Leap Year

As everyone should know by now today February 29th 2012 is leap day.    The wonderfully tricky day added to the calendar so that things stay in sync since the year is not 365 days long but something like 365 ¼ days long.  Thus some events would in reality drift off course if we did not correct the dates a little with an extra day every couple of year.

This drift would not effect things like the full moon or the like but more likely events tied to these astronomical signs such as equinox etc.

It makes for an interesting time when someone is born on that day.  Thus technically they only have a birthday every 4 years.  In reality they are older every year but must celebrate on an adjacent day like February 28th or March 1st.   But, not too many people have the ability to celebrate on their actual birthday.    Most of the time the day falls during the week and who really can have a birthday party in the middle of the week on say a Wednesday.  Most of us if having a party move it to Saturday as that is a traditionally less busy day for the parents or birthday celebrant and also is free of school constraints.



This year it happens that my daughter's birthday will fall on a Saturday in June.  this is also special since she will be turning 8 years old and will have come of age and be eligible for baptism
(see Moroni 8:10-15).
Thus she will have a special opportunity not afford most people - she will be able to be baptized on her birthday.
I also have my birthday in June and was baptized on the 4th of July.  Kind of odd when you think of it but, a memorable day none the less.

So in as much as leap years, and leap days are necessary they can be a general pain.  They even claim in some cases computer systems are not setup to handle the extra day and may cause problems.  It's all possible but, will it be like the y2k bug and turn out to be a small problem?

As a programmer I understand the limitation that systems had in the past and why they were not setup to properly handle a full date year like 2018 instead of just 18.  I also understand that in some cases this stuff is so low on the radar that programmers with little time on their hands will cut corners like crazy.


So as we celebrate leap day in this Leap year I hope it is all the best and that nothing crazy happens due the extra day in the calendar.

Buaidh - NO - Bas