Friday the 13th questions
 

Hello, somebody pointed out today is not only Friday the 13th, but also a full moon. Do they always go together - Friday the 13th falls only on full moon, or is it a coincidence?

Also, what do superstitious people do on this day?

All sources I've seen say the full moon is Jan. 14.

The full moon is in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 14.

And definitely Friday the 13th can happen and not coincide with a full moon. Mathematically it wouldn't make sense that they'd always be together - they are completely unrelated to each other. A moon cycle is roughly 29 days, and whether or not the 13th falls on Friday is related to the calendar year, based on our orbit around the sun. The two are unrelated.

Actually, I'll modify my statement. The full moon is in the early hours of the AM for the continental US. It's at 11:49pm in Honolulu. Check www.sunrisesunset.com for more info. Play around with different locations and you'll see it change.

Faina, I don't know if this means anything, but it's foggy here and I feel like howling! :D

I don't know, but I think the moon will look full enough tonight to count as a full moon, even if it technically isn't.

But as for superstitious people, I think they stay in bed and pull the covers over the head. I hadn't even realized it was Friday the 13th until you posted, so I must be about as unsuperstitious as they come. I have heard about people refusing to travel on this day, and not scheduling any major appointments/meetings, etc. because of the "bad" luck risk.

How funny, stw!! I tend to do my best yodeling when there's a full moon. But DH says there's a fine line between howling and my yodeling. :-(

TheWeasel, we were posting at the same time. A couple of years ago my supervisor and I were supposed to take a business trip, but she postponed it upon realizing we would be flying on Fri. 13. I thought this was ridiculous and I told her so. I asked if she drives a car on Fri. 13 and she said yes. I pointed out that she's a lot more likely to be in a car wreck than a plane crash. But she was the boss, so we took our trip another time.

My husband was born on Friday, May 13th by emergency c-section. My dear, dear MIL thought it was the best day ever. I would have to agree. No superstition here :)

I won 50 bucks once on a Friday the 13th. Since that moment, I deemed the day 'good' and used that power in a forthright manner.

Regarding the full moon... after working in the medical world for several years, call it what you want, but we at the hospital always 'knew' when the full moon was amongst. No one needed to consult a calendar, it was apparent, lol.

My one and only daughter was born on Friday the 13th, February 1970. It took 2 hours total. My first baby took 3 full days and weighed 10 lbs. and was 23 inches long. I then had to have reconstructive surgery and was in the hospital for 4 days from that alone. That was in the days before c-sections were done routinely. That son was 6 foot 5 inches by sophomore year of high school. I'm 5'2" on a good day.

Everyone asked why I didn't wait until Valentine's Day. I was so super happy that day. Ha-ha. I LOVE Friday the 13th. It was probably the happiest day of my life all around.

In USSR I lived in apartment #13.

In USA I live in a building #1040 (and if this number doesn't tell you anything, you are not paying federal taxes!!)

Which one is worse :))

SeeTheWorld, where is it foggy too? I live in San Francisco, is there any foggier place?

Faina, San Francisco wins hands down with the fog. But where I live, in northern Westchester, NY, we can have some dense fog. Our weather is changing, and not for the better, I might add. All the more reason to howl, lol :D

Seetheworld, LOL re: your first "howling " post. Then...amazing! I was just about to write that Friday the 13th has been a wonderful day for me since giving birth to my son, via C section, on Friday the 13th (of October)...when I read about your husband and JJ5's son!! Special greetings for Friday the 13th parents!
STW, mysister lives across the Hudson in Rockland County, so I know what you mean about the fog in NY.
Tiff, too true about hospitals. While the date is personally great for me, I'm glad not to be working tonight! Nothing quite like a "sundowner" patient on Friday the 13th!
jlm_mi, thank you for the info and website.
P_M, more LOL re: DH's comment. Next time I hear howling of any kind, I'l wonder if it's actually a nearby yodeler.
Faina, trust you to start a fun thread like this.
(-:

Y'all, I think this week has been really really freaky and I've had so much bad news I'm afraid to post.

Found out Monday my beloved stepfather has cancer. My real father passed away so long ago he is the only father I've ever known as an adult.

One of my best friend's fathers died Tuesday.

My husband's best friend and business partner with whom we are both very close, his long time girlfriend's dad died yesterday. We are also close to her and her family.

Just the pall of the sadness and this horrible fog we've had the past two days along with all the sickness and death is so hard to take.

I hope this is it for a while.

GoTravel, cyberhugs >:D<

It is my baby boys Birthday so All January 13s are fine with us :D

What will we do today?

Going out tonight to celebrate the boys birthday, even though he is celebrating it in Japan :D

It's funny someone should mention the full moon effect. There have been over 100 studies done which examine the correlation between a full moon and all sorts of nasty things (see link below). None of them found a significant correlation. Yet, many people -- even cops and ER personnel -- continue to believe this myth despite the lack of data to support it. Very interesting.

http://www.skepdic.com/fullmoon.html

JJ5, sorry, i just realized it was your daughter, not son, who was born Friday 13th. Congratualtions on BOTH kids!!
Scarlett, enjoy his from-afar birthday. After all, every birthday of children is an anniversary-of-parenthood celebration.
GoTravel, a New Year isn't supposed to start with so much sadness! Adding thoughts and cyberhugs and prayers for you and your family.

We here in the pacific NW have no clue where we are in the lunar cycle. We haven't seen it, or the sun, for the last month. Is it still a full moon if you can't see it?

OOps. Let me ammend my earlier post. There are a few studies which do validate some aspects of the lunar effect myth, but these are outnumbered about 10 to 1 by those which refute it.

Now back to the regular programming...

Edward, thanks for that reference, especially as it always seems like there IS a correlation. Oh well, another myth shot down! (Which is why I love the urbanlegends site) I'm going to post it on the bulletin board at work and see what reactions it gets!

The moon here was spectacular last night, and even though a little foggy out I could still see the big/little dipper.

All the snow that feel this early pm melted upon impact.

That's fell, of course.

Beachbum, this is a very good question: "Is it still a full moon if you can't see it?"

Also, if you eat cookies in the dark, do you still count the calories?

What is the sound of one hand clapping?
If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears was there noise?
I'm going to eat all the cookies and candy in the dark from now on.
Like the story I told you about the delicious boxed chocolates, and the patient on night shift who offered them to nurses (including me) who happily took them. That morning, after the lights were on, we saw she'd been taking little nibbles out of her candies before offering them to apreciative staff!!

As an ex ER/OR nurse, we would usually see more patients of all kinds during a full moon and on the hottest eves.
It really wasn't a matter of superstion, it was because of more light/heat means more people are awake doing all kinds of things - some good and some bad.

Superstition, that is.

Cybor,
Did you know Friday the 13th affects keyboarding/spelling (-: ?
Superstition or not, I'm looking forward to tomorrow at work, getting to hear about Friday the 13th staff and patient behavior.
I'm just glad I'm not there tonight to experience it! i'll bet you have some GREAT Friday the 13th ER stories!

In USSR Friday 13 is a regular day. Monday 13 is the worst day, like here today. Should I be aware of both or neither :)

I think Monday the 13th would be worse. At least Friday the 13th is still a Friday.

My mother was born on January 13, 1913, and she died on June 13. We swore she hung on for an extra day just so she could die on the 13th. By the time the examiner came, it was after midnight, but we encouraged him to date the death on the 13th, he agreed! She would have been tickled at the whole affair. Lots of "lucky 13's" in my experiences!

I had a "very" Friday the 13th day. My parents' wedding anniversary is Friday, January 13, so today is especially special for my mom (my dad is passed).

I met a gentleman in the elevator at work today whose parents were also married on Friday the 13th, an anniversary date I'd never met anyone who shared.

GoTravel, sending lots of good thoughts your way. I know what it's like to feel like you're being bombarded from every direction. Why do things like that always seem to happen in bunches? Hang in there. It *will* get better.

triskaidekaphobia = morbid fear of the number 13.

That's me. And I was born on that date. And I turned 13 on Friday the 13th.

Being blessed with the Irish superstition gene, that scares the bejeebers out of me. But it also explains a lot of my luck...;-)

Hi Cali,
Oh ya, lots of wacked out stories beyond belief - some people do find extremly creative ways of mangling themselves or anyone in close proximity. Think - vac. cleaners, food items etc.

Most people who came to the ER were mostly bored though and would decide to come in and have the rash that they've had for 3 weeks finally looked at. I guess they felt that it was better than watching reruns.
Sherry

By the way, February 13th is the full moon, and it's Monday! Get on Russian schedule and be prepared for something bad. Woo-hoo! :[

(No, I don't beleive in this, just in case if somebody's wondering :) Just bored... )

And Feb. 13th is my one and only darling daughter's birthday as well. Reminds me that I need to go and get her skinny self a nice present. Thanks!