July 2011

[Jim Rimmer]

I saw lots of trucks in town a couple of weeks ago, and on the way to lunch, a caravan of carefully screenprinted trucks went by and people jumped out in the square to hand out a bunch of brochures. They guaranteed me we'll not see 2012, also.

If I'd have been thinking on my feet, I'd have asked them for all the saved money they had that they wouldn't need to make it to may 21, because surely they won't need it.

I've heard a lot about May 21 being the end lately. There was even an ad in this month's Readers Digest. Only problem is, the guy who is the biggest proponent also said the world would end in 1996. OOPS! And he admits he hasn't fully studied the Book of Jeremiah. OK, so you're making predictions based on Bible prophecies and your overlooked Jeremiah? And what about the references that say no man will no the time or the day. Send me your money and I'll use it for you since you won't be needing it.

[Gary Hodgin]

Should you or should you not get a Sawstop.

Jim,
Safe beat that one will still be going on. I'd put "pins vs tails" and "the best sharpening method" in the same category. The sawstop argument does seem to generate slightly more heat though. Good thing that one takes place on the net and not at a ww show or somewhere folks could get at each other. They'd need to beef up security.
Gary

[Jim Becker]

Regardless of the cycle, at least there are only four Mondays to compliment the five-ers!!

[Bob Turkovich]

Regardless of the cycle, at least there are only four Mondays to compliment the five-ers!!

Jim,

Let me guess.....you're a glass half-full kinda guy.

[Jeff Bratt]

Back to the original 5 Fridays, Saturday, Sundays post: all you need is 31 days in a month and the 1st to be a Friday for it to be true.

And since there are 7 months each year that are 31 days long, and the starting day of a month will be one of the 7 days of the week, this 5 Fri, Sat, Sun thing happens approximately once per year. For a specific month, it happens about once every 7 years.

[Dan Hintz]

At an "extra" 1.25 days per year, the starting day of a month will move 1 day a year for 3 years, and then jump 2 days (leap year) (I'm neglecting the particular years that aren't leap years, like century markers). For example, 1st May 2011 started on a Sunday... coming up is a leap year so 1st May 2012 will be on a Tuesday, but for 2013/2014/2015 the 1st of May will be on a Wednesday/Thursday/Friday.

May has 31 days, so May 2015 will have 5 Fridays since it starts on a Friday. Next one will be <calculating on fingers...> 2020, then 2026, and so on. There's also a pattern of years that becomes obvious when you work out a few more.

EDIT: Oh yeah... 30-day months are perfectly eligible for 5 Friday's as well. February is only available for 5 Fridays during a leap year when it contains 29 days... I haven't done the calculations, but it's possible that 5 days in February may happen only once in 800+ years, but I can't say for sure without crunching the numbers.

NOW you know more than you ever wanted to