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Putting the clocks back

(62 Posts)
Gagagran Sat 27-Oct-12 21:40:17

DH has just been round altering all our clocks - he's sure to have missed one somewhere - it's a tradition. What does everyone think about the ending of British Summer Time?

I hate the long dark nights and it feels a long haul now through winter and the dark days of November and December. At least in January the light is coming back but it really feels daunting thinking of what's to come.

Stansgran Mon 29-Oct-12 20:33:11

We were expecting an M&S delivery this am between 7am and 9am so my resident technophobe decided to awaken us at 6.45 but knowing that the hour was about to change put his phone at the"right" time. (we had the GCs staying so I expected to hear the dawn chorus and wasn't bothering with alarms) So at 5.45 am his phone rang.....

Anne58 Mon 29-Oct-12 19:41:14

Every cloud, merlot ,every cloud.....

merlotgran Mon 29-Oct-12 19:31:20

I had that thought as well, phoenix after I'd fed the dogs and chased the confused chickens back into their runs. grin

Anne58 Mon 29-Oct-12 19:23:25

I suppose one could argue that at least the sun is over the yardarm a tad earlier? grin wine

AlieOxon Mon 29-Oct-12 19:01:22

Boohoo! I went shopping and it was Dark when I came out....so wintry.

JessM Mon 29-Oct-12 18:33:56

Mini jet lag all day. Is it 11 or clock? Or maybe 1 o clock already. Must change car clock tomorrow. Skyping to OZ and NZ now even more inconvenient!

annodomini Mon 29-Oct-12 17:35:58

Whether this was an effect of the change, I don't know, but today, the first day of half term, my teacher DiL was woken at 6.30 by the sound of her 8-year-old son frying an egg. Lovely child!

Anne58 Mon 29-Oct-12 17:12:11

The clock changing malarkey affects animals too! Yesterday afternoon, at almost 4.30pm on the dot, the mogs assembled in the kitchen.

Try explaining to 3 cats, one of whom is definitely in the special needs category and another who is definitely not the sharpest crayon in the pencil case, that they are an hour too early.

I seem to remember my mothers Labrador practically going into meltdown the first day after the change! (Conversely, she thought all her birthdays and Christmas had come at once when they went forward again)

goldengirl Mon 29-Oct-12 16:48:06

I loathe dark evenings with a passion. DH said it gets dark early at the equator. My retort is that at least it is warm there - we've had a smattering of snow at the weekend. How depressing is that sad

kittylester Mon 29-Oct-12 13:48:43

Our central heating control is supposed to be automatic but by Sunday lunchtime it still hadn't changed so we spent ages looking for the 'book' which, naturally, we couldn't find. Decided to look on the internet today, looked at the clock to check the make and model and it had changed. confused

yogagran Mon 29-Oct-12 13:43:46

If you "right click" on a blank part of the main screen you get a drop down box and one of the items is "gadgets". Click on that and you can then drag and drop the "clock" icon onto your screen. You can then position it where you like, personalise it by clicking on the spanner that appears next to it when you move your cursor over the clock. You can give it a name, change the time zone, style of clock, colour and opacity. I keep the opacity of mine fairly low so that it doesn't appear to be the main clock.
Hope that this helps - let me know! smile

Greatnan Mon 29-Oct-12 12:13:18

I like that idea, yogagran - can you tell me how you got them?

yogagran Mon 29-Oct-12 10:58:04

Greatnan I have two separate little icons on my computer home screen with clocks - one showing the time in Canada and one for Australia. It's always there in the background so I know what time it is for the family in various parts of the world!

Greatnan Mon 29-Oct-12 09:45:19

I am permanently on watch for different time zones, so I don't ring my sister and grand-daughter in England or my daughter in NZ at inconvenient times. My laptop is on UK time which I use to make sure I don't miss TV or radio programmes. I still google 'Time now in NZ' though, as they do have summer time but not at the same time as in Europe.
I keep my mobile phone switched off to save having to recharge so often, and the time seems to stand still! My car clock is correct for six months of the year because I can't be bothered fiddling about to change it.

Anne58 Mon 29-Oct-12 09:40:06

I'm not a fan of the clocks going back. Yes, ok you sort of get an extra hour in bed, but I hate it getting dark so early.

For the last couple of years I have had a bit of a problem with driving in the dark, at my last job my boos allowed us to be flexible, so in the darker months I would work from 8am to 4pm. I do worry about the driving in the dark bit when I do start working again.

annodomini Mon 29-Oct-12 09:38:56

No, really, JessM. I always went round changing the clocks last thing on the Saturday night. Obsessive? Probably!

harrigran Mon 29-Oct-12 09:35:40

I can't change the time on my mobile either, it says it is automatic. If I change it myself it clicks back, bah, I give up.

JessM Mon 29-Oct-12 09:33:17

Wot, never ever got to Monday and said "Oh s* the clocks have changed" ?
I'm sure I must have, but can't remember the specific circumstances hmm

annodomini Mon 29-Oct-12 09:15:22

I didn't JessM! [smug emoticon]

absentgrana Mon 29-Oct-12 09:06:42

JessM I meant the stereotype of the little woman who can't manage anything mechanical or electronic. grin

JessM Mon 29-Oct-12 09:04:45

It is not easy is it with some electronic devices picking up the time from the airwaves and others not. And so many things have timers these days.
You are much nearer the equator joan so you don't get anything like the variation between winter and summer do you?
Stereotypes absent - probably when we were younger we all messed up at least once and turned up for work/school an hour early or an hour late?

Elegran Mon 29-Oct-12 08:59:17

I was so pleased when I manged to change the time on my telephone handset. Then went to change the bedroom one (we have four in different rooms + one in cellar workshop - they also double as intercoms, very handy with someone ill) and was even more pleased to find that they had all updated to match the first.

Ella46 Mon 29-Oct-12 08:24:23

I can't bear to let anything beat me, so all my clocks are changed, however, my house phone has a mind of it's own and changes whenever it feels the need! grin

absentgrana Mon 29-Oct-12 07:58:34

Oh dear – I think we re conforming to stereotypes. confused

Grannylin Mon 29-Oct-12 07:56:45

My car clock says October 2000 blush