Serendipity

Serendipity
is the effect by which one accidentally
discovers something fortunate,
especially while looking for something
entirely unrelated.

For example:

Silly Putty by James Wright, on the way to solving another problem: finding a rubber substitute for the United States during World War II. ( I love silly putty! Does anyone remember smashing it on the sunday comics and getting the ink to transfer onto it?!)

Cyanoacrylate-based Superglue (a.k.a. Krazy Glue) was accidentally twice discovered by Dr. Harry Coover, first when he was developing a clear plastic for gunsights and later, when he was trying to develop a heat-resistant polymer for jet canopies. (Super glue has saved my children's lives!)

Saran (plastic) was discovered when Ralph Wiley had trouble washing beakers used in development of a dry cleaning product. It was soon used to make plastic wrap. (What kitchen is without saran wrap these days? What would I do with my leftover potato salad?)

Penicillin by Alexander Fleming. He failed to disinfect cultures of bacteria when leaving for his vacations, only to find them contaminated with Penicillium molds, which killed the bacteria. However, he had previously done extensive research into antibacterial substances. (! yeah!)

Discovery of the planet Uranus by William Herschel. Herschel was looking for comets, and initially identified Uranus as a comet until he noticed the circularity of its orbit and its distance and suggested that it was a planet, the first one discovered since antiquity. (Uranus is the punch line of so many 5th grade jokes! Thanks Mr. Hershel!)

Discovery of the principle behind inkjet printers by a Canon engineer. After putting his hot soldering iron by accident on his pen, ink was ejected from the pen's point a few moments later.
(Printers have cured writer's cramp, I'm pretty sure. Before that it we had to use carbon paper to make copies! It was messy and I always had purple fingers!)

Corn flakes and wheat flakes (Wheaties) were accidentally discovered by the Kelloggs brothers in 1898, when they left cooked wheat unattended for a day and tried to roll the mass, obtaining a flaky material instead of a sheet. (I hear Champions crave their Wheaties!)

The Slinky was invented by US Navy engineer Richard T. James after he accidentally knocked a torsion spring off his work table and observed its unique motion. (It's Slinky! It's Slinky! A wonderful wonderful toy! A slinky! A Slinky! It's fun for a girl and a boy!)

Chocolate chip cookies were invented by Ruth Wakefield when she attempted to make chocolate drop cookies. She did not have the required chocolate so she broke up a candy bar and placed the chunks into the cookie mix. These chunks later morphed into what is now known as chocolate chips. (All hail the Ruth-ster!)

"Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for." Lawrence Block

Now here in our own house, we are experiencing some serendipity too:

Remember Nana thought she was going to go to Dixie State College in August? and then off to be a Nanny in Oregon? We were all ready to kiss her sweet cheeks good-bye last August. And then that fell through, remember? And she was so disappointed. But she got into school here and kept plugging along with a cheerful attitude and just kept saying, "I don't know why I'm still here, but until God tells me otherwise, I'm home."
Then her childhood friend started hanging around and started going to church with us and before we knew it, she joined and headed off to UNM.
And then she met Little Man. Who is getting ready for a mission now. He wasn't getting ready for a mission a month ago. Wasn't. Is Now.
And then!! yes there's more! There's always more!
A young man(from Alaska) who used to date the eldest daughter, now the wife of Mr. Idaho, came for a visit 2 weeks ago. And he & Nana hit it off really well...and he just ordered his own scriptures and is meeting with the missionaries next week!
But wait! there's more!
Just yesterday, a family in our ward (of 21 dentists--take or leave a couple) hired her as their full-time-live-in Nanny, paying her more than she would've made in Oregon. And get this: they live in our neighborhood. So we get to see her and smooch her and not miss her so much.

Have you had Serendipitous Adventures in Your Life?? Share!!!

P.S. Does anyone know if there's a Monument to Ruth Wakefield? As the inventor of chocolate chip cookies she should have a monument, a National holiday and a Town named after her. just sayin. Maybe we should get that going? Wait, lemme google it first.