I hope you didn't think someone was "April Fooling" you when they suggested you turn your clock forward an hour before you went to bed April first. Yes, they showed up together this year; April Fool's Day and the day we all get fooled, the first day of Daylight Saving time.

Most people in America turn their clocks forward at 1:59 a.m. the first Sunday in April; then backward the last Sunday of October. Each time zone, of course, changes at a different time.

If you have trouble adjusting, know most of the world is going through the same thing.

In a bid to save energy, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This will change the dates for Daylight Saving Time starting in 2007. Next year we will "spring forward" almost a month earlier. Daylight Saving Time will start the second Sunday in March and remain in effect until the first Sunday in November. Whether or not we keep this new schedule after 2007 depends upon the amount of energy it saves.

There is historic evidence that extending Daylight Saving Time can save energy. In 1973 it was extended to eight months instead of the traditional six. A total savings of 600,000 barrels of oil in two years was realized.

In 1986, moving the time change to the first Sunday in April saved almost 300,000 barrels of oil within the year.

On average up to 25 percent of electricity is used for entertainment and lighting in homes. TVs, electrical movie viewing devices, musical entertainment on stereos, etc. make up most of this energy use. Keeping people out of the house longer at night, means they use less energy.

So why doesn't that energy savings get eliminated by having to get up an hour earlier in the dark? People who keep track of these things say that only 70 percent of Americans are up before 7 a.m. and their use of energy in the morning is less than use of energy in the evenings.

I assume that includes farmers.

Some say Daylight Saving Time decreases car accidents as well.

All the confusion about Daylight Saving Time seems small now compared to when Standard Time was innovated.

Before 1883, most people considered time a local matter. The courthouse or church clock kept the time for people within ear shot. Sundials were the local standard with no one to argue when the sun was its highest.

With more people moving around, time zones were established to help the railroads run on time in 1883.

Some people didn't see the importance of trying to figure out the sun's pace across the continent so a law was passed "The Standard Time Act" of 1918. This way even people who weren't going anywhere, could tell what time they would arrive.

World War I showed us all how much energy could be conserved by having more time in the evenings. Germany was the first country to have a national daylight saving schedule from April till October in 1916.

Some countries tried changing only fifteen minutes a Sunday until people were "adapted" but this caused more confusion than benefit.

Here in the US, using Daylight Saving Time was a local option until 1974 when clocks were set one hour ahead for a 15-month period into 1975 in the Time Energy Act.

Several other laws were made to allow for individual states to choose their time options. Finally in 1986 we got to the schedule we are on now with Daylight Saving Time starting at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of April and ending at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday of October.

Some people want it to extend past Halloween so the kids can go about in the daylight. This would save lives and injuries from kids getting hit by vehicles while they "trick or treat." Some say it would be practical to extend it until after the November elections. They argue more people would go vote if there were still daylight after they got home from work.

Amtrak trains have to stop at 2 a.m. when the clocks fall back in October and wait an hour before starting again. When the clocks move forward in April, they just have to try to make up the time.

Even crime is down by more than 10 percent during Daylight Saving Time. Guess crooks don't like getting up before sunrise. Until the next time friends remember, Daylight Saving Time is a practical solution to energy problems. So why are we so tired this morning?