1. Would it not be a whole lot easier just to leave things the way they are?
Answer: It depends on how you look at it. In the one sense, yes, because you wouldn’t have to have the initial upheaval in the first year or so whereby the calendar changes quite a bit from the way you know it. But in almost all aspects, absolutely not. Once this calendar ...takes off, you will never need to worry about making annual schedules every year. Those things you do every year, you can schedule on a particular date in 2023 when this calendar comes into effect, and there is no reason it can’t stay on the same date every year.

2. Why 2023?
Answer: Easy. As described, each year begins on Sunday 1 January and ends on Saturday 31 December. I have chosen this point as the transition because, under our current Gregorian Calendar, the year 2022 ends on Saturday 31 December, so a transition to Sunday 1 January 2023 under the Common Calendar is extremely smooth.

3. Why call it the Common Calendar?
Answer: For simplicity. The intention is that after 2023, it will be in common use throughout the world. The Common Calendar provides a quick and easy name, and most people would think of the “common calendar” as opposed to calendars they may use for business, academic, sacred or other purposes anyway.

4. Why have the two 31-day months with the 29-day month in the middle?
Answer: For symmetry. I mentioned that I had organised for Christmas and New Year to both be Sundays. This would require the month of December (and also the last month of every quarter to not wreck the equal quarters) to have 31 days (unless they had 30 days and one defined Christmas Day as Sunday 24 December and Saturday 23rd as Christmas Eve – but that wouldn’t take off, it’s too radical a change). We could have the two 30-day months and the last month of each quarter would have 31, but that would be less symmetrical. This way, the months look the same from back-to-front as from front-to-back. This would aid businesspeople and statisticians to do their work.

5. But why can’t you fix Christmas on a Monday and New Year’s Day on a Sunday?
Answer: Do you really want Christmas Day to be always on a Monday? As it stands now, Sunday (although to a lesser extent than 100 years ago) is the least active day of the week for workers, and Christmas Day is the least active day of the year for workers. So to have Christmas Day coincide with Sunday makes it all fall neatly into place. On the other hand, Christmas Eve is generally a very busy day of the year for a lot of workers, including those who don’t usually have to work Sundays. How many workers are forced to open up on a Sunday 24 December to get their business done before Christmas? Too many. You’ll be too widely-hated if you allow Christmas Eve to be forced onto a Sunday every year. Besides, people are used to New Year’s Eve being the 31st anyway. For it to be suddenly the 30th would confuse in a way that few other holidays would change to be confused by changes to month lengths.

6. It’s not fair! My birthday will always be on a Wednesday whereas my wife always gets hers on a Saturday. How does that work out?
Answer: Can everything work out exactly the same for everyone in life? In any event, this calendar does allow for everyone to celebrate their birthday on any nearby weekend date they choose if they need a day to celebrate.

7. Help! I’m going into labour and it’s Intercalaris. My baby will only have a birthday every five or six years!
Answer: Easy enough! The child is being born on a day in that week which ends the second quarter year. So the child’s birthday takes place in the last week of the second quarter year. Suppose the child is born on the Tuesday. So celebrate the child’s birthday on the Tuesday at the end of the second quarter year – usually 27 June.

8. But what if your birthday is removed at the end of the month?
Answer: Easy. The last day of certain months has been removed. Say your birthday was on 30 November. You have two very clear options, and you can officiate either. Since you were born on the last day of November – celebrate your birthday on the last day of November, the 29th. Or, since you were born 30 days from the first of the month, celebrate your birthday 30 days from the first of the month, on 1 December after the 29-day month.

9. But what about May and August? They lose TWO days at the end of the month!
Answer: I do actually realise that – it’s my calendar after all! A little bit more tricky but can still be dealt with. If the penultimate and last days of the month (30 and 31 May/August) are the days you were born, one can celebrate one’s birthday on the penultimate and last days of the month (28 and 29 May/August). Or, if you were born on the 30th and 31st days from the first of the month (30 and 31 May/August), you can celebrate your birthdays on the 30th and 31st days from the first of the month (1 and 2 June/September). There is a third option here as well – under our calendar, the closest date to 30 May/August which will not be removed is 29 May/August, and the closest to 31 May/August which will not be removed is 1 June/September, so birthdays can be transferred in this way. I really don’t mind – it’s up to you!

10. I’m worst off – my birthday is 6 April. Good Friday every year!!
Answer: I’m sorry to have done this to you, but if Easter is to be fixed it has to happen to someone. I have to be objective and 6 April is, from a historical perspective, most appropriate for the reasons I have discussed. But like anyone, why not celebrate your birthday on a better day – celebrate it on Easter Monday once a lot of festivities have died down. It’s only three days difference and you get a much happier birthday.

11. I work the land. I’m used to planting on 21 March, but since 21 March moves around in the solar year so much it will go wrong.
Answer: Use the base number. Round it to the nearest whole number and add that number from the date. If the base number is near 2, for example, plant on 21+2=23 March. If it’s near -2, then, plant on 21-2=19 March.

12. Stuff all!
Answer: Then you will have to deal with ongoing calendar changes for the rest of your life. It’s quite different, but it will save you a lot of stress after the first year or so.