auote: 2005, 2010, 2012 is it that important?

It matters because the later dates give more people more time to prepare. The more people that wake up before it happens and take notice, the better off they will be when it does happen.

I'm an optimist at heart (hence my chosen screen name) and try to cling to hope that people will make it through.

I also won't finish grad school until 2013, so for me personally, I really hope it can be postponed another few years.

I used to take overloads both before and during grad school and also both summer sessions to graduate and get advanced degrees faster. This paid off for me, Big time. (And yes, I did a bit of work on the side, while I was in school, fun stuff such as editing and cooking.)

When will TSHTF? Who knows. But 2012 is as good a bet as any.

Why not just go with December 21, 2012.
It has such a nice apocalyptic dimension to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar#End_of_the_world.3F

Makes for a nice juxtaposition between our civilizations collapse an one from antiquity.