Don’t mess with my clocks!

I am not a fan of DST.  No, it’s not a sales tax.  I am talking about Daylight Savings Time.  I hate this ‘Spring forward, fall back’ crap that I have to endure every year in the pretext of saving energy.

I did a little digging around to see exactly how and when this silly practice came about and found out it was actually the brainchild of one Benjamin Franklin, ever heard of him? Well damn you, Benny! *Yawn*

So what are the benefits of this?  Other than turning me into a zombie, it helps to keep employees so tired and confused that they fail to recognize when their bosses are screwing them around.  When you are tired, you never argue.  It saves energy because when we uhm…er…ok, forget that one.  It helps us to maintain a healthy lifestyle by spending an extra hour outdoors, enjoying that extra hour of daylight.    In fact, I did see an increase in my outdoor activities. NOT!  I spend that extra hour indoor trying to catch up on my missing hour of sleep.

Ok, the verdict is in.  Daylight savings is useless and a big waste of time and energy.  It messes with our bodies as studies show.  And…and…well…I just don’t like it.

Related Articles:

• Daylight Saving Time Wastes Electricity (blogs.wsj.com)
• Mo. lawmaker proposes to end Daylight Saving time (fox4kc.com)
• Four things you might not know about Daylight Saving Time (which starts this Sunday) (news.nationalpost.com)
• Too tired to come up with a title, or Why I Hate Daylight Savings Time (jenniewho.wordpress.com)
• Viewpoints: Daylight saving messes with all kinds of clocks (sacbee.com)
• How Daylight Savings Is Costing Americans More Than an Hour of Sleep, According to New GoBankingRates.com Report (prweb.com)

 

Living in a bubble

Do you want to know how much our kids are pampered and coddled these days?  Well never mind, I am sure you do know.  It’s clearly visible every single day.  As a daddy, I am scared of what they are going to be like when it’s their turn to run this world.

Just a few weeks ago, I was at a bbq and happened to notice that one of the kids had a weird contraption that looked like a hand-held fan.  On the table was a shallow container with soapy water.  It didn’t take my rusty brain long to figure out what it was.  It was a bubbles maker!  You dip the fan-like thing into the soapy water, turn it on and voila! you’ve got bubbles without wasting a breath.  Heck, one could still keep up with their texts while blowing bubbles now.  Are you kidding me?

Our kids are missing the point on life.  It’s not about the bubbles, it’s the effort it takes to let out just the right amount of air to give you that perfect bubble.  Can’t our kids get a chance to break a sweat over anything anymore?  The schools work around them and allow them to be tardy and underachieving.  For example, at a meeting with one of our foster son’s teachers, he was told by the teacher not to worry too much about the work that he did not hand in during the term as he could always drop them off after exams and get his mark changed.  Now what is that doing to us who are trying to instill in him, the value of getting his work done and handed in on time?  What is this kid learning here?  That the world waits on him and he could get away with anything?

In sports, our poor over-worked children are taught not to compete.  Don’t keep scores and leave the nets empty. (no goaltenders).  It’s all about the fun of the game.  Who cares about developing the kids early? Thank goodness Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods didn’t grow up in this.   Coincidentally, recent studies are showing that obesity is a growing concern among kids.  They are not active enough.  Duh.

Back in the islands, we made our own toy cars and trucks.  We blew bubbles using our breaths, even though I was asthmatic, I was right in there with the best of them.  We played sports and yelled and celebrated when we scored or won a game.  No kid was traumatized by losing.  We knew our limitations so it didn’t bother us  that we weren’t the best player.   We kept playing.  Our teachers marked us ‘fail’ or ‘pass’ and nothing we did after the fact could change that mark.  Now look at me now.  Ok, maybe I’m not exactly a good example so don’t look but yeah, you get my drift.

(Do you know that they now have an app that blows bubbles for you?).

Our kids today are pampered, spoiled, coddled and over-protected.  I fear that they are ill-prepared to deal with the real world that awaits them when the bubble bursts.  But what do I know? It’s just my take.

Related articles

• Really Big Bubbles – I Mean Really Big! (francineclouden.typepad.com)
• Why innovation flourishes in a bubble (cbsnews.com)
• Our Schools

The weird kid

Today, I saw a ‘weird’ teenager at the bus stop. He was totally an outcast.  Standing there naked of any electronic device.  No wires dangled from his ears and no cell phone nestled in his hand.  I noted how he looked confident and studious as he waited for his bus. How odd that his neck was not craned over a cell phone sending text messages, oblivious of the world around him.  In this electronic and texting age, this kid was the epitome of odd and weird.  Didn’t he feel the urge to listen to some loud music blasting out of some Dr. Dre’s headphones? How about keeping tabs on his friends waiting at the bus stop across the street?  The ones he sat next to in class…

Not believing this weird and unusual sight, I decided that this teenager must have some even weirder parents who instilled such odd values in their son.  Maybe they had no television or if they did, they did not give it the worship it deserved. Maybe they had a no-cell rule at the dinner table. Heck, if they even owned a computer, I can assure you such weird parents would have time limits set on it. It was incredible that such people still exists.  How dare them defy the status quo! How dare them not conform!

As the bus arrived to pick up Mr. Weirdo, my eyes followed him to his seat.  He probably felt my stare because he suddenly glanced in my direction and a trace of a smile cracked his face.  Then he waved.  Weirdo…