29th February 2024 - An Extra Day or An Extra Day of Work ?

 So, if you hadn't realised - like me who didn't until I checked the calendar for my dogs grooming appointment - today is an 'extra' day, this being a Leap Year. 

One solar year, the amount of time it takes our planet to complete one full rotation about the sun,  takes roughly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. That extra five-plus hours  is why we have leap years. Yes, of course I looked it up - my retention of information these days  and memory in general, is poor to say the least. Why this is the case for me is plain, but why people much younger than me also find their memory is not as clear as it once was.  Many reasons for this could be discussed, but that is a topic for a different post.

Every four years is not always a Leap Year apparently. According to the National Air and Space Agency  (United States), in a calendar yet to come, years divisible by 100 would not follow the four year leap day rule unless they are also divisible by 400 . In the past 500 years there was no leap day in 1700, 1800, 1900 but 2000 had one.  In the next 500 years, there will be no leap day in 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500, if my the practice is followed. As this is unlikely to affect anyone reading this, I think we can safely put that out of our minds.

The 366-day years of our Gregorian calendar, of course  means that those born on this day technically celebrate their birthdays only once every four years, though I'm sure many. if not most have 2 days, the 28th  - February and 1st March. For working folks, it may seem unfair to have to work an extra day for no extra pay, but perhaps working on the 29th February is similar to working Bank Holiday Mondays - if you usually work Mondays throughout the year.  Maybe someone could enlighten me as to whether they receive an extra days pay for these 'holiday' days.

For those who were born on 29th February - around 1778 in the UK - there are some benefits it seems for the extra day this year :

Free Ride on the London Eye - first 100

Free Pints in Manchester - Food and Beer Hall Society

Win a £1000 holiday voucher - Love Holidays 

Free Pizza nationwide - If you live near a Zizzi restaurant, then you can claim a free rustic pizza today. 

Free Thai Curry -  Rosa’s Thai is also offering a free curry 

The Real Greek - £50 off

 Not sure how these offers will spread between the 1778 people but Happy Birthday  birthday to you all. 

And to those who feel cheated about the extra day of work, come on admit it... it's not really any different to any other day - but make sure you book your own birthday off next year if you haven't already !