Sometimes life is just so random. Take for example the “accidental” good fortune ($10 million worth!) of LaQuedra Edwards of SoCal, whose random collision with a stranger resulted in the haul of a lifetime.

As UPI reports:

Edwards had just put $40 into a lottery ticket vending machine at a supermarket in Los Angeles when "some rude person" bumped into her, causing her to accidentally push the wrong number on the machine.
"He just bumped into me, didn't say a thing and just walked out the door," Edwards said.

Edwards was quire resentful at first, because she had just put nearly all her cash into the machine, and was now committed to a lotto ticket that was not of her choosing. 

She usually purchases cheaper tickets, but the accidental button push meant she'd bought a $30 200X Scratchers ticket. 

Her annoyance and frustration was quickly turned to exuberant disbelief as she began scratching the ticket, only to find that she just won the $10 million jackpot!

Edwards said. "I pulled over, looked at it again and again, scanned it with my (California Lottery mobile) app, and I just kept thinking this can't be right."

The Toronto Ward Museum tells us the story of a nineteenth-century man named Isapo Muxika. He is more commonly known as Crowfoot. He was the chief of the Siksika Indian tribe. He was known for his peaceful relations with Canada during a time of great violence.

When the Canadian Pacific Railroad was being built and they needed to build part of it on his land, the Canadian government approached Crowfoot with an offer. They said, “If you will give us the land we need for the railroad, you can ride it whenever and wherever you want.” 

So they made a deal. They finished the Canadian Pacific Railroad and Crowfoot received a lifetime pass. It was put in a beautiful case. Crowfoot is said to have carried that case around his neck for the rest of his life. It entitled him to go wherever he wanted where the railroad could take him.

There was just one problem. As far as we know, Crowfoot never stepped foot on that train. He had the right to travel anywhere he wanted, but he never availed himself of that right.

Terry Shea, writing for AOL Autos, attempts to explain the mystery of the inaccurate gas guage:

Have you ever noticed that your gas gauge stays on full for quite a while before the needle even moves and then it moves faster and faster as it approaches empty? And then when it gets to “E” it sort of stays there for a while until the low warning light comes on …?

It turns out it’s partially your fault that gas gauges work that way.

The engineers calibrate them to do that. Why? Because you, the customer, have told them that’s the way you like it. We spoke with Phil Pierron, an engineer at Ford (his title is actually “Technical Expert for Systems Engineering in Core Fuel Systems), who told us, “Our customers really didn’t want to run out of fuel when they hit ‘E.’ Customers do want some amount of fuel when they get to ‘E.’”

Apparently, consumer surveys indicate that people don’t like seeing the needle depart from “F” right away either ... . According to Pierron, “Customers want it to say on full for an amount of time.” This gives them the illusion that they are getting better fuel mileage or at least not immediately burning through that expensive tank of petrol they just bought, even if they quite literally are. …

And while customers want there to be a “reserve” of gasoline available when they reach the empty mark … they don’t want too much of a reserve. Otherwise, they will complain that their 20-gallon tank only takes 15 gallons when filling up from empty. Apparently, there is a sweet spot where customers are happy to be fooled by their gas gauges, but not too much. We customers sure are a fickle bunch.

The engineer’s job should be to make things more accurate and efficient, but in this case he has to play psychologist to keep customers happy.