Daylight Saving Time Begins

This Sunday, March 14, marks the beginning of a time honored tradition – Daylight Saving Time. This is great for getting things done after work during the week, but not so good for waking up in time to get to work. High school students everywhere are going to have a terrible time of it. My daughter has one of those “zero periods” at her school, and she can hardly get there on time as it is.

Why do we do it? DST is often attributed to American Founding Father Ben Franklin, who satirically proposed that citizens of 18th century Paris, France begin their working days earlier. (One might presume that Parisians were late sleepers. Why not? They take 14 months off each year for vacation.) He thought the sounds of church bells and cannon fire should be the city’s alarm clock. (That actually could help my daughter.) He also proposed taxing candles and shutters as a way of assisting the people to adjust to their new schedule. I don’t know if he had a serious proposal for DST as much as he wanted to mess with France.

But it was Germany and its allies that started DST in 1916 to conserve coal during wartime. Britain and most of its allies soon succumbed to this dark madness, with Russia falling a year later. The United States didn’t adopt DST until 1918, finally following the Europeans into a mental warp that I’m sure Einstein didn’t understand.

So here we are, getting ready to flip our lives sideways, so that (the nation of?) shop keepers can induce customers to keep shopping for just a little bit longer. And why not? It’s still a nice day, and there’s plenty of time to find that special something before going home to prepare dinner. We’ll all be spreading sun tan lotion on ourselves to mow the lawn after coming home from work. We can catch the sunset after we put the kids to bed.

This coming Sunday, we’re going to add one whole hour to the end of our day. Let’s be sure to use it wisely. Finish your taxes yet? You have one more hour. Forget something at the grocery store? No need to wait until the weekend. You have one more hour. Homework late? Here’s an extra hour. Mail didn’t come? Wait another hour. Hope and change? Give it about an hour.

Now, I thought this was crazy enough. But it turns out, it is not! For example, starting in 2007, we in the U.S. set our clocks ahead one hour on the second Sunday in March for DST. Then, on the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour for local standard time. Arizona does not participate. Neither does Hawaii.

In 1966, we began DST on the last Sunday in April, and went back to Standard Time on the last Sunday in October. In 1974, DST began on January 6, and in 1975 it began on February23. Congress was going to save energy. It didn’t, so we went back to jumping ahead on the last Sunday in April again. That lasted until 1987, when it changed to starting on the first Sunday in April. All this time, we didn’t change when we set the clocks back an hour.  That kept occurring on the last Sunday in October until, as I said, 2007, back to first Sunday in November.

I said this madness all started for the U.S. in 1918. It wasn’t very popular back then, either. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, and became a local matter. Some people like getting up before the sun. Some people like partying with the midnight sun. But in World War 2, DST was continuously observed from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. After that, it was a free for all.

I wonder how the Chile EQ Induced change in Earth’s rotation will be dealt with this extra hour? It seems as though the Earth’s rotation has increased by a teeny tiny amount. Will we eventually set the clocks ahead or back by an additional 3/millionths of a second? But oh HO! We already do that! (Sort of.)

Leap Seconds are seconds that are either added to or subtracted from the calendar year. It turns out that the rotation of the Earth isn’t as stable as one might think. Tidal forces slow the Earth’s rotation, making a day slightly longer than 24 hours. After a while, this could create havoc , since we really keep time according to a system of highly precise atomic clocks, including that maintained by the U.S. Naval Observatory. So, every few years, we add a second to a special day (either on June 30 or December 31).

I want to know why we don’t just use DST to account for this. Why jump ahead and back by one hour? Why not one hour and 1.00003 seconds? It seems a little inefficient to make two regularly scheduled changes each year, and then slide a change in under the radar on a completely different day.

And just to show that I’m flexible, why not change by 67 minutes? According to Wiki, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is 67 minutes ahead of mean solar time year round. I’m pretty sure that means they don’t adjust the clocks for DST at all. They must stay half the year in the Central Time Zone, and half the year in the Mountain Time Zone. I bet nobody looses sleep over that.

So why not adjust the clocks to Saskatoon time and stay there? It’s a point of reference we can all point to on a globe of the earth.

Also according to Wikipedia, about 2/3 of the world has either stopped using, or never used DST. Lucky bastards!

I say, as long as we’re going to celebrate insanity, let’s go one step further. Let’s go all the way with this concept. Instead of just jumping ahead 1 hour, or 1.11669 hours (do the math), let’s throw a whole extra Sunday into the weekend! For most Americans, this will mean more family time, more play time, and more time to come up with crazy life infiltrating schemes to confuse the hell out of everyone.

Then, to make up for our excess in life, six months later, we’ll skip ahead one day. Like, let’s skip Monday. Who’s going to complain about that? This would mean that one week each year, we have a four day work week starting on a Tuesday. We even start the week with no Monday morning blas. It would be a problem for Monday Night Football ™, but I think their viewership is down anyway. Maybe one less Monday night game during the season would be a break for some people. (Especially Raider fans!)

Here’s the last thing I want to say about DST. Suppose time is money, and every 6 months you either give up an extra dollar, or you get an extra dollar in change that nobody will take back. Everybody would take the change and be happy. Nobody will like giving up a dollar for no good reason. So the only sane thing to do is keep setting the clock forward every 6 months. Period. In 5 or 6 years we’ll be getting up in the middle of the night and sleeping all day. My daughter will love that.

Oh. One more thing, and I always do this when I blog. People in Santa Clarita, California, and surrounding areas, need to be able to call on friendly, professional painters, who clean up after themselves, work in whatever time zone that is necessary (paint at night to keep business operating during the day), who can provide color selection service, and who can make their homes look like they’ve always wanted it. I’m talking, of course, about Executive Painting and Texture, Santa Clarita’s premiere painting company. We know where you live, and we’re going to make it even better.

http://www.executivepainting.net/

Executivepainting@gmail.com

Thanks to our friends at http://www.HotspotSCV.com, where you can find the best deals on just about anything in SCV!

Yes, you can paint! But do you want to?

Many years ago painting was only done by experienced guild members who protected the secrets of their trade of paint mixing, pigmentation, and application. Now painting has become one of the simplest do-it-yourself projects a homeowner can tackle. For around $50.00 and a precious weekend day, anyone with a modest amount of skill, strong knees, a back that doesn’t hurt, with well-behaved children and pets; and that has ladders, tarps, rags, spackle, paint brushes, brush cleaners, paint rollers, roller covers, and buckets, can paint a small bedroom. Afterwards you can stand back and admire your work and see the spots where you didn’t mean to hit the white ceiling with the Barn Red and marks on the floor that lead to the kitchen that appeared after the phone rang.

So, yes, you can paint. But do you want to?

Michael Overton
Executive Painting and Texture, Inc.
http://www.executivepainting.net

A Poem for Painting

How do I paint thee? Let me count the ways.

With a brush – Either a chip or a sash brush – maybe taped to the end of a long stick – so I can reach way up into the corner of a room with a vaulted ceiling – when I don’t want to climb my 20 foot ladder.

Or with a wooly roller, for a semi-smooth surface – like the swirly plaster in a Mexican restaurant – whose texture I want to apply.

Or perhaps a hot dog (or weenie) roller – which is small enough to reach behind and around the fixtures in a bathroom (like a toilet.) Oh, the weenie roller. Perfect for getting into the corners of a room , and when made of foam, for smoothing out the brush lines when cutting in with semi-gloss paint – which reflects the light in the kitchen – just a bit.

Oh, semi-gloss paint. You are so delicate, and wonderful for kitchens, where the greasy smoke from last night’s fish sticks cling to the walls, calling to be wiped clean. For the semi-gloss is care free and happy to be scrubbed with a sponge – but never an abrasive cleanser.

And you, oh shiny hi-gloss paint. You are so fickle, but long to be applied on door jambs and window sills, or, dare I suggest, the 4 and 6 panel doors in a beautiful home? Oh show me not my reflection like a mirror. For I might gaze long at it, wondering that I can see myself, like a vane contest winner in a beauty pageant.

But you, flat paint. You are my true love, for with you there are no roller lines or brush strokes. No, you are the kindest and most satisfying of all the sheens of paint. With you I could never be unhappy.

Executive Painting and Texture, Inc. Simply Santa Clarita’s most popular painters. http://www.executivepainting.net.

Thanks to our friends at HotSpotSCV. http://www.hotspotscv.com

What’s With The Roundabout At Castaic Junction?

Call it a roundabout. Call it a traffic circle. Call it a hazard and a menace to navigation!

One thing I will never understand is how anyone approves silly construction projects that taxpayers cannot possibly benefit from. This project appeared to be a simple widening of the bridge at the Hasley Canyon Road exit from Interstate 5. I’m not sure how long it was projected to take to complete the project, but it went on for two years. And now with the project near completion, presto chango, the traffic light at the intersection of The Old Road and Hasley Canyon Road has been replaced by a European style traffic circle.

Never mind that businesses at this location have suffered mightily these past two years. The first thought I had when I encountered this mystical crop circle by the freeway was, “there is no way people in California know how to deal with this.”

I’ve witnessed two near collisions, and nearby shop owners tell me there have been several crashes already.

I would ask who is responsible for this, but ultimately, it is we the citizens of Santa Clarita who bare the onus. We allow this kind of intrusion of insanity to go unchecked, and suffer the consequences of inefficient traffic patterns. Do you know that I can get from Saugus to Burbank in less time than I can get to Canyon Country? A monkey could do a better job of programming traffic lights around here.

I just want to know how long this stupid traffic circle will last. My prediction is about a year before enough people get killed there to enrage the public into demanding a normal intersection with traffic signals. Then we can have, what? two more years of traffic construction and freeway delays?

Here’s a thought: what if city and traffic planners surveyed affected area business and homeowners before starting a project like this? But like I said, we the citizens are responsible. We should have attended the public meetings that I’m sure took place. I’m sorry I wasn’t there.

Here’s another thought: If you live or work in the SCV, why not call on Santa Clarita’s favorite painters when you need to spruce up your home, office, or showroom? Executive Painting and Texture gets the job done with a minimum of hassle. Check us out at www.executivpainting.net

One more thing: you can always find the best online deals and discounts at www.hotspotscv.com

Big Remodel, Little Bathroom: The End

A fine fine thing it is. This little bathroom is now like a center piece for this home.

Three colors: one for the trim, crown molding, baseboards and chair rail, one for the paneling and wainscot, and one for the nicely textured drywall and ceiling.

My customer told me she was very happy with how it came out. That’s all I needed.

People who want custom painting with great results can count on Executive Painting and Texture, Santa Clarita’s best painters. Check us out at http://www.executivepainting.net

And check out our friends at HotSpotSCV for the best deals in Santa Clarita. http://www.hotspotscv.com

July 4 Jam and 3 Day Weekends

Tonight is our last jam practice for the Band with No Name before the gig tomorrow. I wish we had a name. I didn’t like most of the names Craig and Pete came up with. Maybe I could live with OGR (Old Guys Rockin’). But I prefer names from characters in books that I’ve enjoyed….something like Achilles Heel. My band just out of high school was called Equine Paradox, which deals with the philosophical reason behind why there are so many more horses asses than there are horses. (Thanks for the memories Chris, Tim, Tony, Dave, and Deano.)

Its been about 6 years since I played before an audience of party goers. I’m really looking forward to it with pleasant anticipation, and a little anxiety. However, as in most things, I usually find that I am my own worst critic. Therefore, “I will not fear. Fear is the mind killer…” (If you can finish this quote, you win the Cupie Doll.)

If you’re coming to Pete’s party, I pledge to make your feet move and your body shake…hopefully that won’t be an induced medical condition.

If you’re not coming to Pete’s party, have a safe and fun July 4^th. But beware: I’m know where you live, and I’m not afraid to bring my amp to your driveway at midnight and crank up my Les Paul to 11.

I’m so happy we celebrate Independence Day on the actual day. God help us if we change to celebrating on the nearest Monday. What would have happened if the Founding Fathers had waited until Monday to declare independence? (Probably nothing…) What if Paul Revere had waited until Monday to make his famous ride? (We’d all be speaking English now.) What if Apollo 11 had waited until Monday to land on the moon? (Come on, conspiracy theorists, help me out here!)

Can we just drop the 3 day weekend idea?

Here’s another idea: why don’t we create a Leap Day to screw up our since of time, like we do with leap years and daylight savings. I think another layer of confusion would serve to help us all learn how to cope with little annoyances in life just that much more.

Here’s how it would work. On some arbitrary week day during the year, we skip one day, say Monday (nobody likes Mondays anyhow.) Suddenly, we have a 4 day work week! Saturday and the weekend come one day sooner. Then, six months later, on a Saturday night at the stroke of midnight, we add an extra Saturday, making a 3 day weekend with an extra Saturday. (We could have an extra Sunday instead, if that makes you happy.) We end up with the same number of days in the year. And we accomplish my real goal of making it more difficult to figure out what day of the week it was on July 20, 1969.

I’m starting a committee to present this idea to the President. Is anyone with me? Come on. I know you want another 3 day weekend!

Oh well, if you don’t want to do that, maybe you could just tell a friend or neighbor about Executive Painting and Texture, Santa Clarita’s best painters (and the most contrary). You can find us on the internets at www.executivepainting.net

And if you’re looking for some Hot Deals in Santa Clarita, check out www.HotSpotSCV.com

Filling a Niche

Howdy.

In the late 1980’s and 1990’s home builders finally got hip to the fact that homeowners had these large appliances called “televisions” and they needed spaces in their homes to put them. So was born the TV niche. A large deep hole on the wall in the living room or family room to set your cathode ray tube device. Fast forward to the 21st century and now those niches cannot hold the sleek, wide LCD and plasma screens that have become all the rage. Homeowners are now looking for to fill in those cavernous voids so they can mount their new flat screens. That’s where Executive Painting and Texture comes in. Within 1 to 2 days we can frame, drywall, texture and paint over that nasty niche to give you a wide expanse of wall to mount your new toy. We can also provide video and electrical hook-ups that will be covered by the new set for a very clean look. (No unsightly cords!)

We have just completed one for a homeowner in Canyon Country and they are very happy with the results.

Michael Overton–Director Executive Painting and Texture, Inc.

Smart People call Executive Painting and Texture. Everyone else is miserable and covered in paint. http://www.executivepainting.net

http://www.HotSpotSCV.com where Santa Clarita Valley shoppers find their best online deals.

Bathroom Remodel, Part IV

So where were we? Let’s see, the wall paper is gone. Skim coat and minor repairs made the wall smooth and even. And we shot on a texture coat.

The process for texture coating inside a bathroom is probably like working in a hospital room. Everything is wrapped and protected against invasion by foreign bodies – the floor, shower doors, shower walls, counter top, wainscot, chair rail, toilet, and everything nailed down is masked off with tape, paper and plastic. Nothing can leak onto the floor, overspray can’t mess up the smooth surfaces.

We mix up some topping compound to the consistency of pancake batter, and pour it into the hopper, select a spray nozzle for the correct size texture (in this case we chose a light splatter – a little larger than orange peel texture), hook up the compressor, and BAM! Spray that sucker all over the walls and ceiling.

Note of caution: clean the bottom of your shoes before leaving the protected area! I had gobs of goo on my shoes, and I don’t think my customer would appreciate me leaving a trail of gooey footprints on the carpet!

So, up to date now, yesterday we sealed the texture with a PVA primer (recommended for new drywall and texture.) That was after we ran a sponge over the textured surfaces, to smooth out the ridges in the new texture. We also searched the surfaces for uncharacteristic texture and corrected with a can of spray texture.

While the primer was drying, I applied the first of 3 color coats – a semi-gloss Vanilla Tan, which is a soft white. And the bathroom is starting to shape up!

Next step is to apply the other 2 colors, which will happen in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!

And don’t forget, you could do this for yourself. Its not rocket science, its just painting! But it is a mess, and it helps to have a little experience behind you, especially for shooting texture on the walls. If you don’t want the hassle of doing it yourself, call on Santa Clarita’s patriotic painters, Executive Painting and Texture. www.executivepainting.net

Thanks again to our friends at http://www.HotSpotSCV.com

Patio Cover Repair and Restoration

The paitio cover project is proceeding nicely, and I will finish today. Lots of new wood. Lots of repaired wood. (I love using the nail gun! It makes me feel like the Terminator!)

And of course, Painting! I really prefer to paint the whole thing, but it wasn’t in the budget, so only the new partws are getting painted, This should give a few more years of life to a dilapidated patio cover.

Decks, fences, patio covers, gazebos: Call on Santa Clarita’s professional painters to extend the life of your outdoor living areas. Executive Painting and Texture. www.executivepainting.net

Thanks to our friends at HotSpotSCV. http://www.HotSpotSCV.com

Big Remodel in Little Bathroom

Next week its back to the big remodel in the little bathroom. The horrible wall paper is gone now, and the walls etc are primed and ready for a uniform texture – probably a heavy orange peel or maybe light splatter. Then its the 3 color look on walls (panel and wainscote), textures walls, doors, and trim/baseboard. Hopefully, my pix will turn out nice.

Smart People call Executive Painting and Texture. Everyone else is misserable and covered in paint. www.executivepainting.net

www.HotSpotSCV.com where Santa Clarita Valley shoppers find their best online deals.