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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide for Pecos Country
of West Texas
Opinion
Tuesday, April 9, 2002
Sage Views
By Smokey Briggs
Daylight savings time
... it's not worth it
Well, it is daylight savings time again. Or, as I like to refer to it,
"Voluntary sleep deprivation" time.
How can one missing hour screw up every moment of your life for six months?
I cannot really explain it. However, like the sun rising and setting,
I do know that it can. I will be missing that lost hour for the next six
months.
I really do enjoy having a little extra daylight at the end of the day.
As I sit in the dark at six o'clock in the evening in January I pine for
evenings filled with daylight
I think about little projects I would like to be working on _ like putting
the cab back on my old truck that sits disassembled under the carport. That
is also a favorite project of She-who-must-be-obeyed's (SWMBO) for some reason.
I think about sneaking off to the range to practice with my new pistol
after supper.
I think about relaxing bike rides with my daughters.
I think about all the fun stuff I would do if the sun were still shining.
Then it happens.
I go to sleep one night. The next morning, the alarm goes off and tells
me that 6:00 a.m. has once again arrived.
I crack one eye and the little guy that runs my brain when I am asleep
assures me that the darned clock lies and tells me that it should be brutalized
with a hammer or maybe a handy boot. It is only five in the morning, the
little guy says.
Eventually my conscious self wins the brutal fight with the little guy
that runs things when I am asleep, and who apparently can also be summoned
into action by a few shots of Tequila, and who apparently was in charge of
all bodily functions for most of my junior year in college. (Book learning
was apparently not his strong suit).
It has started, I realize. Sleep deprivation time is here.
Bravely, I make it through the day _ always a minute or maybe an hour
late _ and really tired.
The thought of all the fun I am going to have with that extra hour of
daylight gets me through the day.
That and a lot of coffee.
At six o'clock I pull into the driveway and I am greeted by my darling
daughters.
I get out of my truck with visions of a relaxing evening at play in my
head.
Where is SWMBO?
Probably fixing her hair so that she looks her best when her husband sees
her after a tough day killing lions and stuff, I think.
Then she appears.
It is sufficient to say that pearls and high heels are not the uniform
of the day.
She has a broom in her hand and she is dusty and sweaty.
A quick look around the carport tells me that many of my best car parts
have been moved and dusted.
Then the realization hits home.
There will be no extra hour of fun and relaxation today.
Instead, I will be rewarded for my sleep deprivation with projects _ projects
that even slave-driving spouses must admit require daylight to be accomplished.
Daylight has arrived.
She even has a list.
She hands it to me. I scan line after work-laden line looking for headings
like: "Sit in the kiddy pool and splash with your kids while your wife brings
you a beer," or "Polish front end parts for your cool truck."
Instead my eyes are greeted with: "Turn flower beds," "Split railroad
ties for landscaping," and "Mow lawn."
Man, I miss January already.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the
Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at:
smokey@pecos.net
Our View
Pretty cities have citizens that care
About 45 people showed up Saturday morning to help clean up Pecos and
filled over 200 bags with trash.
That was a noble effort and those folks deserve a pat on the back.
Unfortunately, these volunteers are spitting into the wind unless the
people of Pecos decide they want to live in a clean town.
Volunteers can make a dent in the problem _ they can clean up especially
trashy areas _ but the real solution starts with us as individuals.
Each day, each of us contributes to the general appearance of our city.
We either make it a little better, or a little worse.
We can walk over the discarded paper in the gutter when we get out of
our car, or we can pick it up. We can toss the refuse from lunch out the
window or find a trashcan. We can pick up the can that blew into our yard
or kick it into the street.
These are the decisions that will really determine how beautiful or ugly
Pecos will be.
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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail newsdesk@nwol.net
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Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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