Story & Photos – Joseph Boyle
Most of us do not think much about calendars. In fact we take the calendar for granted. No one ever complains about our calendar, nor does anyone come up with any ideas to improve our calendar.
That has all changed.
Our local government designed, produced, and printed what I call the “Mutant Calendar” for the year 2012.
There was no prior announcement or fanfare. They just distributed the calendars to humble civil servants and then sat back to watch what might happen.
The Mutant Calendar shows all 12 months with numbered dates at a glance.
To learn more about calendars in general and calendar history check out the Wikipedia site.
I took two photos of the Mutant Calendar. One shows all 12 months (above) and the second photo (below) is a close up photo of the month of August.
What do you notice? That’s right. This calendar quietly introduces the innovative concept that you can have more than just one August 16th. In this year’s model for 2012, you will note that there are two August 16ths.
What a great idea. The possibilities are endless. Here are just a few thoughts on how you might enjoy the Mutant Calendar.
- You forget your August 16 wedding anniversary and your wife is calling Robblees Security to have the house locks changed. Save your bacon by inviting her out to anniversary dinner, roses and drinks on the 2nd August 16th.
- You miss your August 16 probation hearing. No worries. When they drag you out the front door of your home in handcuffs for having missed your court date, you will be able to wag your finger at the judge and tell him he was wrong to issue the bench warrant for you. Tell him you plan to show up in court for the 2nd August 16. With that argument, he will have to let you out on bail.
- How about scoring 2 birthday cakes in one month?
- You can try to get some extra overtime pay simply by working both August 16s.
I just bet you are starting to see the advantages of the new calendar. Let your imagination run wild. Mine is.
I have been looking at calendars close to 70 years. I have never seen one like the Mutant Calendar. I felt compelled to share it with you.
Hey, what might happen if we program in an extra leap year day?
Hey, at least it wasn’t an extra MONDAY! 🙂
Must just be a typo, huh. Good proof-reading on your part! 🙂
Joe, as always you are priceless!
My first thought was, “Oh, it was probably printed in China.” Then I saw that it had the Pierce County logo, followed by the names of County Executive Pat McCarthy and all 7 County Council members. I assume that Pierce County has its own print shop. Does some individual there hand-enter the numbers in each calendar square (not only with the date, but also with the # of days remaining in the year, for those county employees who are watching the clock)? I find that hard to believe. Do you suppose they purchased/subscribed to a calendar template, which happened to have a flaw? Who is responsible for there having been no August 26 this year? More follow-up, Joe. Inquiring minds want to know how calendars are made! (I’m back to thinking “Made in China.”)
Mary,
You have a sharp eye. Those tiny additional numbers in the right lower corner of each day do not denote how many days are left in the year. The numbers start on January 1, 2012 as number 001 and end on the last day of the year, December 31, 2012 as 365 unless it is leap year. In that case the last day would be 366.
You have provided a great transition to my next follow up article on calendars, which I have already started from left over words and paragraphs I cut out of this article. In the next piece I will attempt to l explain the Julian Calendar date system. Thanks, Mary.
I looked carefully for “Made in China”, but did not find those words.
Joseph Boyle
Joe, you caught me! I may have a sharp eye, but I failed to notice whether those tiny numbers trended up or down as the days passed by. It’s a take on the “glass half empty or half full” phenomenon – probably most useful for those responsible for budget tracking (the year is 3/5 gone, and we’ve spent 7/8 of our budgeted amount in this category; now what?).
I’m still curious to know whether the Pierce County print shop (assuming there is one) created this calendar out of whole cloth, or simply printed/outsourced a standard (though unique!) calendar with their personalized line added at the bottom. If the latter, there could be millions of folks out there with the defective August 2012 calendar.
Looking forward to reading your next post on calendars.