Spring ahead

Yep

Its 5 am as I type this but it’s really 6am as far as my body and my mind, what’s left of it, are concerned.

I hate Daylight Savings Time but I love this extra hour more than a free buffet and that’s saying a lot. An hour more or less of sleep doesn’t seem like it should be that big a deal. But every spring ahead when I lose that hour it feels like I have been cheated. On the fall back side of things I feel like I have been given a little gift.

Studies show that humans generally are better off when we get 7 to 8 hours of shuteye a night. The same studies also show that if you only sleep an average of 5 hours a night you are at risk of among other things being a grouch or falling asleep at the wheel. So it’s no wonder that this loss of an hour in the spring screws people up.

If you sleep only five hours and lose one of those hours now you are in serious danger of having raccoon like circles under your red rimmed eyes. You stumble through the day, snarling at people and generally acting like counter workers at the post office.

On the other hand this blissful feeling of that extra hour in the fall is like finding out that you’ve made a mistake in your checkbook and actually have more money than you thought.

The only drawback is the fact that when it’s bedtime you are an hour late for the sheets. I have always been an early to bed early to rise sort of guy and it may or may not have anything to do with my name. Having worked shifts that required me to be out of the sack at 3am for most of my life I got used to it.

On the flip side of this is the fact that I hit the hay before most people have had their second drink.

But really what do I miss? Network TV? If I really want to see American Idle or Dancing with the B-list stars I can TIVO it. Probably not gonna happen .

By the way did you notice that the time change was a week late this year? Thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which changed both the starting and ending dates.

This year daylight time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

My computers and my cell phone weren’t told and it made for an interesting Monday.

First time in my life I was an hour early for a meeting.