“(He told me) Variable has to be down to the second to be accurate and pretty much no one knows that, so variable isn't really reliable or accurate.”

Well let's do the math, shall we?
Variables are derived from the Color and Tone of the Design and Personality of both Sun/Earth and the Nodes

Sun in Gate/Line 41.1 @02:18:26 AM UTC (Januari 22nd 2018) until Gate/Line 41.2 @00:25:13 AM UTC (Januari 23rd 2018)
(I'm using Jovian Archive Maia Mechanics v2.9.9.0 and https://www.timeanddate.com for the calculations)

Distance/duration: 22 hours, 6 minutes and 47 seconds

1 Line: 22×60 + 6 = 1.326 minutes or 79.607 seconds
Each Line has 6 Colors: 1.326/6 = 221 minutes per Color or 13.260 seconds
Each Color has 6 Tones: 221/6 = 36,83 minutes per Tone or 2.210 seconds
Each Tone has 5 Bases: 36.83/5 = 7,37 minutes per Base or 442 seconds

Left or Right Variable is 3 Tones long = 110,5 minutes per Leftness/Rightness

Sun/Earth take 1 year to Transit the whole wheel of 64 Gates
Nodes take 18,6 years to Transit the whole wheel of 64 Gates
So per Tone 36,83*18,6 = 685,1 minutes per Tone (roughly)

Left or Right Variable is 3 Tones long = 2055,3 minutes per Leftness/Rightness

So Birth time needs to be roughly 36 minutes accurate or 2.210 seconds, not 'to the second'
And besides there is always reverse engineering and Vedic Birth Time rectification if need be.

For a giggle, here is the Moon in Gate 25 @03:08:06 AM UTC (Januari 22nd 2018) until Gate 17 @13:45:13 PM UTC (Januari 22nd 2018)
https://www.timeanddate.com

Distance/duration: 10 hours, 37 minutes and 7 seconds or 637 minutes or 38.227 seconds

1 Gate has 6 Lines: 637/6 = 106,17 minutes per Line or 6.371,17 seconds
Each Line has 6 Colors: 106,17/6 = 17,69 minutes per Color or 1.061,68 seconds
Each Color has 6 Tones: 17,69/6 = 2,95 minutes per Tone or 176,98 seconds

Each Tone has 5 Bases: 2,95/5 = 0,59 minutes per Base or 35,4 seconds

MoonBlog 42.1

Gate 42 of growth, increase. The expansion of the resources which maximizes the development of full potential.

Gate 42 Line 1 Diversification
Exalted: The ability when surplus resources are available to extend one's activities beyond their normal scope. Growth through expansion particularly when defined to the root.
Detriment: A tendency when surplus resources are available to centrifugal application. Decadence. Too much expansion can lead to decadence.