The black day of bad luck is approaching again.

Why not make it the final time that you have to cancel all your Friday the 13^th appointments? After all, it only shows others what a fool you are.

Wouldn't it be smarter to stay in bed without having to do all that cancelling?

You're probably reasoning now as follows: "My calendar is only good for finding the days of the week for one year ahead. If only I could know long enough in advance that a Friday the 13^th was approaching, then I could avoid making any appointments for that day in the first place. Then I would have no appointments to cancel. Then nobody would realize what a fool I am."

If that's how you reasoned then your reasoning is spot on!

This problem has been thoroughly investigated and the solution is a specially prepared Friday the 13^th calendar covering 28 years.

In the year 2018 the cycle starts again. 2018 has Friday the 13^th in the same months as 1990.  2019 has Friday the 13^th in the same months as 1991. And so on.

The worst years have three Fridays the 13th.

This happened in 1987. All of us reading this got through that one. Some of us perhaps by the skin of our teeth.

You'll have to brace yourself again, however, in 1998, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2026 and 2037.

Those of us who live even longer than that will be too old to worry about subsequent Friday's the 13th (unless by then humankind has eternal life).

The main message is that you need no longer make a fool of yourself over Friday the 13^th.