daylight savings time (U.S.)

I have to work this weekend, and they're always looking for particularly stupid things for the weekend person to do, it seems. I got stuck having to write a story about daylight savings time starting Sunday, 3 weeks earlier than usual. It's due Friday night at 7:30 and I'm off all day tomorrow and "you should enjoy it," says my editor, meaning, don't work.

I'm supposed to figure out who will be affected by the change. Anybody got ideas? Given the overwhelmingly rural nature of the area, so far I have farmers and schoolkids. Maybe hospitals? I dunno. It's a bogus assignment, IMHO, but I can afford to get a little snarky with it.

Help?

CB

It's painfully apparent that whoever passed this insane DST bump doesn't have young children. S-Boy's 7 and hey, if the sun's still out it's not bedtime! Grrrr. So yeah, it'll affect school-age children and their going-out-of-their mind parents!

Goggle it, as it has a technological aspect too... as the current timekeepers in our computers, cell phones, cars etc are all based upon the other dates!

I would also like a rundown on how much money the government expects to save by doing this (and if they weighed the costs of changing the apparatus.)

Oh yeah...I forgot to add it might impact my work life dramatically. I manage mobile comms for three Coast Guard commands. There are over 200 Palm Treo users out there. We were told the IT dept would push the patch through at the server level. Fingers and toes crossed! But after reading into the operating systems on these devices (I have both Palm and Windows OS on the Treos), it looks like it's going to be even MORE work, pushing the update through to the end users. I'll be lucky to have hair by the end of next week (because I'll be pulling it out with all the "What happened to my TREO?" questions).

I know Verizon Wireless has already pushed a patch through for their cell phones for DST. I just recommend that if you're on Verizon or Alltel to dial *228, option 2 to update your roaming software so you don't incur additional charges.

Oo, how many kidlets will miss Sunday School? I'm planning a St. Patrick's Day celebration for the 3-4 year olds. Will parents remember to wake on time? Hehe!

Candy, I posted this in Technology forum a few days ago? I think it has a link? But if not, there's a national article written ..well plenty of them

Sky, I know about the technology part, and I replied to your post in technology -- I'm looking for people angles, not machine angles.

BBQ-ers. LOL

I read several years ago that the charcoal industry promoted early Daylight Savings Time (not sure if true) to get people outdoors and grilling after the Winter of indoor cooking.

Any business that does better with more daylight... Golf courses? Putt-putt golf, amusement parks...

Neighborhoods are more "alive" when people can get outside after supper to socialize.

TV--when it's light outside fewer people may be watching in the early evening so 'prime time' may get pushed back like the clock and that would affect advertising dollars.

Dunno either, but there's my thoughts.

Enjoy your day off!

Granted, this is Wisconsin, but even here in the "gateway to the northwoods" I have not seen anyone pull out a BBQ grill while there is still 25 inches of snow on the ground.

A kick-start on outdoor fitness? I'm more likely to go running after work if it's light out. Also makes for better night skiing here in in the Pacific Northwest where you can ski through April. Night skiing rates are cheaper than day rates.

Us poor university students have to wake up earlier. lol(Yes, it affects some parts of Canada).

What about people working a night shift? Wouldn't the time change mess up their body-clocks moreso than they already are due to being awake at night? (Affecting circadian rhythms).

Sorry, not much help but it sounds like an interesting article to read regardless Candy

How about construction workers who's hours are dictated by daylight.

some great ideas here, thank you!

My husband has always joked that the time change is so the poor folks can work longer, and the rich can play golf longer. Just something he thinks is funny, but a lot to think about.

I don't know, Candy, but I do know that it takes me two weeks to adjust to the spring change.

Jan

I know I could use more light!

I'm with you, Angel! Hubby has SAD and personally, I can't wait to drag out the BBQ! Bring it oooooonnnn!

Changing the clocks disrupts sleep patterns. This correlates with decreased economic efficiency. Researchers estimated in 2000 that the daylight saving effect implies a one day loss of $31 billion on the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ alone.[17] Sleep disruption also correlates with a significant increase in fatal accidents the Monday after a Sunday shift, with the larger increase in autumn.[18]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time

Some of the accidents also have to do with the sun being in people's eyes during rush hour where it hadn't been before,etc. so slows people down/they have to adjust (half awake :-) etc. I remember that happening; you go for a month and work your way through the sun being in your eyes a bit at a time so you can get use to it and very "suddenly" it's at a different place. It made me angry :-) because I had just gotten so it was high enough so I could see/read the stoplight and then it was low again so I couldn't see the light changing (so was likely to go through a yellow/red one). If you are travelling on a road going "east" on the way to work in the morning, it can be a big problem.

They were saying there's usually not really as much energy saving as is quoted because people run air conditioning more because they're up later, etc.

Don't forget the people late for Church :-) often happens Easter or Palm Sunday for the old change date.