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Remember to Set Your Clocks Back One Hour

Daylight Saving Time comes to an end on Sunday, Nov. 4. What do you plan to do with that extra hour?

Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 4. 

Remember, you’ll “fall back” and set your clocks back one hour. Many electronic devices automatically adjust when Daylight Savings Time begins or ends.

What will you do with that extra hour?

  • Maybe grab a cup of coffee and chat with neighbors at Bitter+Sweet Coffee and Desserts.
  • Go for a hike at Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve then later stop in at Picchetti Winery for a tasting.
  • Start a blog on Patch, or promote other events going on! Here's how.

When you change your clocks in the fall and spring, it’s also a good time to change smoke detector batteries and check to make sure device are in working order.


Arizona, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not observe Daylight Savings Time.

Daylight Saving Time FAQ

Here are some nuggets about Daylight Saving Time from webhibit.org:

WHEN WE CHANGE OUR CLOCKS
Most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time,

SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time.

Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Because of this, it would be more accurate to refer to DST as daylight-saving time. Similar examples would be a mind-expanding book or a man-eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account.

Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, and Daylight Time Shifting more accurate, but neither is politically desirable.

WHEN IN THE MORNING?
In the U.S., clocks change at 2 a.m. local time. In spring, clocks spring forward from 1:59 a.m. to 3 a.m.; in fall, clocks fall back from 1:59 a.m. to 1 a.m.

In the United States, Daylight Saving Time commences at 2 a.m. to minimize disruption. However, many states restrict bars from serving alcohol between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. At 2 a.m. in the fall, however, the time switches back one hour. So, can bars serve alcohol for that additional hour? Some states claim that bars actually stop serving liquor at 1:59 a.m., so they have already stopped serving when the time reverts to Standard Time. Other states solve the problem by saying that liquor can be served until "two hours after midnight." In practice, however, many establishments stay open an extra hour in the fall.

In the U.S., 2 a.m. was originally chosen as the changeover time because it was practical and minimized disruption. Most people were at home and this was the time when the fewest trains were running. It is late enough to minimally affect bars and restaurants, and it prevents the day from switching to yesterday, which would be confusing. It is early enough that the entire continental U.S. switches by daybreak, and the changeover occurs before most early shift workers and early churchgoers are affected.

A SAFETY REMINDER
Many fire departments encourage people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they change their clocks because Daylight Saving Time provides a convenient reminder. "A working smoke detector more than doubles a person's chances of surviving a home fire," says William McNabb of the Troy Fire Department in Michigan. More than 90 percent of homes in the United States have smoke detectors, but one-third are estimated to have dead or missing batteries.

OIL CONSERVATION
Following the 1973 oil embargo, the U.S. Congress extended Daylight Saving Time to eight months, rather than the normal six months. During that time, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day—a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years.

Likewise, in 1986, Daylight Saving Time moved from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in April. No change was made to the ending date of the last Sunday in October. Adding the entire month of April to Daylight Saving Time is estimated to save the U.S. about 300,000 barrels of oil each year.

Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time commenced on the second Sunday in March and ended on the first Sunday in November, thereby saving even more oil.

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Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
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Crystal Tai May 1, 2011 at 06:28 pm
Thank you very much for you kind words, Priyanka! The answer to your question is in another articleRead More I wrote for Cupertino Patch, "Five Wedding Reception Venues in Cupertino." Thanks again!
Priyanka Sharma-Sindhar April 27, 2011 at 08:21 pm
This is definitely very useful for the those of us who aren't Chinese, but do have Chinese friends..Read More Thank you, Crystal. What are the popular spots in Cupertino for Chinese weddings?
Anne Ernst (Editor) April 3, 2013 at 12:59 pm
It's difficult to know what's going on in a kid's mind unless they feel confident enough to open upRead More and talk. And this program helps us adults to learn to listen differently.
Debbie Reiley April 3, 2013 at 03:50 am
I too was at this Challenge Day. It was my 6th. I first volunteered because I watched the programRead More on MTV "If You Really Knew Me" when my son was being severely bullied in middle school and saw the program was offered when he was a freshman in high school. My company strongly supports me volunteering for this and allows me to take the day off work to attend. I am continually humbled by what these teens share and saddened at what some of them have experienced in their short lives. This program is so valuable. I think every school should offer it and every parent should attend. It helps us to realize that we need to think twice before we judge or assume things about others when we know nothing about them. It is the volunteering opportunity that I look forward to participating in every year.
Anne Ernst (Editor) March 30, 2013 at 06:30 am
Carrie, Thanks for allowing me to be a part of it again.
Janice Chua March 28, 2013 at 06:45 pm
It was fun hosting you all at Bitter+Sweet, Anne!
Loy Oppus-Moe March 28, 2013 at 02:40 pm
A big "Thank You" to Anne, Pete, and 53 other professionals who opened up their companiesRead More and organizations to give our students hands-on experience of what life might look like for them post-high school. Job Shadowing brings relevance to education!