They are so funny when they show up that I should keep a log of them. Four years ago Carol and I were on the way to a New Years dance in what I thought was Hunstsville, AL. It was a big deal because it was our first invitation to a very exclusive dinner dance club, and you had to be invited by a member. The club is similar to the Copacabana in New York, and there are only three private clubs like that in the USA. The club features four dance bands on New Year's Eve--Big Band, Latin, Rock and Roll, eclectic and it has multiple bars and eating areas. You can wander around dancing to different bands on multiple levels, and it is like something out of the 1920's. We were part of a twenty-person group from out of town. Carol wanted to make sure that we got there on time, so that she would have plenty of time to rest from the trip, do her makeup, get dressed, etc, but our entire day was a comedy of errors. After numerous malfunctions and time-consuming problems, halfway there we had a flat tire on the interstate that was a total blowout (couldn't be repaired). I put on a spare and started trying to find a place to buy a replacement. We wasted two more hours getting a new tire mounted on the old rim. After getting back on the interstate I began pushing the speed limit. As we approached the exit to Huntsville, Carol looked at the information packet I had printed off the internet and said, "Bob, this motel we're supposed to check into isn't in Huntsville; it's in Birmingham!" I told her that there must be a mistake, and we began frantically calling people. Turns out, I had misunderstood which city the club was located in. The club and the motel was in Birmingham, another hundred miles farther south. I was already on the exit ramp to Huntsville when we realized this. At the stop light I went into 100% Zen mode (no thinking at all!). I sped across the intersection and back onto the interstate. We were supposed to be dressed in tuxedo and gown and ready to leave the motel in two hours, so I said to Carol what I always say in such situations---"No problem." I got to Birmingham in record time and somehow avoided a speeding ticket, but when I took the exit ramp, I misunderstood the directions again, and turned the wrong way--away from the motel. We sped through the countryside until the road got dark and I finally realized what had happened. By this time Carol was a nervous wreck and no longer speaking to me. The idea that we might be holding up eighteen people from an exclusive engagement had incapacitated her. Ha ha! I turned around and raced back the other direction and got to the motel about three minutes from the time we were supposed to depart. I ran into the lobby where I found most of our party dressed and ready to depart for the club. I grabbed the motel room key from the desk clerk, gave it to Carol, and she ran down the hall while I checked us in. I could only imagine Carol's state of mind as I carried the rest of our luggage to our room. When I walked into the room, Carol was TOTALLY RELAXED and was almost dressed to go. There was no time to talk as I threw on my tux and put on my dance shoes, but as we went to join the group five minutes later, I was so amazed at Carol's calmness that I asked her what had happened. She said, "Well, I was in a total state of panic, but after I got on the elevator to go to our room and the door closed, there was a big sign on the back of the door that said "Chill out! When I saw that sign, all of my thinking disappeared, I burst out with laughter, and only calmness remained." Hearing her story, I said a silent prayer. I said, "Thank you, God."
