Saturday, March 02, 2013

The fickle finger of fate.

Man, you can live right, eat healthy, exercise, keep all your insurance paid up, carry a gun for self-protection, keep three months of supplies stored in a pantry, fill your car's tank every time the gas gauge dips below the halfway mark...

...and get swallowed by a sinkhole in your sleep.

Sometimes I think the universe just doesn't play fair.

26 comments:

Bob said...

Maktub.

Scott J said...

"Sometimes I think the universe just doesn't play fair"

I figured this out back in my 20's.

It sort of shapes my faith. As humble as my little life is I realize it could be exponentially worse due to matters completely beyond my control.

I chalk that up to His blessings and protection.

Bob said...

Maktub. Problem is, that knowledge isn't shared with us. We can only live our lives in ignorance of the day when the bill comes due.

CMonster said...

When the giant moles come for you, there is nowhere to hide.

I too am one of those people who shrug off the "what if..." sorts of worries. You can't avoid mother nature. She can find you wherever and whenever she wants.

I *did* sleep through Mt St Helens once upon a time.

Marcus said...

Looks like the Grab-oids are back.

They better not break into my rec room.

mikee said...

About a week before I had my Chemistry thesis defense, I had the classic dream of helping a prisoner escape the well-guarded prison dungeon beneath the well-guarded castle.

After infiltrating on a dark and stormy night, killing many armed guards to get to the prisoner's cell, breaking him out, fleeing across the nightmare country pursued by the enraged enemy, diving from the cliffs into the raging ocean and swimming for safety, I recall thinking, "Hey, I just might succeed and get away with doing all this!"

Then the giant squid arose from the depths, wrapped a few lazy tentacles around me and dragged me screaming into the cold, black depths.

My last thought in the dream was, "YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!"

JFT said...

A classic B5 quote sums it up perfectly:

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe."

-- Marcus to Franklin in Babylon 5:"A Late Delivery from Avalon"

Kristophr said...

At least face-eating monkeys did not erupt from the hole.

Paul said...

"Sometimes I think the universe just doesn't play fair. "

Yah think?

If it was fair we would all live in big houses with plenty of kitchen help, course I don't know who would be working in their house.

Shirt on my back and beans in my belly and I am riding high.

og said...

"They better not break into my rec room."

I don't know what part of that scene I like better- the Smoking hot Reba McEntire running a handful of different firearms like she was born to it, or Michael Gross throwing big Kynoch 8 bore rounds into that William Morris and company double. Had Reba actually shot the double, I'd spend so much time holding that movie poster up with one hand I'd have a forearm like popeye.

og said...

"In case of emergncy, break glass" with a giant double rifle behind it. That's the kind of emergency safety equipment I want.

Divemedic said...

This happened in Seffner, the area of Hillsborough county where couples are related BEFORE they get married, and one of the nicest homes still has the wheels on it.

Aesop said...

So, I'm thinking maybe tying a few thousand balloons to your house, a la "Up" might actually make sense for certain geologically challenged portions of the country.

Plus, I'm pretty sure I could beat the altitude record the wingnut in the lawnchair accomplished, and it's a lot more fun to take the lawnchair up for a spin if you bring along the porch and the fridge.

Unknown said...

"Fair" is only between people. The universe isn't interested.

Matthew said...

Sleeper on belay!

Goober said...

I don't think the universe doesn't play fair, I know it doesn't. At least not to the human concept of "fair."

That would be wy we humans been spending the last 5000 years or so trying to gain at least a bit of advantage over her.

All I have to say is thank God for modern medicine or I might not even be here right now thanks to her uncaring ass.

Ed said...

That house is about three mile southeast of the junction of I-4 and I-75. To give you an idea of the probability of a sinkhole occurring near you in that area of Florida then I have included a map all sinkholes reported in 2008 in Hillsborough County.

Want to buy some Florida waterfront property? If it isn't waterfront now, wait. That acid rain is doing a really effective job in addition to the pumping of groundwater during Florida's dry season, especially when the growers want to spray their crops and encase them in ice to protect from frost.

http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/pages/11100/f11131/f11131.htm

Anonymous said...

The other interesting thing is that the I4 corridor is where the .gov thought it was a good idea to build a bullet train.

How big of a sinkhole do you think you need before it would be a problem for a train moving at close to 200MPH? Probably not as big a one as needed to swallow a house.

Stretch said...

Sink holes?
Sure it is.
I know Tremblers spore when I see it.

Robert said...

Cthulhu came for him in the night...

perlhaqr said...

"And then the earth opened up and swallowed him as he slept."

Yep. Sometimes... you're just done.

Matt G said...

Marcus and Og win with a power that smells like freshly burnt cordite and Reba's hair care products.

Marcus said...

This here link is dedicated to Og:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFNBUs7O-h4

Enjoy.

og said...

Marcus: The top link in my favorites; has been for years.

Dwight Brown said...

"Sometimes I think the universe just doesn't play fair"

My first thought was: "What god did he piss off, and how?"

I'm thinking something's got to be seriously upset with you if it is willing to open a sinkhole under your house, rather than the usual heart attack/stroke/hit by a car/struck by lightning/stabbed by a jealous husband/crushed by frozen bathroom waste from a passing airliner/etc. ways of going.

Windy Wilson said...

If only he'd known!

Studies show 5000 mg of Vitamine A supplements daily will prevent sinkholes.



The report is of a 2 year study of a population of 5 people in South Central Montana is going through peer review right now.