A little girl's warning

          Good evening, 919 Gang. We're still talking about luck. I spend some time pondering that topic when I set in front of a slot machine in Las Vegas. Here's an example related to luck that intrigues me:  We all assume that if we flip a coin over and over and over it will come up heads about half the time. Here's the question: If you flip 20 times and the coin comes up heads each time, what are the odds it will come up tails on the next flip?

          JOE BROWN writes:

          A close synonym for luck as discussed here today might be "fate or "kismet," the latter defined by Webster as "a power that is believed to control what happens in the future." My own case in point: on my final weekend as Copley News Service correspondent in Vietnam in 1966, I was offered a chance by the Air Force colonel running military p.r. in Saigon to fly in the back seat of an AF pilot on a combat mission the next day. It was a great idea: this was this pilot's third war with more flying hours than anyone in the service, As I waited for a bus to the airfield, a young Vietnamese girl about 9 ran up to me and for a reason I'll never know, flung her arms around my neck in a big hug and then ran away. Perhaps it was Kismet or fate, but on a hunch I abandoned the idea to fly in the back seat of the pilot's jet. Next day when I entered the p.r colonel's office, he turned white. When I asked why, he said the pilot I would have flown with never came back from his mission. Losing communication, he disappeared somewhere over the South China Sea, and I would have disappeared with him. To this day, his disappearance is a mystery. Kismet? Luck? Who knows?

          JOE GANDELMAN writes:

          Here's a little quirky thing about luck/fate. After I started my blog in The Moderate Voice in 2003 it was clear it would die if there wasn't enough new posts on it due to my travel, so I started inviting several people to co-blog. This later grew to a large number of people (if someone does a few Guest Voices and it looks good it's just easy to give them the codes and let them post). One person I emailed and urged to do a Guest Voice was a young law student who really had some serious, interesting takes on issues. He was great, and I offered him the codes. When it was suggested that we have titles (editor, ME, asst. editor) to better organize and also keep our Google News status, he became an asst. editor.

          DEAN WARINER writes:

          Luck is whatever you make of it. My wife Tad has a knack for finding a parking spot close to the Costco front door. She calls it princess parking. She says if you think you will find a parking place close to the front door and expect it to be there when you arrive, you will get one. Often she is right and sometimes she has to settle for less. Who knows if it is coincidence, chance, fate, or all of the above. I think luck often depends on one's ability to recognize an opportunity. Being a natural born skeptic I have had trouble accepting that notion but I try.

          JAY JOHNSON writes:

          No thread about luck would be complete without reference to Thurber's classic short story "The Luck of Jad Peters". Here's link to The New Yorker in which it appeared in 1934:

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1934-12-08#folio=022

          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          Yes, I stand corrected...it wasn't Bobby Hebb (Sunny) but Bill Stewart who did "Summertime". However that is one of my favorite versions of the old George and Ira Gershwin's tunes from Porgy and Bess.

          On luck again. If I hadn't gone to Scott Wilson's wedding I might not have run into Jack Gregg and not been offered a job at the Tribune. If it hadn't been too hot that March day to toodle around in the city looking at houses I might not have found the one I live in now clear out in Del Cerro. For sure I and my children would all have different friends. My current philosophy is that sometimes you have to take a chance, go for it and make your own luck.

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          REENIE SHEA writes:

          Last night's message touched all bases -- Sara Dippity/religious beliefs/being at right place at the right time/enchiladas/loyalty and friendship/music/editorial cartoon satire and lousy headlines.

          REBER: Good point, and I hope we can keep the variety going.

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          PAT ROGALLA writes:

          High Tea Time. Bonnie Rogers wrote the invitation. Afternoon tea to celebrate her birthday. We were told to wear hats and recite a favorite poem. We didn’t know, looking up the long road to her home in the Hollywood Hills past the pile of firewood three-fourths to the top, that this would be the Party of the Year. And this day was March 18, 2014!

          About that pile of firewood. Across the street lived the Lollypop Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz. The loveable Munchkin stole Bon’s fireplace wood – He said the pile appeared to belong to no one- and Bon said, “You knew it didn’t belong to you!” The Lollypop man hauled it back. They became unneighbors. I write this just to establish the place. Bon’s house is not the one built for someone three feet tall.

          Actually Bon’s house is haunted with the ghost of Hollywood’s “It” girl Clara Bow. Her Husband Cowboy star Rex Bell built it (well not alone), and there were ring-a-ding parties. So when Bon has a party there is an experience awaiting. Between you and me I think I saw Clara Bow descending the stairs from the bedrooms. Something akin to Miro’s famous painting of the “Nude ascending the stairs”.

          To walk into Bon’s house after you have walked up the hill, or down the hill…. parking in front of a designated house is akin to finding gold in them there hills. Escalators still run up and down don’t they?

          Bon’s garden and deck are full of Aloe Vera, Spider Plant, Chloroplytum Comosum, Night Blooming Cereus, Poor Man’s Iris, Epiphyllum, Philodendron, Geranium, Creeping Charlie, and I think I also saw a Wandering Jew. The spicy sweet fragrance can raise the hair on arms. Hello.

          Ah, the Tea Party. We are not talking Republicans (except for me). Liberals graced the premises like fruit flies on clotted cream. The tea, all eight different choices, was high class. No pinking finger put an eye out. No tea bag was squeezed. No Scone was pricked with a fork. No one waved a hot pot. We were good ….man.

919ers Pam Journey, Pat Rogalla and Bonnie Rogers.

Bonnie Rogers

High Tea teacups

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          PAULINE REPARD writes:

          Readers of the Arizona Republic got this in their email on Sunday, March 30. Adding 70 pages sounds huge!

Your Republic is bigger, better than ever

          Dear readers:

          You’ve told us you want more. Starting today, we deliver more.

          Welcome to a new and bigger Arizona Republic.

          Your newspaper is now packed with 70 more pages of journalism each week. That’s more local reporting, more food and dining, more arts and entertainment, more sports and more opinion - all from Arizona’s largest news-gathering organization. We’ve also included a daily, custom edition of USA TODAY filled with national and international news.

          We’ve not just added more to our local, national and international report. We’ve scrutinized every part of The Republic to bring you a better reading experience. Sections have been reorganized. The design has undergone a bold refresh.

          A Reader’s Guide in today’s newspaper walks you through all of the changes.

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          REBER: The answer to the question I posed at the top: If your coin flip turns up heads 20 times in a row, the odds that it will be tails on the next flip are exactly even. So, if you bet on it being tails there is a 50-50 chance you will have bad luck. Counter-intuitive, but that's how it works.

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065

U.S.A.

Sara Dippity

          Good evening, 919 Gang. Joe Holly started the conversation about luck, and we have some perspectives to share tonight.

          BOB RODRIGUEZ writes:

          Joe Holly asked about luck, and I must relate that Lady Luck (a.k.a. Sara Dippity) has figured in various incidents throughout my life. Sometimes it was simply a matter of good fortune; being in the right place at the right time, or having my camera ready to shoot. A few examples: the photo in Escondido of cops and a man with a rifle was the result of being curious enough to drive down Pennsylvania Avenue one afternoon to see why there was a crowd on a sidewalk. Turned out that they were watching Escondido PD officers working to contain a young man carrying a .22-caliber rifle ready to fire. Call it luck if you will, but I got two P1 photos out of the deal and an SDX news photo of the year award. However, even with the adrenaline flowing, my crushing hangover was undiminished.

          Another time I was assigned to cover a private airplane crash on Mount Palomar. Driving there from the Escondido bureau I was worried; how would I find the site? I had no idea. But after driving for several miles, what to my wondering (and lucky) eyes did I spy? A coroner's wagon, which I followed to the base camp; then got a ride up to the crash with a friendly deputy, got the shots, and was able to accompany the body down the mountain in the rear of a sheriff's office van. OK, the last wasn't so lucky, especially because the corpse kept sliding toward me on its gurney. Oh well, live and learn.

          I think that luck simply means that opportunities will arise, and one must be ready to take advantage of them. Here's another example of fortuitous circumstance, one that saved my life I'm sure. I was driving from Escondido to Valley Center on what was a somewhat narrow two-lane roadway. As I approached a curve I spied a bright red highway flare just prior to entering the curve. Naturally I slowed my magical '66 AMC 440 and pulled to the shoulder. In an instant some nut came around the curve at high speed on my side of the road. Had I not pulled over, there would have been a head-on collision, and they never are pretty. After I stopped shaking from the missed mishap I realized that there really was no highway flare. No, it was a discarded Coke can. Sunlight had reflected off it in such a way that it appeared to be an ignited flare. Wow, score one for providence/luck, whatever you want to term it.

          Here's some more. When I was fired from my part-time food service job at San Diego Caterers as part of the crew at National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. (the boss said that I insulted him, but why go into that now?), my fiancée urged me to apply for a job at the Union-Tribune Publishing Co. After all, I was editor of what was then the "Athapascan" newspaper at Southwestern College. I was reluctant to seek a job at the U-T, but lo and behold I was hired as a copy boy. I had no idea what would be involved, but with guidance from Mike McLane and others, I soon loved the job. That morphed into writing youth page stories and covering some water sports (the latter thanks to Lyle LaFavre and Harry Hache).

          Being in the right place at the right time and being ready to throw oneself into unknown waters = favorable results. Call it luck. There have been so many instances of similar circumstances for me. Even leaving the Trib for the murky depths of flacking worked out for me because I realized that journalism was where I wanted to be. So I got on at the former Escondido "Times-Advocate" as a reporter after eight years suffering PR and internal communications work. It was a freeing time. From there my luck continued, as I applied for a job at the "Curry Coastal Pilot" in Brookings, Ore. Frankly, I didn't know that a job existed; I was only fishing. Got the job as news editor. And on and on. If I hadn't had the op at the "Pilot" to become editor and publisher, I wouldn't have encountered the guy who used to own the "Illinois Valley News" in Cave Junction, Ore. The chance to get into ownership of a weekly newspaper probably would never had surfaced. And on and on, including finding one day before someone else was to make an offer, our current residence on 47 acres with a cabin, and we own property on both sides of Little Rocky Creek. I mean no braggadocio; just pointing out that Sara Dippity has figured in my life.

          JIM OKERBLOM writes:

          Since we are talking about how luck = god, how about some equal time for us who think that's, to be kind, not very credible? It's only fair.

          Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist of some fame (author of "The God Delusion"), and Lawrence Kraus, a theoretical physicist, are screening their new documentary, "The Unbelievers," at UCSD Wednesday, April 2. They will be available after the screening to talk about the movie and answer questions.

          Dawkins is among the most articulate spokesman for the argument that god -- at least the one proposed by religions in our infinitesimal corner of the universe -- is a man-made invention and doesn't exist. I think he's brilliant. Just thought I'd mention it for any of those 919ers who might like to attend, believer or not. I just bought my tickets.

          Here's a link for tickets:

https://ucsdboxoffice.com/Online/default.asp

          Here's the flier:

          KAY PROKOP writes:

          My husband, Rick Prokop, considers himself a very lucky man. In June of '66 while working as a San Diego cop, he stopped a speeder southbound on Interstate 5 in the vicinity of Logan Avenue. He asked him to get out of the car and not stand between the police vehicle and his own car. "Some people like to use cars as off ramps" he told the driver. Just then a car hit the police car driving it in to the back of the stopped vehicle. Had they been standing between the cars, both would have lost their legs if not their lives. Was it luck, intuition, or training? You decide.

          MICHAEL GRANT writes:

          Thinking about luck, like Joe Holly, I find the logic starts to break down. Good luck is being in the right place at the right time, but bad luck couldn’t mean being in the right place at the wrong time, or the wrong place at the right time. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time would actually be good luck, wouldn’t it? I am working on a novel about a man who decides he has reached the place he was meant to be, because of good things he did do, and good things he didn’t do. That means that not doing a good thing is good luck. This is the point where the only reasonable thing to do is go make a nice pan of green enchiladas.

          REBER: I can think of so many instances where some fork in the road changed my life. All the forks I took worked out well. If I had made different moves, would my life be better, or worse? Who knows. Things happen, and if you put yourself out there, you have a chance for luck -- good or bad. I can't remember if I told this story before, but here goes: When I was in the Army we had a company clerk who was the most liked and respected person in the entire battalion. The company commander was a second lieutenant, in other words a beginner. The master sergeant was a long-time veteran, perhaps not used to dealing with the 17-year-olds who made up a lot of his responsibility. Tony, the company clerk, was the steady influence. If you felt you were being treated unfairly, Tony would go to bat for you and usually get results. If you had been denied a three-day pass, Tony might get it for you, or he might explain why you didn't deserve one. He was no patsy. How do young men of that age repay someone they admire so much? Sure, they try to fix him up with a blind date. Tony always refused dates. "I've got work I need to catch up on that night" or "I'll bet she's a real dog." Finally, he said yes, he would go on Valentine's Day blind date with another soldier and his fiancée. Everyone rejoiced. They were happy for Tony. The day of the date, he changed his mind. He couldn't go. I, who had no interest in dating while I was a soldier, was talked into replacing him. The result: a marriage which has lasted 50 years. I repaid Tony by making him my baptismal sponsor and best man at our wedding, and we are friends to this day.

          To finish the story: We kept in touch with Tony long after we moved to California and he went home to Maine. But a couple of years later he said he was going through a stressful period in his life and would stop writing for a while. Tony, a product of a staunchly Catholic Italian family, discovered, at about the age of 27, that he was gay. We visited Tony and his companion in Portland many years later. He had found love and the fork in the road that brought him happiness.

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          FRANK GREEN writes:

          To Suzanne Mack:

          Bobby Hebb wrote and recorded “Sunny,” not “Summertime,” the old Gershwin tune rendered in such novel style by the late, great Billy Stewart.

          Stewart had two other masterful R&B hits, “I Do Love You” and “Sitting in the Park,” both on Chess.

          In the mid-1960s, I bought the Stewart titles and hundreds of other singles at Minnifield’s Music City on Churchward Street.

          I was usually the only white kid in the small, narrow store, located in a little strip mall which also hosted a beauty parlor and barbecue joint.

          The dimly-lit shop had three long rows of 45s and albums sorted by genre (R&B, blues, jazz, some rock), with new releases prominently displayed near the entrance.

          Stapled to the walls were promotional posters supplied by such black-owned labels as Vee Jay and Motown, as well as black-oriented companies like Excello and Stax.

          Most importantly, Mr. Minnifield – a hip guy who had to be in his 70s at the time – always had some smoldering blues disc spinning on his little hi-fi system.

          Minnifield’s is where I first heard of such long-neglected stars as Little Walter Jacobs and Slim Harpo.

          I cringe to think how I would have ended up without the assured guidance of Mr. Minnifield.

          Probably listening to the records of such mediocrities as the Monkees and Chicago.

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          REBER: A couple of members wrote last night about a headline which said the young driver who died in an automobile crash had been using his cell phone. The story was clear, however, that he was not using the phone.

          PAULINE REPARD writes:

          I read my 919er so late Saturday night that as I write this, someone else may have already explained the terrible headline error in the Friday Public Safety briefs.

          The story (not mine) was correct in saying a teenager was not using his phone right before he crashed his car and died. The headline was wrong There was supposed to be a correction in the next paper but I couldn't find one. So I count that as  a second error.

          I have heard no explanation for either mistake but I believe humans were involved

          REBER: I think there are a couple of reasons why the cell phone question was important. First off, the story might bring comfort to his family in knowing that he did nothing to cause his own death. Second, I am wondering if there isn't an insurance aspect. If he was doing something illegal that caused the crash, would the insurance company pay up?

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          TOM STINSON writes:

          I rarely comment on this forum. However, as an employee of a public servant I recall the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Giffords. That cartoon isn't funny.

          REBER: Good point. Tom refers to a cartoon we published last night that called the killing of a congressman a public service. I usually do not print jokes or cartoons. Wish I had followed that rule last night.

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          BOB ELLEDGE writes:

          Teen Says Font Change Could Save $370M

http://tinyurl.com/kpaxwpc

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065

U.S.A.

Help wanted

          Good evening, 919 Gang. We have a couple of job openings to report tonight.

          KEN STONE writes:

          Copy editor wanted by U-T! (But not on the news side.)

http://jobs.thejobnetwork.com/Job/10481269

          DAVID OGUL writes:

          One of my clients is Mission Publishing Group, and it is looking for a full-time reporter for the recently launched Seaside Courier that covers coastal North County. The newspaper is a monthly -- for now -- but the website is updated daily. The pay is competitive. In fact, it isn't much less than what the U-T is paying its associate reporters. Anyway, here is the link.

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/job/General-Assignment-Reporter/25280ab3/

          If anyone with the group knows of a solid reporter looking for a job in a competitive environment, please have them respond either to me or via the link above.

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          KENT FREELAND writes:

          Many thanks to Basim Shamiyeh for his instructions to restore photo displays to my computer. The "show pictures" box was already checked but I clicked "reset" on the menu and when I refreshed I had photos! Basim and the 919 are better than the Geek Squad.

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          REBER: Last night Joe Holly pondered the vicissitudes of Lady Luck.

          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          Talking about disasters and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Saturday I attended a lecture by an attorney who specializes in "Tree Law". He showed slides of limbs that had fallen on people and one entire tree that killed two young college students who happened to be driving by just as the tree fell across the road. He said had they been one second slower or faster they would have been okay. Is it all serendipity? Sometimes you wonder how different things would be if you had taken a different job, bought a house in a different neighborhood or not made that light.

          BOB RODRIGUEZ writes:

          Luck? So asked Joe Holly. A great question. My life is full of it (luck) but because it's nearly 11 p.m. as this is written, some two hours past my bedtime, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to post some commentary. Bet yawl can hardly wait. Not! Spoiler: Most times in my life "luck" actually is spelled "God." But not always (I say to hedge my bets). More tk ...

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          MICHELE DAVIS writes:

          I am hoping I can run this through the 919. I am having trouble navigating the Times of San Diego web site. I cannot find the "home" key once I read a story. I tried to send an email to them through their site but I need some kind of password to send the email so the email would not go through. I just want to know what I am missing in terms of the home key. Right now I have to either hit the back button, which is not always successful or go out of the site and reopen it. I am wondering if Ken Stone can help. The only email address I have for him is his former Patch email address.

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          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          Reading today's local section I came across a short item in the "Public Safety" section about the 16-year-old who was killed last week in a car accident. I had heard on the radio and TV news that the CHP concluded he had NOT been texting or talking on his phone. The piece in the paper says the same "A 16 year-old Steele Canyon High School junior was not texting or making a phone call when he died in a head-on collision last week...." However, the headline dropped the word not and it read, "Boy,16,killed in head-on crash was using phone, CHP says". Oops! I'm sure they'll hear about that one.

          JERRY WINDLE writes:

          WAS HE or WASN¹T HE? On page 2 of Friday¹s U-T in the "Local Reports" section, the following headline appeared, "Boy, 16, killed in head-on crash was using phone, CHP says." Yet, the first paragraph under the headline reads, "A 16-year-old Steele Canyon High School junior was not texting or making a phone call when he died in a heads-on collision last week, the California Highway Patrol said."

          The story goes on, "According to the teen¹s cellphone logs, though, his phone was likely not the distraction."

          So, the question is was he or wasn¹t he?

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          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          I loved the description of Big Joe Turner as having a waistline like a Maytag dryer...great visual. What about, Screamin' Jay Hawkins of "I put a spell on you" fame. I liked Frank Green's list of favorite songs. My daughter Bridget "discovered" Billy Holiday when she was around 19. As for that particular rendition of "Summertime", I prefer the late Bobby Heb's late 60's version. Yes on "Bernadette" by the 4 Tops. That was the Confirmation name chosen by 90% of the girls in my 8th grade class at St. Charles thanks to Jennifer Jones and "Song of Bernadette".

          BOB LAURENCE writes:

          I take second place to no one as a fan of Big Joe Campbell. I have all his records, including many original 78s.

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          REBER: Tonight we send Happy Birthday (March 29) wishes to Bob Laurence and Doug Williams.

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          BOB ELLEDGE forwards:

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065

U.S.A.