Monday, March 15, 2010

Springing Forward Once Again

Just when the GG's life is in some semblance of order, along comes Daylight Savings Time to mess everything up. I remember how my father used to hate DST. He was from the old school who believed the daylight hours were for working and the nightime hours were for sleeping, so he was ready for bed as soon as it turned dark, usually around 7:00 p.m. here in Texas. During DST, this meant it was 8:00 when he went to bed, and he hated that. He also hated getting up in the dark in the morning. "If I could get my hands around the man who invented DST, I'd wring the life out of him," he'd say, only he'd throw in a few choice cuss words for emphasis. I feel the same way now. I don't know whether the rationale for DST still exists--that it allows another hour of daylight to get the nation's work done--all I know is that it plays havoc with old geezers like the gg. I for one never know what time it is--every clock in the house or the cars has a different time. The first morning of DST, I "sprang forward" out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen in the dark of the morning. After flicking on the lights, I decided to change the time on the digital clocks on the microwave and the oven. Of course, before I could do that, I had to locate the Operator's instruction book that came with the microwave and oven to see how to change the time. Later, Ms. gg came into the kitchen and, not realizing that I had already set the time forward, set it forward herself one more hour. Luckily, I mentioned to her that I had set them forward earlier or else we would have been late (early?) to wherever we needed to go that day. It's been three days now and we're still finding clocks and watches around the house whose time needs to be changed. Some of those have had the wrong time since last fall when we forgot (or deliberately neglected) to "fall back." At least those timepieces now have the correct time without my having to mess with them. In short, DST is a menace to mankind (at least to older mankind) that needs to be stopped because it makes the gg very grouchy.

GG
Welcome, fellow grouches. Come in, put on a frown and make yourselves at home. According to my family and friends, I've been a grouch for quite some time. I turned 65 a couple of years ago so now not only am I a grouch but an official geezer to boot. A Grouchy Geezer! (But truth be known, I'm a grouch only on days ending in a "Y").

My purpose here is to share some of the things I've observed and experienced over the course of my life that have peeved, annoyed and irritated the crap out of me. Things that helped make me into The Grouchy Geezer. As fellow grouches, I feel sure you, too, have encountered similar things in your lives that have peeved, annoyed and irritated the crap out of you as well. If so, you'll have the chance to share them on this site.

The format is simple. From time to time I will post a pet peeve based on a particular life experience or observation or something currently in the news or in the culture that makes me grouchy.

This will be a free and open board and anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment on my peeve or relate one of your own. Any topic is fair game as long as it is something that makes you grouchy. The only requirement is that you use good taste and refrain from personal attacks. Use of profanity will make me even grouchier and bar you from further access to the site. That means you will have to grouch to your wife, not on here.

None of this is to say that uplifting banter is not encouraged. By all means, if you have something to say that is inspiring or that might force other readers to have to suppress a smile, let us hear it. But don't overdo it; after all, it's our grouchiness that defines and unites us and makes this blog possible.

GG