Since you have the convenience of living on the western side of a time zone, you would not know about it getting dark at 4:30pm in the winter. As for me, I love day lights savings time and despise normal time. I wish it was daylight savings all the time. I'm 3 states away and still in the same time zone as you.

As far as the Mecca time. It is just more of the Muslims trying overshadow the rest of the world. Isn't it funny...Most of the world population is Muslim by a large amount, but they can't put a society together that would support half the economy of non-muslim areas? I have no problem with freedom of religion and peaceful, non-intrusive practices but a clock that has it's main purpose is to get the rest of the world to follow it based on a religion is over stepping my boundries.