A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

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Dark Passage

By Jimmy Johnson

Remember: it’s that weekend. The return to standard time can be a bit of a shock in the late afternoon, but I rather enjoy it. Whenever weather and insects permit, I like to sit on the porch or in the garden as the sun goes down, and this is the best time of year to do that. The streetlights and the solar lanterns come up slowly, and I anticipate the imminent entrance of the dazzling stars. Resplendent in flannel, I’m primed for an evening at my favorite theater. Afterward, there still will be time for a bowl of chili and a respectable hour of repose. For me, it never gets old. Of course, when I was young, I favored the return of daylight saving time and an extra hour of frivolity. Nothing really changes but our perspective.

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25 responses to “Dark Passage”

  1. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    Saturday morning, at least here im Michigan, is the latest time that the sun will rise. Before they moved it out a week to November, the latest was in early January.

    I like the idea of getting an extra hour of sleep, but I usually stay up later Saturday night!

  2. TruckerRon Avatar
    TruckerRon

    Where I live sunset tomorrow (11/2) comes at 6:21 pm MDT. On Sunday (11/3) it’ll come at 5:20 pm MST. If it’s not cloudy I’ll be setting up my telescope and checking out the setting crescent moon (it’ll be about 5% illuminated, a very slender crescent indeed).

  3. Symply Fargone Avatar
    Symply Fargone

    I just wish they’d Symply leave the Fargone time alone….reminds me of the Indian blanket metaphor…

  4. Dan Klugiewicz Avatar
    Dan Klugiewicz

    I think of that blanket every year at this time and again when we spring forward. I’m in favor of just leaving DST locked in year-round. We’ve got it almost two thirds of the year now anyhow. Not one of Ben Franklin’s better jokes: (Benjamin Franklin is often credited with the idea of Daylight Saving Time (DST), but it’s a bit more complicated than that. In 1784, Franklin wrote a satirical essay titled “An Economical Project” for the Journal de Paris, where he humorously suggested that Parisians could save on candles by waking up earlier to make use of natural daylight1. However, Franklin’s proposal was not meant to be taken seriously and was more of a witty commentary on the habits of Parisians. From the Franklin Institute fi.com via CoPilot)
    Cheers from Wisconsin, Dan

  5. Lost in A**2 Avatar
    Lost in A**2

    I would rather stick to Standard Time.

    1. Danny Boy Avatar
      Danny Boy

      I’m with “Lost in A-Squared” — The highest priority is getting rid of the constant changing. But the option to go with on a permanent basis should by preference be Standard Time rather than Daylight Saving Time.

      (BTW, I think “Daylight” is part of the name only of “Daylight Saving” and there isn’t really a “Daylight Standard”.)

  6. Regnad Kcin Avatar
    Regnad Kcin

    The sky is a hazy shade of winter…

    1. Cozmik Cowboy Avatar
      Cozmik Cowboy

      At least it’s not a whiter shade of pale…..

      As much as I love S&G’s original, I prefer the Bangles’ version (especially the Official Video – but I wish they hadn’t spent so much time on the movie clips instead of the band if you catch my meaning, if you get my drift, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say n’more).

  7. Emma Avatar
    Emma

    When I had kids in school, I hated DT in the fall as it was so dark in the morning, so the return to ST was much better. Now, as a retired person, I don’t care either way!

  8. cxp Avatar
    cxp

    This page looks absolutely snazzy, JJ!

    BTW, if we’re voting, I’d prefer DST for its lighter evenings.

  9. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    “Nothing really changes but our perspective.”

    I wish that I could agree. I won’t go into the why.

  10. Feisty Avatar
    Feisty

    We’ve switched back to normal wintertime a week ago and I am still adjusting. It did help that we both were knocked down with the flu most of the week and still not out of the woods yet. Fever is down, but the coughing and sniffling cold is still with us.
    For me, they may keep this time forever, I hate switching twice a year. But our government and European Committee think it poses too many difficulties to change it like that. Don’t know which, but there you have it.

  11. Vince Avatar
    Vince

    The front page looks great. I like the newspaper look.

  12. Cozmik Cowboy Avatar
    Cozmik Cowboy

    I don’t care which one it is, just pick one and stick to it!

    But it coulkd be (and has been) worse; when I was a kid, it was town-by-town. I don’t recall which switched and which didn’t, but half the year it was the same time at our house and my grandparents’, and half it was an hour different. 15 miles away, in the same county.

  13. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    I have a question about maintenance cartoon where Janis is talking about their lawn being rolled. I took me a minute to figure it out what she was talking about since we’ve always referred to it as being TPed, Is “being rolled” a regional term?

    1. TruckerRon Avatar
      TruckerRon

      In Memphis in the late 60s it was “rolled” — Here in Utah when my kids were teens it was “TPed.”

  14. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    My primary concern about staying on “fast time” year round is little children walking to the bus stop or school in the dark.

  15. cxp Avatar
    cxp

    Regarding time: Would it be some great electronic tragedy to adopt a time frame halfway between standard and daylight? Y’know, a half-hour different from both…and then stay with it. Just tossing this out there without serious thought.

  16. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    Here’s my idea from long ago:

    If we are going to have time shifts, let’s do them on Friday nights. That way, people will have an extra day to adjust before the work week begins.

  17. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    I need a week or more to truly adjust. I’m already having to get up at 530 to work, and having it turn to 430 overnight is just not enough time. I’m zombified for a long time after and work is very difficult the first week.

  18. Hurd in LA (Lower Alabama) Avatar
    Hurd in LA (Lower Alabama)

    I was on the road when this was posted so I didn’t get to comment then. Personally I enjoy standard time and wish it were all year. But I am an early riser and retired so I can get started and get done earlier. Like jimmy I enjoy sitting out back as the sun sets and sort of watch everything slowing down. What I don’t want is permanent Daylight Savings as it being purposed by several of our elected representatives. If that were enacted it would mean sunrise in some places would be around 9 am. It was done in 1974 and did not even make it a year before bringing back standard time because it was so unpopular.

    Jimmy the site is really looking good. Keep up the good work.

  19. TruckerRon Avatar
    TruckerRon

    If I didn’t love the night sky so much, DST wouldn’t bother me so much. During my trucking years I moved from one time zone to another with no real issues. As long as I managed to get 6.5 or more hours of sleep in a day I was good to go.

  20. Fan in Japan Avatar
    Fan in Japan

    I am enjoying the contents on the site, although I am looking at it on a desktop computer. DST makes living on this side of the Pacific a bit of a chore. I have to keep recalibrating what time I can call family in the states (I have family on the West Coast and in Chicago). I once had a Zoom conference at four o’clock in the morning because of the time difference between here and the East Coast. Hope everyone is well and not too stressed out about November 5. Stay safe and sane, all.

  21. John II Avatar
    John II

    I like retired time. When you get up your up, when tired you go to sleep. However, Naps are now mandatory. Don’t need no stinking clock.

    1. Emma Avatar
      Emma

      We are living on “retired time” here too… but since we like to be on time for all our various appointments, we do rely on our “stinking clocks” and need them to be accurate!

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