Many moons ago I had the honour of commanding a Station. On 1 October, I was chatting with the local head of the PSA (that dates me - MoD Property Services Agency for you newbies). “First of October, sir”, he said “I’ll get the heating on”. “Why?” I asked, looking out of the office window at the unseasonably hot autumn we were having. “Because it is the first of October, sir. The heating is always turned on on the first of October”. He really couldn’t understand why that was wrong. Eventually, I got over this by giving him the authority to decide on the heating. After that, the heating was on if it was cold, and off when it was warm. Just like most people do at home.
You would have thought I’d given him a medal. He was so happy that he could make a decision rather than having to follow a calendar.