This past weekend was the end of Daylight Saving Time. It is hard enough for people on a normal schedule to adjust to this twice a year, but as a midnight person it makes it very difficult!
So many people were bragging about getting an extra hour of sleep, that meant nothing to our family. As a matter of fact, the time change has just played havoc on us all. For example, Sam just happened to be working over night on Saturday Night. What did that mean for her? An extra hour of work. Urgh!
The kids normally get up at 6 or 7am. That means that they are now getting up at 5 or 6am! That in itself is difficult, but it also screws up nap times and bed times. They get crabby an hour earlier now. It’s not always easy to push through for one more hour when they are tired. It makes it extra difficult for Sam and I.
Tonight was the first night that I had to drive to work after the time change. This is the time of year where I really struggle. It is dark when I drive to work AND dark when I drive home from work. As I drove in tonight, I actually found myself questioning if I was going the right way!
I KNEW I was heading the right way, however, it was so dark that I wasn’t seeing the normal landmarks I would see in the light. As stupid as it sounds, I looked at the Interstate signs more than once to make sure I was driving South!
My drive is just over an hour each way. When you are already sleep deprived, that drive can be terrifying. There is always the possibility of “highway hypnosis” or “white line fever,” which is when a driver has been driving for too long. Staring at the lines in the road can produce a hypnotic effect. One website states: A driver experiencing highway hypnosis may be able to operate and control the vehicle in a normal, safe manner – yet he or she will have no recollection of doing so later. Driving on autopilot is a form of highway hypnosis. Allowing highway hypnosis to take over could result in serious or fatal car accidents.
That in itself is scary! It also becomes a bit more easy to want to fall asleep while driving. There have been times where I have pulled over to nap for 10-15 minutes before driving again. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens. Usually, I can call my wife and just talking to her will help me stay awake. When you factor in other dangers (deer, snow & ice), this becomes the time of year I hate driving.
Both hands on the wheel ….
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 
I would just as soon see DST end, permanently. It is not natural for human beings. It keeps most peoples body clocks fouled up.
When the sun is directly overhead…it’s noon. Period…regardless of what cell phones or digital clocks say.
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I’m a commuter too, and totally understand this. as for the family, and all of us, I really dislike having to adjust back and forth twice a year.
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It’s just such a pain!!!
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I do like it being light again when I get up and have to go out, but the darker evenings are a drawback. Either way, isn’t it expected to not happen next year? I think there’s a law that is in Congress that would eliminate it for once and for all that they expect to pass.
Now driving, I get that…. I really like driving less and less as I get older. Did you ever drive up from Michigan into Ontario? The only time I can think of when I experienced that hypnosis or White Line Fever was running from Windsor to Toronto on the 401 (which is an extension of I75 in the the States basically)… that stretch from Windsor to about Kitchener is just so lulling – straight highway, surrounded mostly by corn fields, not much variation, few towns visible except for brief jaunt through London… you really need to pull off and walk around, have a coffee even if its daytime and it’s only about a two to three hour run.
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I have been up that way, but it has been a very long time. Last time I was in Canada was probably in the 90’s. Wow.
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I have learned to hate it! I don’t like driving home in the damn dark at 5 o’clock!
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