Your urging to know state rules and your use of "12pm" reminds me of an online hearing of new draft Vermont state notary rules I attended a few weeks ago. One sentence in the draft rules was
"A Commission and any associated Special Endorsement expires if not renewed by midnight on the date of expiration."
I pointed out a day has two midnights, one at the beginning, and another at the end. The rules should specify what is intended.
I avoid writing 12 pm or 12 am unless a computer forces me to. Modern computers interpret 12 pm to be noon and 12 am to be midnight, but when I was growing up, that wasn't assumed. Some people might be genuinely confused. Other people might secretly know what was meant, but try to interpret it whichever way is to their advantage. But of course, there is no way someone could enforce a forum post to their advantage, so it doesn't matter in this case. |
