Thanks a Lot, Mr. Fanklin

It's that time of year when time starts messing with my mind.  It always takes me about a week to get used to "falling back" and even longer to adjust to "springing forward".  Last spring, I missed the memo on the topic and showed up an hour late for yoga.  I was so PISSED!  So this time around, I made it a point to remember to change the dang clocks.  Unfortunately, I never just change them all at once.  I usually get the oven clock first, which is near the door and most often used for (ahem) timely departures.  When in the car, I get that one.  At some point, I might get the microwave, but then I tend to get mixed up.  Did I change the bedroom one?  Or not?  I might end up with as many as three hours difference in the times noted on various clocks, and then I have to consult the cell phone, because it knows all. 

My mom doesn't know how to change her car clock so she just leaves it.  It is correct for half the year, but I can't remember which half.  I know I "fixed" it for her once and she was unaware of my nicety, so she did her usual compensating only to be two hours late for dinner.

My cat, who is oblivious to time change, does know what time it is in the morning.  She has "Time to Stomp on Nicki's Kindeys So As She Will Get Up and Feed Me" time, she has "Time to Sit on Nicki's Lap While She is Trying to Eat So As She Might Give Me Some Food Time", and she has "Time to Avoid Nicki So As She Will Not Give Me a Pill Time."  So, kidney-stomping time commenced as usual on Monday, but it was ineffective because Nicki was sleeping for an extra hour.  Or rather, she was trying to sleep an extra hour, but that is difficult to accomplish once kidneys have been stomped upon.

Throughout all this confusion, I wondered:  Who thought up this crazy idea, and just how much crack was he/she smoking?  Sure, light in the evening, saving energy, blah, blah, blah.  But what about the fact that we willingly subject our bodies to a sudden and dramatic shift in its sleep patterns and eating times?  Regular sleep is the one thing that doctors agree could cure all ailments and save the whales.  Or something.  Anyway, its important.

Turns out, it was Benjamin Franklin who thought up daylight saving time - as a JOKE.  Seriously.  He wrote a letter about how people in Paris weren't getting up before noon and the sun was rising at 6am or earlier and they were missing at least 6 hours of daylight, so he figured Parisians should be banned from using blinds and they should make it 7am for the sun so they'd miss less daylight.  He also suggested loud church bells or, and I am not making this up - cannons be used to rouse people out of bed.  He argued that if people got up before noon they might go to sleep earlier and burn fewer candles thus saving a lot of money.

So, thanks a lot Mr. Franklin.  Thanks to your little joke, it is common practice to wake before noon, and the government is rationing my candles.