And made the strangest sound

[austin_dern]

I just realized something. About two weeks ago I just missed the cable car to Sentosa malfunctioning and going terribly slow. Last Friday the elevator I was on didn't open its doors, at least not right away. Last week (I forget which day) a campus bus, at a stop but facing uphill with a full load, stalled out and needed a few minutes to start up again (which, since air conditioning stopped when the engine did, was quite an unappreciated delay).

Last weekend, the North-East Line MRT I was on had Unexpected Delays forcing it to pause abnormally long times at the Dhoby Ghaut, Clarke Quay, Chinatown, and Outram Park stations. An escalator in Funan the IT Mall ground to a halt and slid a few inches backwards as I was the next person to step on.

A couple days ago, the elevator came to a halt (as I was waiting for it) and the emergency bell rang briefly, before it stopped and the elevator went back to normal.

I don't know what's going on, but I'm glad I'm not flying this month.

Trivia: In 1944 Ford's Willow Run plant finished one bomber on average every 63 minutes. Source: Why The Allies Won, Richard Overy.

Currently Reading: Chariots for Apollo, Charles R. Pellegrino and Joshua Stoff.

Comments

[orv.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of a sci-fi story I read once. I don't remember who wrote it, but it was about a guy who was, literally, bad luck. Accidents and unfortunate things would just happen when he was around, though he himself was never hurt. After he joined the military and left a trail of destruction through his basic training courses, his superiors caught on. Their solution: He was sent into enemy territory as an undercover operative. His mission: Just live there, that's all. That should be enough.

Another story along those same lines: http://www.inertia.org/acvwjyro/acvwjy/jinx.htm

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

The science fiction story certainly sounds like something Analog/Astounding ... I don't think I've read it, but I've forgotten a lot of science fiction that I have read.

The Volkswagen story ... now, that's fantastic.

I'm reasonably confident I'm not a jinx; at the very least, all these mysterious malfunctions have just been the past couple of weeks, and really only being minor inconveniences ... still, it's fun to think about.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

This concept came up in Tanx Vixens, actually. ... Anyway, one character, Sonya, is a purported Jinx, but an absorptive kind: She gets all the bad-luck things happening to her, and protects the rest of the 101's Tank battallion by absorbing their bad luck. There's a gleefully psuedoscience explanation for all this, too, amidst the cartoony violence and boobies.

William H. Macy did a movie called 'The Cooler' just last year, where he gives bad luck to others around him.. and is hired by a casino boss to walk around the high rollers tables, especially when they're winning.

In both cases, they lose their Jinx ways when they get lucky. Ahem.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I just want to point out, the Livejournal glitch that ran from about 9:45 Greenwich Time to a little while ago, leaving all the servers inaccessible -- not my doing.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

now now... ;> slurperstition izn de answa..

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

How do you explain today's elevator mishaps, then?

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

elementary my dear fluffy...
The static electricity built up in your tail fur, in an unusual twist, caused a short circuit in the system when it brushed the mechanisms 8>

Soulution? Have a friend keep an watchful eye on your tail when in certain situations. *wags his own feathers, carefully*

Have a great time at the honoree lunch!

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Oh, I enjoyed it, yes -- I think you'll enjoy it when I organize my thoughts.