a series of unfortunate events part two

they say good things come in threes, don't they? - a maxim george lucas should have heeded after he'd completed 'return of the jedi' in 1983

triumvirates of bad things seem to happen as well - pity george didn't take this into account either in 1999

i've had a trilogy of mishaps over the last two weeks

number one - in an effort to leave work in a hurry last saturday, i unwisely pulled up my fly zipper before ensuring all relevant pieces of equipment had been put back in their proper places, thus ensuring a zip fastener injury which made my eyes water as a stream of four-letter words issued from between my clenched teeth

number two - the lead of my brand new ipod headphones looped under my right heel, as leaning against the wall, i bent down to put on my trainers before i headed off to the gym the other day - as i was listening to a new playlist, my attentions were elsewhere, resulting in the lead being violently wrenched out of the headphones and my head making immediate contact with the supporting wall, as simultaneously, my shoe along with half the length of the headphone cable inside it made contact with the floor shortly followed by another stream of four letter words

number three - whilst waiting by wisma atria to cross over to wheelock place, a man wheeling a bike didn't make the lights in time and reversed into my leg, causing me in turn to reverse into a chinese lady standing behind me, who was only prevented from flying backwards and falling over by the weight of one of my clod-hopping timberlands coming down heavily on the big toe of her left foot - the poor woman put on a brave face accompanied by the obligatory 'sorry sorry sorry's' from me and the bike man

in the light of this string of misadventures, i felt the need for a spot of retail therapy - so i figured that three items of carefully selected consumer goods would compensate for three minor calamities

so i replaced my headphones with some nice over the ear sennheiser px 200s with enhanced bass, having given up on the ones you insert right into your earholes - every set of those i've ever owned continuously gave me monthly ear infections (not to mention the really annoying ones which kept popping out of my ears every five seconds once i got going on a treadmill) - i read somewhere that in-ear headphones increase the bacteria inside your inner ear by 700% when you plug them into to your unfortunate orifices - anyway, i made the right choice - they have great sound which doesn't start to cut out on one side or the other when your ears start to fill with drops of sweat during hectic aerobic activity

this wise buy was followed by the purchase of yet another 'my book' 500 gig hard drive, as we've now filled up the other two we bought in march with a string of tv episodes, movies and programmes of male anatomical interest (for want of a better phrase...) - i was mildly annoyed as the price of these hard drives has reduced by nearly 200 dollars since i last bought one

finally, i bought a new pair of gym trainers - the most comfortable i've ever owned - i wanted a pair from the new nike free range, the ones which purportedly simulate bare-foot exercise, and was encouraged greatly by the assistant in royal sporting house in ngee ann city when he told me they had them in stock up to USA size 13 (my size) - all the nike outlets i'd been in only had them up to 10-11 for some odd reason - having done a double take of me, however, the assistant strongly advised against the nikes and after 30 minutes and a pile of shoe boxes strewn across the customer seating area, i plumped for a pair of size 13 asics with very good arch supports - they hold my feet in place so they don't go sliding forwards against the front of the shoes and squash my delicate pinkies

i am now hoping for a cessation of minor disasters as they're costing me a fortune