[Uh-oh: you might want to read the added bit at the end of the post before continuing.]
I daresay many a close reader will be troubled by the calendar in today’s Hi and Lois. In saying “many a close reader,” I mean me.
[Hi and Lois, February 2, 2020.]
Yes, a calendar’s weeks can begin on any day. But even the iOS Calendar app notes that Sunday is the “United States default.” Today’s strip is not the first Hi and Lois with time-management trouble. See also a 2009 calendar with twelve twenty-eight-day months.
It’s easy to make things less troubling:
[Hi and Lois revised, February 2, 2020.]
I can’t do anything about the annunciatory dialogue in this panel, which sets up a gag about six more hours of football season. No, wait — Irma and Lois have taken charge.
[Hi and Lois revised again, February 2, 2020. Click any image for a larger view.]
The wives have left this kitchen and gone out for dinner. The guys can get their own guacamole.
As the son of a tile man, I regret that Irma and Lois have taken the tile with them. Oh well.
*
11:27 a.m.: Uh-oh. Fresca points out in a comment that the X marks a crossed-off Saturday, February 1. I assumed that it signifies the Big Day. It never occurred to me that the X might mean anything other than the Big Day. Oh well (again). It was a fun mistake to make.
Related reading
All OCA Hi and Lois posts (Pinboard)
[I used the free Mac app Seashore to alter the original.]
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Hi and Lois watch
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comments: 6
???
Isn't the original calendar starting the week on Sunday?
The "x" means Saturday is crossed off, right? So it's now Sunday.
Shoot — I didn’t think of that. I thought that X marked the big day. So did Elaine. Kinda sad that they have to cross the days off, one by one by one, as in a cartoon prison cell. I will eat my mistake in the post.
Well, but I love your close reading of the cartoons (even if your reading might be wrong...), so I'm glad you and Elaine didn't read the X as "one less day in this cel(l)" but rather, "X marks the spot". :)
Cel! +1.
I know people who still X off passed days.
What I'm fascinated by is I can tell not only by color but by general shape that that's a cardinal on the calendar.
I know people who cross the days off too. It’s a good thing to do if you’re checking a calendar quickly and don’t want to make a mistake. I just had to be snarky about Lois and Irma.
Yes, that cardinal is a nice example of how an image can be clear with the most minimal information.
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