By Nick Jacobs

It's the July the 4th weekend, and I'm sitting on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland, listening to Shostakovich on my I-Pod, drinking some polar water, writing this on my TREO and contemplating both luck and fate.

A 1000 gallon hot water heater almost directly above our OB suites decided to leak. That was 1000 gallons, count 'em. One thousand gallons of HOT water almost directly above our Obstetrics department, about ten feet from the nursery. What a chilling thought.

It's best if you don't even let your mind go there with this situation because, had things not turned out as they have, we surely would have been featured on the national news in a way that usually only occurs during really intense nightmares. Incidents like this are typically referred to, at the very least, as "career limiting events."

The beauty of this particular emergency is that no one got burned, no one got hurt, no one even got wet. The water began to fall into a benign hallway where the staff quickly collected a half dozen large garbage cans, our maintenance department was there within a few minutes, the water was diverted, and all else went extremely well. You have to love it when a plan comes together.

Most days we forget about timing, luck and fate. We just accept it for what it is. Today, however, with new babies, birthing mothers, and happy families, I thank the gods for protecting us because, no matter how many times the Joint Commission, the Department of Health or the 40 other regulatory agencies with whom we interact would have visited, the outcome would not have changed. There's no way to predict the internal rusting out of a 1000 gallon water tank or the potential directional flow of the water during an unpredictable event like this one. It's that Forest Gump quote about certain things that just happen.

So, for today, as the ocean breeze caresses my silky white, sun blocked legs protruding from under the umbrella, I say, thanks again for a little bit of good fate and a lot of luck. It sure was a nice break for all of us.