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chuff · Senior Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 1935

Day length at this time of year for those of us in Red Sox Nation challenges our ability to stay merry, even if you don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I hate coming home from work in the dark. There's something wrong with it. It leads me to extensive self-medication. Leave early? On a cloudy day, I'd have to leave at 3:45.

It doesn't have to be this way. In places like Kalamazoo, MI, for example, a place on Eastern Time like us, the sun sets at 5:15, while here in Amherst it's down at 4:15. But time is arbitrary. We can change it.

I think we should put New England on Atlantic Time, and forget about changing to Daylight Savings Time. Worst case scenario: sunset at 5:15. In summer, Atlantic Standard Time is the same as Eastern Daylight Time. When I've tried to find out why we can't just stay on EDT all year, I hear stories about tiny school children in Ohio waiting for the school bus in the dark, or some such horseshit. So let's just get the hell out of the Eastern Zone, and throw in with the Atlantic Zone.

MertWindu · Junior Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 293

Wouldn't it be great if some random news agency had to write, "The movement to alter New England's time structure, although it had been spoken about in some circles for years, really gained steam in mid-December when a University of Massachusetts sports fan message board united under one banner and started a petition which reached Congress and won overwhelming approval..."
Very Happy

m626t · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:34 pm Post subject: Re: Time to fix the time

[quote="chuff"]Day length at this time of year for those of us in Red Sox Nation

Gack! the thought of being lumped into red sox nation makes me want to vomit. well, have a nice day.
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All due respect, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, I'm gonna pass.

chuff · Senior Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 1935

Check on that, Deeno, it might be the fumes from NY that are churning your gastric juices.

obg · Hall of Fame Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 2041

Standard time in Mass is so the little kids won't be going to school in the dark.
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chuff · Senior Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 1935

When the hell are they going to school??? It's light by 6 AM. That's another stupid ass thing - the bus companies determine school hours. Assuming there are school districts where it takes 2 hrs. of school bus to get to school, there's still no reason you can't get on a bus in the light, go to school, and get home in the light. Start school later!!! Solves the after school day care problem AND the teen-agers in an early-morning coma problem at the same time.

obg · Hall of Fame Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 2041

Hay! I didn't do it. When in the 70's there was a argument about staying on EDT, the powers that were in power gave that reason.
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They may not be great, but they won't be boring!

Jeff93 · Junior Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 742 Location: Auburn, MA

Good ideas, but all would require commitment and change...two ideologies not really well founded here in New England Smile

chuff · Senior Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 1935

Good point...we need a bad guy or a crisis. Back in the days of the first oil embargo, Congress changed to year round daylight savings for a couple of years, to save energy. Here's a site that will tell you about that and more than you ever wanted to know about DST. But faced with a crisis, we could do it. Given the present administration, I think we should point out that year round DST (or Atlantic Standard Time - it doesn't matter) would make it more difficult for the terrorists to sneak around. It could be part of Homeland Security.

obg · Hall of Fame Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 2041

They did it during WWII. They called EWT, Eastern War Time.
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They may not be great, but they won't be boring!