 Which didn't distract Mr. Graham from getting dinner the first time?
I didn't notice the impending rain storm and had no umbrella when I reached the sidewalk, to find myself confronted with an almost tropical downpour. After an abnormal delay, I got one which exactly missed the express at Fourteenth Street. During the day, by actual count, I heard the phrase "I'm just spitballing" eight times, and another Madison Avenue favorite, "The whole ball of wax," twelve times. However, my story had been accepted without change because nobody had noticed my absence from the conference room. "That's right, Danny, I just missed it," I said, and went on in. The Sun was out again and a man with a stick was exercising his flock of pigeons. Since our building is usually very well behaved, I was astonished to hear what sounded like an incipient free-for-all, and among the angry voices I recognized that of my neighbor, Nat, a very quiet guy who works on a newspaper and has never, to my knowledge, given wild parties, particularly in the late afternoon. "Judas!" he said, and started to pick them up. It turned sideways and, without any side-slip, went right up the stoop of a brownstone opposite, coming to rest with its nose inside the front door, which a man opened at that moment. This gave them exactly no room to move either forward or backward, for the car had its back to a hydrant and the taxi to a lamp.
 his telephone was broken
 his wife coming home early  his telephone was broken  watching two men fight on the sidewalk  another encounter with the police officer