Does anybody really know what time it is?

Change to Daylight Saving Time really got to me this year. There is not a relationship between the time and the arrival of spring. Yes, spring is officially still eight days away. But springtime weather will likely be later this year than last.

Like a lot of people, I usually set my clocks ahead before I go to bed on the Saturday night before Daylight Saving Time begins. That I did last Saturday. You really don't know how many timepieces you have in a home until you go around and change them — twice a year.

When I got around to the bedroom alarm, which is not really an alarm clock, I had to figure out how to change the time. The device is several years old, one of those with a radio and CD player all in one. You can wake up to a beeping that gets louder the longer you let it go — good marketing to get your eyes open, or to hit the snooze button once or twice. You have to be careful, though, that you don't punch the snooze more than once within a couple of seconds on our clock. If you do, the alarm won't come on again for 20 minutes rather than 10.

OK, all the clocks have been changed by bedtime Saturday. My wife, Diane, and I didn't set the alarm for Sunday. We got up, not paying much attention to the clock read-out. I could have sworn that it was the right time, but apparently it was not — or the clock mysteriously changed its time while we were gone Sunday.

As usual Monday through Saturday, the alarm sounded at 6:30 a.m. One tap of the snooze button later, Diane got up and I followed a short time later. While I was finishing my morning cup of tea (I'm not a coffee drinker), I noticed that the time on the stove and microwave was about 6:20 a.m. Didn't think much about it, but I could have sworn that I advanced the time an hour Saturday night.

Since I knew the sidewalk to the front door of the Hungry Horse News office would be covered by a snow drift, I planned on going in at 7:30 so I could get out the snow blower and get the walk cleared. But when I started my truck, I knew something wasn't right. The clock, set 10 minutes fast, showed 5:40 a.m. How could that be? I didn't drive the truck Sunday so I didn't change the clock to Daylight Saving Time. Could it be 6:30 a.m. rather than 7:30? I looked at my watch and, sure enough, it read 6:30.

Near as I can figure, the alarm clock advanced automatically — after I changed it Saturday night. Guess I should have paid more attention to the time when we got up Sunday morning.

When I was sitting in my truck and figured out what time it really was, I went right back in the house and told Diane it was really 6:30 and not 7:30. She works in Whitefish and leaves about 7:35, so that gave her an extra hour. What it really did was rob Diane of some sleep. She really needed it since she's working a lot of overtime at a CPA office preparing tax returns.

With the time change, I expected it to be dark when I left for the office at 7:30. But I did find out that it's a little darker at 6:30 than it is at 7:30.

What I did notice last summer was that daylight lasts well beyond 9 o'clock — since the Flathead is near the western edge of the Mountain Time Zone. You have to go to work in the dark, but people who get up in the early hours go to bed in the daylight. It can be a problem for people with sleeping disorders.

So much for Daylight Saving Time. Many people like it, others don't. Changing your clocks can be a reminder to change the batteries in your smoke alarms. I'm OK with DST as soon as I figure out how to set the time on our alarm clock. It's brain must be sharper than mine.

Joe Sova is the managing editor of the Hungry Horse News.