10 little bits of good luck

I don't believe in luck.  It doesn't make any sense.  On the other hand, when it happens?  I very much believe in it.  Why?  Because really I'm not that bright.  Even when I'm believing in bad luck, my thinking brain is screaming "Hey, Idiot!, There is no such things as luck!".  The observation of a sequence of events by a reasoning individual creates the perception of luck or bad luck.  There is no such thing.  When it comes to bad luck Murphy's law covers it; If anything bad can happen, it will happen, and at the worst possible time.  I would like to offer a counter to that phrase.  I call it Mark's axiom.  If anything that could be construed as luck does occur, you will not recognize it. That's why I've made this week's list.  It will help you recognize those little bits of luck that happen.

10.  Hey the socks match! - You are doing the laundry.  In this modern age, the actual washing of the clothes is not really that big a deal. Even if you have done laundry once (or in my case twice) you quickly learn that the most difficult and arduous part is the sorting.  In the sorting the worst part is the socks.  Well, every so often, you do the sorting and BING!  The first 2 socks you pull out are a match!

9.  Exact Change, perfect - In any given pocket there are the leftovers of purchases past.  The change.  The coins you didn't care much about really.  Something along 38 cents.  You go to buy something and the total cost happens to be exactly what you have in your pocket!  nice.

8.  Found money! - You put on those old work pants from a few months ago to just run out and get the mail.  Wait a minute!  There's 10 bucks in the back pocket!  Now some people would tell you that you didn't get any money you didn't already have, but if you didn't remember it, it's new money.  You certainly can't spend money that's stuck in a pair of pants in the back of a drawer.  Oh it's good luck.  Word to the wise.  stuffing pockets with money just so you can find it later isn't really a wise investment strategy.

7.  The Junk Drawer - We all have one.  It's the junk drawer.  It's often the drawer of last resort.  Usually you will have in this drawer: Paperclips, twist-ties, non-working pens, pencils with no erasers, 3 pairs of scissors and the odds and ends of life.  They should change the name of this drawer to the good luck taken for granted drawer.  It really has 90% of everything you need in a pinch.

6.  Just in the nick of time! - Everyone complains about hitting all the stop lights.  Happens plenty.  What doesn't happen often is not hitting any traffic light, but it happens sometimes.  Often, you don't even notice.

5.  That was close! - I'm no whiz in the kitchen.  That's actually an understatement.  I don't do much of anything in the kitchen except stack dishes once in a while.  I do, however, cut an apple for breakfast nearly every day.  Once in a while I will be distracted while I'm cutting my apple and I will nearly cut myself.  Now that is lucky.  Now this bit of luck doesn't just happen with knives, it happens any time you are using a tool in an unconventional manner.  Using that screwdriver to chip ice off of something.  Using those pliers as a hammer.

4.  It's my song! - You get in the car, turn it on.  and JUST as you hit the ignition, a song you really like is starting on the radio.    Super Lucky!  Time for a road trip to Vegas!

3.  Nice Shot! - You're cleaning up, you can see the trash can a ways off.  Well out of your range.  The truth is, you miss it 1/2 the time when it's right next to you.  But you haul off and throw.  Boom, you hit that shot like you are a first round draft pick.  You don't try again, because you aren't going to tempt fate.  But yeah, that's pretty lucky.

2.  They fit great! - In the days of the internet, you can buy nearly anything online.  The problem is, when it's clothes, will they fit?  When you take delivery of that Spider-man costume, you put it on to find that it's perfect!  Not a stitch out of place.  Well that's as it should be right?  Yeah,  Most of the time you are lucky if you get a bolt of cloth with a rubber band sewn into one side.  You were lucky.

1.   Just the right one. - You are fixing something at home.  You need a part for something you assume would only have one kind of part.  You go to the local hardware store. you find there are not only several, but several parts that look very much like the part you need with some slight differences.  You decide to pick the one rather than all the varieties and come back with the ones that don't work.  It's the right one.  Oh yeah, that's lucky.  So lucky, that you are better off taking a picture of the part you need to replace.

Thanks as always.  I appreciate it!

10 indicators that you probably shouldn't gamble.

I've written blogs about gambling before.  I love it.  It's a lot of fun and the only form of entertainment where you have a chance of coming home with more money than you started with.  You probably won't, but at least there is a chance.

Over the past few trips to my favorite gaming establishments I've realized that there are times when I (or anyone else) should simply not gamble.

10.  You don't suffer fools well - Most gambling is a social event.  You go with friends to make some wagers and laugh at loosing and cheer at winning.  But if you gamble at all, you have had the experience of seeing that person wander to the table not knowing what they are doing and they are probably inebriated.  This person starts to gamble and starts getting louder and more obnoxious.  You start wishing for their financial demise, if not for the loss of their glittering conversation, then for the loss of the flowery bouquet of their aroma.  At that point, you will find that that person will win and win and win.   Probably making the dumbest mistakes in the game but then winning despite their ignorance.  You hope even more that this putz will burn out.  Nope, it doesn't happen.  When you truly wish for someone to loose, you will find that it's really not any fun.  You should pick up and move away.  Don't go somewhere else and start gambling!  Take a break, just stop.  You start up again and if you start losing, you will blame your drunken acquaintance and you won't shake the bad feeling and that is not what you are there for.  Give it a rest, come back fresh and start over.

9.  You think the universe might have it in for you - This isn't just gambling, this is life.  There are those that think the glass is half empty.  Others think the glass is half full.  As for myself, I think that the glass is the wrong size.  If you believe you are an unlucky person, you will focus on your losses and assume that you are not lucky.  If you believe you are lucky, you will focus on your wins and wonder why you don't have more money ;).  If you think that your Karma is such that you don't deserve to win, you are right, you don't.  Just stop right now.

8.  You are good at math. - If you are at all good at math, you can figure out what the actual odds are of winning any of the individual games v.s. what they are actually paying you.  You'll quickly find that there are no odds in the casino that are in your favor.  There is one bet that is NOT in the houses favor, but it requires a bet that is.  It's the Free Odds in Craps.  The more you play on free odds only, the more slowly you give the house your money.  So what keeps people coming?  The fact that those odds are calculated over the long term.  In the short term, you can win.  People come home with those stories all the time.  They don't tell you much about the rest of the times.

7.  You are already in debt - Ok, so you are in the hole.  If you are in Hollywood, you desperately bet what you have left on a horse whose name you saw in a hymnal at church the prior Sunday.  Since this is obviously a sign from heaven, you feel like you just have to take the opportunity.  If you're still in the movie, you're going to win.  If you are in real life, maybe you will win.  But you are in debt!  you don't have money to RISK on a bad return.  Don't go anywhere near a casino if you have bills to pay off.  Besides.  Gambling is no fun if you are worried about every dollar you have out.

6.  You HATE to loose. - Ok, nobody likes to loose.  But some people don't mind losing much.  I take a pretty broad look at gambling.  I've had times where I've been really mad about losing but came home with 50 dollars ahead.  I had won 300 early in the night and lost it during the rest of the night.  I really didn't like that.  I came home even once and it was one of the best times I'd had.  I lost 80 dollars and had one dollar in change left in my pocket.  I won 5 dollars on a pull on a slot machine.  and the rest of the night clawed my way back to even.  I was thrilled.  Also.  Anyone that says you are getting money without earning it really hasn't gambled much.  Any money you can get away with from a casino is pretty rare.  If you just can't stand the thought of losing games you are designed to loose, you probably shouldn't play.

5.  You HATE to see others win more than you - One of the strange factors of luck is if you are with someone that seems to always win.  You don't understand it, but they just do.  It's like they fall bass-ackwards into the pot of gold and you couldn't find lucky with a leash and a dog whistle.  If you gamble with this person.  You will loose and that person will win.  If you are with a friend you really think could use an extra buck etc.  That person will loose and you may win.  You think this makes no sense or isn't true?  You haven't been gambling.  It is this bit of superstition that rears it's ugly head when you hear the tale of the father that takes his son to the door of the casino and says 'son I'll give you this dollar, or I'll put it in that slot machine over there and you could win more.'  After thinking it over the boy decides to take the risk and the father then proceeds to put the dollar in the slot and win thus foiling his life lesson.  It makes superstitious fools of us all.

4.  You prefer goods and services to entertainment. - The ONLY way I look at gambling anymore is that I'm being entertained.  I feel like it's the only form of entertainment where I might actually come home with more money in my pocked than I left.  Let's see you do THAT with a night at Turn off the Dark.  If you really need to feel that you've gotten something in exchange for your money, then don't gamble.  It will never feel worth it.

3.  You have a healthy sense of self loathing. -  I've seen some people keep on risking more and more even though they EXPECT to loose.  They aren't winning and they don't have any expectations to do so yet they keep going.  They are just punishing themselves.  That's it.  If you want to feel punished.  get on a good losing streak with a healthy dose of sleep deprivation.

2.  You really can't stand buffet food. - Gambling and all you can eat buffet go together like Family Reunions and Salmonella.  Buffets can be found at most casinos and are often given as a comp or a come on for frequent players.  Lots of people like buffets.  If you aren't one of those people, you will probably not enjoy some of the trappings of gambling.

1.  You just don't feel lucky. - There is nothing like feeling unlucky.  It's like you are a Svengali in reverse.  You can tell that whatever you do, you will be on the losing end of things.  Now, just a note, Dice and cards don't know who you are or how much you do or don't deserve to win money.  They don't know when you are going to break even or if you are on a 'streak'.  You on the other hand will link events together and assign some kind of interpretation to them and assume that they in turn link to some other event that determines if you deserve to win or not.  I can't change this.  It's what we do best as humans and it's what's responsible for some of our greatest achievements.  Just remember.  If you feel unlucky, you are.  So stop until you feel lucky or at least neutral.  You'll save yourself a couple of dollars.

There we are.  It's summer time.  Time for you to go out and get a vacation.  I suspect that where Gas prices are now it could be a Vacation fairly close to home.  See ya in 15 or so. (tell your friends, subscribe, thanks!)

Top 10 Superstitions

Ok, I'm not going to rush off on some kind of anti religion anti belief thing. This is not for that. I am instead going to look into those little superstitions that I've seen people do when they really want to be lucky, avoid bad luck, or when they want to divine the future.

The future is interesting to us because we really don't know what it is. If you have a method of divining it, then you really have some special powers and hey, why aren't you rich? Because If I had a measurable method of divining the actions of the coming days, you can be sure I would be buying up whatever stock would appreciate the most or picking that lottery number right as the lottery hits it's peak. Of course as any good fortune teller will tell you (myself included) the future doesn't work that way.

The desire for luck or more specifically the happenstance of chance falling in your favor is nearly omnipresent, luck comes in a couple of flavors. Luck that benefits you specifically, and luck that doesn't hurt you when you should get hurt. In one case, the luck you experience is that you aren't in the hospital like escaping a car wreck. In the other, you finally caught a break and there IS a Nigerian dignitary that is waiting to give you a "large sum of currency to be received". Many of my observations originate from playing in casinos. The majority of these people are seemingly sane and otherwise rational individuals. Every game in the casino is ruled by the mathematical laws of probability. If the casino thought for a moment that there was some kind of magic involved with any of the games, they would not employ them. The only time casinos talk about luck is in terms of their patrons. They will often talk about striking it rich or getting lucky or hitting the jackpot. Jackpot by the way, comes from a poker term in a particular kind of poker called Jacks or better where a pair of Jacks are required to win the "jack"-pot. how informative...now where were we...Ahh yes, luck.

10. Step on a crack -

Nobody wants to break their mothers back. I know my mom's back has had some problems and she doesn't need me breaking it. The only reason I mention this old saw is because it was my first remembered introduction to luck/superstition. You mean to tell me that if I step on a crack I'll break my moms back?! this was fascinating to me. how is it that these cracks know who everyone's mother is? And more importantly why doesn't the city do something about it? can't they pour crackless concrete? or better yet make sidewalks out of cobblestones so we don't have to spend our mornings walking to school avoiding chiropractic peril on our moms.

9. Extra-Religion -

This is interesting because it appears that living your beliefs are not quite enough. Nearly every religion has their minimum qualifications for compliance. But the members of these religions will institute their own EXTRA requirements for proper living of a pious lifestyle. Everyone knows that heaven couldn't possibly hold you and then someone like me in it at the same time without some kind of reconciliation. So if God is all forgiving, how can he show that he favors you above me without having some kind of extra credit policy in place? It just stands to reason that every time you help someone or do a good deed that is not some how rewarded immediately, that action will fall into that gigantic bucket of 'EXTRA' blessings at the end of time. You will be showered with this bucket and lauded in front of your peers and well wishers. No there isn't any scriptural references for this because it's made up. And yet i'm sure it's the case. God wouldn't want me to suffer for nothing would he?

8. Wish on a falling star - Everyone knows that if you see a genuine falling star, you are guaranteed one wish. It can be anything of course, but the rules on star wishing are pretty vague to say the least. apparently there is no time limit on granting this wish. So if I wish for say 1 million dollars. The falling star just says 'well, over the course of your life, you will make 1 million dollars sooooo, I guess my work is done here see ya!' Darn, I gotta stop wishing for 1 million dollars

7. Bad things happen in 3's - Why is it that bad things happen in 3's. If you get a flat tire, that's 1. If you then hurt your hand while changing that tire. That's 2. If you find out that your new insurance plan has a 1500$ deductible before anything pays, that's 3. WHEW! Now I can count on no more bad things happening. Until the next one happens and starts a new cycle of 3 bad things happening. I'm waiting for it. Actually it's because by the time I've counted to 3, I've lost interest. 3 seems to be a very mystical number what with the shape of a triangle and all. Pyramid power!!! It's all about the 3.

6. My Lucky X -

This something of some permanence and usually unusual in nature but not always. Talismans are knowns to endow the bearer with strange mystical powers and rare luck. I've had many lucky things. The lucky Rabbits foot is among the most recognizable but I never owned one. I believe the standard rejoinder against the rabbits foot is 'It wasn't lucky for the Rabbit was it?'. True, but we don't think of luck in terms of others. Luck is always relative and specific to each person evaluating it. I have had lucky rocks, lucky kids meal toys, lucky casino chips, lucky dice, lucky credit cards, lucky ID cards. With so many lucky things, you'd think I would be brimming with luck. Well I am. I couldn't be much more lucky really. I'm certain that my lot in life was helped in some small way by all of those items.

5. Don't tempt fate...or...Never say 7 at the craps table

- I only became aware of this little gem when I was playing craps for the first time and said 'anything but a 7'. When I uttered these words it was as though I had said something to question the fidelity of every persons mother at the table. People were saying 'take down my bets' and removing themselves from the table. I then proceeded to roll a 7 thereby making anecdotal experience a fact (something that casino's also like). I guess that the cosmos doesn't know when you DON'T want something. Don't be an dolt and give the cosmos any ideas on how to make your life more miserable. There is a corollary to this bit of superstition. That's saying out loud what you do want in a way that sounds like you don't want it. This is because you think the Universe is an idiot and can't tell what you really want and probably doesn't understand irony. I've found this behavior comes up with people that really believe themselves to be unlucky.

4. An Itchy Palm means you will get money soon -

This one is more of a fortune teller than a lucky thing, but who doesn't want to know they are getting money? And better yet, they get advanced warning! Thank goodness. Without advanced warning, who knows what I would have done with my precipitous windfall? I may have just blown it on something that was a little bit more expensive than I could afford thus increasing my used credit and lowering my credit score. What? I couldn't qualify for the loan to buy my house? BAD LUCK. I guess I'll have to move to somewhere a little less posh.

3. Good Karma - 'What would you do with the money if you won it?' reply 'Well I'd give most of it to Charity....'. Yeah. of course you would. The Gods of luck listen to this prayer with deaf ears. I'm sure they have been fooled before by the 'look at the good I will do' ruse. NEVER AGAIN. And yet people still try it. They espouse all of the things they would do with windfall money to help those around them so naturally the Cosmos will think it fitting to give this person a large bonus because it will go to a good cause. After all the only thing better than a good person that will give all their winnings to charity is a benevolent supreme being smart enough to recognize my good intent. If I won a lottery I would probably sell my house and live on a cruise ship the rest of my life getting larger and larger on wonderful cruise food until my arteries had hardened to the point that it acutally sunk the ship. God himself could not sink this ship indeed. Actually, If I had near infinite wealth, the only way you would know about it is that I would suddenly be writing a lot more blogs because I would have a LOT more free time on my hands. And of course my cool car and several homes and the person I would hire to impersonate me in case jealous people wanted to assassinate me for being so gosh darn lucky. If I do anything good with the money, it would be clearly coincidental. God knows this. That's why I'm not winning.

2. Never Walk under a ladder -

This is one I heard very soon after hearing about breaking my moms back. Breaking a mirror was 7 years of bad luck is in there along with the black cat that crosses my path. Un-Lucky Number 13. These are the good old symbols of back luck that seem to always come out at Halloween (except the ladder one I guess...Boo! I'm a ladder!). They seem to have originated from genuine superstitions, but still they all seem kind of silly. And yet to this day the 13th floor does not appear on some elevators leaving you to wonder if they just painted a 14 on the 13th floor or did they make the floor and skip it altogether. Breaking a mirror is 7 years bad luck because mirrors are made of glass and it seems like it will be about 7 years before you get all the shards cleaned up. Walking under a ladder isn't unlucky, it's stupid. One false move and all of the sudden you have the guy on top of the ladder coming down on top of your head. Sheesh. I'm not sure about the black cat. I guess you have to believe in witchcraft for that one to hold any water. I like cats. they are easy to take care of and the keep mice away.

1. Don't Jinx it!!! - This is the most common form of luck drawing that I've ever seen it is very similar to the Don't tempt fate bit above. It happens EVERYWHERE and with very normal people. This is the opposite of wishing someone good luck and many times can be counter to that form of luck. This involves nobody recognizing that the cosmos has shined upon you and you got away with something that normally you shouldn't have. If the cosmos hears that it has been unfairly giving you good fortune, it will surely stop. For example, in Tennis, this is often used as a mental strategy to get someone off of their serve. during the court change, you mention. "Wow, it doesn't seem like you've missed a serve". They are breaking the rule of don't Jinx it. They are saying out loud the thing that is happening that is giving you fortune. Then you start thinking about it and you start serving more poorly because you are paying attention to it. Some people have modified this piece of luck such that they are able to whisper what they want to keep happening. This is very risky behavior because even though the Universe is old, it doesn't mean it's hard of hearing.



As always! Thanks for reading. If you have any ideas for top 10's I would love to hear em!