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Messing about with the clocks

(56 Posts)
watermeadow Mon 30-Oct-17 19:53:22

Spring is bad enough but I can’t bear the autumn one. People keep asking, “So do we get up an hour earlier or later? Is 6 o’clock now what was 5 o’clock before?”
I wake up at 4 am, want lunch at 11 and dinner at 5. The animals take a fortnight to stop pestering for meals too early. I’m falling asleep and the clock says 10 to 8.
How do some people ignore what is a massive issue to me, twice a year, every year?
Where can I emigrate to where they don’t do this?

Coolgran65 Mon 30-Oct-17 20:03:08

On a Sunday morning I prep for Sunday dinner, we usually have 8 at the table. Dinner yesterday was to be 4pm.

At 2pm I was put two large chickens into the oven.

About an hour later I discovered our kitchen clock wasn't turned back. Had to take the chicken out of the oven, leave it an hour and then put it back in for about 45 minutes. It was nearly a roasted roast chicken smile

Willow500 Mon 30-Oct-17 20:10:25

But this happens in the spring too when we keep saying what time is it really! The animals do take ages to get used to it though - we were up at 4.30 yesterday (we being me and my cat) and OH got up at 6.30 am as he thought it was last night the clocks changed!

phoenix Mon 30-Oct-17 20:11:51

My mother's dogs were used to being fed at 5.30 on the dot. The loved the autumn change, when their tummies told them it was only 4.30, but they got fed.

However they weren't quite so keen on the spring change, when as far as they were concerned, supper was an hour late!

watermeadow I must say I'm not over keen on the change malarkey, but I soon get used to it.

What I really don't like is it getting dark so early, but the amount of daylight hours reduce no matter what we do with the clocks!

vampirequeen Mon 30-Oct-17 20:16:19

It's a problem but I remember a time when I was little when they decided to experiment with leaving the clocks alone. I was at primary school so must have been the sixties. It was so dark if the mornings that we were all given reflective patches for our mams to sew on our coats. It was horrible. It seemed as if we were at school during the night because it was so long before the sun rose. I wouldn't want to do that again so I'll stick with the clock changes.

Jalima1108 Mon 30-Oct-17 20:20:57

I seem to adapt to 'fall back' but have more difficulty with 'spring forward' when I miss an hour's sleep.

ElaineI Mon 30-Oct-17 22:43:40

It is done to protect the lives of children and pedestrians who live in areas affected like vampirequeen where statistics prove that more lives are lost if the clocks are not changed. I too remember the reflective strips and it was awful. You felt like you were going to school during the night and it was quite scary as a child being so dark - I had to walk past woods on the way to school where monsters and "bad people" lived!! It was also colder then so often icy!

downtoearth Tue 31-Oct-17 07:41:43

Used to build up my animals change but bringing forward or putting back 10 minutes for a week or so, so it wasnt a problem ....and I eat when I am hungry, but hate the changes even though I can understand why, my body clock dosent confused

JackyB Tue 31-Oct-17 08:04:50

I loved having an extra hour's sleep. I know we have to give it back in March but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

At work I always look at the phone to see what the time is. It wasn't till 3 pm yesterday till I realised that the phone still said the old time, but the computer screen had changed and was showing the right time. I had had my lunch at 11:15!

ginny Tue 31-Oct-17 08:11:35

It’s just an hour ‘

How do you all cope if you travel to and from different time zones ?

MrsEggy Tue 31-Oct-17 09:41:31

I had DS2 in December 1968 (the year clocks changed by TWO hours). I remember being woken in the dark to feed the baby at 6.0 am and it was still dark when they were fed at 10.0 am.

Alidoll Tue 31-Oct-17 09:58:30

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. By the middle of November I drive to work in the dark, drive home in the dark and am stuck inside in the office the rest of the day so feels like I never see the sun for months anyway.

Craftycat Tue 31-Oct-17 10:02:24

Yes they did stop it in the 60's for a while. It was great!!
I think it is an outdated thing & the vast majority of children now have street lights in their roads & if not they should be accompanied to school anyway. Most young children seem to go to school by car these days too.
I remember it was blamed on Scottish farmers who did not like starting milking cows in the dark that were to blame for starting it again in 1967 I think. Now there are automatic milking parlours I don't see why we need to continue with this daft practice.

ExaltedWombat Tue 31-Oct-17 10:14:11

I don't think it was designed with child safety in mind. Anyway, wouldn't you rather have daylight at the END of the school day, when they're wandering home tired than at the beginning when the journey is more purposeful?

wilygran Tue 31-Oct-17 10:14:15

I loved it in the 60s too. I hate the dark evenings. I was in the North then & remember the debates. I was so sorry when it changed back.

Rolande Tue 31-Oct-17 10:21:11

Gosh! How do you cope with jet lag? Only one hour takes one day to get used to. I do enjoy the short days. Doesn't bother me at all. Maybe I was a bat in my previous life! [grin}

W11girl Tue 31-Oct-17 10:22:16

I use the mantra Fall back, spring forward for my scatter brain and it works. The only part of autumn/winter I can't cope with is the darkness, both during the day because of cloud and dusk at 4pm...its so depressing....so much so I take holidays abroad in October and November, get through Christmas and go on holiday again in January and February...which brings me into March where I can look forward to nights getting slightly brighter, but more sunshine during the day. Sounds expensive but it doesn't cost much more than staying at home. I tried a lightbox for SAD syndrome...didn't make any difference so!!

Diddy1 Tue 31-Oct-17 10:35:27

I loathe the fall back lark, love the spring forward, I havent any bother with the actual time, its just the flipping short days, it was black as night at 5pm yesterday and just getting light at 8am today, mind you we do live in Sweden, things wont get better until about March!

goldengirl Tue 31-Oct-17 10:42:10

I too loathe the clocks going back. I don't like dark evenings at all. Yet if I say roll on March then I'm wishing my life away. It's a dilemma!!! I've never had trouble with time zones when travelling but I wish we didn't have to muck about changing clocks - I forget how many we've got until they need changing

humptydumpty Tue 31-Oct-17 10:45:13

Me too, goldengirl. I'd prefer summer time in winter and double summer time in summer, if you know what I mean! In line with continental Europe.

Why can't we have a referendum on changing the clocks!!!

mywaldren Tue 31-Oct-17 10:54:45

I believe the clock change was started during WW2 to give farmers more light in the evening to mange their farms. I also remember the time when the clocks weren't changed at this time of the year and I hated it. It took so long for the day to lighten up that it seemed to be dark all day. Everyone went to school or work in the dark but children don't come home in the dark these days as a lot of schools actuall leave school a lot earlier now.
I really don't mind the clock change. I enjoy the very light evenings in the spring/summer and the darker evenings in the autumn and winter. As mentioned above it is only an hour and we know it is going to happen so I embrace it.
The USA and Europe also do the clock change but I don't know who else dose it. I also want to say that the time we are in now is GMT so the real time.

Saggi Tue 31-Oct-17 11:09:22

Oh for goodness sake ....how CAN you make an issue of this clock stuff!? Just get on with it . After two days your body will adjust. Or be like me ...I only sleep 3-4 hours a night anyway,and I never know when THATS gonna be! I’m always up at 5.30 , walk to my daughters’ at 6.30 ( 3 miles)...arrive at 7.20. She and hubby go to work...I get two kids ready for school , feed them and GET them to school. Go back to hers...do a bit of housework for them... walk home ( 3 miles) , do a bit of housework for myself while my hubby watches tv all day...bit of shopping.... lunch with hubby...get two buses back to daughters...pick kids up from school..feed them...wait for parents to return.Go home in traffic ( two buses)...takes over an hour!!! Cook dinner ...day done!! You folk are moaning about CLOCKS!!!!

sandelf Tue 31-Oct-17 11:23:46

There are many more people in the southern part of the UK. The law should reflect this.

cc Tue 31-Oct-17 11:29:38

It isn't so much the adjustment in my sleeping or eating hours that trouble me, a day or two sorts this out for us. But we do our laundry, drying and dishwashing using cheap power overnight, and it always takes me a few days to get the time delays set correctly - particularly since I tend to forget to change the clock in the utility room. Perhaps I should go back to wearing a watch for a few days, twice a year, until I'm sure that the various clocks in the house are changed?!
I gave up wearing a watch when I retired, there are aways clocks around, or I can check the time on my phone when I'm out. I'm not bothered what time I go to bed, get up or eat.

KirbyGirl Tue 31-Oct-17 11:42:46

Dear me Saggi, only three to four hours sleep a night. You need at least seven and that, recent stories have said, prevents all sorts of illnesses including dementia.

Does anybody actually get up an hour earlier to do the things that need to be done outdoors in daylight? I certainly don't. I just lose an hour of daylight when I could be gardening. It makes me very cross every autumn, and then I am cross again in spring because I lose an hours sleep. The daylength is set by the sun. Why do we have to fiddle around?