Hop, Skip, Leap

Word of the Post
Today's word is: bissextile
/by*sex"til/ or /bis*sex"til/
noun - Leap Year
adjective - Pertaining to Leap Year; containing or noting the extra day of Leap Year.
From the Latin: "bis" meaning twice, and "sextus" meaning sixth (get your head out of the gutter!). The sixth day before the Calends of March (February 24) occurred twice every fourth year. This year, 2008, is a bissextile year.

To make this plain as mud, Leap Day is technically the second occurrence of Feb. 24, and ends up adding an extra day numbered Feb. 29, every four years. This is to make the Calendar equal to the actual orbit of the Earth around the Sun. If we did not add the extra day every four years, we would be off by 1/4 of a day (5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds) every year, and Winter would come in July in about 10,000 years. BUT, one day added every four years is equivalent to 6 hours every year, which is too much time (11 minutes 14 seconds) to add. Therefore, it is necessary to NOT add the day at the end of every century which is NOT divisible by 400, but it is still added at the end of centuries that ARE divisible by 400. The year 1900, while being a fourth year, did not have a leap day added, because 1900 is not equally divisible by 400.

Has your head exploded yet? This is WAY too much math so early in the year. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
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I had to look at Wikipedia. I know, I know, it is not a true reference for anything. It is a user defined mishmash of questionable facts. However, it can be a useful resource to find other sources, and that will lead you to facts. I looked up February 29, just to see if there were any truly interesting births or events for today.

I found this sentence: "There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out to be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Frederic, born on February 29, was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday, which would not arrive until he was eighty-eight years old."

Turns out, legally in some countries, those with a Leap Year birthday are officially allowed their celebrations on February 28 in non-Leap years. They are referred to as "leaplings", and could also celebrate their birth on March 1. The death list for today is relatively short. Which is fitting, seeing as there is such a low chance to actually die on that day.

I know personally only one leapling. I remember that she is a leapling because I remember the jokes that she was eagerly awaiting to be a teenager, and she would never again be older than her children. I don't recall which year she was born (1944, 1948, or 1952), but if it was 1952 as I suspect, then she would be 14 today.

I enjoyed the weather yesterday, it was sunny, warm and not too windy. Of course, I was not the one up on my roof in the strong gusts we had. The landlord came yesterday and removed tree limbs from the trees that were tearing up the roof, and repaired a HOLE in my roof (I told him there was a hole a year ago, and you see how well he listens to me) He also repaired a little hole in the eaves of the house. Oh, for a pellet gun. I would have been able to hunt the nasty little squirrel that poked his head out of that hole. Anyway, the holes are patched, and I have not heard any rustling of critters in the ceiling anymore. This is a good thing. I am looking forward to more peaceful evenings; no cats calling to the critters to come down to play, no more scratching in the insulation next to the air vents.

I am being stared at by a cat. Usually, it is her way to ignore me. I wonder what it is I have done or not done that makes me the victim of The Stare? She won't want me to pet her, or she would come over here and demand it. She has been fed, there is water in the dish... Oh! I bet it is that I haven't yet unlocked the cat door into the garage. I wanted to make sure that we didn't have any crazy rabid squirrels in the ceiling trying to escape.

Today is a gift. More than other days, this day is an extra day we have been given to do something special. Make it great!