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Get ready, folks. This month is going to be a doozy.

It’s a leap year, meaning there will be 29 days in February, an extra day that happens about every four years. It’s designed to keep our calender basically matching our rotation around the sun. At least that’s what people way smarter than me say.

But be careful what you read about these leap years, especially on an internet search. Since this newspaper is published on Thursdays, I thought I would search the internet to see the last year there were five Thursdays in a February, as there will be this year.

It was 1996. There’s a way to mathematically get that answer, but I couldn’t figure it out.

But along the way, I found out some pretty interesting customs and beliefs associated with Feb. 29, that extra day we get this year.

Since I work on a salary, shouldn’t I be compensated for one extra day of work this year? I think so. There’s probably a lawyer out there who would argue this on my behalf.

If someone was serving a one-year prison sentence, shouldn’t they be let out a day early? It would make sense, but this one doesn’t matter. It seems that just about all prisoners get out too early.

Yes, we’ve got an extra day this year. Let’s hope we all make the best of it.

– Mike Barnhardt