Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2026!

We ended 2025 and are starting 2026 in Texas because of a death in the family. We’re traveling home today and tomorrow.

We’ll be doing some more traveling this year, mostly closer to home, but we have another trip to Texas in the works.

Happy New Year to one and all!

What Christmas is all about

It was 81 years ago today.

This is the SS Jeremiah O’Brien. She was present at D-Day, making many Channel Crossings to support the effort.

She was almost scrapped, but was lovingly restored and she even made the trip from San Francisco back to Normandy for the 50th anniversary.

She’s moored at Pier 45 in San Francisco and can be toured.

There’s no “Saving” in Daylight Saving Time. None. No daylight is saved. Cutting off the bottom of the blanket and sewing it to the top doesn’t make the blanket any longer.

Time Zones were established in 1883 mostly for the Transcontinental Railroads. At that time there were four, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific.

In 1918, the Interstate Commerce Commission was given responsibility over time coordination for transportation and the five time zones we use today were established, Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska. Hawai’i time is one hour behind Alaska Standard Time. It’s the same as Alaska Daylight Time because Hawai’i doesn’t participate in Daylight Time. Arizona switches between Pacific and Mountain Time because it too doesn’t participate in Daylight Time.

Daylight time was implemented at this time (March 19, 1918) to save fuel during WWI for War Industries and to extend the working day. The Daylight time part of the law was repealed on August 20, 1919.

Daylight time was brought back during WWII (February 1942) with a sunset of six months after the end of the war -or- such time as designated by a concurring resolution. It actually took Congress to pass a bill. Congress passed H.R. 3974 which became the law “To provide for the termination of daylight saving time, ” 59 Stat. 537. 

In 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act resetting the time zones and setting Daylight Time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.

In 1973, in a misguided attempt to “save energy” Congress passed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. It was set to enact Permanent Daylight time from January 6, 1973 to October 26, 1975, It was so unpopular that HR 16102 amended it on October 2nd, 1974 to resume the last Sunday in February of 1975 to October 26, 1975 and continue normally thereafter.

The dates that Daylight Time have started and ended have changed, mostly starting earlier and earlier, from the last Sunday in April to now the first Sunday in March. The end of Daylight Saving only just changed this century from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November, leaving Halloween with a little more light after school for trick-or-treaters.

Daylight time has gone from six months of the year to eight months of the year.

But Standard time is the time of the Earth. It’s when the sun is overhead at noon.

Changing time twice a year is disruptive to schedules, both human and animal. It’s disruptive for children. The more light in the evenings, while many adults may find it welcome, can make it hard for children to get to sleep.

If Daylight time were to be made permanent sunrise wouldn’t be until 9:00 or nearly so in December when many children are trying to get to school, either walking or at bus stops.

Sure the days get shorter, but they get longer too. The Spring and Fall Equinoxes are when the day and night are equal in length. The Winter and Summer Solistices are when we have the Longest Night and the Longest Day. It happens every year and no amount of fiddling with the clocks will change anything.

Keep Standard Time permanent like Hawai’i, Arizona, and Puerto Rico.