Daylight Saving Time QUESTIONS

Daylight Saving Time (note: NOT "Savings") starts on Sunday, March 14 in most of the US. Does it really save energy? Some studies suggest it does.

Will it give me a heart attack? It's more that disruptions in sleep make one more vulnerable to heart attacks generally.

I swear I saw this report before the earlier DST was instituted a few years ago that there would be a review after two years to see if it is working. Is it saving energy, or are people using more light on those mid-March mornings when they weren't necessary the week before? More daylight when the air conditioners are on, perhaps. But I've seen no study, and now it seems to be codified.

So how do you feel about DST? I hate it because it takes the better part of a week for the daughter to get acclimated, especially the spring winter forward part. How much time is used by people changing clocks, which always are off on Monday morning after the change? Worse, countries around the world change their clocks in different weeks, or not at all. I have to figure what time it is in Europe for two weeks until Europe makes the switch.

Your thoughts?

Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?



ROG

Uncool QUESTION

I was reading Steve Gerber's blog when he noted that singer Robert Goulet has the same disease that he does, only more severe. A couple letter-writers debated Bob's coolness; Steve stayed out of the fray. For the record, I've long stopped worrying about what's cool.

A couple bloggers I know faced ridicule by admitting publicly that they liked the movie Jersey Girl; I'll withhold their names to protect the guilty. I never saw it, so I really can't say if it's as awful as some people think.

I am aware, however, of what others think are uncool. So, my question: what songs, movies, TV shows, books, whatever, do you think others think are uncool, but you like them anyway? No movie or book come to mind, but I do have a vague recollection of actually liking My Mother, The Car. (I was young.)

Music, on the other hand, I have some strong candidates. And they're not songs; they're bits of songs:
The piano intro of Could It Be Magic by Barry Manilow. Hey, he copped it from Chopin.
The strings at the end of I Haven't Got Time For The Pain by Carly Simon.
The tight vocal segment "not quite a year since you went away" from Rosanna by Toto.
The "I've been looking for an answer" part of I've Been Waiting So Long by Chicago.
Almost any pop song with backed by a black church choir -I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner; Lay Down (Candles In the Rain) by Melanie; actually the latter IS virtually the whole song.

How uncool are you?

(Image copped from here.)
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Based on a conversation I had on a bus yesterday, there are a lot of people who think that Daylight Saving Time ends tomorrow. Their calendars even say so. That would be incorrect. It has been moved to NEXT weekend. So don't be an hour late tomorrow; it'd be uncool.

ROG

Time, TV and Train QUESTIONS

1. Our techie guy wrote: "The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, passed by the U.S. Congress July, 2005, extended Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the U.S. by approximately four weeks. As a result, beginning in 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier on March 11, 2007, and end one week later on November 4, 2007, resulting in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than previously observed. These four weeks are referred to in this article as the "extended DST period".

We have prepared a plan to correct the Time Zone entries on both your computer and our servers... We will be updating your Exchange Mailboxes on Saturday March 10th, beginning at Noon... As a result, any meeting invitation for the 'extended DST period' that was previously sent will be re-sent to each invitee because it will be read as a 'new time.' All meeting requests will need to be reaccepted or re-declined in order to update your calendars properly."

So, the first set of questions: Has the change in Daylight Saving Time been more of a hassle for you at work? At home? I think the DVR will reset on its own, but that the VCR (purchased in 1997 and Y2K compliant!) will not. Other than kids going trick or treating when it's lighter, do you see any net benefit to the change, which will cost companies an estimated $2 billion to deal with? I don't, and places that are in the northwest segments of a time zone (Lansing, MI in the east, Bismarck, ND in the central, and Helena, MT in the mountains, it'll be dark at 8 a.m. on March 12, when kids are going to school. Where's the energy savings?

2. As you may have heard, there are plans afoot to move the Addison character on Grey's Anatomy to a spinoff show. There are lots of Kate Walsh fans out there, as she's the first person I've seen on both Tom the Dog's Object of My Affection list AND Jaquandor's Realizations Of Womanly Radiance list.

The Ad Age Water Cooler column of February 26 suggests other possibilities for spinoff potential:
Hurley (Jorge Garcia)-Lost
Justin (Mark Indelicato)-Ugly Betty
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)-The Office
Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys)-Brothers & Sisters

Can't speak for the former two, but I just don't see it in the latter two, especially Dwight, who is a wonderful character relating to both Angela and Michael. Then again, I didn't see the potential of seeing spinning off Rhoda from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, though spinning off Maude from All in the Family or even Frasier Crane from Cheers made more sense to me.

So, what do you think of spinning off any of these characters from their shows? Any other ideas?

3. This is actually a work-related request: I need a list of recorded songs about trains. I found a couple lists here and here, but I can't help but to think they're missing some obvious tunes that I'm just not thinking of.
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Are NY Giants QB Eli Manning and "24" President Wayne Palmer the Same Guy? [Thanks to MMcG.]
ROG