"I just want to say that I TOTALLY do NOT approve of this whole losing-an-hour every spring thing that we here in the west insist on engaging in. It's just ridiculous, attempting to bend time to our will. Not only that, it corrupts the sleep patterns of babies that we have spent many months brainwashing into a certain circadian rhythm, and completely throws me off with the whole, "Hey, it's still dark outside" morning thing and the, "Am I still getting the best afternoon rays if it's really only 3 o'clock but I'm out here at 4?"

Then losing that hour overnight... That ain't right."

I HATED daylight savings time as a kid.� During the summer, when we were not in school and had time to play outside, I dreaded DST because I had to go to bed at 8:00 p.m.� There I was in bed, in broad daylight, while lots of other kids my age were still outside playing to their hearts' content.� I would lie in bed and cry because I wanted to be outside playing as well and didn't understand why I couldn't.� And who can go to sleep when its broad daylight?� This has always stuck with me and thus to this day, I loathe DST.

I suppose there are other more adult and practical reasons to detest it.� Its my understanding that it was initially instituted as a way to save on energy, in that people would not use the lights in their homes as much after getting home from work because daylight hours were extended.� I really and truly don't think this works.� People have to get up so early now to get ready for work because commutes are so long that the lights are on in the house on the front end of day, i.e., the morning, when its pitch dark out.� Also, its still extremely hot at the end of the day with it still being daylight, and the emissions from cars have more time to stew in the heat.� People end up running their home a/c's longer as the daylight and therefore heat is extended.� If someone can give me ONE practical reason why we still need DST I will be willing to consider it and perhaps change my opinion, but as it stands, I think it should be done away with.� Yet another myth perpetuated by those in power who think they know what's best for us.� And now they want to EXTEND DST by 4 more weeks, adding two at the front and two on the back end.� GAH!� When will the insanity stop!

Song Virus du Jour:� "Livin' on Tulsa Time" ~ Don Williams

Useless Trivia du Jour:�
Wikipedia says:

It is sometimes asserted that DST was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in a letter to the editors of the Journal of Paris. Read the full text. However, the article was humorous; Franklin was not proposing DST, but rather that people should get up and go to bed earlier.

It was first seriously proposed by William Willett in the "Waste of Daylight", published in 1907, but he was unable to get the British government to adopt it despite considerable lobbying.

The idea of daylight saving time was first put into practice by the German government during the First World War between April 30 and October 1, 1916. Shortly afterward, the United Kingdom followed suit, first adopting DST between May 21 and October 1, 1916. Then on March 19, 1918, the U.S. Congress established several time zones (which were already in use by railroads and most cities since 1883) and made daylight saving time official (which went into effect on March 31) for the remainder of World War I. It was observed for seven months in 1918 and 1919. The law, however, proved so unpopular (mostly because people rose and went to bed earlier than in current times) that it was later repealed.