Leap into...Barlborough!
Dobby's Garden Centre (Cafe/Restaurant)
I'm out and about caching to celebrate leap day. Every 4th year (and some other years too) we have an extra day to make up for the fact that the earth doesn't spin an exact number of times on every lap of the sun that it completes.The Earth takes exactly 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds to circle the sun, ir not an exact number of days. This throws up some interesting situations and opportunities:
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29th February has traditionally been a day on which women were allowed to propose to men. Sounds hopelessly outdated for the 21st century, but this is the way it has worked in many cultures for centuries!
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Some cultures consider 29th February an unlucky day. In Italy, people say, “Anno bisesto, anno funesto,” which translates as, “leap year, doom year.” In some countries, like Greece, people warn against planning weddings during leap years.
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To some, 29th February is not really a legal day. Many companies don’t recognize Leap Day as a “valid day.” They make leapers choose 28th February or 1st March as their birthday instead.
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Lots of people work for free on Leap Day Most employees who are paid fixed monthly incomes will work for free on Leap Days because their wages are probably not calculated to include the extra day.
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In four million years, Leap Days will be unnecessary. The slow effect of tidal braking on the Earth will start to become important as the millennia tick by. While right now, we're only adding a single leap second every 18 months or so to accommodate it, the day continues to lengthen. After another 4 million years go by on Earth, the day will have lengthened by another 56 seconds: the exact amount necessary for a year to be exactly 365 days!
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Souvenirs and stats! If you find a cache or atend an event on Leap Day you'll receive a special souvenir on your profile. If you're trying to complete your caching calendar you can't afford not to find a cache today as it'll another four years before you get to do it again! There's all sorts of stats you can generate in relation to Leap Day- most cache types on a Leap Day, most counties, most events attended, most FTFs etc etc. Get statting!
This is a short and cheerful event to punctuate our day and share stories and ideas with local cachers. Anyone attending who has a Leap Year Birthday will be in a free draw to decide the FTF for this event. otherwise, I'll hold a free 'raffle' !
If this is your first event, please say so in your log and I'll make a special effort to make you feel welcome. We were all all newbies once! We'll be meeting inside the Garden Centre. Look out for an Announcement on this page. Otherwise, just look out for the weirdos in the corner!