# Only 2 weeks left until the end of the world! Dec 21, 2012



## StihlHead (Dec 7, 2012)

Yep, its that time again, the end of the world is nearly here. The Olmec/Maya calendar ends as of December 21, 2012. That day marks the end of 13th b'ak'tun and the close of the Olmec 5125 year long cycle. What will happen then?

The End of Days? The Zombie Apocalypse? The US Fiscal Cliff Dive? The Alien Invasion of Earth? An Iran-Israel nuclear armageddon? EU collapse?

So what are you planning on doing that day? Me, I have enough guns and ammo to take out a few thousand green aliens. I also have all of my saws sharp and lots of gas in the event of an onslaught of zombies at close quarters. Cannot hurt to clean all the guns and sharpen and tune all the saws. If the electricity goes out for good I have the saws and more than enough local trees to cut for fuel. I also have a month supply of beer on hand in case the Federal Government folds up shop.

Then if none of this stuff happens, I have a few parties to go to and a lot of beer to consume.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 7, 2012)

If they couldn't see Cortez coming they damn sure couldn't see the end of the World coming.


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## StihlHead (Dec 7, 2012)

Uh... a bit of history here: the Mayans were gone by the time Cortez conqured the... Aztecs. Different mezoamerican tribe, different location, different time, and all that.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 7, 2012)

I know but it always makes me chuckle. Just like the discovery this year of a long count calendar that goes way beyond 2012. In the seventies I wrote a computer program for my wife's uncle who was a Mayan scholar. It converted long count calendar dates to Gregorian calendar dates. Me and him spent many an hour over many a brew talking all things Mayan.


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## Pallet Pete (Dec 7, 2012)

I better sell all my firewood before the world ends


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## jwoair23 (Dec 7, 2012)

I am personally hoping for the zombie apocalypse!


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## fossil (Dec 7, 2012)

The comet's coming by to pick me up on the 20th.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 7, 2012)

The number 13 was a big thing with the Mayans. As were a few other points in time. A glif discovered in Guatemala this year has predictions thousands of years after the 13th baktun.

Richard and me used to sit for hours while he talked about the Mayans. Just before he died he told me that he appreciated me listening and that I was the only person he knew who's eyes didn't start to roll back in their head when he talked about the stuff.


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## midwestcoast (Dec 7, 2012)

I'll be celebrating the Solstice and the (slow) return of the Sun.  Maybe a nice bonfire & good food & drink with some friends.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 7, 2012)

As would have been the Mayans. That calendar of theirs, well they borrowed it and embellished it, was based on day and night and the movement of the Sun. First guys to figure out a 365 day year in fact.


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## midwestcoast (Dec 7, 2012)

I think it's pretty odd to make assumptions about what the "end' of the calendar means when we have no experiential grasp of what time even meant to the people that made it.  Totally different conceptions of reality between us & them.  
That said, it seems the simplest thing to do when you run out of numbers is to figure out how to make more numbers.  I bet it would seem a puzzle, but has to be less hassle than an apocalypse.


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## hossthehermit (Dec 8, 2012)




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## Pallet Pete (Dec 8, 2012)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...lypse-panic-spreads-as-December-21-nears.html

Here is a fun article 

Pete


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## firefighterjake (Dec 8, 2012)

I heard the end of days occurs when 
Scotty Overkill's wood pile topples over . . . creating a massive earthquake on the east coast which causes a tsunami that spans half the world . . . and when the world-wide supply of Twinkies finally runs out all chaos breaks loose as the rampaging hordes start to riot in search of the Lost Twinkie -- a Twinkie foretold by the ancient Mayans that would bring peace to the earth . . . or maybe it was ever-lasting darkness and despair . . . my translation may have been off.


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## StihlHead (Dec 8, 2012)

firefighterjake said:


> I heard the end of days occurs when
> Scotty Overkill's wood pile topples over . . . creating a massive earthquake on the east coast which causes a tsunami that spans half the world . . . and when the world-wide supply of Twinkies finally runs out all chaos breaks loose as the rampaging hordes start to riot in search of the Lost Twinkie -- a Twinkie foretold by the ancient Mayans that would bring peace to the earth . . . or maybe it was ever-lasting darkness and despair . . . my translation may have been off.


 
That gets a big Homer Simpson wiggly fingers, while wolfing down as many stale Hostess products bought on Ebay for a huge markup as fast as I possibly can, "No... Twinkies?!?!?!"

_And it was said that the End of Days would come after the Great Lignin Pile became unbalanced causing the Great Gravity Shift and subsequent Global Floods, and whence in the ruins there were no more packaged treats of frosting filled cake snacks becasue the eternal earthly brotherhood of levened bread bakers union declined to accept the dismal financial offerings of a hollowed out corporate entity raided by evil hedge fund money mongers sent to the earth from Hell to ravage the financial markets._


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## StihlHead (Dec 8, 2012)

fossil said:


> The comet's coming by to pick me up on the 20th.


 
Hale-Bopp!

Er, I hope that you did not get your ballacks lopped off like the Heaven's Gate people did in Sandy Eggo?


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## firefighterjake (Dec 8, 2012)

fossil said:


> The comet's coming by to pick me up on the 20th.


 
That reminds me . . . I need a new jogging suit and sneakers . . . maybe I'll pick up some Purple Kool-Aid too.


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## fossil (Dec 8, 2012)

StihlHead said:


> Hale-Bopp!...


 
No, not that kind of comet, I'm talkin' about a Mercury...


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## Retired Guy (Dec 10, 2012)

Gotta love it!


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## StihlHead (Dec 10, 2012)

Ah ha! More proof of the end of days:

This box of Twinkies expies on... 12/21/12!


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## pen (Dec 10, 2012)

StihlHead said:


> Ah ha! More proof of the end of days:
> 
> This box of Twinkies expies on... 12/21/12!
> 
> View attachment 84590


 
Must be a misprint, shouldn't it read 12/2112 ?


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## StihlHead (Dec 10, 2012)

That is Urban Legend. Actually Twinkies expire pretty quickly... and why the price is dropping so fast on Ebay. This is from Wikipedia:

Shelf life
A common urban legend claims that Twinkies have an infinite shelf life or can last unspoiled for a relatively long time of ten, fifty, or one hundred years due to chemicals used in production.[15] This urban legend is false, although Twinkies can last a relatively long time (25 days or more) because they are made without unstabilized dairy products and thus spoil more slowly than most bakery items.[16] In reality, Twinkies are on the shelf for a short time; a company executive told the _New York Times_ in 2000 that the "Twinkie is on the shelf no more than 7 to 10 days."[17]


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## pen (Dec 10, 2012)

StihlHead said:


> That is Urban Legend. Actually Twinkies expire pretty quickly...


 
Forget to use , and everyone gets so serious!

Guess I'll have to buy another freezer or 3 to keep my supply from going bad 

(Just to set the record straight, I've never eaten a twinkie)

pen


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## fossil (Dec 10, 2012)

pen said:


> Forget to use , and everyone gets so serious!...


 
Some folks were just born that way.


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## pen (Dec 10, 2012)

fossil said:


> Some folks were just born that way.


 
With the clock ticking towards 12/21, there's going to be less of that going on 

pen


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## StihlHead (Dec 10, 2012)

Just wanted to set the record straight with people that actually _think_ that Twinkies _will_ last forever... and eat them.

Someone paid $60 for a box of them 2 weeks ago on Ebay.

Me, I am waiting for that ride in the Mercury. I was living in San Diego when Hale-Bopp came around, and here in Oregon when the Rajnish's had that place in eastern Oregon, and my x-x-x-x-x-x-x-GF wanted me to go visit Jim Jones' place in Guyana when I was with her in Central America. She also wanted me to go to Nicaragua after the government was overthrown there, but I declined on both. I had enough problems in southern Mexico and El Salvador being a gringo and having M-16s shoved in my face. 

Some people do actually get carried away with this stuff. My dad was in NYC when the War of the Worlds was on the radio, and he said people went stark raving mad. Even though it was advertized to be a hoax long in advance. On the flip side I was in Southern California during the Rodney King riots. One minute a guy was dragged from his truck and hit in the head with a garbage disposal on the news, and the next thing they were looting and burning in East San Diego and South Central LA. I bought the majority of my guns after living through that inferno. Things can and do go to absolute shyte in about 20 minutes...


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## begreen (Dec 11, 2012)

BrotherBart said:


> As would have been the Mayans. That calendar of theirs, well they borrowed it and embellished it, was based on day and night and the movement of the Sun. First guys to figure out a 365 day year in fact.


 
Um, I thought that the ancient Egyptians had already figured this out long before the Mayans. Their civil calendar was based on a 365 day year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sothic_cycle


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## begreen (Dec 11, 2012)

pen said:


> Forget to use , and everyone gets so serious!
> 
> Guess I'll have to buy another freezer or 3 to keep my supply from going bad
> 
> ...


 
We had a package of Twinkies on top of a cabinet at work. It had to be up there for at least 5-7 years. When we moved offices and discovered the Twinkie package it was dusty, but otherwise hard to tell from the product on the grocer's shelf.


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## Dustin (Dec 11, 2012)

My biggest fear, is that tons of people will buy into this and go bat sheet crazy on the 21st. 

Making work very, very busy for me.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 11, 2012)

StihlHead said:


> That is Urban Legend. Actually Twinkies expire pretty quickly... and why the price is dropping so fast on Ebay. This is from Wikipedia:
> 
> Shelf life
> A common urban legend claims that Twinkies have an infinite shelf life or can last unspoiled for a relatively long time of ten, fifty, or one hundred years due to chemicals used in production.[15] This urban legend is false, although Twinkies can last a relatively long time (25 days or more) because they are made without unstabilized dairy products and thus spoil more slowly than most bakery items.[16] In reality, Twinkies are on the shelf for a short time; a company executive told the _New York Times_ in 2000 that the "Twinkie is on the shelf no more than 7 to 10 days."[17]


 
Here's one that has been around since 1976 . . . no mold . . . but I don't think I would dare eat it based on the condition.

http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/Gold...time/-/8792012/17473566/-/raesj9/-/index.html


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## firefighterjake (Dec 11, 2012)

Dustin said:


> My biggest fear, is that tons of people will buy into this and go bat sheet crazy on the 21st.
> 
> Making work very, very busy for me.


 
Time to make the Purple Kool-Aid!


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## Jack Straw (Dec 11, 2012)

The world is ending? OK, the following people can kiss my ass.......


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## Delta-T (Dec 11, 2012)

seems the Mayans have, fairly accurately, predicted the end of The Jersey Shore TV program.....not to shabby for a people who had no TV. Kudos to the Mayans. I'm more worried about the new beginning that follows....what if it signals the rise of "socks and sandals are ok"?? or "you can mix polak dots with plaids"?? Be afraid, be very afraid.


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## begreen (Dec 11, 2012)

I might have to go back to Hawaii so that I can dance around a fire on the beach naked.


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## Gark (Dec 11, 2012)

That date has no meaning to me because I will have returned to K-PAX by then.


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## Hearth Mistress (Dec 11, 2012)

midwestcoast said:


> I'll be celebrating the Solstice and the (slow) return of the Sun.  Maybe a nice bonfire & good food & drink with some friends.



My husband and I will be celebrating Yule, or the solstice as well! 

I will be making a special dinner- roasted leg of lamb with root vegetables and mincemeat pies.  I am the 3rd generation of Wiccans in my family, please don't think anything less of me - It's just another religion, not the stupid stuff seen in movies and on True Blood  I've always been the "keeper of the fire" hence my avatar and the joys of my wood stove!


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## fossil (Dec 11, 2012)

Hearth Mistress said:


> ...I am the 3rd generation of Wiccans in my family, please don't think anything less of me...


 
The only people I would think less of are the people who would think less of you because of your beliefs.  Hell with them.  Enjoy the season...however you choose to celebrate it.  Rick


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## BrotherBart (Dec 11, 2012)

Guy on the radio brought up a good point today. The Mayan long count calendar doesn't have leap years. So by the Gregorian calendar translation the world has already ended.


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## Hearth Mistress (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks Rick! Nice quote in your signature too 

"Witchcraft & superstition will always prevail over logic & reason"

I've studied religions out of curiosity and love the traditions and rituals of it all, the why we do what we do and how it all got started just fascinates me. Hum...maybe I should start a new thread on everyone's holiday traditions


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## Dustin (Dec 11, 2012)

Jack Straw said:


> The world is ending? OK, the following people can kiss my ass.......



You sir, made me spit perfectly good beer out in laughter.

I'm on duty that day. I think i'll take my patrol boat out and float in the middle of the Columbia, far away from the crazies


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## begreen (Dec 13, 2012)

Here we go again. They had a great spot on this topic on our local jazz station today:


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## StihlHead (Dec 13, 2012)

begreen said:


> I might have to go back to Hawaii so that I can dance around a fire on the beach naked.


 
You can go down to Steilacoom and dance nekked on the beach... of course you might be arrested... or freeze to death in this foggy drizzle weather.


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## StihlHead (Dec 13, 2012)

Hearth Mistress said:


> My husband and I will be celebrating Yule, or the solstice as well!
> 
> I will be making a special dinner- roasted leg of lamb with root vegetables and mincemeat pies. I am the 3rd generation of Wiccans in my family, please don't think anything less of me - It's just another religion, not the stupid stuff seen in movies and on True Blood  I've always been the "keeper of the fire" hence my avatar and the joys of my wood stove!


 
Leg of Lamb? Good eats that. Too bad you are on the other side of the continent from me. My ex-SIL is a Wiccan up in Vermont.  I am descended from a witch tried in Fairfield, CT in the 17th century, as well as the judge at that trial, most of the witnesses, and the town clergy. I am also descended from many founding Quakers/Friends in the Bucks, Co. area of PA. We must me shirt-tail cousins. My ex (and her sister) are 8th cousins to me.


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## webbie (Dec 13, 2012)

firefighterjake said:


> I heard the end of days occurs when
> Scotty Overkill's wood pile topples over . ..


 

No, the real end of the world occurs when Scotty starts believing in the actual facts about the  beginning of the world...


I thought 12/12 was the day.......here I was already breathing a sigh of relief.


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## fossil (Dec 13, 2012)




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## Hearth Mistress (Dec 13, 2012)

StihlHead said:


> Leg of Lamb? Good eats that. Too bad you are on the other side of the continent from me. My ex-SIL is a Wiccan up in Vermont.  I am descended from a witch tried in Fairfield, CT in the 17th century, as well as the judge at that trial, most of the witnesses, and the town clergy. I am also descended from many founding Quakers/Friends in the Bucks, Co. area of PA. We must me shirt-tail cousins. My ex (and her sister) are 8th cousins to me.


Hah! I LIVE in Bucks County, PA and so do my Parents and who's left of my grandparents! We may be related after all


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## Hogwildz (Dec 14, 2012)

Pallet Pete said:


> I better sell all my firewood before the world ends


Send that wood over here. you can't take it with ya.........................


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## fossil (Dec 15, 2012)




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## webbie (Dec 16, 2012)

Hearth Mistress said:


> Hah! I LIVE in Bucks County, PA and so do my Parents and who's left of my grandparents! We may be related after all


 
Reading, Hazelton, Latimer, Warrington, Perkasie....all the stomping grounds of parts of my family before and even now......

Quakertown is where I got all my stoves in the early days...lots of stove history around there.

When I lived there I found out they don't call it "Bucks" county for nothing......


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## StihlHead (Dec 18, 2012)

3 days, 4 hours, 23 minutes left of the world...

Some in Asia are spending their way into oblivion before 12/21/12:

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=129248&sid=38463132&con_type=1

Lots of one way flights are also booked for France and Turkey:

http://global.christianpost.com/new...ge-in-one-way-flights-to-france-turkey-86469/


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## billb3 (Dec 18, 2012)

Actually you can still get twinkies outside the states
It's just the U.S. license that is <<expired


Can't quite get a handle on anyone actually believing the world is going to end.
Course, there are those that believe campaign rhetoric, too, so there you go ....


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## Adios Pantalones (Dec 18, 2012)

Not sure if it's been discussed, but the Maya didn't predict this as the end of the world, just the end of a long-count calendar. Another starts after that.

In fact, inscriptions with reference to dates after this Friday were found as well.

the Mayans weren't nearly as goofy as people on the interwebz


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## Delta-T (Dec 18, 2012)

was it not the Mayans that set Wednesday as "Prince Spaghetti Night"?


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## Adios Pantalones (Dec 18, 2012)

Delta-T said:


> was it not the Mayans that set Wednesday as "Prince Spaghetti Night"?


 
I'm not sure. Is Anthony a Mayan name?


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## muncybob (Dec 18, 2012)

Finally we learn what really happened:


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## BrianK (Dec 18, 2012)




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## BrotherBart (Dec 18, 2012)

"If the end of the world does indeed happen on December 21, some of the people predicting it will meet it in a prison cell: Chinese authorities have arrested more than 500 members of a doomsday cult in a nationwide crackdown."


http://rt.com/news/china-almighty-god-mayan-calendar-arrests-311/


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## pen (Dec 18, 2012)

BrotherBart said:


> "If the end of the world does indeed happen on December 21, some of the people predicting it will meet it in a prison cell: Chinese authorities have arrested more than 500 members of a doomsday cult in a nationwide crackdown."
> 
> 
> http://rt.com/news/china-almighty-god-mayan-calendar-arrests-311/


 
And they wonder why the gov't filters their internet


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## StihlHead (Dec 18, 2012)

billb3 said:


> Actually you can still get twinkies outside the states
> It's just the U.S. license that is <<expired
> 
> 
> ...


 
Wow, we could import them and make a fortune on Ebay... _rare imported cake treats. Only $10 each, delivered fresh to your door once a week. Discounts on all orders shipped after 12/21/12._


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## firefighterjake (Dec 18, 2012)

REM . . . bet we'll be hearing this a lot on the radio on Friday.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=its the end of the world as we know it video&mid=1D1630E5A7153D50DEF21D1630E5A7153D50DEF2&view=detail&FORM=VIRE5


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## BrianK (Dec 19, 2012)




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## StihlHead (Dec 19, 2012)

They got it wrong... the actual end of days was 12/12/12, when the very last batch of Twinkies shipped from a Hostess factory in Georgia:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/12/news/companies/hostess-twinkies/index.html

My world has already ended!


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## begreen (Dec 19, 2012)

Hey, did anyone think to ask the currently living Mayans about this?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/12/19/mayan-prediction/1780719/


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## pen (Dec 19, 2012)

Had a group of kids (aged 13-14) seriously ask me what I thought about the world ending 12/21 the other day. I told them to prepare they should have a comfy lawn chair ready so that they can enjoy the view.

I was ultra impressed to receive a smile and nod from each as they understood what was meant by that.

pen


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## tfdchief (Dec 20, 2012)

BrianK said:


>


Looks like Jake and I are going to be really busy on Friday


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## Pallet Pete (Dec 20, 2012)

Everybody now sing with me it's the end of the world as we know it and....





Pete


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## PapaDave (Dec 20, 2012)

pen said:


> (Just to set the record straight, I've never eaten a twinkie)


Wait....What?!
Unpossible. You just don't remember, which means you wouldn't know if you had or hadn't.
I'm going with that.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 20, 2012)

tfdchief said:


> Looks like Jake and I are going to be really busy on Friday


 
Not me . . . I'm catching a ride on the Hale-Bopp comet . . . went out and bought my jogging suit last night. Will be mixing up some Purple Kool Aid tonight for something to drink along the way.


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## Adios Pantalones (Dec 20, 2012)

Everyone's got a meme! I'll see you bizzitches in the 14th Baktun


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## BrotherBart (Dec 20, 2012)

Happy New Baktun!


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## StihlHead (Dec 20, 2012)

begreen said:


> Hey, did anyone think to ask the currently living Mayans about this?


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## Thistle (Dec 20, 2012)

Hmmmmm decisions decisions..


...


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## begreen (Dec 20, 2012)




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## Hearth Mistress (Dec 20, 2012)

webbie said:


> Reading, Hazelton, Latimer, Warrington, Perkasie....all the stomping grounds of parts of my family before and even now......
> 
> Quakertown is where I got all my stoves in the early days...lots of stove history around there.
> 
> When I lived there I found out they don't call it "Bucks" county for nothing......


Hah! My husband's family lived in Warrington for many generations! The original farm house was on a lot of property that was divided up to all the kids and their kids and so on....
Before we moved to  Point Pleasant, PA, east of Doylestown, we lived in his Grandmothers 309 sq ft sears and robuck kit house his family built. You wouldn't recognize Warrington now, it's like driving in NE 
Philly with all of the stripmalls, no more farm and 

We went to Quakertown to get a stove but they were so mean to us, we left. Turned out good for us anyway as we ended up getting ours used from a friend 

Small world!


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## hossthehermit (Dec 21, 2012)




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## Freeheat (Dec 21, 2012)

I'm still here ! As Pink Floyd sang   " is there anybody out there just not if you can hear......"


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## Delta-T (Dec 21, 2012)

good job people...we have traveled safely through to the present.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 21, 2012)

I am beginning to think this just maya not happen.


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## lukem (Dec 21, 2012)

Day ain't over yet, folks.  I'll be in my underground bunker until midnight CST, just to be safe.


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## Pallet Pete (Dec 21, 2012)

Um I dont think Mayan's went by CST Lukem just saying...


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## lukem (Dec 21, 2012)

Pallet Pete said:


> Um I dont think Mayan's went by CST Lukem just saying...


 
You can't prove that any more than the end of the world WON'T happen today .  Now go seek shelter...


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## Pallet Pete (Dec 21, 2012)

lukem said:


> You can't prove that any more than the end of the world WON'T happen today . Now go seek shelter...


 
What good is a shelter Lukem ? its the end of the world  man up and sit on the porch with a beer and watch the world end in a front row seat . I have to drink all that home brew before it happens or it will all be for nothing. If it doesn't happen I will probably wake up in ICU with alcohol poisoning though. 

Pete


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## lukem (Dec 21, 2012)

Pallet Pete said:


> What good is a shelter Lukem ? its the end of the world  man up and sit on the porch with a beer and watch the world end in a front row seat . I have to drink all that home brew before it happens or it will all be for nothing. If it doesn't happen I will probably wake up in ICU with alcohol poisoning though.
> 
> Pete


 
Wait...so spending my entire life's savings on that shelter with all the food and guns in it wasn't a good idea ?  That preacher man LIED to me.   He said I would be one of the chosen few left behind it I gave enough money to his "church".


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## Jags (Dec 21, 2012)

We're Baktun.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 21, 2012)

Everybody can relax. It looks like it was just a pyramid scheme.


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## Jags (Dec 21, 2012)

Everybody is making jokes about this like there is no tomorrow.


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## lukem (Dec 21, 2012)

Ba dum bump, clang.


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## begreen (Dec 23, 2012)

Well poop, it still looks like I have to pay taxes. Closing this thread.


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