The Clocks were put back by 1 hour last night. Did you remember? Regular readers will probably be aware that I have an intense aversion to the bizarre ritual of tampering with the clocks. It happened again last night, when at the appointed moment, all the clocks in the land (including our house) were put back by 1 hour to revert to GMT. I do not have a problem in March when sanity returns and we reinstate BST, but the October absurdity causes me, and I am sure thousands of others around the UK, a complete disruption of physical routines an d sleep patterns. Last night was no exception. For some unknown reason I woke thinking that it was early morning. It was not. A glance at the bedside clock confirmed that the tinkering had taken place and it was only 12:06. After a period of tossing and turning, I eventually went back to sleep. When my body clock woke me I assumed that it was sometime between 04:00 and 05:00, which is the usual starting time for my day. After a few...
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/clocks-go-back-remember-to-change-yours--for-possibly-the-last-time-ever-9817740.html The clocks go back, so remember to change yours – for possibly the last time ever The Persistence of Memory - Salvador Dali British Summer Time (BST), officially ended at 2 AM this morning, which means that we are now all on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and will remain so until sometime in March of 2015. This ludicrous practice of changing the clocks by one hour twice every year, was originally a wartime measure designed to boost production. Even after the war the practice has continued apart from the short experimental break during the period 1968 two 1971. The experiment did not continue beyond this time as it was considered that darker mornings would somehow provide a more dangerous environment for schoolchildren and early-morning workers.An argument that I have never really understood or accepted. Notwithstanding all the available ev...
The 173rd Day of 2014. Yesterday was the 21st June. The Summer Solstice, the longest day of 2014 and the day on which Pagans, Druids and others congregate at Stonehenge to greet the dawn. Today of course, is June 22nd when, as from today, the days become shorter and the moods of many people begin to decline at a rapidly increasing rate, due primarily to the lack of daylight. This assault on, compounded sometime in October, (they cant even find a standard date upon which to carry out this sabotage on people) when some faceless bureaucrat, instructs everyone in the United Kingdom to “Put your clocks back by 1 hour tonight”. No please or thank you or any of the other polite niceties of civilised behaviour, just an arbitrary “Do it”. I do detest the ritual autumn fiddling with our clocks, watches and body clocks. They should be left on BST. The progression from now until the 21st December will be ticked off on calendars by many every day, and as the ev...
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/woman-to-spend-three-days-putting-5000-clocks-back-an-hour A most futile and pointless practice. I woke at my usual time this morning. My usual time that is according to my body clock, which for many, many years, has determined that I should wake (all other things being equal) at any time between 04:00 and 05:00 every day, including weekends.. This morning, I woke at 04:15. I knew it was that time, because the little traveling clock, which has served well for a number of years, indicated such when the button on top was pressed to turn on the light to illuminate the digital face. Apart from the sound of rain against the window, and the beginnings of the winds promised for later today, it was very quiet and peaceful. Suddenly a cold and very disturbing feeling came to mind and I looked at the clock again. It now showed 04:22 and then I realised what had taken place over night. Some faceless shadowy set of bureaucrats or "admini...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/time-for-debate-dont-forget-the-clocks-go-back-overnight-but-should-they-8904258.html Time for debate? Don't forget the clocks go back overnight... but should they? Someone, somewhere just has to grasp the nettle and decree that the ludicrous practice of changing the clocks by one hour in spring and autumn of every year will cease as from now and is forever banned in the UK. I say now” in order to secure that Great Britain, or at least England if the others do not choose to join in, is permanently locked into BST or as some prefer, British Summer Time. Why we have to be subjected to the forward and backward motion of clocks every year has always been a mystery to me and I suspect many others.It may, almost but not quite, have been understandable in wartime even with the British Double Summer Time, but today it is beyond logic. Another advantage to having permanent ...
British Summer Time arrives at last. Did everyone remember to put their clocks forward by one hour? It is not a problem for your PC or television or all the other “controlled” items which do it automatically because you entered “GMT” as the time zone when first registering. The problem is all the other fiddly little things like the cooker for example, where it seems to be necessary to have three hands in order to press down two buttons simultaneously, whilst at the same time pressing another button to set the hour and minute functions. The bedroom clock is another problem where match stick type fingers would be distinctly advantageous, because all the buttons are smaller than the full stops in this text, or at least they seem to be for someone with normal size fingers. Now all these irritants, problems and distractions could be illuminated for ever with just one stroke of a pen. Someone, somewhere just has to grasp the nettle and decree that th...
December 21st in the year 2012. Winter Solstice at Stonehenge Today is the 356th day of 2012. It is also the day which coincides with the end of the 5,125-year "long count" cycle of the Mayan calendar. (ie. The end of the world. The day has arrived, but as someone once said, “Aye Caesar, but not gone”) However, enough of this gloom and back to the point. Today is the 356th day of 2012. December 21st 2012. The winter solstice. The day which heralds the return of sanity to the northern hemisphere. As from tomorrow, the hours of daylight begin to get longer. The days of lengthening darkness are gone (for another year) and we can look forward to the prospect of not having to turn on the lights at 4 O'clock in the afternoon. Another great source of happiness and joy, apart of course from the Christmas and New Year celebrations in a few days time, is the thought that in a few short months, the television and newspapers will be full of the advice “And don...
The Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. It has arrived. June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 193 days remaining until the end of the year. On non-leap years (until 2039), this day marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere, and is the day of the year with the most hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere and the l east hours of daylight in the southern hemisphere. In other words, as from today, the daylight hours decrease and the evenings "draw in" leaving people like me, acutely aware, that in a few short months the clocks will be put back one hour (why don't they leave the bloody things alone) and it will be dark earlier and earlier. I do so hate darkening evenings and even darker nights. It is not, as some people say, nice and cosy with the curtains drawn and the candles flickering over the dining room table...