This past weekend, many of us followed a tradition that has happened twice a year for some years now. The shift of one hour either forward or backward, to “save daylight.” We either lose an hour of sunlight in the evening, or gain it back. It’s the time of year when you become blinded earlier as you’re driving home. It’s also the hour of sunlight you regain that you can enjoy outside again.

I recently bought a new alarm clock that offers two alarm times, a radio, and an automatic adjustment of the daylight savings time. On the top of the box, it even mentioned the new dates the time shifts occur that were enacted in 2007, and that it automatically adjusts for those shifts. It doesn’t seem very hard to know the time since it knew the right time when I plugged it in the first time (through air waves). I was awake to watch this great new technology adjust the time for me. I mean, my computer, my VCR, Tivo, and cell phone all adjust the time for me. I was looking forward to adjusting only one clock, my wall clock which has no connection to any date (I guess I should upgrade so I don’t have to worry anymore).

I was bummed that my automatic alarm clock did not change the time correctly. It sat there at 1:59, 2:00, 2:01, 2:02, etc. Perhaps technology isn’t as smart as we’re led to believe it will be. If it’s true that computers will take over in the near future, I guess we’ll have to stop this daylight savings time. Or else every human and machine will need to understand when and how to change the time. I’ll update when I find out the cause of this “bug” I experienced.