The odds against this were unbelievable!

Flo and I are sitting here on a rainy Saturday waiting for The Preakness horse race to begin. My son has placed our tiny bets on the horses that we think 'sound good', but our only wish really is that no horse falls down or gets hurt. So, in thinking about times in life when the unexpected happened, when you never would have believed that something would occur.....reminds me of a time that exactly met those set of circumstances.

It goes back to when my good friend Cathy[who's the mother of 3 boys] and I [with my 'one of a kind] used to hang out together. We and the 4 boys would go places like The Baseball Hall of Fame, SU basketball games, picnics, Wendy's, back to school clothes shopping, etc.

One afternoon, Cathy called on the phone and said that she could not understand why the bank had sent her a notice of 'insufficient funds'. She was sure that there was a balance sufficient to cover the checks that had been written along with some left over. I asked if she had called the bank. In going over the deposits with the bank, they had no record of her last deposit of $400.

Even though the records showed that $4oo was consistently deposited every Friday, the last one was not there. They told her that if she brought the deposit receipt into the bank, they would credit her account.

"Do you have the receipt?" [I asked]

"I have cleaned out my pocketbook, my car, my basket of bills and other stuff, and NO I didn't find it. There are $400 deposit receipts, but not with the right date. That's a lot of money to 'misplace' and I know that I went to the bank that day. I have to say that it could be anywhere because I know that I've been known to use the receipts as bookmarks or to write notes on."

Here's the 'long shot' part:

I said, "Hey Cathy, you left a note on my door the other day, and I'm thinking that it had the rectangular shape of a bank receipt. Let me see if it is on my table with some of the other things needing to be filed."

It was!! And it had the correct date!!

And she took it to the bank, and they credited her account!!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

Evidently, the account number had been entered incorrectly. It was off by one number!!

Whew! How's that for beating the odds?

And the lesson to be learned, besides the one about having a regular place to save the receipts, is to always look at the account number to be sure that it is your account number.

And I started coding the date into my deposits and/or payments.

Like a May 6th payment would be $405.06 !

Ta-da!

Part 2: Can you believe that there was a cold day in hell?[ Read after Pt. 1]

I realize that if you read my last post, that you would have a hard time believing that I would attempt another horse experience! No way, Jose! I can't believe it myself. It either speaks of my stupidity or Janet's friendship. [We are still best friends 35+ years later! ]

Okay...fast forward a bit of time [a couple of years later],and Janet tells me that the town is offering 6 horsebackriding lessons[adult ed] and "Hey! Let's do it."
I'm aghast! "Are you kidding? Thanks, but I'll pass."
So she tries to persuade me with all of the reasons why it will be different than the last time.
And 'Halleluia'...I am strong and say, "Absolutely not!" I had already done my 'kite hung up in the tree' routine, and I wasn't planning an encore.
Janet gets her younger sister to join with her and they begin lessons and all is well. Whew! End of story??
Not exactly!
After 2 lessons, Janet's sister couldn't attend lesson 3 because of a conflict, and would I go with her as her sister? Even though I wasn't a part of Lessons 1and 2, Janet was certain she could fill me in on the details on the ride to the stables.
"Aw come on...you can do it. Just give it a chance!"
"Absolutely Not!!"

So, on the way to the stables, Janet got me up to speed about getting the horse out of the stall with the carrots and apples that she had brought with her. And the rest of the info thus far....
Can you believe it?
For me, it was like an out of body experience.

Off to the stables, carrot in hand, my horse is larger than life. We walk into the arena and everyone and their horse assembles in the center for instructions. I cannot remember how I was able to be catapulted into the saddle, but there I was awaiting the nod to follow in step ...one horse's ass behind the next going slowly around the arena in a huge oval.
Again, just when I think it is safe to come out of the woods [see Part 1], my horse begins to exhibit some anti-social behaviors by trying to grab and chew on the tail of the horse in front of him. This was not well received by the other horse. The possible outcomes that I could think of were many and varied...not one of which I wanted to partake. So I made the decision that I had exceeded my capacity for fun, and I was done. I steered that horse into the center of the arena and slid off like a circus pro!!
An instructor came over and asked me if he could help in any way.
"Not really," I say, "I'm done."
The instructor consoled me and tried to calm my nerves by telling me how gentle and tame these horses were, and he would assist me.
Jesus standing there in His sandles wouldn't have changed my mind.
"No thanks...I think I'll pass."
And then he said the words that have lived on in infamy:
"Seven year old children with muscular dystrophy ride these horses. That's how reliable they are."
"That's nice," I said, and I left the building and waited for Janet in the car.
Referring back to accepting the things that I cannot change, changing the ones I can, and being smart enough to know the difference...I can now tell you that ...yes, I am smart enough even though it was a cold day in Hell when I took another ride...but I am also here to tell you that:
Hell hath officially frozen over! And that is definitely not going to change!!

Part One: Will the real horse's ass please stand up?

Long, long time ago
I can still remember [Are you singing 'American Pie'?]

Actually, in a former life of mine...early twenties...my good friend decided that we should go horseback riding. I was not thrilled about this, as I inherited the 'horse bit my foot' gene from my mother. But Janet managed to talk me into it, thus beginning my saga of horse stories.
We went to a place where a guide would lead the way for an hour at a reasonable rate[$$]. Hesitant at best, I requested the oldest horse of the herd. I did not want to be scared to death, and maybe an old mare[!] wouldn't be able to sense my fear. I had to stand on a bench to reach the stirrup and jump into the saddle. A young teenager began leading us along a pathway through the woods. After a little while when I began to breathe, the up and down bouncing became relatively normal and I relaxed a bit and decided that horseback riding might even be fun. As we came into a clearing, the guide realized we were close in proximity to where her boyfriend lived. What a surprise! She just wanted to say hello, and so we trotted over to his house where the leader of the pack laughed and chatted while Janet on her horse... and I on the old grey mare... rested for a moment.
All of a sudden, our host looks at her watch and yells out," Oh my God! We're going to be late! And I'm going to be in big trouble!! Giddy-up!!"
She takes off in a gallop, and Janet's horse immediately follows, and I found myself following along at a pace that quite frankly surprised me. After all, I did ask for the old and tired one!
And then it happened so fast... in the blink of an eye...as we followed the two galloping horses in a major hurry...eyes focused straight ahead...never saw the downed tree trunk laying across the path... and the horse went down...and I went UP... and landed in a tree!
Whoa! I should've yelled "!Whoa!"
Not 30 seconds later, Janet comes back after realizing that I am no longer following her...[like I had a choice??], and sees me rejoining the ground from the tree, and says...
"Get back on the horse."
"I don't think so..."
"You know what they say...You have to get right back on the horse."
"I can't reach the horse...even if I wanted to!"

Janet dismounts and clasps her two hands together to give me a stepping boost, and I did get back on that old grey mare...promising myself that it would be a cold day in hell before I do the horseback riding thing again.
We arrive back where we began, relinquish the horses, and Janet says..."Fun? So, would you go again some other time!"
" Oh yeah! On a cold day in hell!"