Impeccable Timing

Last week Tuesday I was in Winnipeg for work and had 2 moments of impeccable timing. At the end of the day I just laughed...and thought I should share the experiences.

Experience #1
A co-worker and I had just finished lunch in the exchange district in Winnipeg and were heading back to my car to get some samples before our next meeting. As we approached the car, we both saw a parking meter dude hanging around the car. I didn't feel nervous, as I still had over an hour before I ran out of time. As we approached he asked, "Is this your car?" to which I answered "yes". "If that's the case, then I'd want to move it up about 10 feet".
Unbeknownst to me, we parked in a restricted area. You see, when we pulled into the spot we were initially parked right behind the car in front of us. It looked a bit tight for that guy if he were to try & get out, so I decided to back up and leave a bit of extra room. Just trying to be a nice guy. As I reversed, I ended up backing into the restricted zone without seeing the sign.
All this to say, if either us or the meter guy had been a minute quicker or slower I'd be looking at a ticket in the range of $150.
(On a side note - who runs into a meter dude that suggests you move your car up instead of giving you a ticket?!)

Experience #2
My co-worker and I continued to our meeting following the parking meter experience. I often use the calendar on my phone when talking about project schedules. I this during our meeting and decided to leave the phone on my lap. This way if I forgot about it when I was leaving, I would feel it slide on my leg or it would fall to the ground. Neither happened. Instead, it fell on the couch I was sitting on and I didn't feel a thing.
If you know me, being without my cell phone isn't the greatest thing. And being without my cell phone during a day of meetings in Winnipeg is probably the worst thing.
So, not noticing that I don't have my phone we leave the meeting and begin walking down the stairs. We're half way down the 2nd flight of stairs when my customer comes running out of their office and says "your phone is ringing". Andrea was calling to check in on something for that evening.
The interesting timing in this case is that had Andrea called 5 minutes later or if we would have left 5 minutes earlier, I may have been halfway around the city before I realized my phone was gone. Which would not have been cool.

Let's just say that karma (or whatever you want to call it) was on my side that day. Very nice.

Missed Connections

So, last week I traveled to the southern US...Texas to be specific. And to travel there I had to fly into Minneapolis.
(Side note - if you have to fly through Minneapolis at any point in the near future, I'd ask to see if the runway construction is done. It's wreaking havoc with flight schedules)
Anyway, back to my story. On the way to Texas I was stuck for one night in Minneapolis as I missed my connection. On my way back home from Texas, I had another night in Minneapolis. Lovely. Here's where the story gets interesting for me.
Obviously, I wasn't the only person who missed a connecting flight. And I have to say, if you want to see how a person reacts to not being in control - an airport is a case study waiting to happy. So I was heading down to the Delta Airlines desk to see if I might be able to get my hotel covered this time (as I had to pay for it the first time). Fortunately, they covered the cost of my room.
In the mean time, there were numerous people beside me getting more & more agitated at the Delta Airlines staff. In particular, there was a younger guy at the kiosk beside me that was uber pissed off. His flight was late getting into Minneapolis and he missed his connection (join the club, buddy). But in his case, he also said that the fact he was getting home a day late also cost him his job. And, he said that he didn't have any money to spend on a hotel room as his room wasn't covered by the airline.
We both left the kiosk area at the same time...so I turned to him and said that he can have my room coupon. I knew that a room would cost me about $60 and I had enough in my travel budget to cover this expense. He graciously received the gift, said bless you, and mentioned that karma would be on my side. Nice.
I booked a hotel room and ended up going to the same hotel, riding the same shuttle, and waiting in line to get our room together. Funny how that works. We checked in at the same time and I paid for my room.
After getting into my room I found out my phone didn't work as I was trying to call Delta's booking agents to see if I could get on a earlier flight the next day. I had to call down to the front desk to see if I could get my phone line opened up to call a 1-800 number. The same person who helped my check in picked up the phone and said, "I'll open your phone line right away. And oh, just so you know you won't be charged for the room you were going to pay for. Someone else showed up with an extra coupon from the airline so we applied that to your room." So I didn't end up having to pay for that room after all.
Karma, baby. Sweet karma.