What are they saving it for?

Mac over at Pesky'Apostrophe brought this fascinating item to my attention: Congress trying to extend daylight savings time. It makes sense, according to one of the bill's co-sponsors (Rep. Fred Upton, R-Michigan), "especially with skyrocketing energy costs." Um, how exactly does it make sense? It kind of seems to me that the amount of daylight is really beyond our control.

I've always been a little freaked out by daylight savings time. I mean, what are they saving it for? And how, exactly? Does Congress really think they can give us more daylight? And maybe I'm some kind of control freak (ahem) but it seems to me that any unit of measurement at all is more or less arbitrary; it's chief virtue, really, is its stability. What if Congress decided that from April to October a mile would be an even 5,000 feet long instead of 5,280 feet long. You'd get better gas mileage part of the year, right? Or if they redefined a pound as, say 17.6 ounces from like mid-October until early March, so that you could put on up to 10% of your pre-holiday weight and it wouldn't really show up on the scale until spring. We wouldn't have to read all those stupid post-holiday weight loss articles or listen to anybody whine about how much eggnog they drank and cookies they ate.

I think it's nutty. Plus I can't figure out how to change the clock in my car, so it's going to be wrong until next fall, or until I get another one, whichever comes first. Another good reason to get my bike out this weekend, and ride it until they change the time back.