The Extra Hour

~ beetleypete

This morning, we woke up to the seasonal time change. It was almost eight, but now only seven, in ‘new time’. I have posted previously about how much I detest this messing around with time. Of course, those early mornings will be a little lighter, but it will now be dark not long after four-thirty, and the evenings will seem interminably long.

I no longer like driving in the dark, as there is little or no road lighting in Norfolk. So any trips will have to start earlier, to make sure I get home before it is pitch black. Other than making the early morning school run lighter for parents and children, I really cannot see the point of continuing this archaic process. I doubt the farmers get anymore done in just one hour, especially when you consider that they lose that light at the end of the day anyway.

And animals don’t have watches. They know how to cope with the changing seasons without having to fiddle with the concept of time. Ollie is not fooled by it, and adjusts almost immediately to the slight change in his routine. Although when it gets to midday later, and he thinks it will soon be time for his afternoon walk, he will be a little confused as to why I am not getting ready.

It is high time (pun intended) we just scrapped this silly old tradition. Nobody wants it, and if time has any real value, it shouldn’t be messed with.

65 thoughts on “The Extra Hour”

  1. I don’t know a single parent of small children who is a fan of this. It completely messes with their little body clocks and routines making morning and bedtime really hard for a good couple of weeks. I am definitely keen to get rid of it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Pleased to hear it, Abbi. It seems popular in Scotland, so maybe they can keep it, and we can get rid of it. It might be more interesting to have a time change when visiting north of the border. 🙂
      They can call it Scottish Standard Time, or similar. Make up for not voting for independence.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  4. The fall time change is next week here in New England, Pete. It is the hardest adjustment for me – I had to string white lights just so I get some light in the afternoons – it’s depressing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Lara, it was dark here at 4 pm today. So wearing, and such long evenings. It is only 10:15 pm as I type, but it already feels like I have endured a 12-hour night, and I am left wondering if it is too early to go to bed. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. My body clock complained a lot this morning and I have been in a haze for quite a bit this morning. We’d soon adapt if we just left things as they were.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. You’re right, nobody wants it. We don’t make the time change for a few weeks yet. In late December I get up in the dark and come home from work in the dark. That’s the worst!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I know of one rich bastard that hates golf, loves birds and would never join a snob club of any kind because when he was poor none of them were anywhere to be found. (No names.) LOL

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  13. Conversation with my non-hubs re: what time do you want dinner. Long story short, I was looking at the kitchen wall clock (which we hadn’t adjusted), he was looking at his phone. So I was expecting him back an hour earlier than he would have been. Luckily he did say “you know the clocks have gone back?” so disaster was averted. I imagine there will be many cold, congealed Sunday lunches today.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  15. Your remark that “animals don’t have watches” struck a chord. I looked at the time on my computer and thought, I wonder, did we change too last night? Since so many people have devices of one kind or another (including the so-called smartwatches) and since devices don’t generally require resetting, well (in our abode, all the clocks self-adjust!) . . . other than a bit of confusion over the amount of light when one gets the morning after the change up we may not even notice. I think I will return to watch wearing. I also got to thinking, that you just left ‘daylight savings time.” So, you are back to normal for a few months. That happens to us a week from today. However, the change will make it easier to take photos of the sunset (when it is not raining and completely overcast) and not miss the 30 minutes of tv news without talking heads in the evening. 🙂 Had the concept be invented back then when Moses went up the Mountain to get the Ten Commandments, there would have been 11 –Thou shalt not mess with time.
    Warmest regards, Theo

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I had to adjust the microwave and cooker clocks, as well as turning my wristwatch back one hour. Everything else just ‘knows’. For six months of the year, WordPress displays my comments and posts with the wrong time, so at least that won’t happen until the Spring.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  16. I have to confess I rather enjoy this man made marking of the seasons and there is a greater chance of me making dinner on time as I can’t linger in the garden. Cosy winters for writers as well.

    Like

    Reply

  19. You can do away with it in England if you wish but leave Scotland out of it. And there’s no argument about not being able to make things work if we were in different time zones – they have several in the States.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. Just to confuse us the relatives in Las Vegas put their clocks back the weekend after and Aussie relatives don’t change their clocks. But it would be amusing and confusing if Scotland and England were on different times!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  22. Totally agree, although I don’t mind the extra hour, I always detest the point where we lose that extra hour again. That said I don’t really notice that extra hour anyway since I usually am sleeping throught it. I always rise early, even in weekends, I don’t get up later than 615 but yeah I could do without this messing around with time. We all know from countless timetravel movies that usually ends in disaster right? 😂😂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  24. Yep. I’m with you on this. It’s a complete waste of time and effort.

    I heard recently that the EU are looking to scrap it. So we’ll hopefully fall into line with them if it ever happens.

    It’s a bad time to be on a night shift!

    Here’s a puzzler. The clocks went back an hour at 2am. So if I wanted to watch a programme that was due to start at 2am on Channel 4, but watch it on Channel 4+1, what time should I set the alarm for?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Radio Times lists the actual ‘time’ it will be shown, so that helps with recording TV programmes.
      I remember those night shifts when we had to work the extra hour for nothing. And I never seemed to be on night duty when we had the one hour less!
      Cheers mate, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

All comments welcome

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.