Opinion: Leap year gives us an extra day
Every four years the rules of the calendar add another day to the shortest month of the year and we get the 29th of February.
According to Google: the solar or tropical year does not have a whole number of days (it is about 365.24 days), but a calendar year must have a whole number of days. The most common way to reconcile the two is to vary the number of days in the calendar.
Additionally, Feb. 29 is a date that usually occurs every four years, and is called leap day. This day is added to the calendar every four years as a corrective measure because the Earth doesn’t orbit the sun in precisely 365 days.”
If we pretend the 29th is an actual extra day, a bonus day in one’s life, what should be done with it? Maybe it should be a “Random Act of Kindness,” holiday devoted to a day of good works.
If I were the owner of a successful business, I would give my employees the day off with pay if they would volunteer to perform community service. There are plenty of things that could use some attention that the city or county budgets don’t cover.
Visiting residents in a rest home who don’t get much company or tutoring kids to improve their reading or arithmetic is needed in every community. Since Feb. 17 was National Random Act of Kindness Day, a kick-off to RAK week, according to the National Day Calendar.com commemorating it with an an extra day devoted to public service would be beneficial to all.
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Recently I have been watching videos on Facebook for the various non-prescription treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and neuropathy. Most people are familiar with those annoying pop-up ads sent to your electronic devise unless you pay to keep them away.
Most of these products sound too-good-to-be-true so they probably don’t work as advertised. Pain makes me willing to try the earwax of monkeys if it promised relief from being awakened at night with stabbing foot pains.
The one thing I have tried that seems to help is cannabidiol known as CBD cream. Derived from the cannabis plant it doesn’t contain any of the Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC that gets one high when they consume marijuana.
The jury is still out with much of the scientific community hedging its endorsement by saying “it has been known to help,” or “patients report its benefits…” Maybe it doesn’t work for everyone but it beats monkey earwax for me.
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This week I was watching a U-Tube video about the latest sensational pain relief product. The pitchman droned on and on about the miracles of its product, blah, blah, blah. Fred wanted to know why I was fuming at my phone. The people selling this stuff could save production costs with shorter presentations.
I told him I just needed to know what time it is, not how to build a clock.
He said the best way to tell time is to look out the window. If it is dark it is night, if it is light it is day. Retired people have strange senses of humor.
He once told me about a rock used for predicting the weather. Put a rock outside and if it is wet, it is raining, if it is warm, it is sunny and if it disappears, it is foggy. I do love corny, groan-worthy jokes. The puns of comic strip artist Stephan Pastis always crack me up.
Time is running out. Tuesday is the last day to register to vote unless you register in person at the County Clerk’s office. Stand up and be counted. It is everyone’s privilege and responsibility to vote.
Don’t be fooled by Proposition 13 on the ballot, it doesn’t benefit the public, no matter what its proponents say.
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Long days and pleasant nights, have a good weekend.
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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix @gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.
