Leap Day: Make It Count

Hooray for an extra day!  But why can’t it be a Saturday instead of a Monday?  Ugh.  2016 has a leap year, so there is an extra day in February.  We get a leap year every 4 years based on the fact that a complete orbit of the earth around our sun takes exactly 365.2422 days to complete.  And the fact that it occurs every 4 years is also a little bit of a myth.  Truthfully, there is a leap year every year that is divisible by four, except for any years that are both divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400.  But is there any reason for you to remember that since we live, breathe, and die by our smart phones and Google?  Part of me thinks they reason there is a full extra day in a leap year is because we need all that time to actually explain to people what a leap day even IS!

There are plenty of things to do on this extra day.  Unfortunately, I do have to go to work.  I should have planned better this year.  C’est la vie.  While Leap Day is not an official national holiday/bank holiday, there are people out there who want to make it a work-free day.  This could be due to the fact that those who get paid an annual salary may be working a day for free! Sometimes the extra day isn’t accounted for.  Bastardos!

Everyone you talk to today will probably say it’s their birthday.  Slap that [probable] liar in the face!  Not everyone gets to be so special.  The chances of having a birthday on leap day are about one in 1,461.  Move along.  And to anyone who does have a birthday today, please excuse the poor math and science skills of most people.  Just smile and be thankful you finally get to have your Facebook feed fill up with birthday wishes from people you have not spoken to in 15 years.  The real victims are the dogs born on leap day.  I mean they have leap years AND dog years counting against them?  “RIP, Fido. You were 7 seconds old, but you loved a lifetime’s worth of love.”

Need another reason to drink today? Never fear!  Back in 1928, the good samaritans of the world concocted a cocktail creatively known as The Leap Year Cocktail.  So is this drink approaching 90 or is it still underage and just beginning its 20s?  Does it matter?  Just throw these ingredients together and have some fun tonight!

The Leap Year Cocktail
Serves 1

2 oz London Dry gin
3/4 oz orange liqueur
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/8 oz lemon juice

Add ingredients to a mixing glass. Fill the glass with ice cubes and stir for about 30 seconds. Strain contents into a chilled cocktail glass.

I for one have plans to finish an extra book and organize my finances some more!  But in the end I know I will just go home, take off my pants, and watch Netflix.  I will spend everyday until the next Leap Year trying to make amends for how poorly I executed today.  Maybe I will surprise myself.

So remember to do these things with your extra day this leap year:

• Accuse everyone who tells you it’s their birthday of being a liar or try to impress everyone with your math skills when you calculate their leap year age.
• Drink a Prohibition-era cocktail specially created for you for this day.
• Reflect on just how unproductive you are with extra time.
• Appreciate yet another day (a gift, actually) to deal with stupid people (I, for one, have no more time to waste on douchebags).