The most requested thing for dinner around here? Noodles. With butter.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Livin' la vida LOCA

Loca means "crazy" in Spanish.

LOCA is the acronym for Leave Our Clocks Alone, an organization I established back in 2002.

I am the president and sole member of the organization. Anyone can join, but no one knew much about it until now.
Here's what we(I) believe:

1) Changing clocks forward or back twice a year is an extraordinary waste of time, effort, and money. It's inexcusable really, considering our national debt.
2) Changing clocks complicates timekeeping, travel, billing, recordkeeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and computing. (Windows-based platforms have more difficulty than Macs.)
3) Changing clocks causes disruptions to natural sleep patterns.
4) Changing clocks makes things difficult for dairy farmers. Cows don't understand time, but they do still need to be milked twice a day.
5) Changing clocks makes things difficult for mothers of small children. Children don't understand time, but they do know that if it is light out, it must not be bedtime!
6) Changing clocks makes it difficult for summer stargazers.
7) Changing clocks DOES NOT GIVE US AN EXTRA HOUR OF DAYLIGHT. That hour was stolen from the morning daylight, thereby making it difficult for those with Seasonal Affective Disorder to adjust. (Not me, but some friends of mine.)
8) Changing clocks might save some energy in the evening hours, but that energy is now used in the morning instead. Much research shows that there is no "saving" in Daylight Saving Time.
9) There is no "s" on the end of Saving in DST.
10) Changing clocks is unnatural, inorganic, and just plain wrong. The seasons should flow into each other naturally and gradually, not with a rude awakening an hour before one is used to it. Summer will give us longer days all on her own. She doesn't need help from us.
11) Changing clocks is loca.

I have written each U.S. President since 2002 regarding this topic and have never received a reply. It's possible they are part of a conspiracy to keep us busy messing with our darn clocks so we don't pay attention to them, but they need to do something about this because I am not the only one who feels this way. Just google "I hate Daylight Saving Time" and see what others are saying.

And now, I have to finish the chore of the clock change. I changed my alarm clock last night, as it was the most important clock (get me to the church on time!), and the rest of my clocks get their tweaking during the day as I encounter them... programmable thermostat, bathroom clock, kiddo's alarm clock, guest room clock radio, car, oven, microwave oven, VCR- no wait! I don't have a VCR! That takes out one adjustment!

I don't switch the time on my watch. I can't find the little paper that came with it that tells me what order and how long I have to push the tiny little buttons. I just buy another watch and set it to DST.

Standard time (REAL time) comes back November 6... let the countdown begin!