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Luck & Serendipity

There's good luck, and there's the other kind! :(

Aussie floods, Christchurch, Japan – the catastrophic honeymoon tour
By Tony Paterson
Friday, 8 April 2011

It may go down in history as the ultimate honeymoon from hell.
When Stefan and Erika Svanstrom set off with their baby daughter on what was to be their holiday of a lifetime last December, they were hoping for balmy sun-drenched beaches and the enriching experience of different cultures on the other side of the world.

The couple, from Stockholm, had only been married in November, and their four-month trip to Australia, New Zealand, South-east Asia, Japan and China was their honeymoon.

But as Ms Svanstrom, 32, put it yesterday: "Our holiday turned out to be a bit more than we bargained for." Swedes are renowned for their cool, unexaggerated style. Ms Svanstrom and her 38-year-old husband are obviously no exception. They, along with their baby daughter, Elinor, found themselves living through some of the most devastating natural disasters the earth has experienced in over a century.

Their honeymoon from hell started with a connecting flight from Stockholm to the Bavarian capital, Munich.
The Svanstroms immediately ran into a violent blizzard which the German media dubbed "the storm of the century" and they ended up stranded at the airport while they waited for the weather to subside. "We thought things will get better," Ms Svanstrom told the Swedish newspaper Expressen. "We thought we are in love and told each other: just think of the beaches we are heading for in South-east Asia."

Unfortunately for the Svanstroms, things got progressively worse. Almost as soon as they arrived in Indonesia on the island of Bali, their hoped-for sunshine was blotted out by torrential monsoon rains. In January, the family decided to cut its losses and head off to Western Australia's capital, Perth. But that city was struck by fierce bush fires hours after they touched down. Holiday snapshots taken by the family and posted on Swedish media websites yesterday showed Ms Svanstrom wheeling her daughter Elinor in a pram in what appeared to be a suburb of Perth, where she seemed about to be engulfed by a cloud of bush-fire smoke.

The Svanstroms escaped to Queensland, but things got even worse. After they arrived in the city of Cairns they were hit by Cyclone Yasi, one of the worst ever experienced in the state.
"We escaped by the skin of our teeth," Ms Svanstrom said. "Trees were being knocked over and big branches were scattered all over the streets."

She recalled how the three of them were evacuated to a shopping centre where they were forced to spend 24 hours seeking shelter on a concrete floor along with 2,500 other people who had fled the cyclone. In Brisbane, the Svanstroms saw some of the worst flooding the city has ever experienced. Their disaster tour took the unwitting family on to Christchurch, New Zealand.

They arrived hours after the city was hit by February's 6.3 magnitude earthquake. "The whole town was a war zone, we couldn't visit the city as it was declared off-limits," Ms Svanstrom said. At this point her mother, now somewhat concerned, called her.

Their horror holiday was crowned in Japan, where two days after their arrival they lived through the devastating earthquake on 11 March and subsequent tsunami which struck the Fukushima nuclear-power plant, raising fears of a meltdown.
"The trembling was horrible and we saw roof tiles fly off the buildings," Mr Svanstrom told Expressen.

The family arrived back in Stockholm on 29 March after finally enjoying some peace at their last destination in China. "I could only laugh," Ms Svanstrom said. "Marriages have to endure some trials, but I think we have been through most of them."

http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 64950.html

But, looking on the bright side, they were lucky to survive so many disasters! :D
 
Mmm, think we could get them on the guest list for the RW? :twisted:
 
Florida balcony fall baby saved by British tourist
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13165880

BBC map of Florida

A toddler who fell from the top floor of a four-storey Florida hotel has escaped injury after being caught by a British woman on holiday.

Jah-Nea Myles, 16 months, apparently slipped through the balcony railing and fell into the arms of Helen Beard.

Ms Beard, of Worksop, was at the pool at Orlando's Econo Lodge hotel when she saw the baby hanging from the railing and ran underneath, she said.

She held the child until emergency medical workers arrived.
'Not a scratch'

The baby was taken to hospital, where medical staff said they saw no bruises or scratches and deemed her in good health.

An investigator with the Orange County sheriff's office described her as "playful" and said she was not crying.

Helena Myles, Jah-Nea's 20-year-old mother, told police her friend Dominique Holt had been watching the baby in the adjacent hotel room.

Ms Holt, 21, said she went to the bathroom about 2100 local time (0100 GMT), then heard screaming and saw the balcony door ajar.

She ran out onto the balcony and saw the baby in the arms of Ms Beard, from Nottinghamshire.

Ms Myles told Reuters: "She's perfectly fine. Not a scratch on her body.

"I'm thanking the Lord above right now for saving my child's life. I'm also thanking that lady because she was an angel sent from heaven."

Police said no criminal charges were pending.

Orlando is a popular destination for holidaymakers, with Walt Disney World and other tourist attractions.
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Funny how sometimes something bad that happens can turn into something lucky.
This week I rang to have a repairman out to fix my washing machine, due to dropping a metal piece inside the walls trying to get out the filter which had fallen down. I was told it would be Thursday anytime from 9-5 and would cost $98 to come out. Luckily it rained all week so I wouldn't have washed anyway.

When the chap came out he asked when I'd bought it and said it was subject to a recall so he snipped off the wires and attached a new part. So as well as having the piece fished out and the filter put back I had an upgrade.
Best of all he said it would cost me nothing. After his coffee and biscuit I gave him a large serve of freshly made pumpkin soup to take home to his family, thinking it was lucky I had to call after all.
 
Isis177 said:
Funny how sometimes something bad that happens can turn into something lucky.
This week I rang to have a repairman out to fix my washing machine, due to dropping a metal piece inside the walls trying to get out the filter which had fallen down. I was told it would be Thursday anytime from 9-5 and would cost $98 to come out. Luckily it rained all week so I wouldn't have washed anyway.

When the chap came out he asked when I'd bought it and said it was subject to a recall so he snipped off the wires and attached a new part. So as well as having the piece fished out and the filter put back I had an upgrade.
Best of all he said it would cost me nothing. After his coffee and biscuit I gave him a large serve of freshly made pumpkin soup to take home to his family, thinking it was lucky I had to call after all.
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What a nice man, being honest enough to tell you the truth.
 
Five women treated after Clare gas leak
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 37725.html
PAT FLYNN

Mon, May 16, 2011

FOUR ELDERLY women had a lucky escape last night after they were found semi-conscious in a house where a gas leak had occurred unknown to them.

Five women in all were treated in hospital following the incident which happened at around 6.30pm at the house at Railway Road in the west Clare town of Kilkee.

The five local women, who are understood to meet every week, had been enjoying tea in the house when one complained of feeling unwell and went home.

On arrival at her own house, the woman’s husband became concerned about her and, suspicious about what might have happened, went to the nearby house.

At the house the man discovered the woman’s four friends in different states of consciousness and quickly raised the alarm. The man called the emergency services, reporting that he could smell gas in the area.

He helped the women from the building and remained with them until emergency crews arrived.

Ambulances from Kilrush and Ennis, a rapid response advanced paramedic unit from Ennis and a local doctor rushed to the scene.

Gardaí cordoned off the area while fire crews wearing specialist breathing apparatus searched the house for the source of the leak.

Fire crews established that the gas was leaking from a bulk tank at the rear of the house.

Medics treated the women at the scene before they were taken by ambulance to Ennis General Hospital for treatment.

It is not thought that any of the women are seriously ill but they were being assessed last night.

Fire crews remained at the scene for several hours until technicians made the gas tank safe.
Click to expand...
 
That's not luck - that's commendable alertness on the part of the one's woman's husband! Good for him.
 
A real stroke of luck: Cricketer has massive heart attack while playing for team of GPs... who shock him back to life
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:31 AM on 25th July 2011

A man who had a heart attack while playing cricket was revived by a GP teammate who had a defibrillator in his car.

The businessman, in his early 40s, was playing for a doctors' team at Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club in Devon yesterday afternoon.
He suffered a serious heart attack near the start of the match in front of a crowd of several people, including two of his own children.
As the man was unconscious and lying on the pitch, one of the doctors ran to his car for the defibrillator and treated the man where he lay.

The Devon Air Ambulance was called and landed on the pitch. The man was flown to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.
The match, against a cricket team from the town's football club, was being played in Budleigh's community league.

Cricket club secretary Kevin Curran said he thought the man was lucky to be alive.
'He is a well-known member of the community who does an awful lot for the club and everyone was completely shocked when this happened,' he said.
'The match had only just begun and he was nowhere near the ball when he collapsed.
'It was extremely fortunate there were a number of doctors around and one had this piece of equipment in his car - he may well have saved his life.'

Mr Curran said the club will now look at buying a defibrillator and training members in how to use it.
'We have all the basic medical equipment but this incident has highlighted just how important defibrillators are,' he said. 'For a relatively small outlay we could have a piece of kit that can save lives.'

He added that his thoughts were with the man concerned and his family, and he said everyone at the club wished him a speedy recovery.
The doctor who came to his assistance is thought to be a GP who works at a surgery in the town.
The match was abandoned after the incident.

Mr Curran said the club may also want to support the air ambulance trust. 'It is a remarkable charity that is always in need of money,' he said.
'I am sure that when the dust settles the committee will want to show our support for it.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -life.html
 
McCauley family scoops third US lottery win

A lucky US mother and daughter from North Carolina have beaten all the odds by winning the lottery three times.
Kimberly McCauley won $100,000 (£60,000) in a new instant scratch-card game called "10X the Money".

In 2007, her mother won more than $161,000 in the state lottery - a meagre sum compared to her big win in 1991 of $15.5m in the New York Lotto.

Kimberly said she thought her mother was "hogging all the luck" and that she was overwhelmed by her win.
Kimberly took her mother with her to the lottery office to collect her prize.
The pair appeared to be calm, a spokesman for the North Carolina Education Lottery told ABC News.
"Once you win the lottery twice, what's a third time?" Ryan Kennemur said.

Kimberly said she was going to use the money to pay off her student loans and to buy a car.
"I never thought I'd win anything. This is so overwhelming, but it's a good kind of overwhelming," she told lottery officials.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14304635
 
Wishing Trees

Who says money doesn't grow on trees? Coins mysteriously appear in trunks up and down the country
By Emma Reynolds
Last updated at 7:07 AM on 13th September 2011

They say money doesn't grow on trees.
But it certainly appears to do so on the mysterious coin-studded trunks dotted around the UK's woodland.
The strange phenomenon of gnarled old trees with coins embedded all over their bark has been spotted on trails from the Peak District to the Scottish Highlands.

The coins are usually knocked into felled tree trunks using stones by passers-by, who hope it will bring them good fortune.
These fascinating spectacles often have coins from centuries ago buried deep in their bark and warped by the passage of time.

The tradition of making offerings to deities at wishing trees dates back hundreds of years, but this combination of the man-made and the natural is far more rare.
It used to be believed that divine spirits lived in trees, and they were often festooned with sweets and gifts - as is still done today at Christmas.
The act is reminiscent of tossing money into ponds for good luck, or the trend for couples to attach 'love padlocks' to bridges and fences to symbolise lasting romance.

Some pubs, such as the Punch Bowl in Askham, Cumbria, have old beams with splits in them into which coins are forced for luck.

There are seven felled tree trunks with coins pushed into them in the picturesque village of Portmeirion, in Wales.
Meurig Jones, an estate manager at the tourist destination, told the BBC: 'We had no idea why it was being done when we first noticed the tree trunk was being filled with coins.
'I did some detective work and discovered that trees were sometimes used as "wishing trees" .
'In Britain it dates back to the 1700s - there is one tree in Scotland somewhere which apparently has a florin stuck into it.'

He said that a sick person could press a coin into a tree and their illness would go away.
'If someone then takes the coin out though, it's said they then become ill.'
'We haven't publicised it at all, it's just happened,' he added. 'It's quite amazing really.'

In Scotland, there is also a legend about a kissing tree. If a young man could drive a nail into a tree with one blow, he earned a kiss from his sweetheart.
Yoko Ono has used wishing trees in her artwork, and in 1877 Queen Victoria wrote about visiting an oak tree with coins stuck in it in the Highlands.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1Xp63DI4U
 
I took a photo of this in the early 90s in Ireland - a wooden cross in Gougane Barra

206705100_0ae7a565b8.jpg
 
Three lucky people:

Three escape car which dropped on to Cheltenham railway

Three people have escaped from a car after it crashed on a railway bridge and fell in front of a steam train travelling on the track below.
The car dropped 6m (20ft) on to the railway line in Southam, Cheltenham, at 13:30 GMT on Saturday after a collision which involved a second car.
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service said a steam train had "managed to stop short of the vehicle".
All three people managed to get out of the car and no injuries were reported. 8)

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Early reports indicated that two vehicles had collided on the bridge, resulting in one vehicle dropping from the road to the railway track below."
"A steam train that was travelling on the track at the time had managed to stop short of the vehicle. All three occupants had managed to get out of the vehicle safely," he added.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) runs along a part of the former Great Western Railway's mainline from Birmingham to Cheltenham, via Stratford-upon-Avon.
The line closed in 1976 but by 1984 heritage trains began running along a short part of the line between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gl ... e-16375020

Being in a road crash can kill you; falling off a bridge can kill you; steam trains can kill you if you're on the track...
 
My friend who is living in Bulgaria has just told me that her ex-boyfriend has turned over his 4x4, a Nissan X-Trail. Apparently it turned over a few times, and he was able to drive away. He's completely unhurt, not a scratch on him.
I think the car is pretty much out of action now - not good news in a country like Bulgaria, where a car is essential.
 
A couple of weeks before Christmas I went to a craft exhibition with some ladies from Probus and afterwards we walked to a cafe in the middle of the Fitzroy gardens.
On the way there I picked up a set of keys and thought I'd hand them in when we reached the cafe. On arriving I was greeted with joy by the Indian waitress as they were her housekeys.
Anyway I ate a salmon wrap and became quite ill with vertigo and maybe food poisoning as I've never been sick with it before.
I was told I'd have to walk to the nearest road as drivers wouldn'r come into the gardens. However the lovely waitress had a friend who was a taxi driver and he came right up to the steps and took me on the 40 minute drive home.
I just felt so lucky I'd found those keys and that I had a lovely driver to take me home.( gave him a good tip to feel lucky as well)
 
Right place at the right time

Inspired by reading a few posts on the Minor Strangeness thread, I got to thinking of being in the right place at the right time. I have had a few experiences in my life where it seems fate was predestined or that a series of events was unavoidable leading to a great outcome for me. Almost like the cosmic joker shoved me in the right direction.

For example, I was once the Operations Manager for a famous nightclub/venue in North London. The owners suddenly announced that they were closing down after decades of trade. The news came as quite a blow. The same day, I had to run into the Tottenham Court Road to pick up a new guitar I had ordered. As I passed the Astoria (another of London's famous but now disappeared venues) I had a sudden impulse to go in. The door was unlocked (as usual because they sold tickets in the lobby) but the ticket desk was unmanned. I just wandered right into the building. I eventually stumbled upon a man who demanded to know what I was doing. Turns out he owned the whole shebang. I said straight out that I wanted to be the Manager of the Astoria or Astoria 2, my favourite nightclub in London. He replied that he had just fired the Assistant Manager for Astoria 2 less than an hour previous. The very next week I started as Assistant Manager and as a direct result of that job, I met and married my wife and haven't looked back since.

I still can't explain the strange impulse that urged me to go into the club. I had obviously been brooding over the bad news and was thinking about how to start job seeking, what contacts could I use, what favours could I pull in. But then, something in my head seemed to just say, "Go in here, do it now, do not wait".

Who else has been in the right place, at the right time?
 
That's amazing! Glad it worked out.
 
When I was young I had had a fight with my then boyfriend and went to a dance with my girlfriends. I said that I'd read that if you wanted to be askd to dance you needed to not be with a group of other girls so took a few steps to the side.
Almost immediately a man came up and said " Here I am" and asked me to dance. He later became my husband.
 
I was just coming out of a terrible divorce (and even worse marriage), licking my wounds, socially withdrawn. A bunch of my co-workers who were tired of watching me mope pressed me to join them at a regular friday night square dance. Trying to get me out of my funk. (I live in a large city, the square dance thing had become a popular novelty back then.)

I got home from work friday night, exhausted, low down, not feeling at all like socializing, said “screw it” and sat down to veg the night away. About an hour later I was suddenly impelled to get up, change, and go. I remember being surprised at finding myself getting ready, like it wasn’t me deciding to go but more like someone else had decided for me.

I got there just as one dance was just ending and people were choosing partners to start the next. A random woman was walking by, we sort of nodded to each other and partnered up for that one dance. After 20 more dances with 150 other partners (about 30 seconds apiece), the night was closing down and we bumped into each other again. Joined some other people going down the street for a beer. Have been married 20 years this August, happily this time.

This was partly being in the right place at the right time, but more about the strange impulse to act that doesn't seem to come from one's own concious mind.
 
I've had that strange impulse many times in my life. One such time, when I was back at uni, changed my life. I was living in halls & shared a kitchen with several other girls. One of them loved "glossy" women's magazines. Not my type of thing at all & usually I left them for her to read & recycle. But one day, I walked into the kitchen & saw a copy of Cosmo & something made me pick it up & look thru it. Now, I'd never look at a Cosmo before or since, as I say it's not my cuppa tea, but, for some reason, I stopped on an advert in the back for a phone text line. Again the strange impulse came over me & I txt this advent's number. A few moments later I got into a text convesation with a guy, we text/talked & ended up becoming a couple. We were together for about 2 years when things went wrong, However, one of his friends (who had become my friend too) asked me out. Five years later we are still together & very happy. I often think about what if I'd never picked up that mag? It'sstrange how one tiny thing can change your whole life.
 
Exactly my thought too. I love the idea that we are not 100% in control of our destinies. As Sundog said, a mixture of right place, right time and an unknown shove in the right direction.

I have another example from the same period of my life. This one may just be coincidence but I still think about it today. I had a night off and had been invited to an underground (as in not licensed) nightclub by a friend of a friend. I already had plans but agreed to swing by if I was in the neighbourhood. Shortly before midnight, I turned up with my gf and a few of her mates. The entrance was in a minicab stand and you had to ask for a cab to a certain address to be let in. In we went and headed downstairs. We had a few drinks and a dance but then suddenly a voice in my head just starting saying "leave now". A wave of anxiety flowed over me and I had this strong desire just to run. I told my gf we were leaving. She was puzzled at my sudden desire to leave but agreed. As we walked out of the mini cab door, we turned right just as an unmarked van pulled up. A squad of police jumped out and raided the club. All there were arrested including my gf's friends and they spent the night in the cells.

Now as I worked in the club environment, I think I may have picked up on a bad vibe or a danger signal which made my spider senses tingle. But I can definitely say that the urge to leave and my inner voice were coming from a subconscious level.
 
Wow, that's a great story. I do believe in fate, I've had too many things happen to not believe in it. My sister had a good one, she was out of work and really getting down about it, and a friend of her's said "You've not been horse riding in years, come & spend a day out riding with me". She did & met a guy whilst out riding, on his horse. They got chatting & he offered her a job starting the next week working with his horses. From that she has now become an equine therapist working with Help for Hero's, & it has changed her life.

If she hadn't of said yes to her friend, who knows what she would be doing now...
 
We had a few drinks and a dance but then suddenly a voice in my head just starting saying "leave now". A wave of anxiety flowed over me and I had this strong desire just to run. I told my gf we were leaving.
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That might be precognition, or as you say nothing more than subconciously picking up on subtle clues.

I was about to say that that's not the same thing as the strange impulse to act that doesnt seem to come from one's own mind...but now I can't see that they are different at all.
 
I know exactly what you mean but it's tricky to put in to words... like when things work out super well from what was initially an almost ephemeral decision, or a chance encounter or something you wouldn;t normally do but did on a whim, or because of an odd feeling.
 
I get the opposite of this. "Yeah, that's a really good idea! Oh wait, now I'm in Hell." Is there a name for that? Apart from er, wrong place wrong time?
 
I think we all get that one all the time... that is what makes it practically bloody paranormal when it goes the other way.
 
BlackRiverFalls said:
I think we all get that one all the time... that is what makes it practically bloody paranormal when it goes the other way.
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As in the bowl of petunias!
 
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