OMED: Michael chronicles our times from the sports desk of the Tillamook Headlight Herald   After his legendary film career, he dedicated his life for a time to the study of time.  A reknowned amateur in Einsteinian physics, he is the only non-astrophysicist on Earth who understood what Albert was talking about.  In fact, his analysis of Einstein's motivation for the generation of Relativity is recognized as the most cogent ever conceived.  His central point there was that Albert's bicycle had a bad wheel bearing, which caused him to be late to work at the patent office one day.  Facing dismissal for his tardiness, he explained his failure to arrive on time was due to an adjacent mass of classical proportions.  His wife, who was present, hit him with her handbag, and immediately he realized that time was relative.to both mass and velocity. (Photo: Publicity shot of Mike O'Brien during his days as a star of Hollywood Westerns.) 

It's been just a few days and I'm ready to negotiate. Strike some kind of sinister Halloween bargain with the evil entity that conceived daylight-saving. 
For starters, I'm willing to let them keep that hour they stole from me last spring. I don't need it back anymore. I've gotten over it. Not that it was easy. There were sleepless nights wondering what might have been. A hole in one, the winning lottery ticket, meeting the love of my life. 

The list is endless.

I was on the cusp of something big when those clocks moved forward. I could feel it.  Instead, sleep deprivation, a bogus parking ticket, missed dinner reservations - all the things that can go wrong when someone tinkers with time - makes an hour go "poof." Getting home earlier than I left work, confusing my phone minutes (Is it peak or nights and weekend time?) It took several days to adjust. Does anyone remember the '70s? Haven't we learned what throwing off sleep schedules does to the hair and clothing of a nation?  But over time, I became sold on the extra hour. The chance for more daylight offered compelling options. I became an advocate of the  xtra-hour-of-daylight concept. 

Now, we're told to "fall back." Probably another bogus parking ticket is in store. ("I thought it was 8 a.m. - honest.") And whomever thinks casting me into darkness during my usual post-work hour is a fair return for that glorious spring hour I lost, well, I didn't just fall off a turnip truck. I've been around. I've seen daylight and I've seen savings. And I don't see either one at the moment. What I see is higher electric bills and deer in the headlamps at 6 p.m, or 7:30 a.m., take your choice.

It also puzzles me why it changes just before we send kids, dressed in black, into the streets to beg for candy. Shouldn't we give them at least a fighting chance to dodge the rush-hour traffic, people hurrying to get home before their homes are egged or toilet-papered because the treats haven't materialized yet?

Soon, since we "fell back," it will be dark in the morning, dark in the afternoon and light deprivation will take its toll on most of us. One's existence as a vampire bat is not suited to cordiality and cheerfulness. Those lovely evening beach strolls, rounds of golf finished in the shadows or quick trips to the park to play with the kids will turn into a Stalag-17-need to get out of the house-claustrophobic nightmare.

Who, I must ask, enjoys such scenarios? Other than firewood vendors and PUD, I've got no clue. Let's put it to a vote. All those who want to keep the hour of daylight year-around, crawl out of your caves and wave your flashlights in a vertical motion. We can save energy, enjoy ourselves outside each evening and slow down the light-deprivation psychosis that fills our counseling agencies each winter.

Similar proposals are being debated in several state legislatures. Daylight saving all the time - happy, happy. Protect the deer population. Avoid those nasty coffee spills in the darkness as you drive to work in the morning.
Sure, there would be some growing pains. Border towns where one state recognizes daylight-saving time and the other doesn't. Where the post office is one hour ahead of the bank next door, which means you can mail the bill at 1 p.m. and deposit funds to cover it at 12:05.

Would we be able to handle knowing that people in Washington are getting their telecast of Nip-Tuck" an hour before we get ours?

We've done it before. Daylight-saving time was extended year-around during World War II, and then again in 1973, during the Arab oil embargo. So, write somebody in Salem and tell them to keep your hour they owe you. Even if it changes your tax bracket. Put down your flashlights and ask them to bring the sun back. We can nail down the details later. 

© 2003 Michael O'Brien