In 2018, I spent some time in a hospital in Nicosia, Cyprus.  My stay can be described in many ways one of which is “BORING”.  Confined to bed for a lengthy period, nights and days start to merge together and I found myself with weird sleeping patterns.  Being awake during the day was marginally more entertaining than nighttime because there was a lot of stuff going on.  So, I had to find something to amuse me during my nightly sleepless hours.  I read, solved Sudoku puzzles, and listened to music but, that soon lost its appeal.

My hospital room had one of those digital 24-hour clocks that showed the time in the format of hh:mm. So, when I woke up in the middle of the night, I used the clock as a source of entertainment waiting for the clock to show times such as 22:22, 23:23, 01:23, 02:34 and so on. I admit, this was not very entertaining to the average person but, it kept me amused while trying to get back to sleep.

On the 2nd February of this year, my daughter, Leila pointed out that 02/02/2020 was unique as it was a true palindrome (reads the same way backwards and forwards).  She also remarked that the next time a true palindrome will happen is 03/03/3030; a date I fear none of us will be around to experience.  I am not so sure, Leila.

So, before you start feeling sorry for yourself, I have done my research and I have good news for you.  We will have a palindrome date much sooner than 1010 years.  Next year on 12th February the date will be 12/02/2021 and I believe this qualifies as a palindrome.

In the meantime, here are some dates to keep you amused until next February: 03/03/2020; 04/04/2020 all the way until 12th December.

I bet you are glad you read this blog.  No?