Testing the water, the numbers, and the traffic

Written last night:

First thing this morning I called the plumber who works this building so he could attach my refrigerator water line. “We can do it, but you might have to go through the HOA,” he said. "We might have to turn off the water for the whole building.” 
“Sh**!” I said, imagining the long process that would be. 
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll check. Don’t get excited.”
Turns out it was completed in an hour. Thank you, plumber! 

Earlier, I had a great talk with Lori, my Panacea, FL, friend, who has a house on stilts by the water. The place was caught in the path of the hurricane Hermine, but Lori headed off to work this morning. It is stunning how people carry on!

For days American Express has been asking for my Personal Identification Key, but I didn’t know it. I made the  four-figure key back when I was crazier than today, and it has been eluding me ever since. Over the last two weeks I’ve tried combinations that Clark and I were likely to choose, with no luck. Today, I was frustrated and growling at the service person on the phone. We hung up, and suddenly it came to me: a  numerical combination personal to me. I tried it and it worked! I was relieved, but also aghast: that number combo is distinctly mine and not Clark’s at all. I had been trying numbers of meaning to both of us together. My independent number worked, leaving me breathless and unwilling to use it. 

To end the day I headed out to Best Buy at 4 p.m., when everyone says don’t. I was testing the rush hour traffic (It’s real) and also my ability to get around in this new town. I mean, everyone else is out during rush hour, so why not me? Uhhh. Because I don’t have to… By 4:45 cars in the streets of midtown were creeping. Finally, almost home, I cruised Safeway grocery parking lot for a space, so I could buy dinner. At that hour you have to haunt the place, back and forth, furtively, like a bad angel; all the spaces are taken. I left without stopping, and when I got home I smashed an avocado with little yellow tomatoes and fried bread and cheese. Who needs more?

Love,
k