I was up by 5:30 a.m., to give myself plenty of time for an unhurried arrival at the 7:30 a.m. breakfast meeting scheduled at a downtown Portland restaurant. I had been there several times before, most recently about three months earlier. As I got ready to leave the house, already a little behind schedule, I discovered that my cell phone had not charged overnight and was now completely dead. I plugged it in to charge and left the house.

The streetcar took me to the Portland State University stop, and I had a pretty good mental image of where the restaurant was, although I couldn’t exactly remember whether it was on S.W. Fourth or Sixth Street. I looked on Sixth for a few blocks. Nothing looked familiar. I walked over to Fourth Street. It looked even less familiar. I was now late for my appointment. I had no phone to call and say I was late. I couldn’t even check the address of the restaurant.