I had a VERY strange weekend which proved to me there’s no such thing as certainty in an uncertain world, despite all our spreadsheets, predictive models, and planning   Sometimes you can do all the research and preparation in the world, and then a tiny, unexpected wave comes along masquerading as a Tsunami and knocks you off course.

Here’s the story …

I worked VERY hard last week preparing my presentation for the AdWords seminar in Maui, and was feeling rather proud of it on Saturday morning as I was about to board the plane.

About 15 minutes before boarding time, I decided it would be good to drink some mineral water before the long flight because I like to be well hydrated on a plane (not because I like to pee).  So I took out my headphones and stopped listening to my outsourcing MP3s just long enough to talk to the cashier when I heard this announcement from the TV:

“Urgent evacuation  required to save lives.  Massive Tsunami is headed for Hawaiin islands after one of the 10 largest earthquakes on record!”

Coincidentally, about 1/3rd of New Hampshire lost power on Friday due to a wicked windstorm.

AND it was my anniversary coming up.

So I said to myself “Am I really going to leave my wife alone in the dark on our anniversary weekend while I travel half way around the world INTO a disaster area”

I called Perry to get his take on things, and we decided I should just try to change my plane and wait until there was more news about how bad the Tidal Wave actually was going to be.

Seemed sensible, so that’s what I did.

And later that day, when I found out there was only about a 1 foot rise in sea level which did virtually NO damage to the area I was to visit (and the route to get there), I went to get another plane.

Well, it turns out that either I wasn’t the only one who had that idea, or else this is really the season for Hawaiin vacations, because the next available seat was on Tuesday evening, which would put me at the seminar just a few hours before it ended.

That’s how  a 1 foot Tsunami kicked my ass.

Live and learn.

G 🙂