Out of the Darkness

As of this past weekend, Daylight Savings Time has come to an end. It's a week later than usual this year, but the effect is the same as always. I prefer to “Fall back” and gain an extra hour over the weekend, rather than “Spring forward” and lose one. However, while the initial consequence of the change is positive, it is the Monday following each change that determines whether or not it's truly a good thing. I may lose an hour in the Spring, but I gain more daylight. In the Fall, there's a descent into darkness.

Driving home from work this week has been very unsettling. The bright, sunny roads I'd been driving alongside wide open beaches have been replaced with darkness, and the occasional glint of light reflecting on water. Wednesday was the only night I stayed an extra hour to finish some work for a meeting. On Monday I left a little after 5, yet it felt like 9 PM. It's strange how I can have the exact same schedule and be completely disoriented by a lack of light. Am I like a bird with a blanket over my cage? I've definitely felt exhausted.

I've worked in places with windows as well as without. I spent seven years in cubicles nestled in the center of a building. My current office has a window, but it looks out on the hall and cubicles outside. Fortunately, beyond those low walls is a large atrium with a skylight and tropical growth. One turn of my blinds, and it's like there's a rainforest outside. After years of mystery, I once more know whether it’s light or dark, rainy or pleasant, without leaving my desk.

I'm not totally deprived of sunlight. I never skip lunch. Even if it's only for half an hour, I make an effort to get outside each day. And it is light in the morning. Still, this week has been an adjustment and I'm already looking forward to longer days. Warmer days would be nice, too. I wore a jacket to work for the first time this week, and while it's not freezing yet, I know it's going to get a lot colder before the trend reverses.

It's important at this time of year to cling to things that make me happy. A funny show, or even a little socializing can keep my spirits and energy up. I did make one happy discovery this week with NBC's Hulu, a new online video site. In the wake of TV-Links, it's nice to discover a functional legal source of television shows on the internet. More networks should make their programs available, and start looking at web hits as ratings. While I can never get Chuck episodes to work online and past NBC shows were sporadic and choppy on their site, I did catch this week's episode via Hulu. It streamed relatively quickly and as long as I wasn't loading other pages while I watched, it played smoothly as well. The player seems to lack the full screen capability of other popular video sites, but it is in the early stages.

The one area networks might be hesitant in venturing into this territory may be advertising. When I watched Chuck, there were about three 15 second commercial breaks. I can live with that. It's a small price to pay, and nice to know that if I miss a show, or if three or more shows I like air against one another, this option exists. Out of the darkness of VCRs, or people uploading copies illegally, rises the inevitable, sensible solution. The technology exists, has existed for a few years now, and is constantly improving. Folks paying for a DSL connection or better should be able to see fast loading, decent quality shows. When the world outside my window fades to black, developments like this make my room a little brighter.