A couple weeks ago I was made aware of a lunch truck that roams the Bay Area serving Lobster Rolls and Chowder. I’m a sucker for rolling kitchens and shellfish sandwiches so I got excited….so excited that I invited about 40 people to join me on a delicious field trip. A good number of my friends, clients and prospects indicated they were going to come so I decided to post up in front of the truck for their entire 3 hour stay in the east bay parking lot.

I pulled in and saw the crowds gathering. People were smiling and counting their money while waiting for the glorious arrival of the chowdermobile.It’s funny how niche cuisines evoke storytelling. The soon to be patrons were gitty and chatty, sharing their Lobster Roll experiences and testifying to the superiority of the little shack THEY found in nowheres-ville New England.We all waited….and waited…and waited. Finally, my cell phone made it’s wretched sound, indicating that I had a message. My heart sank as I read the twitter feed….

“Sorry Fremont, not able to make it today, Tsunami washed out the pier and we couldn’t load the truck!…cu next time!”

This is a problem…

The mood changed quickly and I went into damage control mode as I pounded out a group email to everyone I had invited letting them know of the bad news. By the time I raised my head, I realized a few of my cohorts had already come too far to turn back so a small group of us found our way to a Mexican lunch truck down the street and enjoyed a nice lunch in the sun.

It’s strangely fitting that my experience would be thwarted by the Tsunami I had spent far too little time thinking about until that moment.

This strike out set me on a mission though, to catch up with this crustacean cruiser in short order….

I’m happy to report that our calendars collided today in Palo Alto as I had a 1st am appointment about 2 miles from the chowdermobile lunch rendezvous. I spent some time with a client and then worked from a coffee shop as I waited for the arrival.

It was remarkable….