of the trance induced by Joe's eloquence and return to the world of the commonplace.

But this was not one of Joe's better efforts, msolga, and yet you shower him with praise.

Just because he mentioned a cat.

I had no idea he had such a wonderful relationship with his critters, Gus. He's my hero now!

I had four cats (not trying to pick you up here, just telling a story) and I am now down to one. The other three are in the pet cemetery out back and the current one will not be long for joining them.

Then, another batch of kittens will appear from someone or somewhere and the whole process will begin anew.

Cats rule. But I'm gonna go with three, tops, next time. Four is a bit too much.

Yes, Gus.<nodding>
I had 4 once & it was crazy, much as I loved them all. Meal times were like a feeding frenzy at the zoo & my god, the annual check up & inoculation appointments! Mamma mia! I do know what you mean. I had a partner in this madness, at the time. In fact HE was the one who kept adopting them! I was the one who held their paws during times of sickness & worse!
I have this problem, though, I'm drawn to cats like a magnet! They are so beautiful, clever, witty, manipulative, magical, regal, or funny ... I'm just enchanted by them!

I like them mainly for their ability to be moving knick knacks. Saves on decorating costs.

Clocks forward here - yesterday.