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Andersen Silva's Journal

2nd March, 2008. 11:00 pm. Lost the iPhone...

It's been a long weekend. Friday night, I got picked up by Sally (no, not like that) and we headed down to the Jersey shore. Paige and I watched a bit of the original "Amityville Horror" (and chuckled over how cheesy some of it was now, while reminiscing about how frightening it was when we first saw it as children) while waiting for Sally and Matt to get ready, then the four of us saw Brian Kirk and the Jerks play some fun covers at the Mad Hatter in Sea Bright. We had a great time, but I probably had a few more Boston Lagers than I should have, and after crashing on Sally's couch sometime after 1 AM, I awoke on Saturday morning with a slight hangover.

Sally and Matt got me to the Long Branch station in time to make the 10:09 AM train northward, and by the time I got home, I was feeling a bit better. I had enough time to grab a coffee and a muffin at Dunkin' Donuts and hit the shower, then I headed to New York to see Margarita play at Banjo Jim's again. And that's when it happened.

My twenty-two hours or so without an iPhone began when I was sprinting down to the platform to catch an L to First Avenue, since I was cutting the time closer than I'd wanted. As I approached the bottom of the stairs, I realized that the train was sitting there, doors open, and I heard the announcement that meant it was getting ready to depart. So, naturally, I jumped the last four stairs and bolted for the doors. The problem is, the shock from hitting the platform knocked the iPhone from its holster on my belt (much like the shock of smacking my head against concrete had done less than two weeks ago). The other problem is, it didn't hit me until I was on the train, and the doors were closing, that the device had ripped away from the earbuds (I'd been listening to Nitzer Ebb at the time) and skittered across the platform, and under the train. By the time the realization had set in, the train was moving, and all I could do was get off at the first stop and head back. When I arrived back at the Sixth Avenue station, all I could see down by the tracks was half of the protective case; the iPhone had either slipped under the tracks or into the murky water or else been snagged by someone who saw what had happened.

Nothing makes you recover from a hangover more quickly and suddenly than watching several hundred dollars' worth of technology disappear. I was angry with myself. I was concerned about possibly losing data (though the more I thought about that, the less likely it seemed I would), and about being incommunicado for at least the rest of the day. I was devastated, because while I occasionally suffer head wounds and psycho ex-girlfriends and buses that just don't show up, this kind of thing never happens to me. But then I guess almost everyone it happens to says that. I made my way to Alphabet City and saw Margarita when I walked into Banjo Jim's, so I headed over and sat down with her. The open mic had already started, so we tried to keep our conversation to the interims between musicians so as not to be rude. I explained what had happened, and she was sympathetic; telling me that she would make me feel better, she scribbled a note to tell me that one of her friends lost a thousand dollars last week. Ouch. That is worse...

Margarita bought me a drink this time, and I told her about how I'd injured my head at the train station. Good times... She went on kinda late again, not having been signed in early, but I stuck around and heard her play "Kill Yourself," and then "Tragedy," which she dedicated to me. I'd never had a live performance dedicated to me before; it was very sweet.

We both had to split after the show, so we headed back to the L together, hugging before she got off at Sixth. I was meeting Barbara for dinner on the Upper West Side at 6 PM, and I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for the meddling MTA. I didn't realize the C wasn't running until after two As had gone by, and then the next train was an E, so I took that to Seventh Avenue, where the B would supposedly take me to W. 72nd. Only it never showed up, after 40 minutes or so, and I suspect that perhaps that line doesn't run on the weekends. I knew I was late at this point, but unfortunately I couldn't call Barbara to let her know what was going on; I didn't even know her cel number to call from a payphone. I decided to just walk the 20+ blocks instead, so I did, and I found Barbara at a pizzeria a block from where we'd planned to meet.

All in all, I got to tell the iPhone story several times on Saturday. Heh... Barbara and I saw her friend Stephanie perform with the Dessoff Choirs, and enjoyed it thoroughly, but I decided against joining Barbara and Stephanie and her family for coffee and dessert afterwards, opting instead to go to the Apple Store for a replacement phone. A few minutes with the crowds there, though, and I figured I could wait. It'd been an exhausting day already, good friends and music notwithstanding, and I didn't feel like taking an extra-late train home, so I left it for today.

While waiting at Penn Station for the train, I decided to get something to read. I hadn't brought a book or anything along, because I'd figured on listening to music on the iPh... anyway, I was looking around, trying to find an interesting book, when I was inspired by a discussion Margarita and I had had two weeks earlier while walking to the subway. So I picked up "The Alchemist" by Brazilian Paulo Coelho, and got hooked on it. It's quite a book...

So that's how I ended up iPhone-less for almost a full day. I did head to the Apple Store late this morning, picked up a new phone and headed back home to activate it and restore it. That went very smoothly, at least. I wanted to make sure I had a phone for today, because I had to pick up Linda, our new Arizona employee, at the airport this afternoon; she's going to be here in New Jersey for the week to meet us and get some training. Things went smoothly at the airport, too, fortunately, and after we grabbed some dinner, I got her back to her hotel.

I saw Margarita performing live via Webcast tonight, which was cool. She did "Mama," my favorite of her songs, and dedicated that performance to me, too.  :-D  I'm about ready for bed now, though. Let's hope this week isn't too bad...

Current mood: thoughtful.
Current music: "Tragedy" by Margarita.

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