The Dumb Luck Thread

[caseOrange]

OK, most of my life has been an exercise in all the different variations of Murphy's Law, i figured i'd start this thread for those who have experienced it themselves. i'm sure (i hope) there are some out there who've gone through this at least once.

Here's the latest one:

They've started to film a lot of movies down here recently, and a work buddy of mine told me that the production companies were looking for extras. i've never--repeat, never--aspired to be an actor, or on film at all, for that matter, and the pay isn't much, but since February is slow on work, i figured i'd sign up.

He gave me some web links and phone numbers and told me i'd need a head shot. i told him i was booked through Feb. 8 and that i'd get to it thereafter.

Well, we were doing a strike after one of the parades the morning of February 6th, and i was rolling up some lighting cable when--BAM--i got smacked with a lighting connector right below my left eye. i now have a really nice shiner and it looks like i got into a fight. No head shot for me anytime soon--it looks like i already took a shot to the head!

[ViperPilotMomma]

Poor CaseOrange! Plenty of cold compresses should help.

Its that procrastination thing again. I can't think of any specific instances myself, but it seems like whenever I put something off, its winds up biting me in the arse. I'm finding that I'm better off if I just stick as close to my original plans as much as possible. And this is coming from a major put-it-off-til-tomorrow type!

[caseOrange]

Please don't tell me i'm the only one who has this kind of luck. That would be just my luck.

[Big Brother]

caseOrange said:

Please don't tell me i'm the only one who has this kind of luck. That would be just my luck.

I've been in four separate train accidents, and narrowly missed being in two others...does that count?

[CylonGod]

Big said:

I've been in four separate train accidents, and narrowly missed being in two others...does that count?

After the second one I would have given up on the train. You are more brave than I am.

[Big Brother]

Eh, only one of them led to any sort of injury...

1.) On a summertime driving vacation with my family through the SE USA, we visited Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN. There is an incline railroad there, sort of a San Fancisco cablecar arrangement, which holds the world record for steepest railway in the world -- near the top, it goes for a bit at about a 75% grade.

Our first indication that riding this train was a bad idea came immediately as we left the station: the recorded narration of what we were supposed to be seeing out the windows was the wrong tape, as it was describing the trip down the mountain.

The second warning sign came halfway up the mountain, when the driver of our car had a brief passing squirt-gun fight with the operator of the other car passing us going downwards.

The third warning sign came at the steepest part of the track, just short of the station at the top, when the car suddenly screeched to a halt. After fiddling with the controls a bit, our driver made the announcement that he was gonna try something.

We began sliding backwards, down the mountain.

Thankfully, we screeched to a halt again almost immediately, after sliding back only a couple of feet. A few minutes later, the driver thankfully stopped trying to fix it himself, and we evacuated the train car and climbed the 50 feet remaining to the station at the top of the mountain. Where the train had stopped, the track was so steep we had to briefly climb the railroad ties like a ladder before we reached somewhat-level ground near the station.

No one was hurt, but the train was stuck for a while, and they had to send busses to take us back down the mountain by road...which for the people with window seats, was apparently even scarier than the train breakdown...

2.) Riding a Chicago El train home from work one day, the brakes went out on the train and we sped right through my stop without stopping. The driver managed to slow the train down and kill the engine to stop at the next station, where they let everyone out. Luckily the tracks make a turn between the stations, so it wasn't really any farther to walk home for me at least. A bit scary, but again, no one was hurt.

3.) I took Amtrak to visit some old college buddies downstate for new year's eve. A blizzard blew in that weekend, and my scheduled train home was cancelled. The following day, they managed to clear the tracks and send a replacement train, so I was headed home at last. A few stops from Chicago, as we pulled out of the station in Joliet, the train hit a car at a road crossing and four people in the car were injured. The train was delayed four hours while they scraped the SUV off the front of the engine, but we finally got moving again and I made it safely home. That was the only accident I've been in where anyone was hurt.

4.) Riding the El home from work again a few years later, and the car I was riding in caught fire. We were still in the downtown loop area, so it was only like a block to the next station, where they let everyone out. There was some impressive smoke coming from underneath the car, where the brakes had apparently overheated and set some electical cabling to smoldering. After all the people were off, the train left to return to the repair depot, and we all got on the next train and went about our business. Again, a slight scare, but no one was hurt.

As for the two near misses, they both were incidents where, if I'd made it to a station in time to catch the previous subway train, I would have been in an accident. One was while visiting London, when the train ahead of us caught fire, probably in a situation similar to the subway-car fire I'd already been in back home in Chicago. The other was back in Chicago, when the train ahead of mine hit a woman who fell off the station onto the tracks. That closed that particular El line for a while, so the CTA sent a bus to take us past the station with the accident scene and on to downtown.

[Xenu]

BigBrother wrote:
1.) On a summertime driving vacation with my family through the SE USA, we visited Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN. There is an incline railroad there, sort of a San Fancisco cablecar arrangement, which holds the world record for steepest railway in the world -- near the top, it goes for a bit at about a 75% grade.

Our first indication that riding this train was a bad idea came immediately as we left the station: the recorded narration of what we were supposed to be seeing out the windows was the wrong tape, as it was describing the trip down the mountain.

The second warning sign came halfway up the mountain, when the driver of our car had a brief passing squirt-gun fight with the operator of the other car passing us going downwards.

The third warning sign came at the steepest part of the track, just short of the station at the top, when the car suddenly screeched to a halt. After fiddling with the controls a bit, our driver made the announcement that he was gonna try something.

We began sliding backwards, down the mountain.

Thankfully, we screeched to a halt again almost immediately, after sliding back only a couple of feet. A few minutes later, the driver thankfully stopped trying to fix it himself, and we evacuated the train car and climbed the 50 feet remaining to the station at the top of the mountain. Where the train had stopped, the track was so steep we had to briefly climb the railroad ties like a ladder before we reached somewhat-level ground near the station.

No one was hurt, but the train was stuck for a while, and they had to send busses to take us back down the mountain by road...which for the people with window seats, was apparently even scarier than the train breakdown...

;D ;D ;D
You rolled down lookout mountain! My buddy had the engineer's job for a summer while he was at UTC....he rolled the sucker one day too...almost collided into the landing station, he talked about it for weeks! ;D. Was this about 7-8 years ago, by any chance? Now THAT'D be dumb luck!

[Big Brother]

Xenu said:

;D ;D ;D
You rolled down lookout mountain! My buddy had the engineer's job for a summer while he was at UTC....he rolled the sucker one day too...almost collided into the landing station, he talked about it for weeks! ;D. Was this about 7-8 years ago, by any chance? Now THAT'D be dumb luck!

No, this would have been well over a decade ago. And the car at the bottom of the hill during this incident also got stuck (they're connected by a cable to counterbalance each other), but it got stuck about 50 feet from the station at the bottom of the mountain.

And after hearing your buddy's story, I'm starting to doubt the claim made by the engineer on our trip that the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway has the best safety record of any incline railway in the world...

[caseOrange]

Here's one for you. This happened to one of my best friend's mom. It's 100% true because i was at his house the night after it happened.

His mom had been playing the state lottery since it had started (which, at that time, was about 3 years), every week with the same numbers. The lottery machines shut down at 9: PM the night of the drawing. She had forgotten until the last minute to get her ticket, so she hurried down to the nearest gas station; but, alas, it was too late and the machines were locked for the night.

And that was the night they called her numbers. All of them. The jackpot was $20 million and nobody else won--she would have been the lone winner. And believe me, they could've used the money.

Now, that's what i call dumb luck!

[ViperPilotMomma]

That really stinks! What you call your very dumb BAD luck!

[caseOrange]

Maybe i should've called this the "Murphy's Law" thread, because that's more of what i was getting at.

[caseOrange]

Well, the black eye finally healed, and i went and took my picture and filled out an application to be an extra. And guess what the name of the movie is..."Just My Luck". Go figure.

Anyway, it's a Lindsay Lohan movie, and if they use me (and i don't wind up on the cutting room floor), when they release it, i'll try to get a screen cap.

EDIT: The name of the movie is "Just My Luck", and it's "Lady Luck Productions"