Adventure of the month

You know the saying "Everything happens for a reason"? It's one of those things you hear all the time but if you notice, it is usually said when all has turned to shit. It is not when anything good has happened. It's never "What? You hooked up with Pedro Pascal?! It's ok. Everything happens for a reason." I bring this up in the context of my first attempt to visit country #129 aka Trinidad and Tobago.  Once upon a time, I had booked a flight to Trinidad, a ferry to Tobago and five nights at a hostel. An itinerary had been typed up, because yes, I am that person and packing was underway. That time was March 2020. The debut of Covid.  As my trip approached, the world was quickly shutting down. Two days before departure, I contacted both American Airlines and my hostel to make sure everything was ok. Both gave me the thumbs up. The next day, not even 24 hrs before my flight, I got the message that T&T had officially shut down to all visitors. I was piss

Back in 1999, I had a work trip that to this day, holds a place in my heart as one of my best work trips ever. It was one of those situations where everything that could go right, absolutely did. We went on a sunset booze cruise, only to learn that the whales were in season and were in a breaching kind of mood.  It's possible they had been rehearsing for our arrival. The synchronized swimming display they put on  would have wowed the most persnickety of Olympic judges. Once off the boat, we decided to continue the party at Sammy Hagar’s then newish bar, CaboWabo. We were drinking, playing pool having an all around good time. I remember I was chatting with a cool tatted up guy when a waiter surreptitiously approached and recommended we stick around. Seeing as we had no plans of leaving, this was not a big ask. Maybe 30 minutes later, a divider opened onto a separate room. The bar got quiet and four guys sauntered onto the stage. They were Sammy Hagar, John Entwistle from the Who, Sl