tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post1506380811006384284..comments2024-03-18T09:00:31.992-04:00Comments on Doctor Grumpy in the House: And I feel fineGrumpy, M.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09858110332436246760noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-4351663577331607872013-03-08T19:38:17.531-05:002013-03-08T19:38:17.531-05:00The tl;dr version of what uneko said: it's jus...The tl;dr version of what uneko said: it's just the Mayan calendar recycling itself. Thinking that the Mayans were saying that's when the world was going to end is as stupid as if people were to think that the world was going to end in our calendar year 2000... what's that? They did? oh.... *sigh*Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-84243529917959599392013-03-08T02:46:01.437-05:002013-03-08T02:46:01.437-05:00This wasn't Harold Camping's first attempt...This wasn't Harold Camping's first attempt to predict the end of the world. In 1994, my senior year of high school, my Bible teacher told us about his prediction that the world would end in October that year. "And just to show what I think of that, we'll study the end of the world in May."<br /><br />At that point, my classmate burst out with, "Uncle Harold!" That's right. He is her great-uncle and lived with her family when she was small. But he was always weird. So now, we all know this nut-job as Uncle Harold!<br /><br />My friend put on a big "end of the world BBQ" last year on the prediction date, but announced that the steaks wouldn't be ready until after the rapture, so the heathen would have to finish the job! :) I'm glad she's got a good sense of humor!Vickihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07902764475071156504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-24937792715931242042013-03-07T01:47:51.237-05:002013-03-07T01:47:51.237-05:00So we'll still have to put up with the Harlem ...So we'll still have to put up with the Harlem Shake until then?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-69164915385661490802013-03-06T21:36:02.885-05:002013-03-06T21:36:02.885-05:00I just finished this science chapter with my sixth...I just finished this science chapter with my sixth-grade daughter--while I may send her to your post to read just a bit more about the end of the world, I, too, like you, may take a cue from my dogs and go lick myself! LOL Your ending made me crack up! Thanks, bud.<br />Jim StorytellERdochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14371229500424449124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-38167759763897295832013-03-06T16:51:20.639-05:002013-03-06T16:51:20.639-05:00My understanding is that it's not resolved whe...My understanding is that it's not resolved whether the Earth burns or not. The Sun will expand to eat anything in Earth's orbit but it's also going to be shedding a lot of mass in the solar wind and the result will be that Earths' orbit will grow bigger.Loren Pechtelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08348494458707790769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-40387167096476869832013-03-06T16:46:08.983-05:002013-03-06T16:46:08.983-05:00The Mayans never, not once, even a little bit, sai...The Mayans never, not once, even a little bit, said "and then the whole planet explodes in a fiery ball of doom."<br /><br />They actually didn't even say "The End". <br /><br />See, the Mayans had a really weird calendar: They had days of course. They had a 365 day year, made up of 18 "months" of 20 days. (plus 5 extra days). But they also had a 260 day "count" called the Tzolk'in which was basically a cycle of 20 named days (Monday, Tuesday, etc, only because they were Mayans it was 'crocodile' and 'snake') with a cycle of 13 numbers: so you had Crocodile 1, Wind 1, Darkness 1... and so forth to Sun 1, then you had Crocodile 2, Wind 2 and so forth all the way to Sun 13, then you went back to Croc 1 again. Pretty straight forward, and honestly a little more clear then "last Tuesday" or "Three weeks from today, on the following Friday" or the terrifyingly ambiguous "Last Wednesday or last week Wednesday?" <br /><br />Now, this 260 day cycle obviously doesn't fit neatly into 365 days... 260+260 = 520, after all. Which seems like a rather terrible over sight until you realize that after 52 years, the two systems will have the same number of days. So this combination of calendar items forms a 52 year cycle they call the Haab. So while we might say January 7th 1997, they can specifically refer to, say, 7 Pop 8 Snake and be referring to one specific day in that 52 year period. <br /><br />The Mayans were pretty big on this kind of stuff.<br /><br />So they had that stuff for keeping track of the 'short term' stuff. If you were talking about 12 Xul 5 Dog, after all, there's only one every 52 years: you're either talking about the one coming up next or the one that had already passed.<br /><br />So, when they wanted to talk about 12 Xul 5 Dog that happened 3 or 4 cycles ago, they had a different calendar. It was the Mayan Long Count Calendar, which is the one that caused all the fuss.<br /><br />Now, let's back up a little. The Mayans called a day a K'in. 20 k'in were a winal. 18 Winal made a tun. 20 tun made a k'atun. 20 Ka'atuns make b'ak'tun.<br /><br />Makes sense. It's also a LOT of time right there, with a k'atun taking up about 20 years. <br /><br />They kept track of all this with a simple number--much like our year... only instead of today being March 6th 2013, let's call it 2013.03.06 ... Okay, tomorrow will be 2013.03.07, until it wraps around to 2013.04.01, then eventually 2014.01.01. Simple enough idea, right? Except for our weird number of days per month and months in a year. Hey, good thing the Mayans were RELATIVELY consistent with their 20's up there. But if they'd put 20 winal in a year, it'd be .. well.. a year and 2 winal, rather then 1 year. :)<br /><br />But anyway: So they kept track like this: <br /><br />0.0.0.0.1 -- 1 k'in, or 1 day<br />0.0.0.1.5 -- 1 winal, 5 k'in, or 25 days<br />0.0.1.0.0 -- 1 tun, which is to day, 1 solar year, or 360 days (remember, 18 winal is 1 tun, not 20.)<br /><br />So, for us, on December 20, 2012, the calendar looked like this: 12.19.19.17.19<br />On December 21st? 13.0.0.0.0<br />On December 22nd? 13.0.0.0.1<br /><br />So, wait, yes, you're seeing that correctly. No End of the World as We Know It. More like "Yay! Happy New B'ak'tun!" This last happened back in 1618 to little ill effect. It will happen again in 2407 when the B'ak'tun count goes from 13 to 14.<br /><br />Now, in 4772, we'll complete our 20th b'ak'tun and the count will change from 19.19.19.17.19 to 1.0.0.0.0.0 and the following day, it will be 1.0.0.0.0.1 (yay! we added a new number!)<br /><br />So.. the SHORT version of ALL of this is that the whole Mayan calendar thing was ridiculous and getting upset over that is as silly as getting worked up about the calendar saying 1999. Oh wait. We did that, didn't we? <br /><br />March 6th 2013<br />13.0.0.3.15 - 1 Men (Eagle) 18 Kayab (Turtle)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-19598153298681779682013-03-06T15:48:36.259-05:002013-03-06T15:48:36.259-05:00well, i hope that is a thursday so i dont have to ...well, i hope that is a thursday so i dont have to work the day the world ends.was1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-39743843734363823832013-03-06T15:34:23.125-05:002013-03-06T15:34:23.125-05:00The pedestrian line from him to her was, "I&#...The pedestrian line from him to her was, "I'm not sure if I'll make it back or not, so tonight we should..."<br /><br />The more upscale line was, "The world may end tomorrow, so tonight we should..."<br /><br />So you went and blew it! BobFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-41702357769672660662013-03-06T14:31:33.211-05:002013-03-06T14:31:33.211-05:00Sigh.... oh how I love you. Sigh.... oh how I love you. Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14614041179514339833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-34993653966772770092013-03-06T14:22:22.583-05:002013-03-06T14:22:22.583-05:00Earworms, and yes, you have to pay bills. *Sigh*
...Earworms, and yes, you have to pay bills. *Sigh* <br />I recall being at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago in the 5th or 6th grade on a school field trip when the planetarium show demonstrated what would happen to Sol (and Earth) in umpty-million years. <br />I cried, but realized that my (how many greats do I need?) grandkids would have figured a way off the rock or evolved into something else.<br />I mentioned the "evolved" part to my teacher, Sr. Fleurette, and got whacked on the hands for such an impious thought. She then called my mother, who was already annoyed w/ Sister for tearing up her copy of "Travels witrh Charlie" Long story, but Sister was invited to visit a Very Warm Place. Permanently.<br />As Mom is devout and educated by nuns, this was a big step.<br />I guess the lesson is to enjoy the day and do your best.Ms. Donnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11945753071493117365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-36021759661450547312013-03-06T13:26:23.886-05:002013-03-06T13:26:23.886-05:00..dust to dust... .. . ...dust to dust... .. . .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-37476841034113125392013-03-06T13:22:42.618-05:002013-03-06T13:22:42.618-05:00Skeeter, thanks for the earworm!Skeeter, thanks for the earworm!Jonohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18170214396483091419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-85728017541235470012013-03-06T13:18:27.268-05:002013-03-06T13:18:27.268-05:00quit being such an alarmist!quit being such an alarmist!brentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-14181614308794915562013-03-06T13:12:59.814-05:002013-03-06T13:12:59.814-05:00It ended when you said goodbye.It ended when you said goodbye.Skeeter Davisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-79325669960089642702013-03-06T13:09:27.053-05:002013-03-06T13:09:27.053-05:00So you're saying I SHOULD go ahead and pay my ...So you're saying I SHOULD go ahead and pay my bills? Dang. Barbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-35318930257164303392013-03-06T12:29:22.276-05:002013-03-06T12:29:22.276-05:00When I was in 2nd grade we were learning about the...When I was in 2nd grade we were learning about the solar system. On the way home from school that day, I solomnly told my mother that I knew when the world would end. I told her it would end when the sun died (my 2nd grade understanding of what a red giant was). She was not alarmed that the world would end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-7269939406898487612013-03-06T11:27:03.352-05:002013-03-06T11:27:03.352-05:00Global warming extremest!Global warming extremest!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-59712168229782871392013-03-06T08:33:59.580-05:002013-03-06T08:33:59.580-05:00Now I'm depressed. Thanks for that.Now I'm depressed. Thanks for that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822266062611909215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-8258996816668685552013-03-06T08:06:21.766-05:002013-03-06T08:06:21.766-05:00YAYYYYYY!! 'Bout time somebody talked sense a...YAYYYYYY!! 'Bout time somebody talked sense about the "apocalypse."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883634615775822475.post-13854500793516653712013-03-06T04:56:37.241-05:002013-03-06T04:56:37.241-05:00Every time the world 'ends' we have an ...Every time the world 'ends' we have an 'end of the world' party or do something off our 'bucket list'. In the sense of - if the world is going to end this 21st, lets go swim with the dolphins while we have the chance.<br /><br />Every time it fails to end on schedule, we have a 'yay-the-world-didn't-end-after-all' waffle breakfast.<br /><br />Because these predictions should be duly honoured, and observed with all seriousness. Malnoreply@blogger.com