Friday, December 3, 2021

A WACKY IDEA

          Okay here goes with an idea on time.

          Every spring and fall we complain about time change. Less than two weeks ago a blog post contained a complaint about time change. 

         Our time system and time zones are not very old.  One hundred years go clock technology was very simple. The time pieces ordinary people used was not very accurate. You had to wind the clocks and watches to keep them running. If you forgot to wind the clock you either took a guess and set it or checked with a neighbor.

        Then somebody got the idea that if we adjusted the time twice a year , we could get more bang for the buck so longer daylight in the summer.

        In the last few years there's been much discussion about daylight savings time and standard time and changing to standard or daylight savings time all year. No nasty time changes. . Alberta had a referendum question on the ballot in this fall's civic elections. 

       So here's my solution. Technology to measure time has changed . Let's set up a time system that has the time change on our time pieces a few seconds every day. So , for example, from Jan 1 to June 29 the time would increase an hour by changing a few seconds every day. The change would be 0.32 minutes each day. Then from July 1 to Dec. 31 the time would decrease one hour by taking off a few seconds every day. 

      So there should be a chip in our time pieces that would control this slight time change each day. The chip would change your time throughout the day and you wouldn't notice it. 

     I hope this makes sense to somebody! Maybe somebody has thought of this before. Maybe there's something obviously wrong with my system. So tell me what you think. Is there a better way to achieve the twice a year time change? 

47 comments:

  1. :) Not sure that would work I say just have it one way or the other and stop switching it around!

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    1. I'm not sure if or how it would work either but I know many are not happy with what we've got now.

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  2. I like the idea but the time for it has probably passed. BC passed legislation a few years ago and Ontario last year, to stop implementing the time change. Both provinces are waiting for our neighbours to the south to make similar changes so as not to disrupt trade. Yukon has already made the time change. Quebec is supportive of the time change and Saskatchewan doesn't change it's time. Basically almost everyone is already on board with keeping the time the same all year long. Alberta seems to be in a minority as I understand provincial votes voted narrowly against keeping the same time all year long.

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    1. people complain but are they ready for a change ? What change would they make? Are we smart enough to get things right?

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  3. Hmmmm... This is very interesting. I don't exactly know how it would work though. And I'd still have that problem of this gradually changing elsewhere but not in Hawaii, right? Or did I get that wrong?

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    1. Well, everybody would have to agree but are we smart enough to agree.

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  4. Simply not doing it at all sounds way more simple to me.

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    1. Yes, but we don't seem to be able to make a decision. we had a vote here in October and it proved nothing.

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    2. Really? How many voted for it vs. against it? I don't understand why this is even controversial.

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  5. I would be happy to stop the time changing. Now, I am awake at 4am instead of 5am. Have a great weekend!

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    1. The would be a good idea but it's easier said than done.

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  6. In the UK the reason given was to make it safer for schoolchildren going/coming to/from school. There may have been other reasons. These days I don't think it really matters. It's irrelevant this far North anyway.

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    1. ...and how many other paces in the world is it irrelevant?

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  7. I agree with Far Side! Let's keep it the same all year. Our state has already passed that message but it needs to ratified by Congress before anything changes. Other than our clocks twice a year, that is.

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    1. There are many hoops to jump through before anything changes.

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  8. It is an innovative idea and would make the stress of time changing disappear. However, the whole world would have to agree with it in relation to security, money transactions and travel for example. Besides, why do we need to meddle with time at all?

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    1. We have to meddle with time because we have already meddled with it and we made a mess.

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  9. That is such an interesting idea. A few seconds a day is much easier than flipping the clock one hour in either direction. I lean towards staying on standard time. I can never figure out why we add an hour to the end of the day in summer when our earth and sun have already added plenty of light at the end of the day. We humans are such interesting creatures.

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    1. We're interesting creatures but we can really mess things up.

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  10. I think there are worse things to worry about, Red! People are bothered for a couple of days but then everyone adjusts. So twice a year, we have something else to complain about but we get on with life, don't we!?

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    1. Absolutely there are more crucial things to consider.

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  11. If we didn't change clocks, I'd vote to stay on Daylight Savings Time all the time. Clearly, I'm in the minority. Maybe your new idea would work -- but we'd have to replace all the clocks that aren't connected to the internet.

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    1. I'm with you that we stay on the same time all year but it isn't going to happen. Well at the rate the world changes all watches may be digitalized.

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    1. Thankyou. I'm kind of sick of all the whining over the time change.

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    1. I would agree with you. I don't think we're smart enough to do it.

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  14. My only thought is that once the hour difference has been achieved we'd probably want it to stay that way a while before starting the process to change back. If so, the increments would need to be bigger.

    You're a good thinker, Red. Unconfined by "the norm"

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    1. There are challenges where ever you look and you just brought one up.

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  15. I think it is time to stop changing it up!

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    1. I would agree but it ain't gonna happen!

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  16. I like your idea. I think my body would like it a whole lot better than the changes of one hour twice a year.

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    1. My idea is if we still continue with a change.

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  17. But I love my analog clock!

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  18. This is a great idea...but what about breaks in the time piece? Still people would be only a few minutes late if that happened.

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  19. There's a lot of interesting what ifs on this idea.

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  20. Set the clock to whatever time you want. There's still only so much daylight in a 24 hr period.

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  21. Your suggestion is ingenious but would it play havoc with some procedures that require precision timing?

    I think the whole clock changing thing is one of those problems to which there's no perfect solution. If we abolish it, in a few decades some bright spark will reintroduce it!

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  22. Somewhere in the back of my mind there's the thought that having a public vote doesn't always yield the most sensible solution. I think your idea is sound, though I wouldn't want the job of explaining it to anyone.

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  23. I am really late seeing this post but I sure enjoyed reading your idea and all the comments. It looks like most folks just want to get rid of changing the clocks. Nature's daylight is not affected by our messing with our clocks. My preference would be to go back to good old Standard Time all year.

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  24. i am impressed with your innovative idea dear Red though i am pleased that you have made your peace with time changing i read it previously :)
    blessings!

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