I should have used it to sleep!

Did you know you got an extra second today? In typical fashion, I was fascinated by this as I often am with subjects that are scientific in nature. I read all about it today and, also in typical fashion, I also found much to find silly. If you want to know that reason why we need this extra second, feel free to read all the minutia on the subject the NASA people have to tell you at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology website.

It seems that our little planet is in a tidal tug of war with the moon and the sun. The only reason this is an issue really, is for high tech stuff like satellites and space craft that needs accurate time calculations so the navigations systems know exactly where they are. The thing that’s the most fascinating is that this second isn’t always a second — sometimes more, sometimes less, and we don’t need to add it all the time. Variations like weather, tides, ice storage, etc. can alter how much time needs to be added and how often.

The way I look at it, our planet is getting lazy. Eventually, the moon will win and we’ll stop revolving all together. Obviously, this will take a very, very, very long time and the occupants of Earth will have certainly destroyed ourselves long before the Moon has a shot at it.

There are all kinds of advice on what to do with your extra second today. John Oliver has a whole website showcasing one second videos.

I considered what I should do with my one extra second.

I could kiss my cat’s belly, but I do that all the time and I thought maybe I should be doing something extraordinary.

I could gaze at photos of Tom Hardy, but that takes longer than one second to do properly.

I could buy a lottery ticket. Maybe a one purchased at that magical second would have extra luck.

I could swim with sharks, but then I remembered that I don’t go outside.

So mostly I spent my extra second wasting time. It turned out kinda perfect.