Spring forward and check your batteries
It’s almost time for a change.At 2 a.m. Sunday we will again change our clocks. Daylight saving time starts and that means we spring forward, or move our clocks ahead one hour. We will stay on daylight saving time until Nov. 3.
Moving our clocks forward in March can cause us to lose an hour of sleep -- unless we go to be an hour earlier. And unless we move our clocks ahead before going to bed Saturday night, we could be an hour late for church on Sunday.
Public safety officials for years have urged citizens to check the batteries in their home smoke detector on the date the time changes. It’s a great idea to ensure that detectors have batteries that are in working order.
We did some Internet research and found this explanation:
The changeover in the U.S. was chosen to be at 2 a.m. because it minimized disruption. People were home, and this was the time when the fewest trains were operating. One source said, “It is late enough to minimally affect bars and restaurants, and it prevents the day from switching to yesterday, which would be confusing. It is early enough that the entire continental U.S. switches by daybreak, and the changeover occurs before most early shift workers and early churchgoers are affected.”
Apparently, the first national time shift took place in 1918. The change was on again, off again during World Wars I and II. The change was stopped after WWII and restarted with the Uniform Time Act in 1966. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed the period of DST from six months to eight months (March to November).
That’s enough history.
Just remember to set your clocks ahead one hour when you go to bed Saturday, and check those batteries in your smoke detectors.
