I hate the first day of Daylight Savings. I'm never quite sure what time it is. Let's see, I woke up at 8, but it was really 9. Or the clock says it's 6 and it's time for supper, but my body thinks it's 5 and isn't hungry. I seem to be playing catch-up all day. Thank God it's always a Sunday, at 2 AM, or I don't know what I'd do.
That 2 AM thing has always bothered me. Last fall, when we switched back to Standard Time, I was awake, looking at my iPhone to see what happened at 2. What happened was, there was no 2. As the seconds counted down at 1:59 AM, the hour changed to 1 AM. This is the only time when 1 comes before 1. 2 AM came an hour later, which by the previous way of telling time should have been 3, but wasn't. Confused? The iPhone was; this time, it didn't know whether to spring ahead or fall back, and it made the wrong choice. At 2 AM, when it should have been 3 AM, it said it was 1 AM. So, here's my question. How can you change your clocks at 2 AM, when there is no 2 AM? And who picked that particular hour for the change? It's all very perplexing.
Telling time is weird, anyway. Without researching it, I'm pretty sure that the Romans invented the 24 hour clock. Why 24 hours? Why not? I can live with that, as well as with 60 minutes in an hour and sixty seconds in a minute (and even with the hundredth of a second, which is apparently a long time in Olympic sports). What bugs me, and always has, is that the day begins at 12 AM. Midnight, as in the middle of the night. By definition night is not day, so how can that be the start of the day? I can see why that particular hour might hold some importance. The numbering of hours probably started with noon, which is when the sun reaches its apex. Fine. That's an actual, measurable cosmic event. So, 12 hours after that is midnight. But why call noon12 PM? Why not call it 6, if you're going to stick with the 24 hour day? After all, it's midday, though with the clocks being changed, the astronomical noon probably doesn't happen at 12. (and the true equinox doesn't happen on the day of the equinox - but that's another story). If noon is considered to be six, it follows that what we now call 6 AM should be 12 AM. That way, the day begins when it really should: around daybreak. Sunrise to sunrise makes a day. Right? I'm just saying.
So, fine. Because of the Romans we're stuck with a weird start to the day, and because of Ben Franklin we have to adjust our clocks twice a year. Yes, good old Ben came up with the idea of Daylight Savings, and it was enacted during World War II. In recent years, it starts earlier than it used to, and ends later. It has to do with conserving energy usage. But did you know that not all states in the country follow it? Hawaii doesn't have Daylight Savings. Neither does one county in one of the midwest states. Can you imagine that? Every county in that state is at one time, except for this one. So if you live in County A, but you work in County B, you'd better keep an eye on the clock and make sure you're where you're supposed to be at the right time, or it might be 2 when it's supposed to be 3.
So here I am at 10 PM, reluctantly deciding that I should probably start getting things ready for tomorrow, and another week of work. But it's really 9! Last night at this time it wasn't last night at this time. I had another hour to go. Today I don't.
I miss that hour. Think of what I could have done with it. I could have slept later, written more, done a craft, even cleaned (well, no). It doesn't matter, really. That's my time that got stolen, and I feel cheated. I want my hour back!
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