Spring forward
Monday morning. My alarm goes off at 6:45; I stumble across the room; turn it off; go back to bed. After drifting in and out of consciousness for another half hour, I half-walk, half-roll to my dresser. About 25 minutes later, I’m out the door, and I arrive at Uni just in time to drop my backpack at my locker and head off to Kenney Gym
Nothing out of the ordinary there. However, on that particular Monday morning, I was considerably more tired than usual. The explanation, undoubtedly, was daylight saving time.
I did some “extensive research” (please read as “casual Wikipedia browsing”) on the subject, and found that the practice was born out of one man’s desire to … play more golf. This man, William Willett, wanted to allow his fellow Londoners to spend more time outside on summer days. He also noted, in his proposal for daylight saving time, that electrical bills would drop considerably, because in the evenings people could use the light of the sun instead of flipping on the electric lights.
A number of European nations adopted DST in the early 20th century, with the U.S. using it off and on until it was permanently (to this day) established in 1967.
For some reason (perhaps lack of sleep due to DST) I was quite confused about how this would affect my sleep cycle, but I’ve finally straightened it out.
Last week, I went to bed each night at about 11:30 and got up at 7:15 the next morning. If I went to bed at 11:30 on Sunday (luckily, I didn’t), it would be equivalent to going to bed at 10:30 “regular time.” Then, Monday morning, if I wake up at 7:15 (luckily, I did), it’s the same as getting up at 6:15 regular time. Even though I’m spending the same amount of time in bed, I’m still “programmed” to fall asleep at midnight (updated for DST, 1 a.m.).
So I’m going to bed closer to 10:30 or 10:45 this week, which is unfortunate for a number of reasons. I usually do the bulk of my homework after 9, but for the time being I have one less hour to work through it. This brings me to my next complaint: less time to enjoy this ridiculously beautiful weather we’re having. About the best I can do for now is open my bedroom windows.
The timing of this warm spell is just a bit off. It’s the last week of the quarter, a week where I have three tests to cram for (including two to get started on tonight), and this weekend it’s supposed to drop back down to the 30s. I can just imagine sitting in class on Friday with a balmy breeze wafting across the room, and after the bell rings, walking out the doors of Uni into a raging snowstorm.
Oh well. There’ll be plenty of good weather to come. Now, I’m going to memorize some flowcharts, review the laws of thermodynamics, and marvel at how I managed to outgrow all the shorts in my closet over the winter.
— Andrew Lovdahl