FAQ
1.) Why fool with the calendar?
There are enormous economic advantages to the proposed calendar.
These benefits come because the new calendar is identical every year...
except that, every five or six years, there is a one-week long "Mini-Month," called "Newton," between June and July. "Newton Week"
brings the calendar into sync with the seasonal change as the Earth circles the Sun.
How much needless work do institutions, such as companies and colleges, put into arranging their calendars for every coming year?
From 2006 on, they do it once ... and it is done forevermore.
2.) Surely you're not fooling with the clocks, too? (And, do you have anything else up your sleeve?)
Yes, starting 2006 January 1, it is proposed that Universal Time, on a 24 hour scale, be used, everywhere on earth, and forevermore.
As a result of this, beginning 2006 January 1, the date and time will always be the same, everywhere, greatly facilitating international understanding.
(And, yes! Whether you adopt C&T or not, PLEASE don't write dates as 01/02/03 any more! What the heck does that mean? Instead, on your
check stubs, and everything else, from now on, ONLY use: 2003-01-02, if in fact you mean: 2003 January 2. This is
the ! I didn't make
it up!)
3.) Doesn't your innovation mean that, for some folks, the date changes when the sun is overhead?
Yes ... but those folks live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As things stand, they have an International Date Line to contend with.
With my proposal, that will disappear forever. So they gain that!
4.) What happens to my birthday?
If, for example, your birthday is March 7, it will ALWAYS fall on a Wednesday, for evermore.
However, if you want to celebrate your birthday on the preceding or following weekend, why of course you can!
Christmas Day will always fall on a Sunday, which will
be pleasing to Christians,
but, will also be pleasing to companies who currently lose up to two weeks of work to the Christmas/New Year's annual mess.
New Year's Day will always be on a Sunday, too.
5.) Do I have to wait until 2006 January 1 to adopt the new calendar?
No, you can adopt it right now; but you and your neighbors won't agree on the date.
6.) Which years have a Newton "week-long month" between June and July?
years do! There is no "rule" similar to the current leapyear rule.
You simply consult this list (or your computer does). These years were chosen so as to keep the new calendar as close as could be
to the cycle of the seasons. The new calendar is never more than five days off the seasons, after 2006 January 1: 15% of the time,
the date is identical to the Gregorian date; 29% of the time, one day different; 27% of the time, two days different; 19% of the
time, three days different, and 9% of the time, 4 days different. Only 1.3% of the time, are the dates different by five days, and
never by more than that. The bottom line: 90% of the time, C&T is off Gregorian by ... 3 days or fewer!
7.) What happens to Daylight Saving Time?
Daylight Saving Time disappears, ... but also, it stays, as changes in working hours. Time zones, such as Eastern Standard Time, still exist exactly as they do now, but are considered
to be "working hours" zones. In Eastern Standard Time Zone, a "9-to-5" job is defined as a 14:00-to-22:00 (14 o'clock to 22 o'clock)
job. The next calendar day begins
at what we now call 7 p.m. in the Eastern Time zone. (On the West Coast of the US, the next day begins at 4 p.m.) "Spring forward, Fall back" now
means that, on the chosen day, everyone changes their work hours by one hour, but the clock time stays the same. "See you tomorrow" refers
to the sun being overhead, not the calendar.
8.) My birthday is January 31. But there will be no more January 31st 's! And I run a restaurant: there will be no birthday parties on February 30's
since no one was born on them! I'll lose business.
I do think we could adapt to this! And what about people who are born in Newton week? When
is their birthday, in non-Newton years? (Actually, I suggest that
such folk should all consider themselves to be ... born on the fourth of July!) For people born on the
vanished 31st days of months - there's a simple
solution. They were born on the last day of the month,
so their birthday is the last day of the month (which
would be the 30th).
9.) Calendar Reform has always failed before. This will, too.
Right, calendar reform has always failed before. The reason was that all the major proposals included breaking the seven day cycle of the week.
That is completely unacceptable to humankind, and that will never happen. The C&T Calendar does not break that cycle. The C&T Calendar can be implemented by
those companies that want efficiency whenever they please. Just do it! Countries can, too. Just do it, Mr. President! Just do it, Madame President!
10.) Hold on! You've forgotten the farmers! They can't be four days off in spring planting!
They don't need to be four days off in spring planting. They just check the date on their calendar that is painted on the
wall (painted, since it remains identical from year to year), and then they check what
the is, to see if it is planting day yet.
The Gregorian Calendar does not cease to exist, it just isn't ordinarily used. Except by agronomists.
11.) Congratulations on inventing this wonderful new calendar!
Don't congratulate me! Instead, congratulate the inventor,
!
12.) What are Julian Days, and why do I need them?
You don't need them. And, likely, you don't need the Phases of the Moon, either. In fact, if we are successful, this whole site can be junked, except for
two items:
The itself (ONE page, perpetual; will achieve all-time record for number of hits).
The (our new calendar, BUT giving the Gregorian "crop-planting" dates for each year.)
However, to answer your question, visit "."
And, here's a handy for Julian day numbers.
13.) Why 2006 January 1?
Because in both the current Gregorian Calendar, and in the new C&T calendar, that day is a Sunday (the start of a 7-day cycle, which we call a "week.")
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14.) Won't this whole exercise be costly?
It will be very costly []; as costly as the Y2K problem was.
But it is a one-time cost, and then we are safe until the year 10,000. Also, since we have just been
through Y2K, we are in an ideal position to make a "second adjustment," having already located the software that needs to be adjusted, and learned how to do it.
Let's not get rusty on this again: strike while the iron is hot!
15.) So, you are really just asking: do I want a very accurate, but very inconvenient calendar (Gregorian), or
do I want a more-than-adequately-accurate, but VERY CONVENIENT calendar (C&T)?
Yes.
16.) Where can I download a tabloid-size (17 x 22) C&T Calendar?
17.) Well, I still say you are going to fail.
Oh yes? I vividly remember phoning my elderly mother, in my native Canada, some years before she died:
and with astonishment hearing her quite casually say, "it was very hot today, 30 degrees."
What this shows is that a nice conservative old lady was able to totally adapt to an alien idea, the Celcius temperature scale. We are all adaptable!
(This example perhaps will not be intelligible to someone who has never used Fahrenheit!)
It CAN be done, folks, and the decision is YOURS, not mine. Each of you.
18.) Where do I submit an infrequently-asked question?
Submit questions to your .
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