[LEAPSECS] Meeting with Wayne Whyte

[Gerard Ashton]

It may not have been your intention, but from now on I will hear whatever
you type in a particular accent.

Gerry Ashton

On 2/1/2011 5:09 AM, Poul-Henning Kamp wrote:

> In message<E1PkCoW-0005Fn-3U at grus.atnf.CSIRO.AU>, Mark Calabretta writes:

>

>> OK Tom, I'm prepared to accept those odds.  I'll give you $16

>> if you correctly predict the date of the next leap second, and

>> you give me $850 if I predict the date of the next leap day.

> And in extension of the previous discussion about words, I think

> this provides us with the correct word to describe the deficiency

> of the UTC timescale:  "unpredictable".

>

> And anyone who cannot see a pythonesque dialogue in this needs a

> humour-transplantation:

>

> 	A: Well, you see, we have this timescale called UTC, so that

> 	   we all can agree what time it is.

>

> 	B: Brilliant!  That sounds like a jolly good idea, what with

> 	   all the ships and planes and whats not.

>

> 	A: Yes, but there's a snag you see.  Due to an embarrasing

> 	   little misunderstanding in the past, we cannot tell how

> 	   long time there is to one year from now.

>

> 	B: Say again ?

>

> 	A: Ehh, we sort of don't know how long a year is...

>

> 	B: Uhm, I mean, February has 28 days (counts on fingers) yes,

> 	   28 days, March has 31 days and so on, couldn't you just add

> 	   them up ?

>

> 	A: Ohh yes, no worries there, February and March are no problem

> 	   and May is fine too, as is July to November, but June and

> 	   December are a bit of a problem for us.

>

> 	B: (flips to the middle of his desk calendar, counts pages)

> 	   Just wanted to make sure, but it seems to me that that June

> 	   is 30 days, and as I recall so was it last year, right ?

> 	   In fact, I don't remember any year where june wasn't 30

> 	   days and I am pretty sure that good old Ms. Wormwood taught

> 	   me that this would generally be the case ?

>

> 	A: Yes, absolutely, 30 days, no doubt about that.

> 	   ...

> 	   It's more a sort of "how long are the days in June" or

> 	   to be more precise, "how long is the last day in June" ?

>

> 	B: Ohh, I see!  The God Ol' Bards troubling you isn't he ?

> 	   "Shall I compare the to a summers day" and all that ?

>

> And so on...

>