December 2008

Wintip Association offers thanks for job well done

Kate Landdeck, Ph.D.  Vice President and WASp 2008 Reunion Chair writes:

Please accept my sincere thanks for all you did for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during their reunion on September 24-28, 2008.  The women have not stopped talking about how wonderfully treated the City of Irving treated them.  They do not know all the hard work and effort you put into making certain they had a perfect reunion, but I do.  Your personal dedication to detail and commitment to excellence made all the difference in the world.

While I have planned events in the past, I have never done anything on this scale before.  I cannot imagine getting through it without your support and the support from the City of Irving.  I will emphatically recommend the City to any and all who ask in the future.  You were so good to these very special women. And you were so kind to me.  Thank you so much for everything and please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Sincerely,

Kate Landdeck, Ph.D. Vice President and WASp 2008 Reunion Chair

Updated 7:05 AM CST, Wed, Dec 10, 2008

09:29 PM CST on Wednesday, December 17, 2008

By CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT / Tribune Media Services

It took a couple of airline bankruptcies, a recession and the near collapse of the world economy but, by golly, travelers are feeling loved.

Turn back the clock a year, and you’ll find a dramatically different picture. Travelers were unappreciated, even exploited, by unscrupulous travel companies flush with profits.

No longer. With one notable exception, it’s difficult to find any part of the travel industry that isn’t being extra-nice to customers. Which part? (Hint: Stay away from the airport.)

But even there, amid a la carte pricing schemes and gross neglect of non-elite passengers, there are signs that customer service is back in vogue.

Mary Hooper, a retiree from Bakersville, N.C., who remembers flying the friendly, pre-deregulation skies in style, has seen small signs of a return to the good old days. On a recent Virgin Atlantic flight, she found herself in a comfortable, premium economy seat, surrounded by pleasant, accommodating crew members.

“Now, I have a big reason to fly again,” she said.

If there’s a silver lining in this cloud of economic uncertainty, it’s that travel hasn’t been this affordable in years. As a bonus, the travel industry is rolling out the red carpet. Excluding most airlines, it’s almost as if we’ve turned the clock back 50 years in the customer-service department.

Unbeatable bargains

Will Crockett of Waco had a tall order for his recent New York City weekend getaway. He wanted a hotel in midtown near a subway stop for less than $150 a night – at the last minute. So he clicked on Priceline.com just two weeks before the trip.

“I knew I was taking my chances,” he says.

He scored a room at the Wellington Hotel – “clean place, outstanding service.”

Thanks to the recent Wall Street meltdown, many hotels with high service standards are having fire sales. You can find deals on sites such as Priceline.com and Hotwire.com. Travelers are finding discounts of 40 percent to 50 percent off published room rates. Plan a visit to New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles or San Francisco now.

Upgrades without asking

Tom and Jennifer Leckstrom visited the Four Seasons Resort Nevis in the West Indies earlier this fall for their five-year anniversary.

“The hotel package was reasonable since it was the off season, plus I booked a mountain-view room instead of an ocean-view room,” she says.

But when they arrived, the couple discovered they had been upgraded to an ocean-view room at no charge, and without having to ask.

“Couldn’t have been happier,” she says.

Such upgrades are becoming common. During my research, I found many travelers who said hotels, resorts or car-rental companies were going out of their way to make guests feel welcome.

Service with a smile

When Anya Clowers rented a car in Las Vegas recently, she was impressed by the way the shuttle driver behaved. She wasn’t apathetic, and she didn’t flash a fake smile.

“She truly enjoyed her job,” Ms. Clowers says. “From welcoming travelers to Las Vegas to lifting luggage to providing small tips about the city, she was a rare gem.”

What a switch from a few months ago, when customers were regarded as walking cash by rental companies. Now employees are grateful to have them at the counter. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?

Europe cheap again

The euro isn’t at parity with the dollar yet. But as podcaster Elyse Weiner observes, it’s well on its way.

“The weaker euro is a bright spot in this painful economic time,” she told me. “It’s astonishing after you’ve trained yourself to convert euros to $1.65 to find yourself in a $1.30 world.”

No one knows whether one-to-one parity will come soon, but I won’t be surprised if it happens. Nor will I be shocked if the euro goes below a dollar, as it did in the ’90s. Which would send a tsunami of tourists to Europe next summer.

Going the extra mile

Before Sue and Bill Painter checked into the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Lima, Peru, Sue e-mailed the property and asked for a bottle of champagne and cake for their room. It was her husband’s 60th birthday.

“When we arrived at the hotel, we were shown to a large room on the executive floor,” she says. “In the room was an exquisite cake covered with very high-quality Peruvian chocolate, with the chocolate made into a large bow on top of the cake.”

The charge for this elaborate surprise? Nothing. The cake, champagne and upgrade didn’t cost a penny.

Serenity found

When times are tough, and everyone stays home, you get to experience air travel the way it was meant to be – away from the crowds, with all the attention to detail and pampering you remember from the days before the government deregulated an entire industry.

Barry Maher, a professional speaker, recently boarded a Lufthansa flight and found that the clock had been turned back, in a manner of speaking.

“At one point, I had the entire first-class section of a 747 and three flight attendants all to myself,” he says. “Even in business class, the food was wonderful, the service excellent, the seats that recline into beds were comfortable and the entertainment selection excellent.”

This isn’t a fluke. As air travelers scale back trips, a lot of folks are flying on less-crowded planes. Enjoy it.

Do us a favor

I know what you’re thinking: Shouldn’t travel always be like this? Yes. But that’s not how it works. The travel industry is cyclical. During good times, travelers are taken for granted. During bad times, the industry worships the ground we walk on.

They should try splitting the difference.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine.

08:46 AM CST on Thursday, December 25, 2008

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com

Irving Mayor Herbert Gears has a message for President-elect Barack Obama: Jump-start the economy by using federal money to buy municipal bonds.

And Mr. Gears also has a medium for his message that should be familiar to the incoming president: YouTube.

Mr. Gears posted a two-part video Tuesday on the popular video Web site. In it, he tells Mr. Obama and his team that getting involved in the struggling municipal bond market could help save it.

“That would bolster the market,” Mr. Gears says.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I6UVUb0CiY   Link One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns0b-Bt5JIo Link Two

Mr. Gears also lays out for Mr. Obama’s transition team the myriad development projects the city plans for the DART rail line that will connect Dallas to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport . City officials believe it is the largest collection of planned transit-oriented development in the nation.

Mr. Gears said the foundering credit market has made it more difficult for cities to get cash for development projects. Irving is planning a convention center, entertainment complex and convention hotel along DART’s planned Orange Line. The city’s cost is expected to be $350 million, while private developers will collectively put up about $80 million.

The city has run into problems getting financing of $130 million for the convention center on the municipal bond market.

“There’s just no market,” Mr. Gears said.

Instead the city will sell certificate of obligation bonds for that portion of the project.

The municipal bond market has thawed some in the last month, allowing some cities to fund projects. The city of Arlington earlier this month refinanced $104 million worth of bonds, part of its share of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.

In his video, Mr. Gears touts how the light rail line will transform Irving and its Las Colinas area. He also says all commercial buildings will be required to be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The planned convention center, Mr. Gears tells Mr. Obama, will also be one of the first civic buildings in the country certified by LEED.

Mr. Obama wants to help the economy with scores of public works projects, with an emphasis on environmentally designed government buildings. Since being elected, Mr. Obama has at times communicated with the public via YouTube.

“He’s introduced this vehicle to be able to reach us, so it just makes sense that we would make use of the same vehicle to reach him,” Mr. Gears said.

12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, December 31, 2008

FROM STAFF REPORTS Kent Fischer, Brandon Formby, Jason Trahan, Theodore Kim, Dave Levinthal, Jeff Mosier, Christy Hoppe, Stephanie Sandoval, Lori Stahl and Brendan Case contributed to this report.

Will federal prosecutors, state lawmakers and Jerry Jones cure what ails us in 2009?

One major story in 2009 is certain to be the opening of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington. Crews recently lifted the structure of a giant video board into place. The first event at the stadium will be a major concert, possibly in June.

Predicting the future is sheer folly. If you don’t believe it, ask the British scientist who said in 1895 that “heavier-than-air flying machines” would never get off the ground. Or the record company talent scout who said in 1962 that the Beatles had no future in music.

We can make one prediction with certainty. In 2009, most of us will be preoccupied with the fates and fortunes of our families and friends.

Hank Williams Jr. helped out this month at Texas Stadium’s closing ceremony. Irving may rent the site to the state during renovation of the nearby interchange.

What follows is a partial list of the big stories that will be unfolding in 2009. Let’s hope the stories that we never could have anticipated don’t rock our world too much.

Economy looms

With the U.S. slogging through its worst recession in decades, the Texas economy faces a challenging 2009.

Yes, the state may enjoy better economic health than the nation as a whole. But employers are already laying people off and the great Texas jobs machine of recent years is expected to sputter.

One bright spot: Dramatic recent declines in gasoline prices are providing some relief, at least for now. Prices dropped in part because American drivers – many of them hit by the economic downturn – tamed their demand.

What about the troubled housing sector?

Foreclosures may be near a peak, but don’t look for any significant improvements. Thousands of homeowners are still out there with dodgy loans that are going to blow up on them.

The Bushes return

In January, the road from the White House leads to a quiet cul-de-sac on Daria Place when President and Mrs. Bush return to their former hometown.

The Bushes lived in Dallas until 1995, when a gubernatorial bid landed them in the Governor’s Mansion in Austin.

Now they’re expected to move to a $2 million, four-bedroom home in Preston Hollow. The house backs up to an estate owned by former Bush business partner Tom Hicks.

Look for them around Southern Methodist University. Both the president and first lady have said they’ll be actively involved in development of his presidential library, museum and policy institute. That complex is set to be built near SMU Boulevard and North Central Expressway.

Cowboys’ new home

No matter how the Dallas Cowboys fare on the field, 2009 will be a milestone year for the team. The Cowboys’ new $1.1 billion stadium in Arlington is scheduled for completion June 1.

The Cowboys of 2009 will celebrate countless firsts in Arlington: first public event, first sporting event and first regular season football game.

The stadium will open with a major concert, possibly in June. But details still have not been announced. College football fans, however, already know when to arrive.

Texas A&M University and the University of Arkansas will play the first of at least 10 annual games Oct. 3 at the new stadium. The Big 12 Conference will host its championship game Dec. 5 in Arlington.

Old venues fade

The Dallas Cowboys will vacate legendary Texas Stadium – the team’s home for more than 37 years – by the end of March. The city of Irving owns the site and the structure and plans to demolish the building. But how officials go about it is still up in the air.

City officials want to have the site cleared by early 2010. State transportation officials and the city are working on allowing the state to rent the site from Irving. The land will be used as the staging area for the massive $518 million project dubbed the Diamond Interchange.

The renovation will streamline the area’s four major thoroughfares – state highways 114 and 183, Loop 12 and Spur 482 – with a Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail line.

For Reunion Arena, a storied history of thousands of sporting events, concerts and political rallies couldn’t save the 28-year-old facility from simple economics.

An auction of its contents, from seats to Zamboni machines, commenced in September, and demolition is slated to begin in early 2009.

The Legislature

State lawmakers will find that the $11 billion surplus they socked away during boom times is mostly spent, chiefly on higher Medicaid costs, Hurricane Ike repairs and a big hole in the state budget left by property tax cuts and lower-than-expected revenue from a new business tax.

Texas is still in better financial shape than most states, but the economic downturn means that interests ranging from highway construction, universities, public schools and foster care programs will be battling for limited resources.

The session will kick off Jan. 13 with rancorous politics in the House, where 76 Republicans and 74 Democrats – the closest partisan split in years – will fight over who will serve as speaker, a battle that will send waves throughout the five-month legislative session.

Kent Fischer, Brandon Formby, Jason Trahan, Theodore Kim, Dave Levinthal, Jeff Mosier, Christy Hoppe, Stephanie Sandoval, Lori Stahl and Brendan Case contributed to this report.

11:47 PM CST on Thursday, December 18, 2008

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com

Nostalgic Texas Stadium souvenir hunters, take note: Leave your screwdrivers at home for Saturday’s Dallas Cowboys game, probably the swan song for Irving’s most famous landmark.

Team officials say they’ll be watching for anyone planning to scrape off a seat number, peel off a concession sign or make off with an exit marker from the structure when the Cowboys face the Baltimore Ravens.

“There will be additional security measures in place to monitor anything going in and out of the stadium,” said Rich Dalrymple, the Cowboys’ public relations director.

Nearly everything inside the stadium, from turnstiles to urinals, has already been promised to winning bidders in an online auction that fetched more than $245,000. The auction was part of a seasonlong send-off to the stadium that’s been home to the Cowboys for more than 37 years. Irving officials plan to demolish the stadium and redevelop on the site.

Auctioning off pieces of retired stadiums has become common in recent years as professional sports teams move to new venues. But some fans still try to grab a piece of history without paying.

Three New York Mets fans were accused this year of trying to steal pieces of a Shea Stadium seat and bunting from a right-field wall during the final home opener at the stadium where the Beatles famously played.

When Yankee Stadium shuttered this fall, nearly 20 people were hauled away for trying to steal pieces of the stadium, including one man who was trying to scrape paint off a wall as a memento.

An Irving police spokesman this week said extra police officers will be on duty at Texas Stadium on Saturday, but he would not say what their plans were.

The game has been long sold out. Tickets were going for hundreds of dollars each this week on Web sites such as craigslist.com and texastickets .com.

Charles Zent, general manager for texastickets.com, said the minimum price on his site for the game was $200.

“It’s double what a normal game will go for,” Mr. Zent said. “Lots of people who normally wouldn’t come to a game are coming to this one.”

Chris Kratovil of Irving said Cowboys fandom led to a traffic nightmare at last Sunday’s game. Mr. Kratovil and his wife, Siobhan, arrived at the stadium grounds more than an hour before kickoff. Even though they had a blue parking pass, parking attendants and Irving police told them those lots had been oversold and were full.

“It’s always bad out there, but Sunday night was really unprecedented,” Mr. Kratovil said.

The Dallas attorney said he and his wife sat in a traffic jam on the road surrounding the stadium’s blue lots for more than two hours. They missed the kickoff and saw no end in sight. Mr. Kratovil said parking attendants and police officers didn’t know how to handle the situation or where to tell people to park. One attendant, Mr. Kratovil said, indicated they’d be better off just leaving.

“My final impression of that place is going to be driving off after sitting in gridlock traffic after about two hours with my bladder about to burst,” he said. “That’s not exactly a fond final memory.”

Mr. Dalrymple said the blue lots are never oversold, and he did not know why parking attendants would instruct someone to leave. He said he had not heard of any problems at Sunday’s game.

Irving police spokesman David Tull also said he did not know of any problems. Officer Tull did not respond to questions about whether officers who were at the stadium Sunday knew of any parking or traffic problems.

For Saturday’s game, stadium parking lots will open earlier than normal for the 7:15 p.m. kickoff. The red, gold and green lots will open at 2 p.m. So, too, will gates 1 and 6 of the blue lots. The rest of the blue lots will open at 3 p.m.

“We’re encouraging people to arrive early and stay late,” Mr. Dalrymple said.

Team officials have announced a post-game ceremony Saturday that will feature at least 10 members of the franchise’s Ring of Honor and dozens of former players and coaches who spent at least five years at the stadium.

In an online contest, fans voted on the final song to be played at the stadium. And throughout Saturday’s game, there will be a countdown of the five most memorable moments at the famed structure.

“The fans are what made Texas Stadium a special place and an historic venue through the years, and we wanted to reward them for their attendance and their support,” Mr. Dalrymple said.

When fans steal

Stadium closures in the past decade have led to looting, theft and arrests.

In 1999, one fan tried to steal a trough-style urinal in Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. Other fans unscrewed armrests from seats and stole them.

New York police caught 20 baseball fans trying to steal items from Yankee Stadium during its farewell game this year. One fan tried to steal third base after the game. Others were caught stealing seat cup-holders.

New York Mets fans were accused of looting Shea Stadium during its last home opener this year. Fans allegedly tried to steal pieces of a stadium seat and bunting from a right-field wall.

SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

02:34 PM CST on Friday, December 19, 2008

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com

Texas Stadium introduced the city of Irving to the world.

Steady appearances on TV during football games and the opening sequence of the hit drama Dallas kept the iconic structure in the public eye for decades. And the city focused its sales pitch over the years to make sure people knew the famous structure belonged to Irving, not Dallas.

But the team is moving to Arlington next season. And the stadium soon will be demolished to pave the way for development.

Where does that leave Irving?

Right where city officials want it to be.

“I kind of look forward to it,” Irving City Council member Lewis Patrick said of the stadium’s end. He was the city’s public works director when the stadium was constructed in the late 1960s. “It’s not saddening or anything. It’s just the way it’s going.”

After all, clearing the stadium site is key to much of what Irving envisions for its future.

A bevy of construction projects and transportation upgrades are on the horizon — including what’s thought to be the largest collection of transit-oriented developments in the nation.

Many of those projects are the result of a 1996 election. Irving residents chose to continue putting tax dollars into Dallas Area Rapid Transit rather than toward Texas Stadium renovations that arguably could have kept the team in Irving.

DART plans to bring a light-rail line through Irving that will connect Dallas to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The Orange Line will have several stops along the way. Among them are planned stations at the stadium site, the University of Dallas, North Lake College and three spots in Las Colinas’s urban center.

An outlet mall is planned for land just north of where the stadium now sits.

And surrounding the planned Las Colinas stops, officials and developers want to replicate the success of Dallas projects such as Mockingbird Station and West Village — but on a much larger scale. They’re planning several projects that will create pedestrian-friendly urban neighborhoods made up of residences, offices, retail outlets and entertainment venues.

The city is also building a convention center and working with a developer to build an adjacent entertainment complex in Las Colinas within walking distance to a rail station.

“Obviously Texas Stadium is an iconic building,” said Brenda McDonald, the city’s real estate and development director. “But Irving has a lot of iconic buildings. If you look at the Las Colinas urban center, it’s second to none. And we’re building a convention center there that will be an iconic building.”

The first phase of the rail line will run to Las Colinas and is set to open December 2011. As construction of the rail gets ready to begin, Texas Department of Transportation officials have a renovation project of their own — redoing the interchange of highways that played a role in Irving snagging Texas Stadium in the first place.

State transportation officials and the city are working on an agreement that will allow the state to rent the stadium site from Irving for the next decade at an estimated cost of $15 million. The land will be used as the staging area for the massive $518 million project dubbed the Diamond Interchange.

The renovation will streamline the area’s four major thoroughfares — state highways 114 and 183, Loop 12 and Spur 482 — with DART’s rail line.

However, if a viable redevelopment project for the site emerges, city officials will likely have the option to relocate the transportation department’s staging area to make way.

Irving officials want to have the stadium site cleared by early 2010, though they haven’t decided whether to demolish the stadium in one dramatic spectacle or dismantle it piece by piece. They’re also exploring whether to sell the opportunity to push the implosion button if they go the demolition route.

“You can imagine an Eagles or Redskins fan would love to blow it up,” Ms. McDonald said.

While the stadium and the team have been part of the sales pitch to outsiders, the city has plenty of other selling points. There’s the Las Colinas urban center, the city’s proximity to one of the nation’s busiest airports and a plethora of local highways running through Irving. And while the stadium may give folks an idea of where Irving is located, officials said it hasn’t defined the city.

“What it’s best done for us is create the identity that we’re a suburb of Dallas,” said Maura Gast, the executive director of the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau whose job it is to sell the city to outsiders

And there’s one factor city officials are quick to point out — the football team’s corporate headquarters will remain in Irving’s deed-restricted Valley Ranch area.

“The stadium tenant is leaving, but the Dallas Cowboys headquarters remains here,” Ms. Gast said. “And that’s very important to us.”

STADIUM FAREWELL

The Dallas Cowboys will host a ceremony after tonight’s last regular season home game to celebrate its history in Texas Stadium. Game time is 7:15 p.m. The ceremony will begin after the game. Stadium parking lots will open earlier than normal. The red, gold and green lots will open at 2 p.m. So, too, will gates 1 and 6 of the blue lots. The rest of the blue lots will open at 3 p.m.

02:12 PM CST on Tuesday, December 16, 2008

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com

Irving City Council members approved a development agreement Thursday night with Las Colinas Group LP for the construction and operation of a $200 million entertainment center adjacent to the city’s planned convention center.

Council member Beth Van Duyne cast the sole dissenting vote on the agreement.

The city is expected to use voter-approved hotel occupancy tax revenue bonds to pay an estimated $120 million in construction costs. The developer will pay the remaining $80 million, plus any additional construction costs in excess of the $200 million price tag.

The city will own the land and the building, which will be leased to Las Colinas Group for at least 25 years. Under the agreement, the developer will pay the city $1.5 million a year in rent until the city’s bonds are paid off. After that, the developer’s annual rent will be $1 million, but the city would also receive 10 percent of any naming-rights deals and 10 percent of the proceeds from any festivals held at the site. The fixed rent rates could rise or fall depending on the final cost of the entertainment center.

The city is still working out details of how parking and attendance taxes will be applied toward the project’s financing.

The entertainment center plans call for a 3,400-seat concert space with an additional 2,000-person capacity in flexible space. There are also plans for 10 restaurants, 12 live music stages and 50 suites overlooking the main concert venue.

The city also wants a hotel adjacent to the convention and entertainment centers, but those plans are still being worked out.

Mayor Herbert Gears said the entertainment center is a critical part of the city’s plans for the convention center complex.

“Conventioneers want to go to places where they have other activities available close by,” he said.

The convention center is set to open in late 2010, while the entertainment center is scheduled to be complete in 2011.

02:32 PM CST on Tuesday, December 16, 2008

IRVING

The Irving Arts Center presents the following events: a concert by the Irving Chorale featuring Celtic singer Connie Dover at 8 p.m. Dec. 19 and the Las Colinas Symphony will perform a concert with Brave Combo at 8 p.m. Dec. 20. The center is at in 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd. 972-252-2787. www.lascolinassymphony.org.

The Las Colinas Professional Women’s Network will dedicate its meeting Dec. 18 to Joan Pasek, who died unexpectedly last month. Coffee and juice start at 7 a.m., followed by a breakfast buffet at 7:45 a.m. $5. R.S.V.P. to Judy Ashby at 972-869-2255 or judy.ashby@ourclub.com.

The Irving Hispanic Chamber will hold a holiday reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 2001 Valley View Lane. R.S.V.P. to 214-217-8477 or jgarcia@irvinghispanicchamber.org.

Dallas was recently ranked Number 8 in MarketWatch’s list of best metro areas for business. The list is based on results from a variety of sources and is part of their annual survey of where companies tend to gravitate and create the most jobs.

Excerpt from MarketWatch: Players Shift, but Twin Cities Still Best for Business; by Russ Britt

“8 (tie with Nashville) –262 points: “The Big D” is the other newcomer among the top 10, moving up five spots and gaining 22 points. This central Texas city didn’t yield any of its rankings and made modest gains in a number of categories, including its rosters of S&P 500 and Russell 2000 companies, its small-business climate and unemployment picture.

After the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s and the telecom bust in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the city’s economy was forced to diversify, according to Jim Murdoch, economics professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. Since then, he said, Dallas has had the capacity to add companies at a clip faster than most regions because the region is fairly well spread out. “That allows us to do a lot of things other places can’t do because of gridlock.”

The region has had a run of good luck, as well: A critical natural-gas discovery is helping the oil-rich region to diversify its energy resources.

Further, a General Motors plant in suburban Arlington was the only one left open by the company recently to make Cadillac models and luxury sport-utility vehicles. How long that plant will last with GM’s current troubles is questionable, though. “They closed all the other plants that were making those vehicles,” Murdoch said. “That was a pure luck kind of thing.”