When you're a freelancer you sometimes have to do weird things. I had to go to Manhattan to pay a fifteen-minute call on a client to satisfy Homeland Security by proving that I am not an illegal immigrant trying to steal American job. You know how in the wee hours of the morning trucks pull up to Staples and any illegal alien editors who want work for the day get on?
My job would likely be among the last that an illegal immigrant might be expected to do or perhaps want to do, but a broad brush paints all, I understand. I live quite a ways from town, though, so my morning was entirely spent traveling to midtown, turning around, and traveling home.
In the past I might have thought the trip a good excuse to do some Christmas shopping, or visit friends at work, or go get drunk in one of the congenial New York bars I used to visit. Now, though, I do most of my Christmas shopping online; my friends have mostly left the city and those who remain were busy or had already fled for the holiday; and I don't get drunk in strange places anymore. So, let's go home.
It had been a slight ordeal already. Since I didn't know how long I would be in town, I opted to drive down, park in the Secaucus Junction lot, and take the train in from there. Many of the trains in and out of Penn stop at Secaucus, so I could leave without having to wait around for ages for a bus or train all the way home. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea. But it rained all morning, making the drive treacherous, and in trying to find the fastest route to Secaucus station, Siri led me onto the wrong highway -- New Jersey has a few -- and instantly added 20 minutes to the trip. (Pro tip: Siri will sometimes tell you to stay in the right or middle or left lane and sometimes won't. You will need this information and will not always get it. How do you know when you need it? If you're on the wrong highway in rush hour traffic, you needed it.)
Then there was my Otterbox.
Secaucus Junction opened in 2003, and while it gets a lot of foot traffic from passengers making transfers from north-south trains to east-west trains, no one, unlike Penn and Grand Central, lives in it. So it's a lot cleaner than those train stations. Bear that in mind as I tell my tale of woe.
I was crossing the concourse, looking at the train schedule, absently tucking my phone in my shirt pocket, or where a pocket would have been if my shirt had had one. The phone smacked on the floor loudly and went sliding from an inadvertent kick from my shoe. Mind you, I've already lost one smartphone this year to phone droppage, and this trip of no billable hours was getting pricey enough already. Happily I saw the screen was intact as I scooped it off the floor and went on my way.
No sooner was I on a train to Penn Station when I realized that part of the case had not come with me. The Otterbox case for my iPhone comes in two parts, the back cover and the frame. The frame had come off on impact and vanished. Now this trip was costing me more than $38.50 (parking and train tickets) plus gasoline; it would cost another $30 or more for a new case. (I wasn't real mad, since I had caused the incident and the Otterbox had done what it was designed to do: protect the phone.)
So I got to midtown, walking past Macy's and all the scaffolding and lights set up for the big parade, had my meeting, turned around, walked back to Penn, and was back in Secaucus Junction 56 minutes later. And guess what was on the floor, right in the middle of the concourse? Yep, the Otterbox frame hadn't been touched! I snapped it back on and was on my way.
Another Thanksgiving miracle!
I'm grateful for everything on this day -- that I got my phone case back, that I took care of business, that I can deduct travel expenses from profits on my taxes, that I'm not starting the day with a screaming hangover, that I get to spend Thanksgiving with Mrs. Key, the sweetest sweetie I've ever known. And I'm grateful for you, dear reader, for stopping by my little establishment. Without you I'm just a grumpy nut mouthing off my to myself; with you I am a grumpy nut mouthing off to people. And that makes a world of difference.
Happy and blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours.
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