# For f... \[can we swear in pit thread titles?\]..ck's sake - Synchronise UK and US DST! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 9, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761 "2008-03-09T21:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/21 "2008-03-10T04:46:58Z")
Speaking as someone who has lived about the same length of time with DST as I lived without it, let me, once again, register my displeasure with messing around with the clocks twice a year. I haven’t noticed a single benefit from it. I _have_ noticed a handful of problems with changing the clocks, however. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/22 "2008-03-10T07:50:42Z")
Yeah, how about you spare a thought for Australia while yer’ at it. We have four states on the east coast in the one time zone. Tasmania kicks off their DST about four weeks before Victoria\* and New South Wales. Queensland stays forever behind the times and refuses to entertain this new-fangled invention at all. There’s a reason for all those Queensland jokes I tell’s ya…all that sun they get must’ve addled their brains or something. \*Victoria is extending their DST time into Autumn by about two weeks this year, and will join Tassie in the earlier initiation next Spring. I don’t know what NSW is doing, but I can assure you, Qld will remain forever 1 hour (plus 50 years) out of synch. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/23 "2008-03-10T07:59:33Z")
I can sympathize. Normally, my flight from Dubai to Frankfurt leaves at 1:45am. While it is a chore to stay up that late, I can usually do it. Anything longer than that and I’m nodding off. But now because of the daylight savings change, the frickin’ flight doesn’t leave until 3:45AM!! It creates a number of problems: a) Getting just enough sleep so that I don’t sleep on the boring flight? b) Sleep and take a chance on missing the plane entirely? Like I’m going to be able to fall asleep with that worry until I’m exhausted, in any case. c) Stay up (at that point it would be close to 24 hours) and be a zombie for days afterwards? It wouldn’t be so bad if my travel day before I get to Dubai didn’t start at 4am the previous morning. Another problem is that once in Dubai I have to entertain the girlfriend. Granted we don’t leave the hotel room much, but it is still, well, rather draining and sleep isn’t much of an option in any case. And there are still 18 hours worth of flights plus a 7 hour stopover in Frankfurt to go. Ugh! Just scrap the whole damned thing if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/24 "2008-03-10T18:40:18Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] Wait a minute…that “fast time/slow time” shit was for the birds. I really didn’t care which zone Indiana went with, but I’m glad they finally just picked one of the fuckers. Living as I do in SE Indiana, essentially a burb of the Nasty Nati, it works well for me. Those that live in say Indy maybe had a right to be pissed, as close aas Indy is to Chitown, which is on Central time. But that “fast time” half the year, “slow time” half the year…shove that crap. [/QUOTE] But… We didn’t have “fast time” or “slow time” - we stayed on EST all year long. We simply didn’t change, and I LOVED IT! I think DST is a major pain in the ass and is unnecessary. Since the PTB decided we were going to start back up with DST, I would have preferred the Central time zone over Eastern though. Especially since I live on the very western edge of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/25 "2008-03-10T18:57:03Z")
[QUOTE=Orbifold] Google “Current time in [insert large city name here]”. Problem solved. [/QUOTE] I use [worldtimezone.com](http://www.worldtimezone.com/) for this purpose. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/26 "2008-03-10T19:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I don’t get it either. Guy on the radio was talking about making a permanent shift to BST, then moving an hour ahead of that next year, then back to BSt for the winter - claiming that it will create a _whole extra hour of daylight_. No it won’t, you fucking lunatic, unless you plan to slow down the rotation of the planet or something. [/QUOTE] There’s the other nonsense argument, too, that it will mean that offices & such are working at the same time as in other European countries. Because obviously it’s impossible for people to just go to work an hour earlier when they need to match Berlin or Milan. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/27 "2008-03-10T19:23:18Z")
[QUOTE=Orbifold] 😃 I grew up in Canada. “We’ll have that news report for you at twenty minutes past the hour…ten minutes to the hour in Newfoundland.” And of course not every part of Canada observes Daylight Savings Time at all (waves at Saskatchewan)…yeah, I’m sure Canada’ll get right on standardizing DST with the UK, right after Canada standardizes it with _itself_. [/QUOTE] By the way, there is a small part of Northern BC/Alberta that doesn’t observe DST either. Up by Dawson Creek/Fort St. John/Chetwynd. My parents live there (and I gre up there) and I have to be careful round DST changes or I might call an hour past their bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/28 "2008-03-11T06:48:24Z")
OK. After that let’s synchronize our spelling. 😃 Seriously, though we do speak the same language I can accept the fact that our DST isn’t in sync. Our countries are 3000 miles and more distant from each other. On the other hand, last year at this time we drove down to Rosarito Beach, in Baja California, and had to set our clocks back one hour. Having to set my watch for a trip of less than 150 miles, not even crossing a time zone yet, was weird. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/29 "2008-03-12T03:14:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Something about farmers spending more time running over schoolkids, I think. I don’t get it either. Guy on the radio was talking about making a permanent shift to BST, then moving an hour ahead of that next year, then back to BSt for the winter - claiming that it will create a _whole extra hour of daylight_. No it won’t, you fucking lunatic, unless you plan to slow down the rotation of the planet or something. [/QUOTE] Insert ‘usable’ before ‘daylight’ and it makes absolute sense to me. Daylight from 4AM to 6AM in the middle of what we can laughingly call the British “summer” is useless. Daylight in the evening opens up outdoor activities until 10PM (or later if BST is extended another hour). ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/30 "2008-03-13T21:21:36Z")
In recent years we have had to fall in line with Europe. It used to be the morning after the third Saturday in March (or if that was Easter, the second Saturday) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/31 "2008-03-14T12:09:31Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] OK. After that let’s synchronize our spelling. 😃 [/QUOTE] Actually, _that’s_ why they’re so screwed up. Centuries of sticking unnecessary "u"s and "e"s in words is what’s caused the BTL (British Time Lag), and many experts predict that if they don’t stop it fairly soon, they’ll quickly fall behind the rest of the world by as much as a whole _year!_ I’m sure when that happens, **Lobsang** will post a Pit thread raging about this as well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/32 "2008-03-14T13:20:19Z")
[QUOTE=kambuckta] I don’t know what NSW is doing, but I can assure you, Qld will remain forever 1 hour (plus 50 years) out of synch. [/QUOTE] You know how awesome it is not having to adjust your clocks all the time? Really awesome. In fact, if I have to adjust the time on my clock, it means I’m travelling somewhere, and that’s an entirely new level of awesome. 😃 Further, I’ll have you know, we are no longer 50 years out of synch with the rest of Australia. By my reckoning, it’s about 1994 here, meaning we’re a mere 14 years out. We hope to have Broadband internet sometime soon, and I’m told you lot down south have some sort of “mobile phone” network happening as well, which we can look forward to in the near future.\* 😉 \*Jokes aside, the cellphone coverage up here is pretty crapular at best, especially if you don’t aren’t with Telstra and their disastrous NextG network… ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/33 "2008-03-14T13:27:33Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Speaking as someone who has lived about the same length of time with DST as I lived without it, let me, once again, register my displeasure with messing around with the clocks twice a year. I haven’t noticed a single benefit from it. I _have_ noticed a handful of problems with changing the clocks, however. [/QUOTE] Well, it does remind you to change the batteries in your smoke detector! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/34 "2008-03-14T14:56:53Z")
[QUOTE=Skara\_Brae] Well, it does remind you to change the batteries in your smoke detector! 🙂 [/QUOTE] It does? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/35 "2008-03-14T15:25:24Z")
[QUOTE=kambuckta] Yeah, how about you spare a thought for Australia while yer’ at it. We have four states on the east coast in the one time zone. Tasmania kicks off their DST about four weeks before Victoria\* and New South Wales. Queensland stays forever behind the times and refuses to entertain this new-fangled invention at all. There’s a reason for all those Queensland jokes I tell’s ya…all that sun they get must’ve addled their brains or something. [/QUOTE] What this means is that during summer the 6th largest metropolitan area in Australia (the Gold Coast-Tweed area) is on two time zones, with the boundary falling in the middle of a street which has one side in NSW and the other in Queensland. [Boundary Street, Coolangatta - Tweed Heads](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Boundary+Street,+Coolangatta&sll=-28.168067,153.535326&sspn=0.019484,0.034676&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr). It’s a popular area to visit at Christmas and January, so one advantage of the arrangement is that people can celebrate New Year’s Eve twice – once in NSW, and the second time an hour later in Queensland. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/36 "2008-03-14T16:03:23Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] What this means is that during summer the 6th largest metropolitan area in Australia (the Gold Coast-Tweed area) is on two time zones, with the boundary falling in the middle of a street which has one side in NSW and the other in Queensland. [Boundary Street, Coolangatta - Tweed Heads](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Boundary+Street,+Coolangatta&sll=-28.168067,153.535326&sspn=0.019484,0.034676&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr). It’s a popular area to visit at Christmas and January, so one advantage of the arrangement is that people can celebrate New Year’s Eve twice – once in NSW, and the second time an hour later in Queensland. [/QUOTE] I just scrolled a little to the west, and noticed that the boundary line appears to go _through_ the terminal of Collangatta Airport. _That_ must make things interesting… Edit: no, wait, it just passes outside one corner. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/37 "2008-03-14T19:52:58Z")
[QUOTE=Blaster Master] It does? :eek: [/QUOTE] Maybe just me then. My dad is a firefighter, and we were always innundated with the “When you change your clocks, also change the batteries in your smoke detector” meme. Was this ever a big push elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/38 "2008-03-14T19:55:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I just scrolled a little to the west, and noticed that the boundary line appears to go _through_ the terminal of Collangatta Airport. _That_ must make things interesting… Edit: no, wait, it just passes outside one corner. [/QUOTE] But the runway goes through time zones, so it can take about an hour to go from one end to the other (or minus an hour if you’re going in the other direction). But I think the airport operates on Queensland time, even though part is in NSW. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/39 "2008-03-19T00:21:35Z")
[QUOTE=Skara\_Brae] Maybe just me then. My dad is a firefighter, and we were always innundated with the “When you change your clocks, also change the batteries in your smoke detector” meme. Was this ever a big push elsewhere? [/QUOTE] The [Consumer Product Safety Commission](http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08211.html) is pushing it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-f-can-we-swear-in-pit-thread-titles-cks-sake-synchronise-uk-and-us-dst/440761/40 "2008-03-19T03:57:19Z")
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