Door to Door on DST
We have been having an uncharacteristically cold week here in sunny San Diego. Between that and the intermittent rain over the last week, I am reminded that the nice weather we usually enjoy is truly a blessing. I guess this is how we learn to appreciate what we’ve got, or at least what we usually got. The clocks changed yesterday as we moved to Daylight Savings Time. Spring forward and all that. I have read up on DST and now know that Europe may be the first to adopt it as their permanent time standard (Germany being the first country to enact it as a partial annual time change protocol in 1916). The U.S. has been debating a similar move for several years and a number of states have introduced legislation to that effect, but must wait to take their lead from the Federal government since the current Federal legislation says only that states can choose not to adopt DST, but says nothing about choosing to remain permanently on DST. Along those lines, only Arizona has such legislation, to not use DST that is.
Time is the province of the Department of Transportation. I suppose we should feel fortunate that we are not on Chinese time given the natural bent in most of the changes made by Elaine Chiao during her tenure as Secretary of Transportation under Donald Trump. Now we are at the more enlightened mercy of Pete Buttigieg, so whatever happens, I suspect it will reflect the will of the people. So, what is the deal in Arizona? In 1968 the Arizona state legislature voted overwhelmingly to remain on Mountain Standard Time all year long. Supposedly, that was done in contradiction to every other state in the union due to energy conservation reasons. I have no idea if that rationale remains valid in an era of renewable energy abundance. What I do know is that driving around the state during the summer months is quite comical. Tribal land represents 27% of the state and the tribal nations have chosen to observe DST, so when you drive in and out of the reservations you have to change your clocks during half of the year. The same anomaly exists on Federal land, of which 42% of the state is governed by. That means that almost 70% of the state observes the convention of DST, while the 30% that is most populated does not. It is always a hoot to drive the Golden Circle from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon around the eastern edge and down to the South Rim. You have to change your watch from DST in Utah to MST in Arizona to DST at the North Rim to MST along Vermillion Cliffs to DST as you pass through Navajo lands back to MST as you circle the Canyon back to DST by the time you get to El Tovar at the South Rim, only to return to MST as you head out towards Flagstaff. My advice is to ignore your watch and watch the scenery instead.
Today we have sprung forward and since we just started DST we do not see the sunrise until 6:58am. That will gradually work its way back to 5:41am by the summer solstice in June. That represents a shift of 77 minutes in 97 days, so we back up by just under a minute per day. I have a hard enough time figuring out what I will do with my daylight hours as it is, so I will just assume that there is plenty of daylight to do what I need to do out of doors. As it is, I am 45 minutes into my daylight today and have yet to go outdoors to start my chores. On today’s agenda (since it is expected to be a rain day given the 100% chance of precipitation according to my weather app) will be to finish prepping the patio and kitchen doors by resanding the plastic wood touch-ups I added yesterday and then putting on a coat of primer on both. If the rain holds off or when it stops I will spray the Rustoleum primer on the front driveway automatic gate, which I sanded and cleaned up yesterday. I am preparing for my great Chinese Red extravaganza. For some reason my three exterior doors and that driveway gate are painted a nice steel blue. Its time for them all to get repainted and I have decided that the Chinese Red highlight is more fitting with our decor and especially our Caliente Red Sunbrella Shadesail, which is now the dominant exterior feature to my house. The doors and gate are an important details that, in my opinion, are meant to be painted in a more earth tone shade than steel blue.
The guy at Sherwin Williams tells me that no matter how well I paint these elements, they will fade in the summer sun. He says that Chinese Red will fade more than other less dark colors. I am fine with that since the concept of earth tones is to have everything seem more rather than less natural. The red he said that is made to specifically not fade is the Fire Engine Red used on fire hydrants and fire engines. That is a more stark and unnatural red that was too vibrant for my taste, so I have opted for the fadable and earthier Chinese Red. That does make me wonder why one bright color can be made to fade less than another. I guess the paint industry has to have some planned obsolescence in its business model, but that they choose to not screw around with public safety. If that doesn’t prove the importance to all of us of understanding business models, I don’t know what does.
I don’t mind the prospect of having to consider repainting my doors and gate in a few years. There really is no way to cheat Mother Nature and the same sun that I like here on my hilltop in San Diego is the sun that fades Chinese Red doors and gates, so what will be will be. I choose to live ten miles from the ocean (though I do like looking at it from a distance) to avoid the ravages of ocean salt air on my house and surroundings. But I choose also to live in one of the sunnier spots in the country knowing full well that outdoor furniture and painted doors will fade over time and need replacing or refreshing. While I am sure I will have other household projects to do between now and when repainting is required, I also suspect that I will be happy to have another project to keep me busy when that time comes…whether it is DST, PST, PDT or whatever.