Avoiding disasters

I seem to have a knack at avoiding disasters associated with holidays.  Whether it's staying at home, when I was meant to be away on holidays, or coming home early from holidays, or at the last minute, deciding to go on holidays, I can think of four instances of missing out on calamaties, associated with last minute vacation change of plans.  Back in 1983, I had a change of mind and left Anglesea early on the morning of the Ash Wednesday bushfires, returning to my place of residence in Melbourne.  That night Anglesea burned, along with half the Great Ocean Road.  Twenty years later, I made a late decision and left Canberra and my Duffy abode (ironically) to go storm chasing, thus missing the Canberra firestorm which scorched parts of the ACT, including my suburb.  Then in 2009, there was the near miss with the marsupial incursion, when sickness meant a cancelled holiday in tornado alley.  However, this a prevented a five week possum home invasion and the mess that would have brought.  But I think Friday just gone is my finest side step of being a witness to tragedy.  No time available to be taken off work meant I wasn't on a plane with friends, to Tokyo, for a three week vacation, that was due to start last Thursday.  After this demonstration of tidal power trumping nuclear power, my friends are heading home two weeks early, shaken, but safe.