808

I was away from home at business meetings this week. I arrived home late Friday night and after catching up on all I missed, I went to bed late. So I woke up late this morning, at 8:08 to be exact.

Looking at my alarm clock showing a bold 808, it flooded me with memories. Look at the clock just right, and what does 808 look like? Why, BOB, of course. So 808 has always been a special number to me. Sounds weird, but I have always been a bit of a number geek. I probably should have been an accountant! Which is interesting, since Robert is studying accounting at Penn State.

The house we lived in before moving to the Philadelphia area was in DC. To be exact, it was at 808 Aspen Street. Yes, 808. Coincidence? My wife swears I bought that house for two reasons: one being it was 808, the other being that the closets had lights that automatically turned on when closet doors opened. How could I not love this house?

808 Aspen was a super house in a great location. And by great location, I mean funky location. Probably the worst thing about the location was the pay phone a couple of blocks down the street on Georgia Avenue. Remember pay phones? Drug dealers would sell in locations near pay phones, so the location attracted some undesirables. It was mostly after dark and far enough away so that it didn't bother or affect us, but it did cause some concern when we thought we would be raising our children there.

The pay phone would get vandalized every once in a while. I always thought it was the neighbors doing their best to move the drug dealers farther down the street. I never did find out for sure, but breaking the phone served its purpose...until the telephone company fixed it. That was back when the telephone company actually provided good service, unlike now when you call and get some automated system that tries to figure out your problem, but rarely does. Which provides material for another post, for another day.