public static long strangeCounter(long t) {
        long counter = 3;
        long seconds = 1;
        long start = 3;
        while (t > 1) {
            long interval = Math.min(counter, t-1);
            t -= interval;
            seconds += interval;
            counter -= interval;
            if (counter == 0) {
                start = start * 2;
                counter = start;   
            }
        }
        return counter;
    }