There are those who believe this will be the last New Year's column I write for this newspaper. The reason is simple: There won't be anyone around to write or read a newspaper column at this time next year because our year 2012 is when the Mayan calendar runs out.

My knowledge of Mayan culture is pretty much confined to having watched a National Geographic special or two, so I can't make too many proclamations about the details of the Mayan calendar. Still, I'd say it's a safe bet the one assigned to this year doesn't translate into English as "Game Over." Like I say, though, I don't know much about the Mayans, so for all I know their calendar could have started at 5,000 and worked its way back to zero.

In any event, I'm confident someone will be pecking away at a computer keyboard to provide you with some sort of out with the old, in with the new message for 2013. It might not be me because I've been playing the lottery lately (the winning ticket purchased in Abingdon a few weeks back, followed closely by the Havre de Grace winner gave me the strength to carry on). There's a better chance of me winning the lottery than there is of the end-of-time predictions of an ancient culture coming to pass, as far as I'm concerned. Now, if only that translated into if the world doesn't end, I win the lottery, I'd be set and you'll end up reading the end of year musings of some other working stiff at this time next year.

So anyway, the reason I bring up the Mayans and what some folks are interpreting as their prophecy of "That's All, Folks!" is because, like everyone old enough to be reading this, I've lived through a few end of the world as we know it predictions. It seems like there is at least one a year, but sometimes there are more.

There was a fellow who made some calculations and came to the conclusion that this past May 21 would be Judgment Day, followed on May 23 by the official End of the World, presumably with something approximating fireworks but no after party.

Another one that sticks in my mind is the Y2K predictions that ranged from a divine settling of accounts to a problem with the date system on computers that would throw every network into chaos.

As it turns out, the divine powers that be don't operate on calendars devised by we puny humans, and a computer programming oversight was a substantially smaller threat to western civilization than the invading forces of Genghis Kahn.

In the end (pun intended), I've come to the conclusion that I'm not paying attention to any of these predictions by self-styled prophets of doom. They're no more plugged into the prediction of the end of days than I am.

Still, there's something to be said for those who remind us of the limited number of days we have. I'd like to say in the new year I'll be living each day as though it were my last, but that's not really possible because I still have to go to work, cut the grass and clean the bathrooms. Still, the goal of not being encumbered by foolish concerns that are of no consequence in the grand scheme of things is one that's worth keeping in mind as a new year begins.

This year, I'm going to try that, though I think it would be a lot easier if I won the lottery.