I consider myself fortunate that I spent three years working at 7,775 feet before spending five years working at 13,796 feet on the summit of Mauna Kea. I can only wonder how much more severe my long term very high altitude sickness could have been without the initial adaptation to the lower altitude.

We were fortunate when the COVID-19 pandemic hit that internet shopping had matured.

Falling asleep while driving was the most concerning health condition that I developed. I was fortunate that it would happen at stop lights and stop junctions, and I would fall asleep with my foot resting on the brake.

I consider myself fortunate that I had only a decade of exposure to the biologically toxic field of high altitude astronomy.

I consider myself fortunate that I no longer live in the home where I broke a mercury filled astronomical spectral lamp.

I was fortunate when I developed mental illness that it had gone mainstream.

I was very fortunate when I became disabled through occupational diseases in the USA that I could fall back onto the United Kingdom’s social security system if needed.

I consider myself fortunate to own a lung ventilator during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

I consider myself fortunate that I left professional astronomy when I did.