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Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

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Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#191
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why permanent daylight savings time? Why not just permanent real time? Clock noon should be roughly the same as solar noon, all year round. 'Daylight savings' is an impossibility.

The valid argument is usually about safety. Many people, especially children are travelling to go to work or school and sunrise at 7:20, feels a little unsafe for many people. That extra hour in the morning helps.

But daylight saving time is exactly the opposite! It adds an hour to the evening. If you want sunrise to be earlier, you have to use non-DST. Or even anti-DST and move the clock an hour back from regular time.

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#192
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NO! Agree that the transition is hard, but Standard time is much better. Wakening before the sun is not only biologically counterproductive, but the late morning dark would further hinder ability to exercise in the morning for months out of the year. Just Kill DST, stay on standard time and be done with it

Whether standard or DST makes more sense really depends on geography.

That's why we have timezones?

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better would be to go to a single Zulu timezone nationwide. You just go into work an hour later in the central area compared to the east coast.

https://qntm.org/abolish

This has nothing to do with DST.

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#194

Everyone whines about DST, but I love the DST "timezone" in summer. I leave work in the sun. It feels like I still have time to play and have fun after work. It's great.

People don't whine about DST, people hate the one hour change every year.

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#195
post #194

Everyone whines about DST, but I love the DST "timezone" in summer. I leave work in the sun. It feels like I still have time to play and have fun after work. It's great.

People don't whine about DST, people hate the one hour change every year.

Especially people who debug calendar software. Just sayin..

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#197
post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether standard or DST makes more sense really depends on geography.

That's why we have timezones?

I think they mean Maine vs Florida not east/west. You may need the daylight "later" in Maine than Florida.

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well, in English, you can't say "16 o'clock", can you? You can only say "sixteen hundred hours" What's stopping you?

Nothing, get enough people saying it and it will become the thing. I'd vote for sixteen hour or something similar.

That's how they say it in Germany...sechzehn uhr

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#199
post #54

Personally, it would be brilliant if we'd just go to permanent daylight savings time nationwide. The transition is hard on the kids and living in the northern part of the country, the extra daylight is appreciated.

Why permanent daylight savings time? Why not just permanent real time? Clock noon should be roughly the same as solar noon, all year round. 'Daylight savings' is an impossibility.

To have EDT year-round where I live (Maine):

5am Sunrise in mid-June, Sunset around 830pm.

6am Sunrise in mid-December, Sunset around 3pm.

EST year-round:

6am Sunrise mid-June, 930pm Sunset.

7am Sunrise mid-December, 4pm Sunset

Right now it's the first and last times with our spring-forward, fall-back switches. I'm thinking EDT year round would be most beneficial in the AM in winter, as it is realllly hard to get out of bed in the dark. I already go to work in the dark in winter, so it being dark an hour earlier wouldn't make any difference there.

Maybe just a half-hour difference in the switch would be a good compromise?

Re: Massachusetts is considering leaving the Eastern Time Zone

#200
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it really screws with us up here. Once you get up above the meridian, days get pretty short in the winter. Moving those hours around helps exactly none. No farmer has their life improved. It's not saving energy. It's just a dumb setting on the clock.

Time zones aren't for farmers; they're for employees who have employers who won't (or can't) let their employees set hours that give them free time in the daylight. There's also opposing needs: working folk like afternoon sun so they have daylight when they get off work, parents with school children like morning sun, so it is light when their children are waiting for the bus, and in the winter there's not enough dayl…

Exactly, not for farmers. Farmers do work whenever they need, and use whatever light there is, when it is.

The fight to keep DST is about merchants more than anything else. Shopping is increased during the week if it is still light after you get home. When you get home and it is already dark, you are more likely to just stay home. I personally don't think it has anything to do with employers wanting to deny employees daylight. They mostly want a known schedule for customers and co-workers. Make DST -2 hours or get rid of DST and I think employers wouldn't care at all either way.

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