memory....

I've been thinking about memory lately, for a variety of reasons, good and bad, including hearing someone mention plans to visit the home he'd lived in years ago, and how bad an idea that was when I tried it. (In only a few months, they had cut down my beloved lilac, and covered the house in aluminum siding.)

And then the phone rang. The man at the other end identified himself and asked for me. He had a question about an invoice we'd paid: why did we underpay by ten dollars and change? Easy. Because they'd pro-rated the charge on an annual contract, and gotten the math wrong, and (as I reminded him) he'd assured us that we should just send a check for the correct amount, and everything would be okay.

The question itself was no big deal, but I was pleased to be able to answer this, while I'd been thinking mostly about the sandwich I'd just eaten and the Guardian's cryptic puzzle, without pulling out the files. Files that he should have had, and that should have answered his question.

We're still sharp, here in New York.

memory....

I've been thinking about memory lately, for a variety of reasons, good and bad, including hearing someone mention plans to visit the home he'd lived in years ago, and how bad an idea that was when I tried it. (In only a few months, they had cut down my beloved lilac, and covered the house in aluminum siding.)

And then the phone rang. The man at the other end identified himself and asked for me. He had a question about an invoice we'd paid: why did we underpay by ten dollars and change? Easy. Because they'd pro-rated the charge on an annual contract, and gotten the math wrong, and (as I reminded him) he'd assured us that we should just send a check for the correct amount, and everything would be okay.

The question itself was no big deal, but I was pleased to be able to answer this, while I'd been thinking mostly about the sandwich I'd just eaten and the Guardian's cryptic puzzle, without pulling out the files. Files that he should have had, and that should have answered his question.

We're still sharp, here in New York.