Forward shift

April 2, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - The swing and night shift employees in the laboratory at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and in the dispatch center at Mat-Su Public Safety Building won't have to worry about changing clocks at 2 a.m. today when daylight saving time begins. A high-tech computer system will take care of that. Meanwhile, at Palmer Bar, bartender Duree Holland will ceremoniously take the clock off the wall and turn it forward one hour.

&#8220Everyone will be whining and complaining, and I will be doing a celebratory dance behind the bar,” Holland said. For people drinking on Saturday night, last call will come early but it will officially be 5 a.m., she said.

At home, Holland said her clocks might not get changed for a couple weeks. Luckily, after 8 years of employment at Palmer Bar, she hasn't relied on an alarm clock for two years.

&#8220I've been at it for so long, I go straight to bed - 7 a.m. is past my bedtime. I have kids and critters so I have to get up at noon,” Holland said.

Peters Creek resident Ron Thiele, who pulls the 6 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. shift in the medical center laboratory, also has critters that spend some quality time with him after he finishes a day of drawing blood and analyzing and storing data.

&#8220My two ferrets go 100 mph for two hours,” Thiele said. &#8220I lay on the floor and they run across my back, jump off my shoulder, chase each other and terrorize the cats.”

Today, Thiele plans to witness the sunrise before calling it a day in addition to turning his clock forward, changing the batteries on the smoke alarms, and replacing back-up batteries on his electric alarm clock.

&#8220It's the perfect time to do it because you know you did it last fall,” he said. &#8220That (daylight saving time) has never had much effect on me, other than times I was an hour early or an hour late for work.”

Mat-Su Public Safety Building dispatcher Karna Pease of Willow changed all the clocks in her home - on the microwave, the stove and the VCR - before she started Saturday's shift so her family would get up to the right time this morning. Pease works four 10-hour shifts weekly, from 8 p.m. to 6 p.m.

&#8220How many calls we get in the first hour sets the pace for how the night will go,” Pease said. &#8220Every night is different. Sometimes, it isn't the weekends that are busiest. It just depends on what the Valley wants to do.”

With two boys aged 10 and 11, Pease's lifestyle doesn't afford much wind-down time. As soon as she walks in the door, she readies her sons to catch the bus. She catches some sleep, and wakes up before they get home to help with homework, sit down for dinner and visit.

&#8220The shift works out well. I'm here and the kids are sleeping,” Pease said.

Co-worker Erin Cox of Wasilla anticipates a lot of general information calls from Valley residents wanting to confirm the daylight saving time change.

She couldn't predict how zany Saturday night might be.

&#8220When it gets busy or crazy at night, we joke around ‘It must be a full moon,' ” she said.

Cox clocked out during the time change today. Her after-work plans included some chill-out time with her fiancé, who serves with the Alaska State Troopers.

&#8220We work the same exact shift, so when we get home, we chit chat about our day, listen to music and keep everything quiet and low-key,” Cox said.

&#8220You don't want to listen to much noise after being here all day.”

Except for Hawaii and Arizona, most U.S. states observe daylight savings time, which began today and ends Oct. 29, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory Web site. In 1966, a U.S. Uniform Time Act established daylight saving time, which was revised in 1986 to occur a month earlier. It begins annually on the first Sunday of April. The purpose is to save use of electricity in the during peak evening hours, and according to Ask Yahoo!, it saves 300,000 barrels of oil each year.

Holland doesn't really see what all the hoop-la is about.

&#8220I don't think the daylight difference is worthy of changing the time. Maybe if more states would get on the bandwagon, we could eliminate daylight saving time,” she said.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.