My wife fell victim to all the children being out of school; today she tripped over a skateboard ramp some kids had left in the street, banged up her knee and smashed the screen on her phone. It had been about six months since the last time she broke it, which was better than how long she took to kill her previous phone.
I’m glad we paid for the extended warranty; I drove down to the University district to the UBrokeItIFixIt shop, where a man took it off me and told me it would be fixed in 45 minutes. I went to hang around and see how I could kill time.
The University district is one of the scruffier, down at heel areas of Seattle. It’s usually crowded as well with a fug of dope smoke; both those things were absent tonight. I parked in the Safeway parking lot, went for a quick walk and bought dry erase markers for our new kitchen whiteboard.
There was a delicious smell of curry from somewhere. Possibly from the Indian and Mediterranean restaurant, which sounds like a culinary mistake. There was hardly anyone around on the streets. It went from feeling like a grimy, insalubrious part of town to just feeling sad and empty. I picked up the phone as fast as I could and headed back.
Both girls were ready for bed. They’ve been a bit antsy today, and we’ve been sleep deprived and short tempered. I’m sure tomorrow will be better.