Spring Forward, Fall Back

As I was walking down the street one day

A man came up to me and asked me what the time was that was on my watch, yeah

And I said

Does anybody really know what time it is

(I don't)

Does anybody really care

(care)

If so I can't imagine why

(about time)

We've all got time enough to cry

~Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?
Chicago

It's that time of the year. At 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, we set our clocks ahead to 3 a.m., and we lose an hour sleep. Most of us don't actually get up in the middle of the night to set the clock ahead, but it's probably safe to say that we all feel that missing hour. People will tell you that they look forward to the extra light in the evening, and it almost makes up for losing an hour of sleep. Almost. The next week is going to be rough. Check out these wellness tips for adjusting to Daylight Saving Time (DST), and see how technology is making it easier to stay on time.

Personally, I always liked the fall time change, but that might have something to do with the fact that my birthday is at the end of October, and, until 2007, I would sometimes get an extra hour of birthday.  

Most of us see DST as an annoyance. We complain, but mostly write it off as just a part of our hectic modern lives. We all know that DST is observed for the purpose of conserving energy, but how? If it's dark in the morning when you get up, you still need to turn on lights, right? 

In time of war.  DST was initially employed in 1916 (during World War I) by Germany. Other countries followed suit. The United States observed it for one year in 1918, but it was so unpopular that it was discontinued on a national level the next year. Municipalities and states, however, were free to establish their own DST. The cities of New York and Chicago were just two municipalities that continued to adjust their clocks twice a year. The lack of uniformity among local and state governments created a hodge-podge of different "time zones" in the years after the war ended.

During World War II, the United States again established a national DST. As before, it was an unpopular idea that was abandoned when the war ended.

Chaos and confusion.  After World War II, the different states and municipalities could once again create their own DSTs. In 1963, Time magazine described the system as "a chaos of clocks." By 1965, there were 23 different pairs of start and end dates in the state of Iowa alone. St. Paul, Minnesota, began DST two weeks before its adjacent neighbor, Minneapolis. Passengers on a 35-mile bus ride from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, passed through seven time zones.

Uniform Time Act. In 1966, DST was here to stay when the U.S. Congress passed legislation standardizing DST from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. States could still opt out of DST and stick with standard time throughout the year. Check out the text of the Act and additional historical information.

Remember when we went to school in the dark? I'm dating myself, of course, because in order to remember going to school in the dark, you would have had to be in school in 1974 and 1975. During the 1973 oil embargo by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in an effort to conserve fuel Congress enacted a trial period of year-round DST, beginning January 6, 1974, and ending April 27, 1975.

The thought was that having increased daylight hours in the winter provided more time in the evening for recreation, reduced lighting and heating demands, reduced crime and reduced automobile accidents. Farmers and other people whose hours were set by the sun rather than by the clock objected because with later sunrises and sunsets, they were unable to arrive at work on time after morning activities or participate in evening activities. Another major concern was children leaving for school in the dark.

The Act was amended in October 1974 to return to standard time for the period beginning October 27, 1974, and ending February 23, 1975, when DST resumed. When the trial period ended in 1975, the country returned to observing summer DST. The Department of Transportation reported that the benefits of the year-round DST were "minimal," and the National Bureau of Standards (NSB) found no significant energy savings or differences in traffic fatalities. The NSB did note, however, statistically signicant evidence of increased fatalities among school-age children in the mornings during the test period, although there was no clear link to DST.

Recent changes. In 1986, DST was changed to start on the first Sunday in April. The ending was still the last Sunday in October.

Energy Policy Act of 2005. The last change to DST was part of a tax bill in 2005. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law, thus extending DST by four weeks. Starting in 2007, DST would start on the second Sunday in March (that would be this coming Sunday) and end on the first Sunday in November (thus giving an extra hour of daylight for Halloween trick-or-treating and ending the possibility of extra birthday time for me).

More information about DST is available in the article, 8 Things You May Not Know About Daylight Saving Time or Daylight Saving Time (Snopes).

Notes

1. Although you often hear it called "Daylight Savings Time," the word is, in fact, singular.
2. DST is in the summer, when you would be on Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Central Daylight Time (CDT), Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) or Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). In the winter, it's standard time (abbreviated as EST, CST, MST and PST). This also means that, although you might prefer days with more evening light, winter time with its earlier nightfall, is actually the standard time.
3. Although there has been discussion of eliminating DST, there are currently no plans to do so. In order to abolish DST, the U.S. Congress must legislate the change.
4. DST was not created to aid farmers. In fact, farmers are generally against DST for the reasons mentioned above. See Why do we have Daylight Saving Time?
   
5. Benjamin Franklin is often credited with originating or "inventing" DST, but, in fact, he only proposed a change in sleep schedules, not changing time itself.
6. Most areas of the United States currently observe DST, with the exception of Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation, which does observe DST), Hawaii, and the territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

And just for fun: Five Myths About Daylight Saving Time and Test Your DST Knowledge.

My House Is Not Your House

And now you're back

From outer space

I just walked in to find you here
with that sad look upon your face

I should have changed that stupid lock

I should have made you leave your key

If I've known for just one second you'd be back to bother me

Go on now, go, walk out the door

Turn around now

You're not welcome anymore

~I Will Survive

Gloria Gaynor

Ben Franklin said, "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days." What do you do about "guests" who overstay their welcome? A friend needs a place to stay for "a few days." You have a live-in employee. Your ex just needs to get on their feet. How can you say no to a person in need? You don't want to throw them out in the street!

A few days turns into a few weeks and then a few months, and now you don't see any indication that your "guest" is planning to leave. What do you do now? They say, "no good deed goes unpunished," and this is a prime example of that old adage. Your guest may not have their own room or their own set of keys to the house, but they use your address as their home address and they receive mail there. You no longer have a guest -- you have a housemate, and, if they won't leave, you must go to court and have them evicted. That hardly seems fair, does it?

Fair or not, that's the law. Call the police, and they'll tell you the same thing. Even though the person living in your house has never paid rent and there was never a lease, you are stuck with this no-longer-welcomed guest! They help themselves to food that you purchase. They invite their friends over when you're trying to sleep. They sleep during the day when you're awake. Or, they just occupy space.

You've tried talking to them. You've given them ultimatums. They've promised to find somewhere else to live. Still, you come home from work each day to find that they are still there. 

Think I'm being overly dramatic? Check out these two examples that made the news:

Example 1. The nanny who wouldn't leave. From the moment that Mary Poppins floated into theaters with her carpet bag and magical umbrella, nannies have occupied a special place in popular culture. There have been singing nannies (The Sound of Music), psychic nannies (The Nanny and the Professor), wise-cracking nannies (The Brady Bunch), male college student nannies (Charles in Charge), cosmetic-salesperson-turned-nanny nannies (The Nanny), fathers disguised as nannies (Mrs. Doubtfire), male Navy SEAL nannies (The Pacifier), magical nannies (Nanny McPhee), childish nannies (Uptown Girls), female college student nannies (The Nanny Diaries) and reality TV nannies (Supernanny). In none of those instances, however, did the nanny overstay his or her welcome like a nanny in California in the summer of 2014 (sometimes referred to as "the squatter nanny"). 

This started when a family posted an ad on Craigslist to find a live-in nanny to help the mother manage the house. Depending on who you believe, the nanny either quit doing the job she was hired to do (and was fired) or the family became unreasonably demanding (and the nanny quit). Even after employment terminated, the nanny continued to live in the house (in the room she had been given when she moved in). That's when the news media picked up the story:

Family Stumped by Fired Live-In Nanny Who Won't Leave

Nanny Finally Moves Out

To minimize the possibility of this and other "nightmare nanny" situations, check out 12 Tips for Hiring a Live-In Nanny .

Example 2. The socialite squatter. Perhaps not the stuff that whole programs can be based around (or at least not any on the "best" lists), but another plot device is the friend or acquaintance who moves in "until they can get on their feet," and then stays and stays until the hosts are ready to pull their hair out. This second example is that scenario. A New York socialite was hit by a car in 2014. She and her mother moved in with an acquaintance, claiming that their apartment was being renovated, and they stayed and stayed.

Socialite accused of squatting in actress' home

Socialite squatter finally booted from actress' Fifth Ave. co-op

These are just two extreme examples that made the news, but there are many other situations that don't make the news--an ex won't leave when the relationship is over, a child won't leave the nest or a friend needs a place to stay for a few days. 

If you've found yourself with an unwanted house guest, what can you do? First, try the direct approach--ask the guest to leave. If that doesn't work, however, you may have to go to court to have your house guest evicted. See How to Put a Friend or Relative out of Your House.

Good luck!

Fly the Pet Friendly Skies

It was Della and the Dealer and a dog named Jake

And a cat named Kalamazoo

Left the city in a pick up truck

Gonna make some dreams come true

Yeah, they rolled out west where the wild sun sets

And the coyote bays at the moon

Della and the Dealer and a dog named Jake

And a cat named Kalamazoo

If that cat could talk what tales he'd tell

About Della and the Dealer and the dog as well?

But the cat was cool 
and he never said a mumblin' word

~ Hoyt Axton
Della and the Dealer

This post is updated as of June 2018. 
Pets are members of the family, and when we go on vacation, we might take our furry family members with us. Lately, there have been some heartbreaking stories in the news about pets and airplanes. One family lost their beloved dog when a flight attendant insisted that he be put in the overhead bin. For the record, no animal should be placed in the overhead bin. It's not easy to fly with an animal.

A car ride would be difficult enough. Cats, unlike some dogs, do not like car rides. In the days before every family had carriers for their animals, my family would make the 14-hour drive from Georgia to Illinois, and we would take our cat, Millie, with us. The first half-hour of the trip, Millie would run around the car looking for an escape (heedless of the fact that we were traveling down I-20 at 60-plus mph). Finally, Millie would find her hiding place and settle in for the trip. Her hiding place? The piece of cardboard over the glove compartment. Given that the top of the glove compartment isn't meant to support weight -- even the weight of a cat that weighed less than 10 pounds--Millie would sink down into the glove compartment. At some point during the trip, my mom would open the glove compartment, and there would be gray fur coming out in all directions. Unlike Millie, animals on airplanes must be kept in a carrier. No running around and hiding.

The plane ride requires advanced planning. For this post, I'm going to focus on animals that can ride in the cabin. Although the airlines have tightened their rules regarding transporting animals as "checked baggage" or "cargo," I would encourage anyone with larger animals to think twice or even three or four times before flying them in the cargo hold on a commercial airline. I'm also not going to discuss service animals, because the rules are different if you need a service animal on your flight.

Before your flight. As soon as you know that you will be bringing your pet with you, you should find out the airline's requirements for flying with pets. At the end of this post is a chart listing the airlines, some relevant rules and regulations, and the cost of transporting an animal. For those of you with large animals, you can also see that several airlines will not transport animals in cargo (or as checked baggage).

• Make your travel plans. When choosing your flight, try to select direct, off-peak, nonstop flights. Remember your pet's stress will increase with each take-off and landing. Crowds or even children yelling, "Doggie!!" or "Kitty!!" are likely to excite your pet.
• Make reservations for your pet. Most (if not all) airlines require a reservation for your pet, even if they don't require payment until you arrive at the airport on the day of the flight. Also, most airlines only allow a certain number of animals to fly in the cabin on any one flight. Usually this is done on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Make sure you have a carrier that will fit under the seat in front of you. Animals flying in the cabin are treated as carry-ons. Check the airline's website to find out the maximum dimensions allowed. Most airlines will only allow a certain number of animals to fly in the cabin on any flight, so that's another reason to make reservations early.
• Go to the veterinarian. Though not required by all airlines, particularly for animals flying in cabin, take your pet to the vet before the trip and make sure the vet thinks they are healthy enough to fly. The vet can also issue a health certificate for your pet and offer advice on how to best keep your pet calm and relaxed during the trip.
• Help your pet become familiar with the carrier. Make the carrier accessible to your pet before the trip. Make it inviting. Cats, in particular, dislike change and need to become comfortable with their temporary home.

The day of the flight.  Once you're at the airport, you'll need to do a couple of things. 

• Check-in your pet. Even if you have checked yourself in online and printed your boarding passes at home, you most likely will still have to take your pet to the airline counter to check them in (and maybe pay the pet fee).
• Security. This is the one time during your trip that you should take your pet out of their carrier. You must maintain control of your pet and assist the Transportation Security Officer (TSO) in the screening process.  Never put a pet into the x-ray! If possible, take the animal out of its carrier. Send the carrier through the xray machine. Carry your animal through the metal detector with you. If you are not able to take the pet or animal out of the carrier, notify the TSO of your need for special assistance at the beginning of the checkpoint screening process. For more about the security process, see this press release from the Transportation Security Administration.
• After security. Once you're through security, you need to put your pet back in his or her carrier and then proceed to your gate. As much as you might want to cuddle and reassure your furry companion, he or she must stay in the carrier while you're in the airport and throughout the flight. That's a federal regulation (yes, we're back to that again). 
• On the plane. The most important thing to remember is that your pet must stay in their carrier, and you must follow flight attendant instructions (not cooperating with the flight crew can lead to you and your pet being grounded). You should stow your pet in his or her carrier underneath the seat in front of you as soon as possible. FAA regulations require that the carrier is small enough to fit underneath the seat without blocking anyone's path to the main aisle of the airplane. The carrier must be stowed properly in order for the airplane to leave the gate, and it must remain stowed the entire time the airplane is moving on the airport surface, and for take off and landing. I shouldn't have to mention this, but pets cannot be stowed in the overhead compartments! 
• When you reach your destination. You've arrived, but your pet should still stay in his or her carrier. The rules for the arrival airport are the same as the rules for the departure airport. Wait until you've reached your final destination (where you'll be staying) before you take your pet from the carrier.

I strongly recommend that you consult the airline webpage so you know what to expect. I also found this article from cheapflights.com to be very helpful. Happy Travels!

Airline	Rules and Restrictions	Pets in cabin?	One-way fee	Pets in cargo?	One-way fee
Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines Pet Policy	→Dogs, cats, rabbits, and household birds.	Yes	$100	Yes	$100
Allegiant Airlines Allegiant Air Pet Policy	→Domestic cats and dogs.	Yes	$100	No	N/A
American Airlines American Airlines Pet Policy	→Specific animals not indicated, although implied to be limited to cats or dogs →Seven (7) pets are allowed per flight on American Airlines; five (5) pets are allowed per flight on American Eagle →Snub-nosed dogs or cats of any “mix” are not accepted as checked baggage →Carry-on pets not allowed on flights to certain international destinations	Yes	$125 per kennel	Depends. Restrictions apply.	$200 per kennel ($150 to/from Brazil)
Delta Delta Pet Policy	→In cabin: dogs, cats and household birds (no household birds on international flights) →In cargo: cats, dogs, household birds, guinea pigs, rabbits hamsters, marmots, reptiles, primates →Snub-nosed dogs or cats of any “mix” are not accepted in cargo →Pets must be at least 10 weeks old	Yes	$125 (U.S.; Canada; Puerto Rico; Virgin Islands) $200 (Outside U.S.) $75 (Brazil)	No pets in checked baggage after 3/1/16; Pets  may continue to fly in cargo	Rates vary
Frontier Airlines Frontier Pet Policy	→Domesticated dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and small household birds. No reptiles or arachnids. →Only domesticated dogs and cats on flights to/from international destinations. → Up to two (2) small animals may be transported in one travel container as follows: puppies or kittens (8-10 weeks old), hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and small household birds.	Yes	$75	No	N/A
Jet Blue Jet Blue Pet Policy	→Small cats and dogs on both domestic and international flights (with the exception of flights to some Caribbean countries, and interline bookings).	Yes	$100	No	N/A
Southwest Airlines Southwest Pet Policy	→Small cats and dogs. →No animals on international flights or any itinerary that includes an international flight. →Six (6) pets are allowed per flight with a limit of one pet carrier per paying Customer traveling on the same flight.	Yes	$95	No	N/A
Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines Pet Policy	→Small domestic dogs, domestic cats and small household birds. →Birds are not allowed to and from cities in Puerto Rico or St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. →Animals are not allowed on international flights →Maximum of four (4) pets per flight (total).	Yes	$110	No	N/A
United United Pet Policy	→In cabin: domesticated cats, dogs, rabbits and household birds (excluding cockatoos) →Rules for international in-cabin pets vary. →Four (4) per flight are allowed in Economy on all flights	Yes	$125 (plus $125 for each stopover more than four hours within U.S. or 24 hours outside U.S.)	Yes	Rates vary
Virgin America Virgin America Pet Policy	→cats and dogs	Yes	$100	No	N/A

Hail to the Chief; the Buck Stops Here

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,

Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.

Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation

In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.

Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,

This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief.

Hail to the one we selected as commander,

Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!

Hail to the Chief

~Lyrics by Albert Gamse

 and set to James Sanderson's music

If you work for a bank or the government,  you may have spent today off work. Same goes for school-aged children and teachers. For many of the rest of us, it was business as usual. If you work in retail, you may even have had a more hectic day punctuated by the ubiquitous President's Day sale. You have to wonder what George Washington and Abraham Lincoln would think of their cartoon likenesses selling everything from furniture to automobiles.

The third Monday of February is "President's Day" in the United States ... or is it? Actually, the third Monday in February is when George Washington's birthday is celebrated. There is no federal holiday called, "President's Day." 

Our first President was born on February 22, 1732. In 1879, Washington's Birthday became a holiday in the District of Columbia. In 1885, it became a federal holiday. Until 1971, the United States celebrated Washington's birthday on February 22. However, in 1968 Congress enacted the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to permanently set five federal holidays on Mondays in order to create more three-day weekends. The Monday holidays included Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day and Veteran's Day (which was ultimately moved back to November 11).

A popular misconception is that the Act created "Presidents Day." Lincoln's birthday, while also in February, has never been designated as a federal holiday. An early version of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act designated the third Monday in February as "Presidents Day," and set the holiday to fall after Lincoln's birthday and before Washington's birthday. Not surprisingly, this idea is attributed to legislators from the Land of Lincoln. However, the state of Virginia objected to celebrating Lincoln with Washington, and the federal holiday remained Washington's Birthday.

Among the states, there is no agreement on how to commemorate the two Presidents' birthdays. Some states follow federal law and celebrate Washington's Birthday on the third Monday of February. Some states celebrate Presidents Day on the third Monday of the month. Some states celebrate Presidents Day at an entirely different time of the year. Some states, like my home state of Illinois, celebrate Washington's Birthday on the third Monday of February and Lincoln's birthday on February 12. States in the South (those that seceded from the Union in the 1860s) do not mention Lincoln by name. See Presidents Day 2016: Proof Alabama still hasn't forgiven Abraham Lincoln.

February may be the month in which two of our most popular Presidents were born, but October boasts the most Presidential births with six (Jimmy Carter, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester Arthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and John Adams). Two other Presidents were born in February--Ronald Reagan and William Henry Harrison. 

Before it's time to go back to work, here are a couple quizzes to test your Presidential knowledge: Washington Post Presidents Day Quiz and Put the Presidents in Order. Enjoy!

Who Should Appoint the Next Supreme Court Justice?

If you’re going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you’re not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you’re probably doing something wrong. 

~ Associate Justice Antonin Scalia

1936-2016

Just six weeks into the year 2016, and two deaths have caused me to stop and take notice. The first, Glenn Frey, one of the founding members of the Eagles (arguably the greatest band of all time), died on January 18th. The Eagles, a product of the 1970s, provided one of the most frequently quoted lines of a popular song, "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." Many hours have been spent trying to interpret the lyrics to that song. Was it meant to be taken literally or was it a commentary on the culture of excess prevalent in Hollywood in the 1970s?

The second death that was more than a passing news story was the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia that occurred just in the past couple days. Justice Scalia also used words to generate thought, but, unlike Glenn Frey, his job was to provide the interpretation of what someone else wrote. Specifically, his job was to interpret the intent of the Constitution.

Justice Scalia's judicial philosophy was one of "originalism." He believed that the Constitution should be interpreted in terms of what the founding fathers intended when they ratified the document over 200 years ago. In 2013, he told an audience at Southern Methodist University that the Constitution is "not a living document" and is "dead, dead, dead." His belief of a dead Constitution clashed with the views of his more liberal counterparts and the more commonly held view that the Constitution is a "living document," allowing courts to take into account the views of contemporary society. He hated the concept of "judicial activism," and believed that the legislature was responsible for bringing about change.

Within hours of the announcement of his death, talk of his replacement had already reached a fevered pitch. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) declared that President Obama should forgo selecting a replacement and leave that to the next President who will be elected in November and inaugurated in January 2017. At the Republican debate in Greenville, S.C., candidates echoed the idea that the next President should select Scalia's replacement.

It doesn't take a Harvard Law degree to realize that they would they be singing a different tune if the current President were a Republican. Perhaps not as obvious, however, is that holding off on appointing a successor is contrary to Justice Scalia's firmly held beliefs.

Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution states:

[The President] shall nominate, and, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

Justice Scalia probably would have put off retirement until at least after the next election when he would have known the political proclivities of the new President. He would have preferred that his successor lean more towards strict interpretation of the Constitution, rather than adapting it to fit with contemporary society. Still, he would not now read the clause above to include a "waiting period." On the other hand, Justice Scalia was in the minority on many recent Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Constitution, so maybe his beliefs should not enter into the discussion of his successor.

So, let's look at a source a little closer to home. On the website Congress.gov, there is the annotated Constitution. In other words, the Constitution is explained by citing various sources -- court opinions, Attorney General opinions, etc. There, you can find the following:

The bottom line: Congress cannot put conditions on Presidential appointments. Their job is to approve or reject the nominee put forth by the President.

One other point--Republicans seem to presuppose that the next President will be a Republican. However, with the possibility that one of the Democratic candidates may be elected, this may be a situation where they should be careful of what they wish for.

First Monday in October

May Cause Drowsiness or Dizziness or Color Blindness or Restlessness

I want a new drug - 

one that won't make me sick,

One that won't make me crash my car,

 or make me feel three feet thick.

I want a new drug - 

one that won't hurt my head, 

One that won't make my mouth too dry,

 or make my eyes too red.

One that won't make me nervous,

 wonderin' what to do.

One that makes me feel like

 I feel when I'm with you,

 when I'm alone with you.

~Huey Lewis and the News

I Want a New Drug

This afternoon, the following news update popped up on my phone:

FDA approves world's first pill to

boost women's libido