Saturday 3 November 2007

First Sunday in November: Fall Back

In my household, my husband is in charge of the clocks. This is partly because he has to be at work by 7 am and partly because his sense of time is so lame that a number of years ago the OR nurses chipped in and bought him a superatomic clock that is somehow operated by the US Government to ensure that it is always precisely correct to the micromillisecond. But last Sunday I said hey, it's the last Sunday in October, weren't we supposed to Fall Back? I was told that the Government decided to change the Fall Back day to November. My first reaction was that this is a great idea, though too late for me - Congress finally realized that it's much better to Trick or Treat when it's light out. But then I heard that no, this isn't about Halloween, it's somehow supposed to be an energy saving move. Right, whatever. But do take the opportunity to read about Daylight Savings Time and peruse the charming website of the Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, where you can set your clocks to the official US time.
You can also read one person's opinion about why the energy argument is deeply flawed in a blogpost by The Numbers Guy at the Wall St. Journal.

No comments: