Sometimes, a plan just comes together

I like to do some things in the spur of the moment, especially while on vacation. I love to travel but would never go anywhere if I waited for the whole universe to come together in perfect harmony before acting.

No, I'm a believer in deciding to do something and then figuring out how to do it later.

Last week is an excellent case in point.

You've heard of the "butterfly effect?"

These past few days I've lived a vivid example of how a tiny, innocuous movement (in this case, of lips) can create large consequences.

Sunday, Ann and Jan-Michael (our friend in California) were chatting and the subject of birthdays came up. Both celebrate theirs in September. In passing, Jan mentioned it would be nice if we could all do something "special."

Ann hung up and then, out of curiosity, "Googled" Vegas entertainment in September. Cher jumped out. She happens to be performing at Caesars through September. Is it my imagination or did the planets start moving into alignment?

It's now a few days later and I'm sitting at my computer, having just printed off four tickets from Ticketmaster to see her.

Is this a great country?

I'll go ahead and answer that since today it's not a rhetorical query for everybody. Yes, yes, yes!

We now have four seats at orchestra level. That's good, but where are we going to get dressed or sleep? This is exactly what I mean about jumping first and solving later.

Well, sometimes fate brings things magically together, and this very well may be one of those times.

We periodically get offers from various hotels and casinos. Amazingly, a very special one came a couple days after Ann and Jan's "birthday" conversation.

Bally's offered two free nights and two additional nights at $80 each. Shazam, four nights for $160 in the middle of the Strip, right next door to Caesar's! What a deal!

Ann called Jan and told her about our room coup. She said she didn't remember getting a mailing like that but would check it out. A little while later, she called back to say she'd fished her offer out of the trash. In a twinkle, she'd locked in the same deal.

Things were progressing smoothly. We had rooms and seats for the show, both at good prices. The remaining issue - the biggest - was how to get there from here and back. I went on a mission to find plane tickets.

May I mention tickets are high? Duh.

Airlines are scrambling to cover skyrocketing fuel prices. Some are charging extra for luggage. I think a few are selling soft drinks and pretzels rather than giving them away. I heard some pilots are holding signs "Will work for jet fuel." Okay, maybe not yet.

Anyway, my computer and I searched. USAir, out of Jacksonville, was over $500 apiece. That's nearly twice what we used to pay. Delta - also out of Jacksonville - was better. We'd have a two-hour layover in Atlanta, but it's no big deal. That airport is so huge it could easily take us half that to just find our connecting gate.

Now this story gets sort of spooky - in a good way. The other day, we got a postcard in the mail offering free roundtrip tickets anywhere in the United States.

All we have to do to get them is sit through a timeshare sales pitch. I can do that. In fact, I have. In the Bahamas, Gloria, Tad, Ann and I endured one for a bottle of rum and a T-shirt. We still have the rum. The T-shirt fell apart.

So, here I sit the beneficiary of a genuine butterfly effect. A quick birthday remark swirled into a wind that blew hotel rooms, show seats and now plane tickets into our lap.

And, the ride doesn't end. After an appointment, we'll cap a great week by swinging over to Morehead City for dinner at the Sanitary Restaurant. Wow.

It's said God takes care of drunks and fools. I'm neither, so He must also keep an eye out for fat, southern boys who like leaping and figuring things out on the way down.

Did I mention they're also throwing in a $150 gas card? Shhh, don't wake me up.

Otis Gardner's column appears here each Wedneday.