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Defect Reflect



Yesterday was a defective day. It began with the discovery of a twenty dollar bill by the curb where I parked my truck that morning. On closer inspection, it was most of a twenty dollar bill. The top left portion, including one of the two serial numbers, was missing. No celebration; just a trip to the federal reserve for a ruling on the matter. Things deteriorated quickly. The buy 5 summer drinks get one free Peet's card(s) I'd been dutifully carrying in my wallet for weeks expired on Tuesday last. I had 4 of 5 stamps on one card and 3 on the other. Both got tossed; summer's gone.
Next came an encounter with a parking cop. The coin machine was not accepting coins. Put in a quarter, watch it tumble back to the coin return. I was only stopping at a news stand for a few minutes in downtown Portland,but something told me to get back out there. Sure enough the Parking Nazi was there and very short tempered. I tried to explain, but he kept interrupting saying, "You need to put in more than a quarter."
"I know that," I shot back, showing him the massive coin pocket full of change on my Levis. He mellowed, but not before reminding me that technically being away from a non-stickered car could cost me $40. Apparently when the machine spits your coins back you are supposed to swipe your credit or ATM card.
I don't think that's the law, just his opinion. OK we called it even and I swiped. $2.50 is better than $40. for a few minutes of curb rental.
The next episode of de-fect-tivity occurred when Katie opened a cooking magazine she bought at the new stand. Half the printed contents were badly damaged. Dark, smudged, illegible. When we secured another downtown parking spot so she could run in and return the magazine we found all the magazines looked that way. Bummer. I sat in the car and looked away as the same Parking guy went about his ticketing.
Sometimes it just goes that way.
Fortunately the Farmer's Market turned out to be wholly adequate.

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