Here in the U.S., a fraud has been perpetrated on us. It's called Daylight Savings Time. We are told that running our clocks an hour ahead of the actual time would save us money on utility bills and help the country use less imported oil. A new study has revealed the opposite to be true. I found this article on the net today.

"It's official: Daylight Saving Time is a bust. Designed (and recently extended) as a measure to save energy in a period of inflated electricity prices, an in-depth University of California study has now shown that DST doesn't save anyone any money at all. In fact, it's costing consumers extra, to the tune of $3.19 in extra utility bills per year.

The study was made possible because of the peculiarities of the state of Indiana, which was only partially on DST until 2006. When the whole state finally went DST (to sync with the national business day), some comparisons vs. the prior method were made apparent. The study calculated that the shift costs Indiana residents an extra $8.6 million in electricity bills in total.

Why? Shouldn't they be, well, saving daylight -- and burning fewer light bulbs?

They are, said the study. But while lighting bills were reduced, air-conditioning units had to run more often, because people were home on hot afternoons when they'd otherwise be still at the office. Heaters had to be run on cool mornings, too, when people got up and it was still dark outside.

Professor Matthew Kotchen, who pioneered the study, noted, "I've never had a paper with such a clear and unambiguous finding as this."

This isn't the first time the energy-saving rationale of Daylight Saving Time has been attacked. The first was in 1976, three years after DST went into effect, when the National Bureau of Standards found that there was no significant energy savings after the switch. The recent expansion of DST to a few extra weeks was also revealed to have saved no energy during its run. And yet here we are...

In related news, it was also revealed that Daylight Saving Time actually creates no additional daylight."

I've been seeing animal tracks in the snow in my back yard. Today I found the critters that are making them. I've never seen them this close to the house before.

Wishing all you sexy ppl a very happy Valentines Day.

As you may know form my previous blog, I'm in the market for a new TV. It wasn't that many years ago the biggest decision you had to make was simply what screen size and brand you wanted. Today the choices are overwhelming. CRT's, LCD's, plasma, projection, DLP, etc. I don't want to be dumbstruck when I go to the store and rely on a salesperson's recommendation, which may be driven by a commision, so I have been doing online research. I found a forum where ppl express their opinions about the various technologies. But damnit, the ppl there are nuts. The hostility and name calling and general mayhem in there, I would have thought I was in a political forum. What ever happened to staying on topic and respecting other ppl's views? I wonder what those ppl are like in real life, lol.

Sunday my TV broke. I sat down to watch the ball game and the TV turned on by itself. Oh shit, I thought, I must have sat on the remote. But I looked over and saw it sitting next to me. Then the TV turned itself off. Hmmm, I said, what's going on? I sat there for a few minutes and witnessed to thing turn itself on and then off, and then on and off, etc, etc, etc. This continued until I unplugged it. Time to think about a new set. I was thinking about getting a new one anyway. Then today, I decided to clean the bedroom a bit, I moved the bed so I could clean behind it. When I pushed it back I heard the sound of wood cracking and the corner of the box spring hit the floor. I wonder what will break tomorrow. I'll have to be careful not to turn anything on or move anything.

It's the middle of winter here and the current temp is 63 f which is 40-50 degrees warmer than normal. I know this warm weather isn't going to stick around for long, but such warm temps are highly unusual for this time of year. I'm going to put on sunblock and go outside.

Every month I get an email from my credit card company urging me to sign up for paperless statements. "It's safer than receiving your statement through the mail" Well yeah, if they don't mail you a statement it can't be lost or stolen and end up in who know who's hands. So I enrolled for the paperless statement. Now instead of getting a statement in the mail, I get an email telling me my statement is available at their web site. Good enough so far. But wait, I go to the mailbox and find they sent me a packet of "convenience checks" which contains all my account information. So the point of paperless statements is blown out of the water; they are still sending me paper with all my account info on it via the mail. There is a disconnect between advertising and actual practices.

I am wishing everybody a happy New Year. I wish you good health and much wealth and happiness in the new year. I also want to thank everybody here who has been a friend in one way or another. Perhaps you talked to me in chat or in the forums, or read my blogs or look at my pics and leave comments or vote. And especially those who have played scrabble with me. A big thank you to each and every one of you!

Today marks the 6th anniversary of my wife passing. I don’t know how I got through that. Yeah, the passage of time helps. The support of friends helps more. I am grateful for all the help I have received from friends, including ppl here.

No longer crying, but sad at times.

put your foot in your mouth and couldn't get it out? I have, but generally don't worry about it much.