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Posted: 25-06-2012 20:42 Post subject:

I think there's a distinction to be drawn between:

1. an ordinary kind of decision that leads to a really good outcome;
2. a random event that leads to a really good outcome;
3. the situation where one suddenly takes a very unusual or unprecedented action, to one's own surprise, with little or no forethought, that leads to a really good outcome.

Some of the events described above are of the third kind. They give the impression that one is being impelled by an invisible agent seperate from one's self. They might be due to guardian angels or they might just be examples of the subconcious mind taking action that is at odds with what the concious mind would choose.

The question is whether the subconcious mind or mysterious agent knows ahead of time about the good outcome. Maybe it's just taking a course of action that is likely to lead to a good outcome, and we remember the ones that work out as being almost miraculous. Especially in situations where the stakes are high (need a job, need a new relationship).

Does anyone remember feeling impelled to take an unusual, unprecedented sort of action that didn't lead to anything wonderful? Or would that be too much of a buzz-kill?

Posted: 11-09-2012 08:57 Post subject:

Britain's unluckiest house number
Naphtalia Loderick,
29 Jun, 2012

Do you live in house number 166? If so, you have the dubious accolade of living in Britain’s unluckiest house number.
More home insurance claims have been made by those living at number 166 than any other property.
New research by Confused.com shows that 21.9 per cent of home insurance customers living at number 166 have made a claim in the last five years.

The second most "unlucky" house number is 227, with 21.5 per cent of householders living at this number making a home claim.

However, occupants of number 243 have fared better - they topped last year’s unluckiest house number list, but have now slipped down to position 10.

Unluckiest house numbers by region

In the Scottish Borders door number 7 is unluckiest.
And this more remote area may be considered safer than other parts of the country, with the fewest home insurance claims than any other region at 18.1 per cent.

However, if you’re living in the southern part of the country – such as Portsmouth and Southampton for example – you may want to take extra care protecting your home, particularly if you live at number 60.
This part of the country has the highest number of home insurance claims in Britain - 28 per cent - with house number 60 proving the unluckiest in this region.

In London, people living behind the number 93 have most reason to be worried, with the highest number of home claims over the last five years at 19.2 per cent.

Unluckiest road names

Green Way is Britain’s unluckiest road name, with 27.6 per cent of those living on this road making a claim on their buildings insurance or contents insurance in the last five years.

Hill Road is the country’s second unluckiest road moniker with 23.4 per cent of residents having made home claims in the past five years, and Bradford Avenue ranks third, with 22.9 per cent.

This is followed by Beechwood Avenue, Kingston Road, Cecil Road, Western Avenue, Marsh Lane, Woodside Road and Balmoral Road.

Gareth Lane, home insurance expert at Confused.com, says: "As a person looking to buy a house in the near future I’ll think twice about moving into 166 Green Way!
"Joking aside, if these trends continue, on average more then over 14 per cent of customers are likely to claim on their home insurance in the next five years, with an average claim amount of around £2,000.
"During these hard economic times and extreme weather it’s important to find the right cover at the right price." Wink

http://www.confused.com/home-insurance/articles/home-insurance-unluckiest-house-number-in-britain-revealed

Round here, it's unusual for house numbers to get over 100, because even a long continuous stretch of housing often includes several different street names! In the centre of Falmouth, there's High St, Market St, Church St, Arwenack St, etc. I suppose you need big towns with long roads and/or several high-rise apartment blocks to get the house numbers up high.

But any street, however long, presumably starts off with 1 to 50, say, so you'd expect more low numbers in the unluckiest list.

Posted: 11-09-2012 10:17 Post subject:

I was thinking of building a bijou residence on Gareth Lane myself.

It's essentially a piece of advertising copy by the computer-generated Napthalia Loderick aka Dahlia Rectal Pinko, Kill Crania Pothead, Chaplain Liker Toad and the notorious Placenta Hairdo Ilk! Shocked

Posted: 11-09-2012 16:25 Post subject:

Posted: 17-01-2013 13:19 Post subject:

A lucky digger:

Australian amateur prospector finds massive gold nugget

An amateur prospector in the Australian state of Victoria has astonished experts by unearthing a gold nugget weighing 5.5kg (177 ounces).
The unidentified man, using a handheld metal detector, found the nugget on Wednesday, lying 60cm underground near the town of Ballarat.
Its value has been estimated at more than A$300,000 ($315,000: £197,000).

Local gold experts say gold has been prospected in the area for decades, but no such discovery had been made before.
"I have been a prospector and dealer for two decades, and cannot remember the last time a nugget over 100 ounces (2.8kg) has been found locally," said Cordell Kent, owner of the Ballarat Mining Exchange Gold Shop.
"It's extremely significant as a mineral specimen. We are 162 years into a gold rush and Ballarat is still producing nuggets - it's unheard of."

A video of the Y-shaped nugget was posted on YouTube on Wednesday by user TroyAurum. Wink

He wrote that the man who found it had said it "sounded like the bonnet of a car through the headphones.
"It was lying flat (broad side up) and he carefully dug it up."

Gold currently trades in Australia at about A$1,600 per ounce, meaning the discovery would be worth about A$283,200, but its rarity and the fact it weighs more than a kilogram would add a premium, said Mr Kent.

He told Australian media the prospector had been using a state-of-the-art metal detector, which meant he was able to find the gold relatively deep underground in an area which had been searched many times in the past.
The man had only made small finds before, he said, but was a "person that really deserved it".

"A finding like this gives people hope. It's my dream to find something like that, and I've been prospecting for more than two decades," the Ballarat Courier quoted him as saying.
"I've got no doubt there will be a lot of people who will be very enthusiastic about the goldfields again, it gives people hope," said Mr Kent.
"There's nothing like digging up money, it's good fun." Cool

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21055206

Posted: 18-01-2013 09:48 Post subject:

London helicopter crash: Crane driver feels 'lucky' he was late

A crane operator who was late for work when a helicopter crashed into the crane he works on said he had overslept and now feels "very lucky".
Nicki Biagioni, 30, of Essex, said his two sons woke him up at 05:00 but on Wednesday they slept an hour later.
Pete Barnes, the pilot, and pedestrian Matthew Wood were killed in the crash in South London.
Up to 40 people, who were asked to leave their central London properties, spent the night away from their homes.
Police said some of the buildings were inaccessible because debris was scattered over a large area including rooftops

more on the link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21055540

Posted: 18-01-2013 13:18 Post subject:

As my wife's eldest says, I've seen Final Destination. I'd be a little concerned if I was him.

Posted: 08-08-2013 09:25 Post subject:

Mr Unlucky survives shark attack
A fisherman who lost a two-pound chunk of his leg to a shark says the ordeal is only his latest encounter with the natural world - after being hit by lightning, bitten by a rattlesnake and punched by monkeys.
By Foreign Staff
7:44AM BST 08 Aug 2013

Erik Norrie, 40, was attacked as he fished off the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas but speaking from his hospital bed said his faith in God had not been shaken, despite the string of unfortunate incidents.

He told a television station in Tampa, Florida, that he felt something at the back of his leg on July 29 as he swam back to the family boat after spearfishing in the ocean.
"As I look back, [the shark] was just finishing his bite and ripping and swimming off, and you could see a piece of my leg in his mouth," he told Fox Tampa Bay. Shocked

The shark then began circling through the pool of blood in classic predator behaviour before his father-in-law jumped into the water to protect him.
"I immediately threw the spear down with the fish because there was an enormous pool of blood around me and that shark was swimming all through the blood, sort of looking around, for more," continued Mr Norrie.

He used rubber bands from the spear shaft as a makeshift tourniquet while his family radioed for help. A doctor who happened to be nearby provided first aid.
Mr Norrie said it was the most frightening of all his brushes with wildlife.
"That was a tough ride. I really did think I was going to die," he said.

He is now recovering from his injuries at Tampa General Hospital and credits his Christian faith with helping him through the ordeal.
"I didn't keep my head cool, the Lord kept my head cool," said Mr Norrie. "Because I couldn't have done it without him; he sustained me, kept me calm."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/bahamas/10229980/Mr-Unlucky-survives-shark-attack.html

Posted: 08-08-2013 19:32 Post subject:

Posted: 08-08-2013 23:17 Post subject:

Posted: 10-08-2013 19:20 Post subject:

Posted: 12-08-2013 10:42 Post subject:

.....ummmmm.... he doesn't exsist, perhaps?