The Luck Of The Genes
There’s an article in The Times, which is entitled When It Comes To Success, Luck Can Trump Intelligence.
It got me thinking about my life.
I have been pretty successful in life, and I put it down to winning the gene lottery, with a part-Jewish father and a part-Huguenot mother, who taught me hard work and everything they knew. So were my genes forged by religious persecution in the harsh conditions of the ghettoes of Europe?
But luck has always played a great part in my success. On the way, three or four successful men have chosen me for projects and I’ve repaid them by succeeding. I’ve been at the heart of the creation of two world-changing companies.
But the luck turned bad, a dozen years ago. My wife and our youngest son died from cancer and I had a serious stroke.
But the genetic lottery of being coeliac and therefore having B12 injections, has meant, I’ve made a good recovery from the stroke. The B12 injections is a stroke recovery method from the States, but is considered quackery over here. I believe it saved my life.
And then during the pandemic, those coeliac genes and the gluten-free diet I need for health, seem to have protected me from a severe dose of the covids. I’ve yet to find a fellow coeliac, who has had one either. Scientific research from Italy and Sweden, is also backing up my observations.
Lady luck has smiled on me. Or does the devil, look after her own?
Vinnie Jones On Lotteries
In today’s Sunday Times, Vinnie Jones is asked about life and money.
One question was “What would you do if you won the lottery jackpot?”
He replied. “I’ve won the lottery of life, which is bigger than any financial lottery.”
I’ll go along with that!
I always feel, I’ve had some very good luck and some extremely crap luck too!
Getting The Blues
The tiles in my house are pretty tired. Mainly due to ten years hard wear with innumerable tenants, but also I suspect because knowing Gerry, they weren’t the best tiles to start with.
Getting The Blues
So I’ve decided to get rid of the hideous tiled skirting board and replace it with an oak one and put down a proper carpet.
This afternoon, I went to John Lewis to see what they’d got. I chose a Brinton’s carpet in a shade called Coast. Mainly because the book had been left open at that shade.
It was only after I left the shop, I realised that it might have been the same carpet, we used to have around the Chinese carpet in our house at Debach, nearly forty years ago. In that case though, we bought the blue carpet first from a shop in Woodbridge and then bought the Chinese carpet in Hong Kong.
My only problem, is was it C or the Chinese, that made someone leave the carpet book open at the page? A Chinese friend at the time, said that the carpet was a lucky design.
Beware the Leo Pig
Roy Hodgson is just seven days older than I am. So that makes us both Leo pigs. For more on this explosive mix of Chinese and European signs read this.
I know it’s all a load of old rubbish, but it seems to give them luck and end up in the right place at the right time.
We also all stick together. So here’s wishing you luck Roy. Not that Leo pigs need it.
Sometimes Everybody Wins
I was getting out of a tube at Oxford Circus tonight and I was away of something low running across the floor of the platform rushing towards me.
I put out my right foot and whatever it was hit me right on the toe padding. A couple of metres away sitting on a seat were two young ladies; one black and one oriental. The black lady was laughing as she had picked up the pound coin she’d dropped , which had then rolled and hit my foot, but luckily had bounced right back to her. She thanked me for my efforts.
I explained it was just luck and we all laughed together.
So sometimes everybody wins.
The Anonymous Widower 