Twenty Twelve

Sometimes I ponder about what life will be like in a few years. Presidential campaigns in full swing, new technologies in communication and healthcare, new genres of music, the end of the world?
December 21, 2012 is a day many people say the world will end. It all started with experts realizing the Mayan calendar stops at a date equivalent to the day in December of '12. A day that ends on the Winter Solstice.
What did the Mayans know? Maybe they just got tired of making a calendars for centuries into the future and went out of business?
While most people think it's the end of the world, others say there will be a change in humanity at that time. Our society is living on electronics. Cell phones, computers, electrical grids, television and radio are things we take for granted. Technology is advancing so fast that it is a way of life for most of us. Maybe this change in humanity will be when our technology stops working and we will have to live like the pioneers, with Pony Express to communicate long distances, oil lamps for light and ride around on a horse.
EMP, Electromagnetic Pulse, could be the cause. Or maybe solar flares. Some scientists say a new sun cycle will happen in 2012. Last time I checked, sun spot activity was at its lowest. Maybe the sunspots will all emerge at once at the next solar cycle, releasing solar flares and electromagnetic radiation that will burn out the satellites' wiring and chips, and wreak havock on modern society. But it should make for a beautiful night sky.
I can see the disaster in that. Teenage girls won't be able to text anymore. They will have to chisel "OMG WTF? I cant txt nemore!" onto a rock and throw it at their friend.
That's just my guess on what will happen. Others say the Earth's magnetic poles will shift, an asteroid will hit, ET will return, a black hole created in the particle accelerator in Europe will swallow us up, or a nuclear holocaust will happen.
Who knows? But this makes me want to prepare, stock up on guns and survival gear, and start digging my new home.