Daylight Saving Time: Different Here in Mexico
This coming Sunday, March 11, the US and Canada will shift to Daylight Saving Time, 3 weeks earlier than in previous years as an energy-saving measure.
I figured that Mexico would go along with it ("When the US sneezes, Mexico catches a cold" is a famous saying here), but I was wrong. I googled this question this morning and found several places that said Mexico is keeping to the old schedule. One said that most states in Mexico are, so maybe some of the border states would rather be in synch with the US than with the rest of Mexico for 3 weeks till Mexico joins in on April Fools' Day.
So if you are in Mexico and running a Windows computer, you may want to double-click on the time in the lower right hand corner of your screen and choose the time zones tab. Be sure yours is set to a Mexican city (and with New after it) or your computer may join the US time system.
I did learn something else interesting in my research. I had never known why Arizona doesn't use Daylight Saving Time. It's a perfectly logical reason -- changing would cause more energy usage, rather than less, due to the heavy use of air conditioning in that state.
In the fall, the US and Canada will stretch things out one week longer, and I suppose Mexico will stay with the old system. Anyway, my computer should know.
I figured that Mexico would go along with it ("When the US sneezes, Mexico catches a cold" is a famous saying here), but I was wrong. I googled this question this morning and found several places that said Mexico is keeping to the old schedule. One said that most states in Mexico are, so maybe some of the border states would rather be in synch with the US than with the rest of Mexico for 3 weeks till Mexico joins in on April Fools' Day.
So if you are in Mexico and running a Windows computer, you may want to double-click on the time in the lower right hand corner of your screen and choose the time zones tab. Be sure yours is set to a Mexican city (and with New after it) or your computer may join the US time system.
I did learn something else interesting in my research. I had never known why Arizona doesn't use Daylight Saving Time. It's a perfectly logical reason -- changing would cause more energy usage, rather than less, due to the heavy use of air conditioning in that state.
In the fall, the US and Canada will stretch things out one week longer, and I suppose Mexico will stay with the old system. Anyway, my computer should know.
posted by Rosana Hart @ Thursday, March 08, 2007
2 Comments:
At March 12, 2007 5:21 PM,
Anonymous said…
Just wanted to put in my two pesos worth re:daylight savings time. Mexico just recently began to do DST within the past 6 yrs. maybe. I remember that when the first change occured, there was so much complaining. Talking to locals, they would say, if this is supposed to be saving energy and money, where's my money? Every year after, there seem to always be a debate about whether to do DST again. Mother's would get very upset about having their kids go to school in the dark morning hours. Though most Americans have always just taken it for granted (and agreed with Ben Franklin), Mexicans have a point about, where does a person get all the power to declare we will change our clocks around the world and have everyone change their schedules just because they say so.
At March 12, 2007 9:16 PM,
Rosana Hart said…
Interesting! I wondered how long it had been going on here in Mexico.
I just read a little more about this in this week's Guadalajara Colony Reporter. Evidently the different dates are an experiment in the US and will be evaluated in a year or so. Mexico decided to wait and see. Wisely I think.
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