HECTOR!

I haven’t had the best of luck procuring a gift for Laylee’s sixteenth birthday. To be perfectly clear, she’s not getting anything lavish because our insurance rates are about to go through the roof with a teenage driver in the house.

The store from which I ordered her present several days ago just emailed to let me know the gift was backordered and won’t arrive until several weeks past her birthday.

I had one other small item in mind for something to unwrap on the big day, but it was difficult to find. I called around to a few shops and ended up finding it at a shop about 20 minutes from here.

So, I drove to this small town with just enough time to get the gift and buy groceries before I needed to be home for an appointment. The pleasant shop girl explained that… oops… they didn’t actually have the item but she knew of a place in a town 10 minutes further away that might have it.

I growled under my breath, thanked her and headed to my car. I had a choice. I could buy the groceries and head home or I could forget about trifling concerns like feeding my family and continue in pursuit of the birthday gift. I chose the gift.

This time, I called ahead (like I had with the first shop) but I told them about my experience driving out to Town A and being disappointed and asked them to check their stock to make sure they had it.

They put me on hold.

They checked.

They had it.

I drove to town B.

They did not have it.

BUT the man behind the counter, who randomly told me that college was a waste of money because all they do is brainwash you, told me he knew of a place in Kirkland that might have the item.

He couldn’t remember the name of it, but he drew me the following map.

Let me explain. The big X marks “that one part of I-405 where traffic backs up.” When you get to that part of the freeway, you take the road under the freeway. There will be a shop there of unknown name that may or may not have the item. The small x indicates its location.

You’ll know it’s the right shop if a man named Hector is working there.

Now, we’ve learned that calling ahead doesn’t work anyway and I don’t have a phone number but I DO have a map.

So, here’s my plan.

I will take SR 520 to I-405. I will drive north towards Kirkland. When traffic slows I will exit immediately and drive under the freeway. I will then unroll my window and begin calling for Hector.

What could go wrong?