December 30

December 30, 2012 (Sunday)
Today is December 30. Last year (2011) Samoa had no such date as “December 30.” Yesterday’s blog mentioned the International Date Line and Samoa. According to Wikipedia, “Until the end of 2011, Samoa fell east of the International Date Line, observing UTC-11:00 (UTC-10:00 during daylight saving time). This was in line with neighboring American Samoa, which continues to observe UTC-11:00 (Samoa Time Zone) year-round. At the end of Thursday, 29 December 2011, Samoa continued directly to Saturday, 31 December 2011, skipping the entire calendar day of Friday 30 December 2011 and effectively re-drawing the International Date Line. Prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi stated that the change was intended to improve business with New Zealand, Australia, China and other places in Asia.”
The whole time thing is mysterious to me, and I’m not sure I completely understand it. But I am reasonably sure that we are having a “December 30” in our own country this year and we are one day away from the final day of 2012. Tomorrow night we will usher in a brand new year. I hope it’s a good year for you. (Hope it’s a good Dec 30 too).