Leap Day!

This officially marks my first ever February 29th blog post! That shouldn't come as a surprise, I guess, since this blog is less than week old. Sadly, Leap Day has proven to be a huge disappointment. My morning began with an inbox full of ridiculous junk email from all kinds of retailers and restaurants trying to convince me that today offered me the chance at an "extra day of savings," with all kinds of unsuccessful attempts at witty discounts based on the number 29:

Iowa State even jumped on the bandwagon, using Leap Day as an excuse to send me an email asking for a donation.  Why a once-every-four-years calendar anomaly would make me any more likely to give away money or buy stuff I don't need, I have no idea. I'm no fool when it comes to sales...29% off still means 71% on. Buying a large specialty pizza at regular price wipes out the "good deal" part of a 29¢ medium pizza. And donating anything, ever, is just stupid. After a fury of email deleting, the day's prospects didn't exactly improve when I looked outside:

 

I knew it! After one of the mildest winters on record, we couldn't escape February without a *&$#@ snow storm, and it's all Leap Day's fault! (For the record, I consider "mild winter" an oxymoron; it's the weather equivalent to the phrase "a gentle kick to the crotch.") The snowfall totals were lower than the forecast had predicted, but the drive to work was still treacherous, by far the worst of the season. But I risked it all for this blog and snapped a few photos along the way:

 

This whole Leap Day thing got me thinking...if we have to add a day to the year, why does it have to be in February? Everyone is ready to forget February and move on to March--even my wristwatch, which skipped right over February 29th:

And on my way to work, Ted emailed me this photo of an uptown hipster who refused to acknowledge Leap Day and it's ridiculous weather entirely, staring death directly in the eyes and deciding that his Vespa was a perfectly acceptable option for his commute this morning:

Sure, technically speaking, February is most deserving of the extra day from a purely objective and mathematical standpoint, being two days shorter than any of the other months. But June or July could do so much more with an extra day. After seeing what I saw outside my window the morning of February 29th, how could I not prefer to look out my window on July 32nd and see this?

 Be gone February...bring on March!