This weekend all atomic clocks will add an extra second of time to keep track of … something. This is cool! I’m moving house on Sunday, I could use the extra second of sleep. The Guardian reports on the issue, and some of the commenters provide some excellent examples of a healthy cynicism towards science.
Asks Easilylead:
Do we all have to take the extra second at the same time, or can we save it for when we need it?
Following this (almost immediately) TheAdulteratedCat shows that there is no law of the universe that humans haven’t learnt to rort the moment it’s written. In response to Easilylead, TheAdulteratedCat asks
You mean like you can claim it if you’re about to be hit by a bus?
I think we can all agree that would be awesome, like the universe delivering everyone on earth a single fortune point through the dipole moment effect of gravity, or something. Thanks, God! But tipatina is clued up to the obvious social justice issues attached to this time change:
i hope the unions make sure we get paid for this extra second… if not i say we strike for two seconds…who’s with me
A valid point, I’m sure we can agree, though I don’t know if I can make it to the barricades in two seconds. But this extra second doesn’t just manifest as an issue in economic relations: consistent with basic feminist doctrine, we need to recognize that all political issues start in the bedroom, and WhatsMyPoint has his eye on the feminist implications of the moment:
The Mrs is in for a treat 🙂 Reckon I can just about last that!
The world will definitely be partying for that extra second … unless you’re an elite athlete:
Could we add the extra second during the 100m final at the Olympics to slow down Usain Bolt? Or would that speed him up?
Sadly for newlaplandes, the olympics won’t be held at midnight tomorrow night.
Finally, however, VSLVSL nails it:
I BLAME BROWN.
That bastard! I bet he’d tax our extra second if he could!
Compromise and Conceit 
June 30, 2012 at 6:55 am
I’m really glad you decided to piss that extra second up the wall by writing a blog post about it.
Think about all the stuff you could have done.. You could have ridden a bike 3m, leaned over to smell a rose, muttered an indistinct falsehood about how cute a nearby baby was, make a funny half smile at your loved one that they probably would have thought was a grimace, watched the Google page start to load [1] [2], summarised the entire boat person debate for Australia [3] or spotted a speling error in a blog comment you were typing but not bothered to fix it.
Truly, the world is a wondrous place and we should spend the extra second rejoicing in it, before getting back to the humdrum regular 24 hours that we have to suffer though each day.
[1] I’m assuming it’s your homepage, same as everyone else.
[2] Though with the NBN you might have had the whole page displayed! Curse you Gillard for not delivering in time for us to truly use the system!
[3] This is f***ed aught to do it.
July 1, 2012 at 10:03 pm
I probably should have spent that second packing, or using my super-powers to check the key in my new house or something. Instead of course, like all the other spare seconds in my life, I spent it on the internet…
July 9, 2012 at 8:07 am
‘Course, over here, the Scottish farmers would argue that they should get to stay as they are as otherwise they have to spend an extra second in the dark and that makes it hard for them to find the udders!
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And you actually read that many comments….
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And they were that witty!!!!!
July 10, 2012 at 1:57 pm
welcome back, Martin! Yes, in Queensland they would probably worry that the extra second of sunshine would cause the curtains to fade …