Day 22 - Not to be

A couple of days after I arrived in California I went to Target and bought the cheapest cell phone they had ($15) and a one month SIM card.  This was prompted because of a traumatic experience I caused on the last day I was in California last summer.  It was so traumatic that I never even posted about it!

If you remember... My brother's family took off for a vacation the day before I returned to Japan.  I was alone with Grandma and my bags were packed.  As the absolute last chore for the summer I took off for Target to buy Grandma some supplies, taking only my wallet... No camera.

I bought what I needed, backed my car (Marcy's car) out of the parking space... and thumped into another car.  Not a big thump.  Barely a stopping of the car as I was slowly backing out, but nevertheless, I bumped into a car.  A brand-new BMW not out of the dealer's 15 minutes.  The lady was furious and I learned new language.  I hung my head over the steering wheel as she ranted and waved her arms and announced my stupidity to anyone walking though the parking lot.  She started taking photos of the damage (was there any damage?) and video taping her reaction, my reaction, the parking lot became stoppered.  Horrendous.

And I could do nothing.  I didn't have a camera, a cell phone, I didn't even know the protocol for dealing with the situation.  I vaguely remember asking some passerby to pray for me...  She must have thought I was a very lost soul.  And I didn't know what car registration looked like nor what kind of insurance Marcy had or anything and had no way to ask.

I finally had to ask to use the other driver's cellphone to call Marcy and thank goodness I had her number written on a scrap of paper in the depths of my wallet.  Would Marcy answer a non-registered incoming phone number while she is in another state on vacation?  She did.  She talked to the other owner, she exchanged information, she told me not to worry about it because their insurance would cover it.  You don't know how many times I apologized to everyone that night.

That was LAST year.

THIS year I learned to avoid the Target parking lot.  I learned to be extremely careful when in the driver's seat and I learned that I needed a cell phone of my own in case of emergencies.  Thus the Target cellphone.  (Rats... I guess I DO have to use the Target parking lot!)

Nice little phone.  Fits into my pocket well.  It was very handy when I went off to the laundromat and Marcy called to tell me the nurse was on her way or to let me know what other errand she wanted me to do while I was out.  Leiya texted me a few times, I called Leiya in Ohio once.  Takumi got in touch with me.  It is sort of nice having a cellphone while I'm in California.

Unfortunately the little cellphone was a bit too little and fit too well in my pocket so that when I washed my jeans it got washed too.  End of cellphone.  I THOUGHT!  Colin helped me stuff it into a Tupperware full of rice (we'd heard that rice draws out the moisture) and I left it there two days.  When I brought it out of the rice it worked!  Well... it called and received calls.  It no longer had a screen.  But for emergencies...  yes, I could still be reached if need be.

 Leiya even rigged a very analog way of keeping my important numbers at hand.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday I slipped my cellphone into my pocket and Leiya and I took off on a morning walk.  When heading home we had to cross a major highway that we take at a sprint (no crosswalks).  We raced to the median strip but the cellphone jumped out of my pocket landing in the highway lane and though the first two cars didn't hit it...  CRUNCH... the last car's front left tire wiped out my cellphone.  It was too sad to even take a picture of...

I wasn't a very good cellphone caretaker.  I guess I will just have to stay close to home this last week of my visit.  And stay away from the Target parking lot.