Dazed In The Life

For those of you who aren’t sure, yes, we lose an hour at 1am on Sunday. Sorry folks. Yes, I know, it’s a pain. I have an essay to complete and one less hour in which to complete it. At least you have a heads-up. I got a mildly panicky text from a friend of mine, Ciaran, three full weeks ago in which he expressed his shock over the fact that the clocks were to go forward that night. I toyed with the notion of letting him live his life an hour ahead of the rest of us for a few days before sense prevailed and I reassured him that it was not until the end of March. So, tonight’s the night, let us all moan about our sleep-deprived existences for the next week.

Another, more welcome, heads-up: Today sees the second annual Earth Hour taking place. Homes and businesses all across the world are turning their lights down or off, switching off the tv and computer and generally saving huge amounts on their electricity bills, in an effort to demonstrate the massive waste caused by negligient electricity use and the increasing effects of light pollution. It is a cause of constant disgust for me when, walking home at night, I pass shops and offices which are clearly empty for the night yet which leave lights on. There is an Esat office block down by Grand Canal Dock, near Spin 103, which ALWAYS has its entire lighting rig lit – they are one of many. It’s simply not good enough.

People may mock the whole green approach to daily living but there is a serious point here. I go around turning lights off in my house after my brother because they don’t need to be on, pure and simple. Not only is it bad for the environment but it’s a total waste of money. If this second reason is the one which people will react to, so be it, whatever it takes to get this message across. Some lazy and selfish individuals will yawn, stretch, flick on another light switch, leave the fridge open and say “Well, I’m not going to be around when the world falls apart anyway”. Well, you know what? At the rate we’re disposing of our natural resources, that planetary collapse is coming sooner than you think.

dum-Dum-DUM!

Scare-mongering over. One hour. That’s all. Just turn the fecking light off.

Click.