Tag: humor

Changing Daylight Saving Time Might Reduce Obesity

I knew it was because of Daylight Saving Time that I’m overweight! I just knew it! Okay, perhaps that’s a slight embellishment. My slightly-more-than-ideal weight might be partly due to what I eat and how much (or not much) I exercise. But according to a new study at Stanford University, if our government gets rid of Daylight Saving Time, it could provide incredible health benefits:

The researchers estimate that permanent standard time would prevent about 300,000 cases of stroke per year and reduce the number of people with obesity by 2.6 million, compared to biannual changes. Permanent daylight saving time would also be positive, although with a smaller impact.

So it’s the changing of time that matters, and to some degree, having more daylight. So apparently even if the government never changes the system officially, one could just ignore the time change and be less fat. Works for me! I could switch my sleep habits an hour if that helps me be less overweight. That would surely be easier than eating healthy and exercising more! 🙂

So far I’m having fun with this. However, it is an actual scientific study, and they used mathematical models to simulate this, trying to find the impact of time policies on light exposure and circadian rhythm (your body’s internal clock). But I’m skeptical. Normally I’m all for the use of math and the scientific method, but I think those numerical claims are vastly exaggerated. There might be a real benefit — I’m not arguing that — but preventing 2,600,000 cases of obesity? Whatever.

If we’re not going to change Daylight Saving Time, I’ve got some ideas to improve it, which I’ve discussed before: a better way to fix Daylight Savings Time. Most people would be for one of those plans, I think, but so far it has been ignored.

As far as reducing obesity in America (which is a big problem), I wish changing the clock would be a solution. But I think the best solution is still eating less and exercising more. That strategy is no secret, but perhaps we need a fresh approach to promoting it… (I have an idea, which will be in a future post.)

a better way to fix Daylight Saving Time

It’s no secret that a lot of people have problems with Daylight Saving Time. Most of us don’t mind gaining an extra hour of sleep in the fall, but losing an hour of sleep is problematic. It costs the workforce millions of dollars by people being late and/or tired. There’s also the issue of it getting dark early. I don’t like night time to start at 5:00 PM.

Our representatives in Congress apparently don’t know what to do about it. There’s talk every year of getting rid of it, which is an option. Or, as I have proposed several times here, in the spring we could take the hour away from the workday at 8:00 AM on a Monday. The majority of people would approve of this. (Perhaps we should write our representatives about this idea. Tell your friends to see what they think.)

My favorite idea is switching to the Hobbit calendar (by J.R.R. Tolkien). Changing our system to that one just isn’t practical, though, given all the systems and programs that would have to be changed. But it’s fun to think about.

There is, however, another possible solution that I haven’t heard discussed. What if instead of going forward an hour in the spring, we go back 23 hours? Who wouldn’t like that? (I’m sure there’s someone, but whatever.) Most of us could use an extra 23 hours to rest, relax, and/or get things done. It would be like an extra Saturday, a bonus day off work.

The problem with this radical idea is that it disrupts our calendar. (Side note: did you realize the calendar is already broken? Why do we have a leap year where we add a day?) So to keep the calendar working properly, every four years, instead of adding a day, we take away 3 days. And those 3 days should be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which according to recent polls are the least popular days. This could also happen in February, since it’s probably the least liked month [citation needed].

What do you think? Too crazy, or awesome? Is there a better idea?

a story about that which needs no story

I’ve been thinking about resuming the “Funny Pictures” series. Does this warrant an explanation? Who knows? If you care, read on; if not, just enjoy the pictures. Whatever makes you happy. I’ll mix some pics in with the text, since it would be weird to talk about funny pictures without sharing some.

Sharing pictures from other sites seems like an awkward fit here, since I try to post original content. Anybody can copy pictures and share them. Yet there is still a collection of funny pictures I’ve saved over the years. Perhaps the people who enjoy my original posts will also enjoy the funny pictures, since they were curated by me and thus follow the same brand of humor. (This is assuming that somebody actually likes my original posts… I enjoy writing them, so doesn’t that mean there ought to be some people out there who would also enjoy them? I can dream…)

Alf was a TV show character in the ’80s. I wonder if the woman has any clue. Either way, more funny stuff ought to be hidden at political events, which tend to be devoid of humor.

BTW, this isn’t to take the place of original content. I’ll still post the same number of original articles (however infrequent that has become), and there are already many in various stages of readiness.

Maybe real butter should be called “truth”, in this context.

To see our archive of funny pictures, here’s the link to the series: “Funny Pictures“.

When you’ve just got to dance…

When was the last time you heard music that made you dance? I don’t mean when you’ve got ants in your pants and you need to dance. Nor do I mean when you have squirrels in your pants. (Side note: If you can name both of those references without an online search, then I’ll give you 50 coolness points right now. [BTW, that’s a lot.] If you know just one of them, I’ll give you 20. I figure it’s a rare person who understands two generations of coolness. Most people only find one generations worth, although some find none. Oh, and if you have to search and you can stay focused enough to find both and still leave a comment, I’ll give you 10. I figure that’s somewhat rare too, given short attention spans these days, plus when you search the internet for cool stuff, it’s easy to follow a rabbit trail and forget where you started.) [Ed. note: That’s probably not a side note if it’s longer than the main text.]

Back to music… When was the last time you heard music that was so interesting to you that you started dancing? If the answer is not today, then perhaps you should find some. Life is too short for boring music. (Disclaimer: I’m not implying that music which doesn’t make you dance is necessarily boring — certainly not true. However, it is good to dance and feel good, so I recommend listening to music that makes you feel good on a regular basis.) This concept can apply to music from many genres: funk (of course*), jazz, hip-hop, rock, pop, country, heavy metal, classical, techno, house, bluegrass, electro-swing (naturally), etc. That may seem strange to you, since many people listen to primarily just one genre of music, but I’ve danced to all of those, so it’s definitely possible. (No, there’s no video of this. No one wants to see that. It’s for my enjoyment. And my kids dance with me sometimes, too.)

* You could say “of course” to any of them, particularly your favorite genre, but I mentioned it because just today, while doing dishes, I heard a song so funky I just had to get my groove on. If you know, you know. I was playing music while doing dishes because I really dislike washing dishes, but music makes the experience better. And I have my own playlist, set to shuffle, so it’s music that will help me stay upbeat and happy. I sometimes use this playlist while walking and exercising. And I also use it when I’m cooking something that takes a long time, like chili. In fact, just the other day I played a song in my truck that my son said, “That’s chili-making music.” I’ve never heard that before, but makes sense in this context. He had that association with it. And he helps me make chili sometimes, and he dances to the music while making chili, so he knows. Sometimes his feet start moving like he’s James Brown. (Hey, that’s a hint to not forget the coolness challenge in the first paragraph.)

So if your day could use more awesomeness, pull up some of your favorite songs to listen to when you get a chance. Why not make your day more awesome? (If you never listen to songs that make you want to dance, why not try it? Find some. Search for playlists about dancing, or ask friends for suggestions. I suspect everyone could find some songs that make them want to dance, and you need this in your life. Trust me, it’s a good time, and it’s worth the effort to find. Make your day more awesome!)