Morning Folks! Busy, busy, busy! Lots to get done before I jump into my bolt hole full of good luck charms  Thursday night and wait for Friday the 13th to pass.

See, belief in something gives it power and there is so much belief in the superstitions and bad luck surrounding the date Friday the 13th…that it almost cancels me good luck powers out!

Hence the hiding out thing. Anyway moving on-

Several of you were kind enough to inquire as to my health,safety and condition after I was ‘spell-napped’ at the end of the last issue by 3 rather scantily clad lusty err…lovely lasses.

I know Diaman was especially concerned and angry that there was possible poaching of ‘her Leprechaun’ going on.

I can only assure you all that they did have my permission of call on me, though admittedly they might have misinterpreted that permission slightly.

Regardless,  a grand time as had by all involved (multiple times actually).  That is, with the possible exception of poor Impish, who wanted badly to ‘horn’ in on me bit of fun, but sadly is still not allowed in Tir Na Nog after his last rather rambunctious (even by Irish mythological standards) visit.

BTW Impish you’ll be happy to know all those homeless Nymphs have been successfully relocated to new trees and have agreed to stop cursing you.

Moving on-

As I’ve said two days hence is Friday the 13th, arguably the second most feared day on the US calendar, the first being April 15th or Tax Day as it’s widely known. I’ve included some briefing material on the background of the day to keep you busy while I prepare my bad luck bug out kit ah-err-that-is, to enlighten you as to the rational behind the fears and how to avoid the worst potential pitfalls of the day.

I will share with you this one thing I’m taking with me. When things seem darkest I’ve a powerful chant that will work only this year. Shall I share it with you? OK since you asked so nicely-

“Inauguration Day is only 7 Days away!“

Just keep chanting that to yourself and maybe if you’re lucky things won’t looks so bad for you.

At least that is, sans legal provocation or orders to do so.

Coffee graphics- check, check & check.
Donuts- check.
Opening Joke @ Impish’s Expense- check.

Ok, let’s get down to business!

Some people will allow nothing to stop them in pursuit of a Starbucks beverage!

Then again looks like some people should have been stopped in pursuit of a Starbuck’s  beverage! Impish, don’t you have that same hoodie?

Friday the 13th: where does it come from and why is it unlucky?

Friday the 13th, considered by many as one of the unluckiest days of the year, is almost here again.

If you are worried about what’s in store this time, then you’re not alone. Psychologists have even come up with a word for how you’re feeling – paraskavedekatriaphobia, or fear of Friday the 13th.

One option is to stay tucked up in bed all day to avoid any potential Friday the 13th bad luck that may come your way, or alternatively, you could ignore the superstitious chatter and embrace it.

In 2017, there happen to be two Friday the 13ths – January 13 and October 13.

Here are some fun facts to take your mind off it. As we’ll discover, it may even be the belief in the Friday the 13th superstition that could, in fact, prove the greatest risk to the average person.

Why is Friday the 13th unlucky?

Friday the 13th has long been regarded as an unlucky day. Why do we choose this day in particular to fear for our lives?

Biblical origins

• The superstition around this day is thought to have come about during the Middle Ages, and may have Biblical origins.
• Some historians have claimed it was the day on which Eve bit the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, the great flood began and the builders of the Tower of Babel.
• In the New Testament there were 13 people present for Jesus’s last supper on Maundy Thursday, the day before Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday. More bad luck

More bad luck

• On Friday October 13th 1307 Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar.
• In his novel Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown cites the 14th century execution of Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, which took place on Friday the 13th. He cursed the Pope and the King of France, and this spread misfortune down the ages.
• It is also possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson’s popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth played a part in disseminating the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous stock broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.

The origins of the Friday the 13th being an unlucky date are shrouded in mystery

• The most commonly held perception is that Friday is an unlucky day and 13 is a particularly unlucky number
• In numerology 13 is considered to be an irregular number and is also the number of witches you need to form a coven
• There is also a biblical reference to 13 being considered unlucky. Judas, the apostle who later betrayed Jesus, was supposedly the 13th guest to sit down at the last supper. Christ was crucified on a Friday
• In the 14th Century Geoffrey Chaucer referenced Friday as being an unlucky day in his Canterbury Tales, “And on a Friday fell all this mischance”

Bad things that have happened on Friday 13

• In 1976, New Yorker Daz Baxter was apparently so afraid of Friday the 13th he decided the safest place to stay was his bed. However, Mr. Baxter was killed when the floor of his apartment block collapsed that day.
• In 2009, the £13.5 million SAW ride at Thorpe Park had its opening premiere, only to be shut down due to a computer programming fault. Spooky.
• In 2010, lightning struck a 13-year-old Suffolk boy on Friday 13th at 13:13. Definitely unlucky for him.
• During the early 1990s retired bus conductor Bob Renphrey also vowed to stay in bed on the superstitious day after some seriously bad luck. The Welshman has crashed fours cars, fallen into a river and been made redundant on previous Friday the 13ths.

A numbers’ game

• The number 13 has been considered unlucky for many years, even before Christ. The number 12 is historically considered the number of completeness, while its older cousin, 13, has been seen as an outlier.
• There are 12 months of the year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours of the clock, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, among many incidences of the pattern historically.
• In many Western countries tall buildings are missing the 13th floor. In China the fourth floor and in some cases all floors with the number four are left out of Chinese buildings.
• Houses often do not have a number 13, and many hotels, including the Carlton in London, miss out a thirteenth floor.
• It is considered very unlucky for thirteen people to dine together, and the first to rise will reach serious misfortune – a superstition upheld by US President Roosevelt. He also refused to travel on Friday the 13th.

They’re called “liberalnoculars”. Hopefully we’ll see them less in use after January 20th when we boot print tattoo the butts of the Sheethead in Chief and his entitlement minded First Family out of Washington DC.

It was things like this that made Mom lose her shit.

I don’t know about the risk issue but that brings the whole “cone of shame’’” thing to an entirely new level!

You know…the one that circles your head after you make your wife lose her shit and she frying pans you upside the head.

Umm…Molly says I’m done with marriage tweets if I know what’s good for me! Since she got me a new heavy griddle for Christmas and Texans regularly drive 70mph I’m going to take the hint.

Needs to respond same way when Impish cries out in frustration…

“OH FOR GOD”S SAKES! I’m only thinking!”

I recently posted another letter by Television personality and budding American Patriot Mike Rowe so I’ll not be re-explaining who he is. It’s likely most of you will recognize him from the picture anyway.

Mike Rowe writes a heartfelt letter to the parents of Special Forces Soldier

Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” shared a post on Facebook Thursday thanking a military mom for her son’s service.

He shared his response to a letter he received from Diane Dodson, which he included at the top of the post entitled “Off The Wall.”

Dodson wrote of her son Justin, a soldier afflicted with ALS. She said her son was brought to tears after opening a piece of mail Rowe had sent him

Mike Rowe’s letter to Justin’s parents:
“Hi Diane,

I suspect words like “Merry” and “Happy” are difficult to hear at the moment, so I’ll forego the holiday greetings, and simply say “you’re welcome.”

I was very sad to learn of your son’s illness, and deeply humbled that a man like Justin finds me “admirable.” Please assure him the feeling is mutual.

The truth is, acknowledging Justin’s service is both an honor and a privilege. I know that my freedom and my liberty were bought and paid for by people like your son. I know his freedom is now being removed one day at a time. I know that his liberty is being slowly denied, by an enemy he cannot overcome.

I would like you to know, that your note reminded me of just how tenuous it all is. Our freedom. Our liberty. Our health. It’s all so fragile. And so damn easy to take for granted.

Sooner or later, our bodies will fail us. There are no exceptions. But what Justin did with his body while it was still in his control, has left me forever in his debt, and mindful of what matters most. Because ultimately, there is no greater threat to our freedom, than a lack of gratitude to those who provide it.

Your note is a reminder that acknowledging soldiers like Justin, requires me to count my many blessings, and vow to be a better version of myself. Actually Diane, it’s more than a reminder – it’s a gift. A gift from you and your son.

A gift for which we, the undersigned, are most grateful.

Mike”

Well said and well done  sir!

We lost a big advocate of Common Sense and doing what is right not for any benefit but simply because it’s the right thing to do when Jerry Doyle passed away in July of 2016. Should you ever get tired of dong Dirty Jobs for Television I would suggest you sir are the perfect person to follow him as the voice of his radio show Epic Times for you sir truly understand that “it isn’t about Right or Left, it’s about Right or Wrong.”