Friday, August 15, 2008

What are the odds?

So DriveSavers in California have the hard drive to my MacBook as we speak. No doubt it is in incredible hands, this company is apple certified AND has a 95% recovery rate. Did you hear me, NINETY FIVE PERCENT of the time they are able to recover data from fried hard drives. These guys have recovered data from hard drives that sat in water for weeks after hurricane Katrina. They've recovered drives that have been fried in house fires. So what are the odds they won't recover my priceless pictures? Only 5%. You know I don't like to gamble, I'm not good with odds. It never seems to go my way.

A representative from Drivesavers called me this morning. What do you know ... I am one of those unlucky 5% of people they are unable to recover data for. My heart is broken. There's really nothing left to do, I've exhausted all possible measures. Now I focus on getting the computer repaired and taking lots of new pictures. I can also rest a little easier knowing I DO NOT have to pay anything for the services. If they can't recover the data, you don't have to pay.

In case you have forgotten, here are our odds:

Odds I would have a baby with Down syndrome: 1 in 800
Odds she would develop cancer: 1 in 200
Odds they could recover my hard drive: 95 out of 100

And while I don't have statistics for the following, I know these are some pretty rare events:

Odds two people living in the same house have some form of cancer at the same time ...
Odds your car could become infested with moths ...
Odds you would get hung up on by the hiring principal when trying to get a job ...
Odds you can get pregnant while on the pill ...
(okay, just kidding there, that was just to freak my mom out!)

Seriously, I need to start playing the lottery!

Chelsea and I will go back up to the hospital for clinic next Wednesday. I'm thinking we'll take some new pictures and try to catch as many of her old nurses as possible. Most of our nurse pictures were lost. Those are the women (and men) who saved her life and got us through those nine months of therapy. I want to be able to remember them and show her the pictures when she gets older. Maybe I'll put a baby leg on her arm and try to 'recreate' that last round?! Seriously, just kidding.

For fun, here are some other interesting odds. It's supposed to storm tonight, maybe I ought to create some sort of hide out in the basement to keep myself safe from the lightning. I can hang out in there and work on my first NY Times best seller!

Odds of being struck by lightning: 1 in 576,000

Odds of dating a supermodel: 1 in 88,000

Odds of an American home having at least one container of ice cream in the freezer: 9 in 10

Odds of dying from contact with hot tap water: 1 in 5,005,564

Odds of writing a New York Times best seller: 1 in 220

Odds of finding a four-leaf clover on the first try: 1 in 10,000

Odds of being killed by lightning: 1 in 2,320,000

Odds of being murdered: 1 in 18,000

Odds of getting away with murder: 1 in 2

Odds of being attacked by a dog: 1 in 131,890

Odds of dying from a dog bite: 1 in 700,000

Odds of being bitten by a snake, bee or other venomous creature: 1 in 83,930

Odds of dying from contact with a venomous animal or plant: 1 in 3,441,325

Odds of dying from any kind of injury during the next year: 1 in 1,820

Odds of dying from being bitten or struck by mammals (other than dogs or humans): 1 in 4,235,477

Odds of dying from a shark attack: 1 in 300,000,000

Odds of having fraternal twins: 3 in 1,000 (for a woman younger than 20)

Odds of having fraternal twins: 14 in 1,000 (for women ages 35-40)

Odds that a person between the age of 18 and 29 does not read a newspaper regularly: 1 in 3

Odds that an adult does not want to live to age 120 under any circumstances: 2 in 3

Odds of being considered possessed by Satan: 1 in 7,000

Odds that a first marriage will survive without separation or divorce for 15 years: 1 in 1.3

Odds that a celebrity marriage will last a lifetime: 1 in 3

Odds of getting hemorrhoids: 1 in 25

Odds of being born a twin in North America: 1 in 90

Odds of being on plane with a drunken pilot: 1 in 117

Odds of being audited by the IRS: 1 in 175

Odds of having your identity stolen: 1 in 200

Odds of dating a millionaire: 1 in 215

Odds of finding out your child is a genius: 1 in 250

Odds of catching a ball at a major league ballgame: 1 in 563

Odds of becoming a pro athlete: 1 in 22,000

Odds of a person in the military winning the Medal of Honor: 1 in 11,000

Odds of winning an Academy Award: 1 in 11,500

Odds of striking it rich on Antiques Roadshow: 1 in 60,000

Odds of getting a royal flush in poker on first five cards dealt: 1 in 649,740

Odds of becoming a saint: 1 in 20,000,000

Odds of becoming president: 1 in 10,000,000

Odds of a meteor landing on your house: 1 in 182,138,880,000,000

Odds of dying from intentional self-harm: 1 in 9,380

Odds that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years: 1 in 5,560

Odds of dying in such a collision: 1 in 20,000

Odds of experiencing an earthquake: 1 in 100,000

Odds of dying from exposure to forces of nature (heat, cold, lightning, earthquake, flood): 1 in 225,107

Odds of dying in an airplane accident: 1 in 354,319

Odds of dying from choking on food: 1 in 370,035

Odds of dying in a terrorist attack while visiting a foreign country: 1 in 650,000

Odds of dying in a fireworks accident: 1 in 1,000,000

Odds of dying from overexertion, travel or privation: 1 in 1,428,377

Odds of dying from food poisoning: 1 in 3,000,000

Odds of dying from legal execution: 1 in 3,441,325

Odds of dying from parts falling off an airplane: 1 in 10,000,000

Odds of dying from ignition or melting of nightwear: 1 in 30,589,556

Odds of spotting a UFO today: 1 in 3,000,000

Odds of contracting the human version of mad cow disease: 1 in 40,000,000

Odds of injury from fireworks: 1 in 19,556

Odds of injury from shaving: 1 in 6,585

Odds of injury from using a chain saw: 1 in 4,464

Odds of injury from mowing the lawn: 1 in 3,623

Odds of fatally slipping in bath or shower: 1 in 2,232

Odds of drowning in a bathtub: 1 in 685,000

Odds of being the victim of serious crime in your lifetime: 1 in 20

Odds of dying from a car accident: 1 in 18,585

Odds of dying from any kind of fall: 1 in 20,666

Odds of dying from accidental drowning: 1 in 79,065

I'm off to put Chelsea down for bed, then take a shower. Hopefully I'll survive. I'll take my chances.

8 comments:

Jamy Dunbar, Head Coach said...

Oh Man, I am so sorry to hear that. I know you were banking on them being able to recover those pictures. Hopefully, you can get some of those retaken when you go in next week.

Take care and keep your head down!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe they couldn't get your pictures back. It sounds like you are having a really rough summer. Wish there was something I could do to help. Let me know when Chelsea is due back for labs again. I would love to see you guys again. Hope things calm down your way. Surely as school gets into a routine the rest of life will follow. Take care and talk to you later. Give Chelsea big hugs and kisses from Aspen and me. Oh yeah. Did I miss something? Does someone else in your house have cancer too, or were you just naming stats?? Aspen's Momma, Amanda

Tamara said...

You've been tagged for an award -

(oh and so sorry about those pictures - I have an old hard drive I need to send in but I'm afraid they'll tell me the same thing.)

Ballerina Girl said...

I'm sorry to hear about your pictures. I do wander what the odds of breaking your arm from tripping over a stool. My friend is a 1 in 19,556. She got burnt from stepping on a firework.

Becca said...

Carey, I'm so sorry about your pictures. I know this doesn't help the present situation, but going forward,you may want to try this--I upload from my camera to my computer frequently, but leave the photos on my camera. When I get close to the limit on my camera card, I back all of the photos up onto disc from my computer and THEN erase them off my camera. So I don't take them off my camera until I have double backup.

Thanks for listing all of those terrifying odds--I think it's time to go and hide, as that mad cow disease seems to be running rampant. :-)

My Three Sons said...

Carey,

I'm real sorry to hear about your photos. I had an incident where my digital camera had some sort of short and we lost over 100 pictures. Some were from Charlie's grandma's 100th birthday. She died about two weeks shy of her 101st. I know that doesn't help but I have been there and know how bad it feels. Hope everything else is going well.

Kaci

Mommy to those Special Ks said...

Ugh I am SO sorry to hear about your pictures. I would be devastated too! I'm going to get mine backed up like tonight! I owe you an email, I know! I'm going to get to that either tonight or tomorrow. I haven't been ignoring you, just VERY far behind! Love you!

Shannon @ Gabi's World said...

Oh so sorry! I have come so close to losing my photos many times, and I just know that sinking feeling in your gut!