"Possibly," Tuck answered. "The Mayan creation date is said to be August 11, 3114 B.C. But we're not really sure. Some people say that it was meant to be 3113 or 3115 B.C. but we goofed in translating it to our calendar because someone forgot there was no year 0, or they overcompensated, or something like that."

"Wonderful," I said in my best sarcastic voice. "Tonight may or may not be the end of the world, and it all comes down to whether someone forgot to carry the 1."

We both laughed at that, but of course it didn't make sense literally. Forgetting to carry the 1 refers to an overflow situation when adding two numbers, say 35 + 47. 5 + 7 is 12, but that won't fit in the ones column. So the 2 part of the 12 goes in the ones column, and you carry the 1 to the tens column. If you forget to carry the 1, you'll get 72 instead of the correct answer of 82.

Saying that someone forgot to carry the 1 has become a cliché for any kind of math goof, which is why I said it to lighten the mood. But I'm finding it less funny now, having remembered that it often refers to a careless error that leads to dire consequences.

"On the bright side," I added, "I don't think it was meant to be 3115 B.C. That would put the end of the world in 2011, and I'm pretty sure the world didn't end last year. As far as I can tell, Mesothelioma Lawyers, New York is still alive and kicking."

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