{"id":16384,"date":"2019-03-07T10:46:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T15:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=16384"},"modified":"2019-03-07T10:48:59","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T15:48:59","slug":"its-time-to-set-your-clocks-ahead-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/its-time-to-set-your-clocks-ahead-again\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Time to Set Your Clocks Ahead Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CloudeightIt’s Time to Set Your Clocks Ahead Again<\/span><\/h1>\n

Well. here it is again. The weekend of the time change.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just last year I learned that calling daylight saving time, \u201cDaylight Savings Time\u201d, with an S, is horribly stupid and incorrect. They say it makes me look like an idiot to everyone who knows better; it\u2019s correctly called daylight saving time. So, for decades, I\u2019ve been considered stupid for calling it daylight savings time. Who cares? Obviously,I do, since I wrote this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here we are on the cusp of daylight saving time and once again I\u2019ve been educated by those who know. Yes indeed. I just learned that it\u2019s not Daylight Saving Time, it\u2019s daylight saving time \u2013 no uppercase letters. At least that\u2019s what the Associated Press stylebook says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who in the this world ever consults the Associated Press stylebook anymore? You wouldn\u2019t really do that, would you? It costs over $20 just to get the online edition. And yes, by now, after all the surly critiques of my writing I’ve received over the years, I\u2019m quite sure many of you reading this would be glad to send me a free online subscription to the AP stylebook. If you’re so inclined please do – but don’t expect me to change my style.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look here:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDaylight Savings Time is a misspelling, but more common than the correct term. Setting our clocks 1 hour forward in the spring is often referred to as \u201cDaylight Savings Time\u201d even though \u201cDaylight Saving Time\u201d is the correct spelling\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[From https:\/\/www.timeanddate.com\/time\/dst\/daylight-savings-time.html<\/a> ]<\/span><\/p>\n

But you see, you really can\u2019t believe anyone about anything anymore, because that article is wrong. And how do I know it’s wrong? Well, because the aforementioned AP stylebook says it\u2019s correctly spelled \u201cdaylight saving time\u201d. And if you\u2019re self-centered and confident enough to think you set the style for all writers, then I guess you better be right.<\/span><\/p>\n

But me? I\u2019m not puffed up \u2013 at least not with knowledge – maybe with Reese’s Peanut Cups and beer, but certainly not vain or overly confident.\u00a0 One thing I am though and that’s tired of being corrected, I tells ya. So, not wanting to look like an idiot or a fool any more than I usually do, I\u2019ve called this piece \u201cIt’s Time to Set Your Clocks Ahead\u201d \u2013 the uppercase being correct because\u2026 well, because I said so. Note how I cleverly left out any references to Daylight Saving Time or daylight saving time or Daylight Savings Time.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m on a roll and it\u2019s my stylebook that counts here!<\/span><\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re thinking I\u2019m going to remind you to set your clocks ahead an hour, I\u2019m not – at least that’s not the thrust of this essay. I’m sure some will argue that. No ma’am, no sir, no need to remind you to set your clocks ahead on Saturday night before you go to bed.\u00a0 Why? Because every newspaper, every newscast \u2013 left-wing, right-wing, far left, far right \u2013 will (for once) all come together and agree on one thing: You need to be reminded to set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed or slither off in the dark of the night on Saturday. It\u2019s funny that the far left, the far right, the center, the left and the right all agree on one thing \u2013 they all need to remind you one million times to set your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night .<\/span><\/p>\n

As for me, I once rued the day when we set the clocks ahead an hour. I used to be one who loved to skulk around furtively in the dark of the night; to me daylight saving time was anathema. I used to enjoy taking walks in the dead and dreary dark of night, peering through windows and seeing everyone snug in their homes watching “The Bachelor”. It was comforting in a way and frightening in another.<\/span><\/p>\n

I once traipsed through nearby neighborhoods in brand-spankin\u2019-new Cat\u2019s Pause\u00ae walking shoes. OK, so they\u2019re expensive and hard to find \u2013 but everyone deserves to splurge a little\u2026 even if you\u2019re broke. I don\u2019t receive any commission, discounts, or tokens from the Cats Pause\u00ae company for mentioning their magnificent walking shoes in this timely essay.<\/span><\/p>\n

No puns intended.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I do so urge you to splurge before your dirge.Buy some Cats Pause\u00ae walking shoes live a little bit. Put some spring in your step.<\/span><\/p>\n

And I do believe in spluging before you go off dirging. I know that sounds morose, morbid and melancholy, but it\u2019s true.Time is certainly not a metaphor. What better reminder of our fragility and evanescence than the banal hourglass metaphor; each one of us has an hourglass with our name on it \u2013 and the sand in each of our hourglasses is running out and faster than we think. Don\u2019t let that worry you \u2013 not many of us know exactly much sand we have left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be angry with me \u2013 it\u2019s a fact of life. When that last grain of sand slides down the little glass tube, it\u2019s lights out and you\u2019ll never get another chance to splurge on this earth. At least I don’t think. So there\u2019s no time like the present. I implore you to splurge before your dirge.<\/span><\/p>\n

I digress. Daylight saving time was once a sad time for me \u2013 no more long nights of darkness; no more nightly walks slinking through murky, dusky silent streets alone with my thoughts. My eyeballs focused on the flicker of life from windows of homes filled with people who had no idea I was skulkin down the sidewalks of their quiet neighborhood. My Cats Pause\u00ae walking shoes are made for silent skulking.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now I’m older and maybe wiser – or more tired and I no longer need all that darkness anymore. Back when I used to enjoy those stealthy walks through the cloaking black veil of night, I used to be able to stay awake past 10:00 PM. Back in the day, I had time to enjoy good books and good movies before turning in for the night. So, I used to love the dark and gloom and the shadows and all the twitching things borne on the black wings of night.<\/span><\/p>\n

But not so much anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the fall and winter, when we are on Standard Time (I don\u2019t have a AP style book, is that uppercase?), I can hardly stay awake past 9:00 o\u2019clock. In the winter it gets dark around here between 4:45 and 5:15 PM. That means by the time the clock strikes nine, the night has shrouded the world in its sad, melancholy darkness for a four full hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

If I start to read a book- no matter how exciting or good it is, inevitably it plummets from my hand to the floor, jolting me awake startling me with its ominous crash to the floor. I can manage only 2 or 3 pages each evening before sleep grabs my aging eyeballs and closes them. At my winter reading rate it takes me 4 months to read a 350-page novel. So a book I start in November, I don\u2019t finish until March. But by then, I can\u2019t remember what it\u2019s about.<\/span><\/p>\n

And in March, we set the clocks ahead for daylight saving time.<\/span><\/p>\n

And movies? Let me tell you about movies. No matter how good the movie, I end up falling asleep before it\u2019s even half over. I fall asleep in my old-man\u2019s recliner with my neck crooked at an disturbing odd angle – at least according to those who\u2019ve witnessed it. I snore unaware of the world around me, mouth gaping and the TV remote clutched in my hand. I don\u2019t sleep very long before I wake up with a start and a sore neck, and fingers so stiff I have to pry them off the TV remote.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, yes, now I do look forward to Daylight Saving Time (or as the AP says\u00a0 – daylight saving time) here in in the years prior to my coming \u2013 but hopefully not impending \u2013 dirge.<\/span><\/p>\n

And don\u2019t give me the hooey about losing an hour\u2019s sleep. I lose more than an hour\u2019s sleep every night getting up and going to the bathroom. I lose way more than an hour\u2019s sleep rolling around on the bed trying to find a position where my aging carcass feels comfortable enough to go to sleep. So, don\u2019t you ever tell me you don\u2019t like daylight saving time because robs you of one hour\u2019s worth of sleep every YEAR!<\/span><\/p>\n

And don\u2019t you find those who remind you that you\u2019re going to make up the hour of sleep you lose here in spring when we switch back to standard time in November rather dull? What are they smoking? Here in my neck of the woods, it\u2019s nearly eight months between the beginning of daylight saving time and the ending of daylight saving time. That\u2019s about 225 days. Now, do you really think that 225 nights from now, you\u2019re going to put on your PJs, crawl into bed, yawn, and say to yourself \u2014 or anyone nearby \u2014 \u201cGosh, I\u2019m so glad I\u2019m going to get back that hour of sleep that daylight saving time stole from me last March.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I honestly don\u2019t think so, and you don’t really think so either. Yet you\u2019re going to hear people moaning and complaining about losing an hour of sleep when daylight saving time begins until your poor ears fall off. You\u2019re going to hear why they think daylight saving time is a terrible idea. You\u2019re going to hear people tell you that you are going to have that stolen hour eat away at you until you can get it back next autumn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seriously?<\/span><\/p>\n

I like daylight savings time because I can stay up past 9:00 PM \u2013 heck I can go out and mow the grass at 9:00 PM if I want to. I can sit outside and drink beer and read a book. During daylight saving time, I can read a 350-page novel in three or four nights. I can stay awake until 11:00 PM or so, just like the younger folks do. That means I can mow the lawn, read a book, drink a beer and watch a movie \u2014 all in the same evening! So, what\u2019s not to like about Daylight Saving Time? Or daylight saving time?<\/span><\/p>\n

OK so I have to walk in the light. Big deal! My new Cat\u2019s Pause\u00ae walking shoes are bright red \u2013 and I don\u2019t mind stylin\u2019 around in the daylight wearing them. They\u2019re pretty cool! People stop me and say, \u201cMan, I love your shoes!\u201d \u201cThey\u2019re Cats Pause\u00ae I say \u2013 you can’t get shoes like these at Target!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And though I walk in the daylight after daylight saving time begins, no one younger than 50 notices me anyway \u2013 I\u2019m invisible. And that\u2019s a good thing, because I don\u2019t have to comb what\u2019s left of my hair or even wipe the spaghetti sauce off my mouth. And, if it\u2019s windy I just wear a hat, no matter how hot it is. The few long tufts of hair I do have all fit nicely under my tight-fitting knit stocking hat. I even have one to match my Cats Pause\u00ae shoes.<\/span><\/p>\n

And remember, it\u2019s daylight saving time, no uppercase letters and no \u201cs\u201d in saving. Daylight saving time starts on Sunday. But don\u2019t wait until Sunday to set your clocks ahead. Do it before you go to bed on Saturday or before you twist off into the dark cold night.<\/span><\/p>\n

And think of this: Someday soon, people won\u2019t have a clue what it means to \u201cset\u201d your clocks ahead one hour \u2013 or set them back an hour. Clocks that have to be \u201cset\u201d will be soon be as outdated as the rotary dial telephone. Have you ever shown a youngster a rotary dial telephone? They don’t have a clue what to do with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, if you live in most of the USA \u2013 but not those of you who live in Hawaii or Arizona please do set your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night before you go to bed or skulk off to your favorite watering hole.<\/span><\/p>\n

And don\u2019t let me hear you say \u201cdaylight savings time\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

And definitely don\u2019t let me hear a peep from you about losing an hour of sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Time to Set Your Clocks Ahead Again Well. here it is again. The weekend of the time change. Just last year I learned that calling daylight saving time, \u201cDaylight Savings Time\u201d, with an S, is horribly stupid and incorrect. They say it makes me look like an idiot to everyone who knows better; it\u2019s correctly called daylight\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228],"tags":[1720],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16384"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16388,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16384\/revisions\/16388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}