Bad Luck

[midlifebear]

OK, first the stage dressing: I've been wasting a lot of time on LPSG lately, much more than usual. The Squeeze has been out of town (Buenos Aires) working at the satellite offices of Fundación Par, (Foundation For) throughout the country. He's a social worker (8 years of post high school education) and runs interference for his boss who is the main supporter/organizer of Fundación Par in Argentina.

Last Saturday The Squeeze and his boss (she's in her mid 70's and has lived in a wheel chair since she contracted polio at 15) decided to drive to Córdoba instead of fly as they normally would. After all, it's only about 350 kilometers away. The Squeeze and his boss are good friends and he wanted to try out his new 2009 Suburu Forester.

1. One hundred miles from Córdoba they were car-jacked by guys with guns wearing hoods and driving three other cars. They were forced off the side of the road and had everything taken, cell phones, cash, DNI's, luggage, and his bosses wheel chair. A trucker found them on the side of the road and helped them get to the nearest police station where they filed a report. Somehow they were able to hire a car and continued on to Córdoba.
2. Yesterday they had to fly back to the city. The Squeeze's boss had just received news that her neice, who was house-sitting for her, had jumped from the 30th floor of her apartment balcony.
3. When their plane landed yesterday afternoon the front tire of the MD 80 they were in blew and the plane skidded to a stop within half a kilometer of the freeway (autopista) that marks one end of the tarmac at Aeroparc Newberry in downtown BsAs. Otherwise, no one was injured. (Apparently, this happens all of the time!)
4. The Squeeze hailed a cab to get them to his bosses apartment in Palermo. As The Squeeze was wrestling with the new wheel chair they'd bought, another car slammed into the back of the taxi causing The Squeeze to fly against a large tree.
5. The Squeeze suffered a sprained hip. His boss possibly has a fractured spine. The Taxi driver smashed his head against the windshield. All three ended up at nearest hospital.
6. The Squeeze was released early this morning (about 6:00 AM) and immediately went to his mother's house before coming home to me. His mother reluctantly gave him the bad news that his 14 year-old Chow Chow, Beethoven, had died two days earlier; the afternoon he left.
7. Soon after getting the bad news about the dog, The Squeeze was arrested (today at about 8:30 AM at his mother's house) for being involved in several gun robberies in Córdoba. It appears the guys who robbed his new car are still at large and running around ripping people off. But HE had to be arrested because the car involved in the robberies is registered in his name.
8. At 10:00 AM today I received a call from his boss, who is still in the hospital with a fractured spine. She gave me instructions to go the Belgrano Central Jail and bail him out.
9. Of the six 100 Peso notes I took out of the ATM with my bank VISA card at the jail to post his bail two were fake. If the policeman who had accompanied me to the ATM and guarded me as I extracted the cash had not insisted upon escorting me, they would have most likely put me in jail, too, for passing counterfeit money.

The Good News? They finally figured out that he is not responsible for any of the recent robberies, but it will take months to get the 600 Pesos back.

The Squeeze is now snoring away in a chemically induced afternoon nap. He doesn't drink, smoke, or take drugs. But I insisted that he quaff 20 mgs of Valium and snooze with the TV on.

Anyone else have a string of bad luck similar to this? I'm hoping it is not contagious. I know good vibes can be terribly contagious, but bad vibes? Just don't know.

 

[nudeyorker]

Wow I hardly know what to say except I am so sorry any of this had to happen. I hope everyone involved soon returns to some sense of normalcy.
Most of my bad luck has mostly been being in the wrong place at the right time. Other than all of the other things have been issues that make up life in general.

 

[eddyabs]

Sorry to hear about that MLB...I hope that all clears well for your squeeze mate.

In answer to your question...yes, I've had a strung out series of bad luck....It's a long story....bear with me...

1.) Visiting friends in Egypt, the morning of our flight home, I left our passports on a minibus.

2.) After standing in the street and flagging down every single minibus that passed for 3 hours, my female friend became more and more hysterical, so we made the decision to visit the police station.

3.) Now 'Midnight Express' springs to mind...rusty fan, greenish walls, policeman at desk tapping pen saying nothing....2 hours later...

4.) Back at hotel, we pick up our luggage..tension has been building, I mislaid the passports, so, huge screaming row in the hotel lobby, much to the amusement of the numerous guests. We part ways, my friend decides to wait it out for a couple of days...I decide to head to Cairo (7 hours drive throught the Sahara desert).

5.) Egyptian friend Ahmed accompanies me, we head for bus office and book a bus for 11 pm to Cairo....where I will go the British Embassy to get my Emergency Passport and Visa...it's a friday night and the Embassy closes at 12 Midday Saturday...so I feel I should be fine for time.....

6.) Leave bar to get taxi for Bus station....my friend and I make up...Taxi gets stuck in traffic, the time ticks by...taxi man gets lost...turns out that he isn't a taxi man at all...we get out, flag a new taxi, and make it with minutes to spare. Run for bus...bus is pulling away, we bang and scream at bus to no avail.

7.) Head back to bus station, turns out there is another bus at 1 am...this is a normal bus...I'm a westerner so they wanted to sell me the expensive tickets...luckily I'm with Ahmed..we book tickets.

8.) Catch bus....all peaceful with the beautiful singing of the Qur'an....we head out into the blackness of the night desert.

9.) 2 hours in, bus stops, big commotion....Ahmed tells me to wait...3 minutes later, I'm like 'fuck this'...I get up, I want to see what's going on. Step out of bus, strong smell of diesel, headlights, it's cold in the desert at night...really cold. As I walk I see a large shape silhouetted in the headlights...I trip on something...I look down to see it's a decapitated head. I hear a man moaning, an Arab is lying in the sand, clutching his leg...his leg is missing from the lower thigh down. Get to large shape, it's a bus, many people trapped in back....Ahmed comes to me...he tells me it's the bus we missed. People are alive...every now and then a blood curdling scream that makes the hairs on my neck stand up is heard...people screaming as they die, they don't want to die...not like this. I see a blond curly haired young woman with a piece of metal through her chest in the back of the bus (where most have been trapped)...she stares at me, I stare back....I give away my jacket, all my food and drink to be passed up to the trapped survivors. The girl, staring at me begins to scream....I watch her die. Her eyes remain open, but the light, the shine, fades.

10.) Me and Ahmed crying at the side of the road. The bus driver comes to us....it's been 2 hours or so...ambulances arrived only half an hour ago. It's time to go...we get on the bus and ride in silence for the remainder of the trip to Cairo.

11.) Arrive in Cairo...I have just over an hour to make it to the Embassy, I make it there via taxi with 45 minutes to spare...it's expensive but speedy...I am issued the passport. The Embassy man tells me I need a visa...for this apparentely I have to go Tahir Square...some immigration office. It also closes at twelve...I tell him there's no way to make it. He grants me a car and driver...I get there with 10 minutes to spare. I want to get out of this country now..really badly. I run into the building...it's enormous with streams and streams of Africans and Arabs flowing through it's halls. I am directed to a large office with many counters...I have 5 minutes...I call out for someone who speaks English (my Arabic is limited)....a man comes towards me...I'm ashamed to admit I cry. He directs me to a counter...I wait...my turn now...she pulls down the blind...I bang on the window...''please''...the answer...''NO, I close now''......FUCK!
The man comes back..he bangs on window...blind opens...''Zahir (sounds like that)...YOU DO THIS NOW!!''...she pulls out a white paper...stamps it furiously and throws it at me.....

12.) I leave office....relieved...now I need to find a travel agent to book a flight home. I ask people on the street, everyone ignores me....finally I find a guy, he directs me to the agency. I book my ticket, but I have a 10 hour wait...I'm so freaked out, with no sleep, that I sit in the travel agents...I'll sit there all day if I must. Later 2 girls come in, Egyptian, but western in style, they come and talk to me...we end up reciting poetry and that's that! They take me for 7 course meal at the Intercontinental overlooking the Nile. Then off to a vast colonial hotel gardens for cocktails...THEN, they drive me to the airport.....wonderful girls.

13.) I await check in....the time comes...the (very cute) policeman keeps ruffling my hair and buying me endless cups of tea....but this is Egypt....

14.) I arrive at check in and produce my passport and visa. The german (flying Lufthansa) man shakes is head. the Visa is no good. I cannot travel. I stand there. I refuse to move...I feel a major freak out coming on. The passengers behind me start to agitate...he threatens to call security. I demand to see an immigration officer. I am taken to his office. I sit there, again, rusty fan, tapping pen. Half an hour passes, he does nothing. Then I have my freak out...I tell him that I am the British Ambassador to France's son (a porkie pie comes in handy on rare occasion)...that there will be big trouble for him if he doesn't let me leave. This does the trick....he says ''I do this'' and stamps my visa...I get to the plane with minutes to spare....

All in all, not my best 2 days....sorry that it's such a long story!!! Forgive any typos...I sped through this.

Edit: the next day, the passports were handed in to the police station and returned to my friend...DOH!

2nd edit: The bus that we missed crashed into the back of a mercedes that had parked on the side of the road with its lights turned off. They drive like lunatics in Egypt, and at night, and on this perilously narrow desert road, with full beam headlights.

3rd edit: Bad luck yes, but also, how lucky was I to have missed that bus...

 

[2322]

Your poor squeeze! That's horrendous! He needs to see a witch to release the curse on him. Only 500 pesos!

 

[midlifebear]

nudeyorker person: Thanks for the sympathy, but for the first time in my life I'm seriously flummoxed. That's the correct word. I don't believe in good or bad luck, fate, etc., but I've never known anyone (especially my sugar booger and his boss) go through such an odd series of circumstance. It's sort of an Argentine version of The Out of Towners, but not in a funny way.

 

[2322]

Eddy, there aren't words for that. It's horrendous.

 

[midlifebear]

eddyabs: Yikes! Remind me never to go to Egypt. My long-suffering-documentary-film-making-Lesbian-cousin has similar, but not as graphic tales about that country. The Squeeze and his boss are not quite through. They still need to attend the funeral of the neice who, without any previous signs of depression or suicide, decided to leap off a balcony. Fortunately, I have lots of Valium and can drive The Squeeze around for the next couple of months. He had full-tilt insurance as well as anti car-jack equipment, but it's doubtful he'll ever see his Suburu again. And he's probably got more problems than just a bruised hip. They gave he a bottle full of dimorfina (basically, heroin) if he begins to complain of serious pain and cannot sleep.

jason_els: Ya know. I am a bit supertitious having studied folklore throughout graduate school. I might just ask around if there are any curanderas/curanderos in this city. But Argentina has no gypsy population and unlike México there are no traditional shamanic healers. This place is pretty much like New York. Everyone wears a red kabalah bracelet made of red string and clutches a copy of Vogue. But maybe The Squeeze and his boss are just too good and the cosmos has decided to cut them down a couple of knotches. Get better, by the way.

 

[eddyabs]

eddyabs: Yikes! Remind me never to go to Egypt. My long-suffering-documentary-film-making-Lesbian-cousin has similar, but not as graphic tales about that country. The Squeeze and his boss are not quite through. They still need to attend the funeral of the neice who, without any previous signs of depression or suicide, decided to leap off a balcony. Fortunately, I have lots of Valium and can drive The Squeeze around for the next couple of months. He had full-tilt insurance as well as anti car-jack equipment, but it's doubtful he'll ever see his Suburu again. And he's probably got more problems than just a bruised hip. They gave he a bottle full of dimorfina (basically, heroin) if he begins to complain of serious pain and cannot sleep.

Christ MLB, I can only pray that the squeeze get's through this and back to feeling healthy....grief from a loved ones suicide I know about, it's terrible and my heart goes with you.

BUT....don't let this put you off Egypt...I've been back a few times, yes, one of those time a huge bomb went off in the tourist part of town (!!) (Sharm El Sheik)...but all in all Egypt is an experience not to be missed...it's full on, things go wrong easily, but you feel like you are really LIVING when you are there...it's raw, and horse riding through the Sinai desert (let alone the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, the Gaza Pyramids) has to be one of the most awesome experiences I have had..

 

[2322]

jason_els: Ya know. I am a bit supertitious having studied folklore throughout graduate school. I might just ask around if there are any curanderas/curanderos in this city. But Argentina has no gypsy population and unlike México there are no traditional shamanic healers. This place is pretty much like New York. Everyone wears a red kabalah bracelet made of red string and clutches a copy of Vogue. But maybe The Squeeze and his boss are just too good and the cosmos has decided to cut them down a couple of knotches. Get better, by the way.

I'm aware of the cosmopolitan-ness of the Buenos Aires population and the general hipness of Argentinians in general. New York though, is loaded with psychic healers and such things. The only reason I mention it is because ritual can positively effect the mental state of the person going through it. I have no idea if something like, say reiki, actually works or not, but I think just having someone pay attention to you; to mentally bond with you for the purpose of making you feel better, really does have psychological merit. It plain just might make him feel better. Plus, who knows? Maybe he pissed off someone with powerful juju. It can't hurt.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. I'm going to post an update soon.:smile:

 

[B_Nick4444]

not luck, good or bad

from what I hear of South America these days, totally predictable

 

[NCbear]

My best to both of you, midlifebear, and to you, as well, eddyabs.

NCbear (who wants to be the guy with the secret account in the friend's name in the Swiss bank--you know, like in the movies, so it all works out in about 2.5 hours :biggrin1

 

[Sirius Black]

What the hell's a squeeze?