Act of God = Broken Trip

"All that planning, all that preparation, was superseded by a major Act of God. As that old saying goes, 'We plan, God laughs'."

Well, the Bird is back in town, much, much sooner than I thought I would be. Why? Where? When? I have not talked about his much, but for the last year, my wife and I have been planning our "trip of a lifetime". For a couple our age, this was going to be a big leap. To celebrate our 45th anniversary (last June), we were going to fly to Tokyo, catch a cruise ship, cruise to a southern port in Japan, then a port in China, two ports in Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Okinawa, and then back to Tokyo. We would then fly back home, loaded with pictures, gifts for the grandies, and many memories.

Since we made these reservations over a year ago, we had a long time to plan, plan again, and over plan. We knew we had to take every element of risk (that we could control) out of this trip. It was way to big, way too expensive, to screw up. As the day to leave drew closer, we were ready.

We left home the day of the Trump rally, and spent the night in a Hyatt by the airport. The next morning, we were shuttled to the airport, and boarded a Delta jet, and started the first leg of the trip - an overnight in Seattle. Once we landed in Seattle, the next morning it was going to be back to the airport for our long flight into Tokyo. What could possibly go wrong now?

Before we left, my wife's niece told her to watch out for some storm in the western Pacific. I did not give that a thought, as there always seems to be a storm someplace in that big body of water. Besides all of which, these cruise lines are good at steering away from trouble. Well this "storm" turned out to be one of the strongest typhoons in recent history. A cat 5 monster called Hagibis. And unknown to me at that time, Hagibis was headed straight for Tokyo.

About 3:45 in the morning, my phone made that ping when a text message is received. I looked at it and all I could say was "Oh, no". I said it so loud, it woke my wife up. I looked at her and said, "We got a big, big problem." Our flight (the only Delta flight to Japan that day), the reservation we had made months ago, had been cancelled. The typhoon had weakened a bit, but still hit Japan head on as a strong Cat 2 or 3. All airports had been closed, and all flights cancelled.

To make a long and sad story short, we tried for 12 hours to develop a work around plan. Calls to Delta and the cruise line had wait times which lasted for hours. When you finally got through, you ended up talking to either a robot or someone who knew nothing and could do even less. By late afternoon, my wife and I reluctantly threw in the towel. Our "trip of a lifetime" turned into a broken trip. We contacted Delta and arranged for a flight home the next day.

This week, we will pick up the pieces and move on. Sure it was disappointing, but both my wife and I have long felt that everything happens for a reason. There is a reason, unknown to us right now, why this trip was scrubbed. All that planning, all that preparation was superseded by one Act of God. As that old saying goes, "We plan, God laughs".

So that is it. The Bird is back in his perch and will remain so until the dead of winter when my wife and I travel south to Florida to escape the Polar Coaster. Until then, the Bird has the need to opine on many of the events which are going on in the world, as well as here. No shortage of material - ever. And for a curmudgeon like me - that is a good thing, indeed!