Friday the 13th and income taxes: Holy Long Form, now there’s a scary combination. Do you call in sick Friday, and hope that Alaska’s traditional Good Friday curse isn’t a week overdue? Or do you whistle in the dark, cross your fingers and wear some garlic hoping to avoid bad luck, lies and vampires?

Decisions, decisions.

Heck, do you even dare to do your taxes this weekend? That nifty little tax program you’ve relied on for decades could decide to throw a spanner in the works, and move a decimal the wrong direction. It would be bad enough to over-report your income and pay a whomping huge tax bill. What if you low balled your income, and three months from now got a “Dear taxpayer” letter from your friendly neighborhood tax auditor?

The signs would point to Warp Factor Six Danger Danger Will Robinson, except that, heck, Homer has had a good run of luck this week. First Max Haggerty pulls through his double-lung transplant. Then an air taxi makes a spot-on perfect emergency landing on the Homer Spit Road, not even denting a slow Toyota Prius. To sweeten the good news, Alice’s Champagne Palace is going to open real soon now.

All the more reason to expect bad luck, you say? Nope. Pollyanna Betster here expects more miracles. Isn’t spring miracle enough? The love of friends, crackerjack bush piloting and perseverance has paid off. Sometimes the world works out fine. So count your blessings, kick up your heels and celebrate, maybe with some of the Best Bets:

BEST RAISE THE BARN BET: Nope, it’s not another big New Year’s dance party at Renn’s boat shed, but a fund-raiser for Habitat for Humanity. If you don’t want to risk cooking at home on Friday the 13th — all those hot stoves and stuff — let the Habitat cooks prepare the traditional fund-raiser cuisine for you. That’s spaghetti, of course. The event is 5:30-8 p.m. Friday at Faith Lutheran Church. A dessert auction follows.

BEST UH-OH BET: What better day to watch a spooky movie like “Premonition” than Friday the 13th? The 6 p.m. showing on Friday benefits the Homer Downtown Rotary Club’s Teen Fair.

BEST STOCK UP BET: With halibut fishing open and salmon on the way, now’s the time to replenish the boat library. The Friends of the Homer Public Library’s annual Book, Plant and Bake Sale runs 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at the library. CD, DVDs and edible treats also are on sale. Proceeds benefit Friends programs.

BEST COOL WOMEN BET: Outside Magazine called Becky Bristow one of its 20 coolest people. Well, she’s coming to Homer to show us her film about the women of the Yukon Quest, “Dog Gone Addiction,” so you know she’s cool. Those Quest women rock, too. The film plays at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Homer Theatre. Admission is $5.

BEST HOT NEW RELEASE BET: Homer writers don’t have to wait for that early morning phone call from New York to get their books published. Thanks to the Homer Public Library’s Top Drawer program, they can get their manuscripts nicely bound and displayed, right there on those spanky shelves Leo Vait put in over his fireplace in the new library. From 7-9 p.m. Wednesday the newest Top Drawer writers read from their works. Stick around to the end for the announcement of the Top Shelf winner, who gets a small press publishing contract.

BEST STOCK CAR BET: That’s stock as in wood stock, and no, not the rock concert. We’re talking race cars, here, Pinewood Derby kits. Buy a kit, build a car and then see if your car goes furthest fastest. It’s all a fund-raiser for Friends of Scouting. The race starts at 10 a.m. Saturday in the West Homer Elementary School gymnasium.

BEST TELL ’EM BET: That would be the legislative teleconference, at 6 p.m. today at the Legislative Information Office, when our local legislators check in.