Uses for Second

August 19, 2026

After I finished canning my salsa yesterday, I was disappointed to find that only four of the eight jars I processed in the steam bath had sealed.  With the other jar of fresh salsa that gave me a total of 5 pints (2.7 l) of salsa that I would have to store in the refrigerator.  Since these jars only had a shelf life of 3 to 5 days, there was no way I was going to be able to eat the salsa before it went bad.  That meant a huge waste of time and money that I was not going to accept.  I search online for a way to salvage all (or as much as possible) of my effort.  What I found was that it is possible to run the salsa recipe a second time.  That meant I needed to pour the unsealed jars back into a pot, check and wash the jars, change the lids, and then repeat the entire process.  I always save the water in the canner to use on my garden, so I reheated it to boiling.  I sterilized the jars and new lids and poured the reheated salsa back in, along with the fresh salsa I had kept in the refrigerator.  This time I gave the canning an extra five minutes (35 total) and let the jars cool in the pot for another ten, just to be sure.  All five jars of the second batch of salsa sealed, for a total of 9 pints (4.25 l).

When I went online, I found the word second can function as a noun, adjective, adverb, or verb.  It is most used as a number or order position (adjective and adverb) in a series and means an ordinal number after first.  As a rank or quality second means next in importance, authority, or precedence.  Second can also be used as a measurement of time and space (noun) or as an informal expression for a short moment (e.g., wait a second).  Second is used as a unit of angular movement in navigation and astronomy.  In manufacturing second refers to items with minor flaws sold at a discount or the second forward gear in a motor vehicle’s transmission.  In music second represents the interval between two adjacent notes on a musical scale.  As an action (Verb) second can mean a formal statement of support or agreement for a motion so it can be debated or voted on (e.g., do I hear a second?) in a meeting.  For the British military second means transferring an employee or military officer to a different temporary reassignment duty (pronounced se-COND).  Just a few of many uses.

In a duel, a second is a trusted representative, advisor, and witness chosen to arrange the terms of combat, ensure fairness, and attempt to resolve the dispute peacefully.  Dueling was never legally sanctioned under English common law, but statutory bans and constitutional prohibitions were passed from medieval times through the 19th century as individual nations and US states outlawed dueling.  Dueling was globally outlawed by the Catholic Church in 1215 during the Fourth Council of the Lateran, but it was not until the 17th century that dueling was made illegal across various European nations where it was practiced.  In the US, several states passed prohibitions in the 19th century and by 1859 it was explicitly banned in at least 16 American states.  It was not until after the US Civil War that dueling effectively ceased and was universally banned across the US states and territories.

Thoughts: I was glad the second attempt to reprocess my salsa ended better than the three attempts it took to finish the duel after Kentucky Representative William Graves slapped Maine Congressman Jonathan Cilley in the face with an empty glove in 1838 (Cilley died).  Another famous duel was between Vice President Aaron Burr and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton.  Hamilton was said to have shot in the air, but Burr shot Hamilton in the stomach.  Hamilton died the next day.  Burr was charged with murder but never went to trial, although it did squash his run for the presidency.  Not a duel, but in 1856 Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave a fiery anti-slavery speech called “The Crime Against Kansas,” after which South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks beat him bloody and unconscious, polarizing the nation and became a major step toward the American Civil War.  And we think congress misbehaves today.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.