I wanted to go ahead and wish all of you an early Happy Friday the 13th.  I used to believe that Friday the 13th actually did bring bad luck, but as I’ve gotten older, I think that it’s bad luck to be superstitious.  I remember when I was in high school, I was told that four leaf clovers would bring me good luck on Friday the 13th, so I gathered up a few from our back yard and rolled them up in a cigarette paper.  Within a few minutes after smoking them, a black cat crossed my path.  I wasn't upset about that the black cat crossing my path, but when he looked at me and said "you're f**ked" as he passed, well, that was just plain rude.  A few years later, in an attempt to disprove that superstition existed, I closed my eyes and said Bloody Mary three times, and I waited for something to happen.  I was at a bar when I said it, and I was served three of them.  That evening, as I made my way home, I kept saying over and over…. never walk under a mirror or break a black cat.  I tried not to touch any of the cracks in the sidewalk, but I eventually realized that it was impossible.  I also noticed a ladder that was leaning against the wall, and a black cat that was about to cross my path.  While others would have avoided every crack in the sidewalk, gone around the ladder, and panicked at the sight of a black cat, not me, because I'm not the superstitious type.  I drove straight through everything.  Nowadays, I think superstition is more hype than anything. One exception is that the number 13 is very unlucky, but only when it’s the only number you get when you’re connected to the blood pressure machine at Wal-Mart.  Another exception is that it’s bad luck to fall out of a 13th story window, because you could be seriously killed.  As far as it being bad luck for a black cat to walk in front of you, that only applies if you’re a mouse.  The neighbors black cat crossed my path the other day.  I was using my lawnmower at the time.  The cat didn’t stand a chance.  As far as having bad luck for walking under a ladder, all I can say is that I’ve only walked under a ladder twice in my life, and shortly after each time, I got married.  Some people think that an Indian “dream catcher is the solution for warding off evil spirits and bringing good luck.  All I know is that a friend of mine has one hanging from the cracked mirror in his 1982 Honda.  That’s proof enough for me that they don’t work.  Though it is obvious that there are things that have actually happened that can’t be explained.  Take the Bermuda Triangle for example.  It’s a little known fact that the Bermuda Triangle used to be called the Bermuda Rectangle, until one side mysteriously disappeared.  To this day they still haven’t figured out which side is missing.  Anyway, have a Happy Friday the 13th tomorrow, unless you’ve made other plans.  And, a word of caution.  If you go out for Chinese tomorrow, don’t order the black cat soup.