Tuesday, August 31, 2004

IT'S A CONSPIRACY, I TELL YOU, A CONSPIRACY!

How could it be anything other than one huge cosmic conspiracy againstme? If they aren't building inside Gimp House, and creating Guiness Book of Records level layers of dust on everything, they move right on to creating desert sized dust storms right outside my windows so the accumulation inside is enough to choke the shower drain! There are now two huge berms of dirt outside my living room windows and half of it blows in through the spaces around the a/c, which must be the reason they bring two new truck loads every day. If that's not enough, this morning, I discovered an extension cord plugged into Harley's socket. After a bit of detective work I found out that it was City Hall workers who were doing maintenance on the shelter behind Gimp House. City Hall is on strike, yet again, so there's no one to complain to. They think they can just come along and take electricity without permission? I don't, and it for sure won't happen again. If it does, I'll call the police, which I should have done this morning. And if all this isn't enough, now cable is down, internet AND TV! You still think it's not a conspiracy? Teadrinker will try to tell me that it's the homicide bombers on their way to hell after learning that there were no virgins waiting for them in Paradise!12 dead, 84 wounded and 8 of them in critical condition. Thank you Hamas for reminding us that what you want is peace on your terms, your terms being no peace with Israel, rather, peace in the area without an Israel.Sharon will have to wake up soon. Shite, no TV and no radio. You still think there's no conspiracy? Ok, there's light, so I can read or work on some other stuff here.
Cable came back the instant I got up from the chair here, and you still question the conspiracy theory? How much more proof do you need?

MINDLESS MEANDERINGS

I stayed in yesterday and got absolutely nothing done, unless you count washing the mountain of dishes that was filling my postage stamp kitchen. I've actually seen larger postage stamps than that kitchen, but I love it because I can stand there and reach everything without taking more than half a step. I'm going to have to knock down some walls soon so I'll be able to get in there with a wheelchair.
I'm not going to Fox to look in on the convention, I am, however having hysterics at our media's blatent Democrat bias. One of the major commentary shows had a so called expert on and he got it all wrong. He actually had the nerve to dismiss the Swiftees as a bunch of Republicans and glossed over their claims about Kerry's Nam record. He never even mentioned what Kerry did when he got home. I understand the leftist leaning of our press when reporting local issues,(not) but to give such a biased commentary on US politics under the guise of an expert.......sorry.......doesn't work for me! I just sent the guy an e mail of correction. Bet he deletes it half way through. I guess I'm just going have to trust G-d again. Bush wasn't elected by a fluke. It's me......everything happens for a reason, Franne. The thought of Gore being office on 9/11 is too scary to contemplate. Both he and Kerry have admitted that they were not equipped to handle it. While Kerry has the nerve to question what Bush did when he first heard about the attacks, he admitted on Larry King that he sat for at least half an hour unable to grasp it. Bush had the good sense to wait for more information before doing or saying anything. I'd rather that kind of leader over one who is frozen in an uncomprehending stupor for half an hour.
I'm not wild about Bush asking the Swiftees to stand down. First amendment and all. These new election funding laws aer a direct violation of the constitution. Kerry of course wants all the conservative 527s shut up, while his should be allowed to say anything they want. Yup, put a nice big gag over the mouths of anyone who dares disagree with you. They are losing it over there.
Not that we aren't here. I'm so furious with Sharon for going back on the very issue he was elected on. He's now saying what Mitzna got trounced on. I can't help but wonder why I thought I had it figured out, but I guess not. I thought it was his way of outting the PA on it's policies, and to prove once and for all what a murderous bunch of thugs they are, but as time goes on, it doesn't look that way at all. It looks like he's really going to do it.
The truely infuriating thing to me is that the very people who set up the settlements in the territories are now the ones who want to dismantle them in an attempt at appeasement. The Labour Party has gone Beilin on us. It's getting to the point where our choises are, fight for existance or just turn it all over to them. Where does the pull back stop? Unilateral steps will just encourage them to keep up the pressure. It's escaped most peoples notice that the real terror against us got rolling after Barak pulled out of Southern Lebanon to the last inch. Make no mistake, the more they get, the more they'll want.
One thing of note is that the PA has been disintegrating towards total anarchy. Some people there have woken up to the fact that their corrupt leadership is not acting in their best interests. I can but hope that this trend will get stronger and the 'people' will take things into their own hands and kick out the corrupt band of terrorists who presently lead them.
On that note, I'm off to get in a supply of whole wheat rolls, then off to help Mara with the coffee supplier!

Sunday, August 29, 2004

AN OK START TO A NEW WEEK

I actually got up in time for Dark Matters today and only had a little bit of trouble bringing it up. Dwight and Don had a great show today. It was heart warming to hear about Dwight and his daughter's jump from a special forces airplane. How lucky can you get. Of course it wasn't lost on me that the jump took place at Bragg, the very same base the A Team escaped from into the LA underground!
As soon as the program was over, I gave STL a blast straight into his ear and demanded money. He whined and moaned in a most pathetic voice that he can't go out. He's waiting to get an infusion of some kind and he's not well enough to go out. I told him I'm not interested and he'd better send something today. He then asked how much I want to close it.......10,000 shekels within the next two weeks and I'll sign off on his debt. Ha! I'll believe it when I see it.
I took 100 from the bank and paid for the tabouli, then, he called as I was on the way home to say he's going to the post office to send and will call in 10 mins or so with the number. I did an about face and went back to the post office and waited for 20 minutes, then decided to go home. I was half way home when he called with the number and just continued home, after deciding that the important thing was that the money was there. He called about 2 minutes after I walked in to ask if I'd gotten it yet, and I very nastily said that I'd get it when I was good and ready. I went back out at 16:00 to get the money and to hunt down Yossi the a/c guy to ask him if it would be a problem to wait until the 2nd and my credit card is clear, or I could pay the whole thing now. He said to give him 100 now and the rest next month. What a doll. I think I'll call Moshe tomorrow and ask him to install the fans.
I am having much trouble with the STL website. I've written a new page 3 times now and lost it every time. I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. I'm thinking too much aboot England in October. I lost the cheap charter fare and will have to pay a much higher fare on El Al, but I much prefer El Al, so we shall see. If he actually pays up on time, I'll be able to go. If not, he's going on a very unpleasant painfull trip.
This new spy thing out of DC has me concerned. Is this what happens when someone who works in the Pentagon meets with people from AIPAC or someone from the embassy? The get accused of being a mole? I stinks to high heaven of antisemitism. As opposed to Pollard who apparently was passing us info and who should be in jail. I really resent the fact that we gave him citizenship here and that there are ongoing efforts to get him released. Sorry, he did it, got caught and should do the time. Of course, Kerry should have the cell next to him for his activities after he came home from Nam!

Saturday, August 28, 2004

AT LAST

I finally ran into Yossi, a local a/c guy who was an a/c teacher way back in '94 when I was teaching "technical English" at the same school. He lives very close to Gimp House, and is just an all around nice guy. I spotted him installing an a/c at a store I passed on the way home and asked if he could find time in the near future to take a look at the Pereg(Pereg means poppy) which has not been cooling for about 2 months. He said he'd try for the same day, but as Fridays are short work days here, I didn't have much hope, and settled in for a short nap just as he knocked on the door. Poppy had a minor case of no gas which was quickly solved and now the door to the *liberry* is closed and I have a bit more room for my legs here at the computer corner. Poppy does such a good job of cooling all of Gimp House. It's another case of my gut knowing just where to install him........the first time that happened to me was when I planned the house we built in Topsham, Maine and I situated it on the plot so that it took perfect advantage of the sun. An engineer told me back then that it would have taken him ages to figure the best placement, and *I* did it by feel! Woohoo, go gut! I not only situated it perfectly on the lot, I also designed it perfectly for a gimp, who now lives in it. When I saw the ramps in the video Irit and Guy took on their honeymoon, I was a bit surprized, to put it mildly. On reflection, I realized that the floorplan was indeed perfect for a wheelchair, and justified all the fights I had with the contractor who wanted a more conventional floor plan. That was one great house! Still is. I didn't get much done yesterday, just took it easy and watched TV, mostly. I did stop by the coffee shop and give Richard the local paper that had a small item in the gossip column on Yoffee Coffee. He loved it and knowing the other local paper, they'll have one next week without me going in, like I did with this one. That's just the way they are. On second thought, maybe I'll take them a photo to use. Our local gossip columns are better than full page ads. Tomorrow is going to be a full day, outside, talk to Oren about an article on Limor and her ramp, try to get onto Nissim about same, see if my glow in the dark results are in, threaten STL, I'll do that tonight, pay Yossi for fixing Poppy, pay Hilwa for the tabouli and a few other mundane chores. I think I'll post a page(the one I had so much trouble with Word over) to the STL site, call Bat Chen, then do some computer maintenance, then, start reading the book Mara gave me, and maybe do that mountain of dishes that Fanny never got to and must be done if I want to cook anything.

Thursday, August 26, 2004

LOST NIS 100

It's not enough that I have been without any cash for 3 weeks, and that the battle with STL is stalled, I had to lose the 100 Mara gave me for doing the work on their invoices and inventory. The advantage of keeping cash in one place (a tiny leather zippered purse in the right upper pocket of my vest) is that there's no other place it could be. When Hilwa from the Lebanese place brought the tabouli I'd ordered into Mara and Richard's, I took out the mini purse to pay her and it was empty. No 100 bill. Mara gave it to me on Tuesday and I haven't been anywhere except their shop since then. Haven't bought anything either. Where did it go? Money doesn't evaporate. As I'm a regular at Hilwa's, I can pay her on Sunday when we get paid. I worry more about paying what I owe than I do about where the 100 ran off to.
Yesterday I charged into Mara and Richard's with the copies of the invoices and did a fast inventory. That took about 20 minutes, then, when Richard arrived we priced all the coffee. Now they will be able to keep track of what is selling, what needs ordering, and all that neat stuff. When I got home, I put it all on excell, which I also hate as much as I HATE NETVISION! I also fooled around with a price list, and e mailed the lot to them.
On the way home yesterday I saw Meir of *liberry* fame's truck at Limor's and cornered him and Moshe about the hole in the wall in my pantry. They said they'd be along to fix it but as yet, haven't. Limor told me that the ramp that was funded is being held up at City Hall. It won't be for much longer. I gave her the numbers of the two best movers and shakers in the crip movement in the country. Our elected officials have absolutely no respect for the law. It looks like they are trying to delay the ramp until the funding is gone. I don't think so.
On my way into town this morning I went by her place and told her that I'm going to catch Nissim Malka or Sammy Melul, both of whom can issue the approval she needs (or so they say, in violation of the law). I swung by City Hall and had a short argument with Shimon Kabessa. He still shakes when I appear, and the last time we went at it was in '92. That's just fine. I love it when a grown bully quakes at the sight of me. Nissim wasn't in, but Sammy was upstairs and Kabessa claims to have no way to call him, and I have no way to get up to his office. I'll have another go at it on Sunday unless I can run Nissim to earth tomorrow. Why is it these bozos always pick on that particular law? Nationally it's called Miraleh's law, it will soon be known in this town as Golan's law. I've had it with that band of outlaws. Enough is enough. A stop must be put to it, and I'm just in the mood to do it. I will sort the criminals by Tuesday at the latest. WATCH OUT, GOLAN IS GONNA GET YOU.
I'm also after the jerk cop who yelled RETARD at me because he can't drive. I think I know who it was and he would be well advised to stay far away from me in the future, near and far.
Now Cable has decided to be as annoying as possible. It auto disconnects every evening at around 18:30, with the little green light on the modem going blinky, blinky, then it allows reconnection an hour or so later. It's getting really old. There was a bunch of other stuff I meant to write about, but the STL site is calling. I had the usual trouble with WORD this morning and have decided to type the page directly rather than copy and paste.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

I'M A BUSINESS MANAGER?

I'm not sure who's crazier, Richard, Mara, or me? Mara appointed me business manager because she and Richard have trouble handling the guys from Ava, mostly because of language issues. Mara was getting all nervous about him arriving today and sorting the bills etc. Before I left the house this morning, I put all of their way bills onto Excell in Hebrew, as close as I could decipher the handwriting. I was pretty close on most of it. I got him to sit and go through all of it and give recommended prices including VAT. SORTED! Mara was quite happy with how I handled him. I must say I am as well.
It was freaking hot in town today.Over 100F according to Richard. Their a/c was hard pressed to keep up.
I have all the invoice info so I can make up price lists for them in the morning.
Had a nasty go round with STL. He is such a sh**. I so enjoy being nasty to him. This is not good, but it is enjoyable. I told him in my deadliest voice," Either I'm going to England, or you're going to hell" If he messes up my October trip, suicide will be the only way out for him, of course I'll be more than happy to dispatch him myself. I told him months ago, when he said he 'felt like jumping off high building' to wait until I could get there to push him. Funny, he hasn't tried that pathetic crap since.
I think it's time to add the story of Richard's dad to the site, with changed names to protect the innocent!

Sunday, August 22, 2004

IS TODAY REALLY SUNDAY?

It feels more like Wednesday! I got up, as usual for a Sunday, at 05:45 and rebooted before going to Dark Matters. Don was on his own with Bill Birnes as Dwight went to jump out of an airplane with some Special Forces types. His daughter is making a jump too. I sure wish I could......
I got out of here just before 10:00 to discover that some genius designed whatever it is they're doing to the street and sidewalk outside in such a way that the fence and railing had to be removed. Now there is nothing between a speeding car/truck/bus and Gimp House. There have been so many *almost* crashes into that barrier that I am now very nervous. Considering who the powers behind that project are, there's not much sense in complaining. With my luck, the driver who eventually crashes into my house will blame me.
While at Yoffee Coffee,I called STL and he confirmed what I already knew when he called just after midnight and asked me to call him back, and I refused. He told me that he'd have news for me tonight. I was right not to call him back! I told him in no uncertain terms that he WILL pay me back every single cent his little spree on my bank account cost me. He whined a bit, but pay he will. Richard wrote his summary of STL. I came home rewrote it, redisgned the site, and posted a few new pages there. One listing his fairy tale excuses, another on his apartment and Richard's story with the names changed to protect the innocent. I'll send Brian's mail tomorrow with the links.
After not having been to my bank account site for most of the month, I went in last night and this morning. It's not quite as bad as I feared, but not good enough for England if STL doesn't pay up. If he pays up, I'll be able to go, no sweat.
I've got to stop being such a good guy and doing things I promise/agree to do on time. No one else does. I'm still waiting for Bat Chen to finish editting my letter. This after doing everything she ever asked me to do for her, pretty much on the spot. I still have to decipher Richard and Mara's bill from the coffee guy. They want me to be their 'business manager' on Tuesday when he comes to collect. This guy should have been a doctor, can't figure out half of his letters. I'll do it tomorrow. After all, it took almost 3 weeks to get that summary from them.
Cable messed up for an hour or so today. No internet or TV, and it started right in the middle of Highlander. I gave up and came to work offline on the computer. Teadrinker called just as I was reaching for the phone to call cable, I HATE NETVISION MORE, and, wouldn't you know it, both TV and internet came back while we were talking.
Well, we'll know in a few hours if STL found some poor sucker to scam in order to pay me what he owes. One of these days he's going to be found dead with a knife in his back, no, not my knife! I just hope it's after he pays me back. How bitchy is that?

Saturday, August 21, 2004

BEFORE I FORGET YET AGAIN

Let's just put it off to the pain, but I forgot to write about the fat guy on the diet at the coffee shop at the hospital. While I was doing my 35-50 chews on the salad thing, a really fat guy came in. He's a regular there, and ordered his 'usual' which was a huge salad and some white rolls. The gal behind the counter asked him how his diet's coming along and he said "slower than I hoped" Well of course it's slow going. I never saw anyone scarf down anything as huge as that salad so fast. AND the white bread. For once I kept my big mouth shut and didn't tell him about the chewing theory or the whole grain thing. It's his diet and I haven't been doing that well myself.......but I'm back to it now, and intend to stick to it now.
It's been a slow weekend but I did get the letter written about the doctor jerk who won't send the guy who has to write the report I need for the electric chair and sent it Bat Chen for editing.....she's good at the nasty letter in Hebrew and the less spelling mistakes the better. She has yet to return it and Teadrinker has me tied up on the phone so I can't call her to prod her into action.
Bat Chen and Reef are coming up for the weekend week after next and I'll go back with for a quick visit, hit Zahava for the day and maybe see Sid about leg extenders for the new wheelchair(NBBC) or BBC, whichever one I go with.
Richard is nervous about posting what STL did to him on the net......he's afraid STL will try to get revenge by siccing undesirables on him. There in lies the thing about pond scum(appologies to pond scum) like STL, if you stand up to them in public they run and hide. Proof of that is that he gets the shakes everytime I threaten him. I told Richard to write it up in 3rd person and I'd post it as an unnamed source, as told to me. He said he'd do it tonight and bring it to the shop in the morning. We shall see. Whatever, the mail to Brian goes tomorrow.
I have a feeling STL might have gotten internet access and read the mail I sent him a while ago outlining plan *B* I haven't heard from him since Tuesday. If I ever get Teadrinker off the line, I'll get up, get the cell phone and call him. The trip to England is around the corner and I still don't know if I can go......right now, it doesn't look like it.
That will really piss me off. I'm scared to go to my bank account to see what's going on there. I really don't want to know which bills Mordy refused to pay, but I guess I'd better find out, then have a royal scream up at STL.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

SCHIZO IS PUTTING IT MILDLY

Yesterday was the BEST and WORST. It started out a bit iffy with a peril filled treck across the mess that was my sidewalk to the taxi, and the brief argument with the idiot guard at the bus station who didn't want to let us in. Right, like I can get to the Haifa platform any other way. It's either that way, or ride a wheelchair down stairs. I don't think so. In the end he saw reason, or could it have been that he got nervous when I pulled out my cell phone? Things were uneventfull until we got to the Mfratzit-a sattelite bus station just out side Haifa. I had two choices, to continue by bus or take a taxi. Just thinking about the up hill roll to the hospital from the bus stop made the descision for me. Taxi! Egged now has it's own taxi company and the taxis are allowed inside the station proper. I wonder how much the scene Irit and I created there last year had to do with that? It's irrelevant as they now allow their own taxis in!
I got to Rambam nice and early and rolled off to find the right place. It was duly found and I checked in. The clerk told me to come back closer to the right time, so I rolled off to look for a coffee shop. Don't ask. It was at least a mile away and up a steepish ramp. At least there were rails that I could use to pull myself up. At the top I met a woman coming out with her own personal wheelchair driver. We had a short nice chat during which she asked me why I was there alone. I'm still abit taken aback that a fellow WC occupant would ask that. The answer is simple, I'm an adult and don't need or want a keeper.(I did say it politely) What I DO need is an electric chair. Oh do I ever. I continued up to the coffee shop, had a nice cup of coffee, bought some water, and went back to get shot with some Glow In the Dark stuff for the scan and was sent off to drink a liter and a half of water.......back to the coffee shop......I swear they moved it, it was much farther away this time. I had a lovely salad, and lots of water, then back for the GID test. Having only one arm and leg that are sort of ok makes for an interesting wheelchair propulsion method. I mostly go in reverse, pushing with my right leg-the one with the trashed knee and wheeling with my right arm. I did pretty well yesterday and only ran into two posts at full speed reverse! By the time I left Rambam, the top of my right foot was bleeding as was the eczema on my right hand from the wheeling. Egged didn't have any taxis available(at this point I found there was no way to get down the curb to cross the street to get to the bus stop) and 2 cabbies at the hospital said no......"don't want you bleeding all over the cab." I finally found one, and when he left me off outside the Mfratzit, (they can't go in) the guard called another guard to push me to the Kiryat Shemonah platform. Things sure have changed there. The trip home was ok except for the pain. The top of my foot and the cramps in my arm. That asshole quack who refuses to send the PT to do an electric chair report had better get out of the country real soon. Letters are going out tomorrow and he will not be happy. I went to the doctor today and got the damage listed in my file on computer.
Then I went to Mara and Richard's where I discovered the closest thing to a Chemex coffee maker there is here. I bought it and some filters and R gave me some coffee for it. Yum. Aside from the pain, I'm a happy gimp, and greatly anticipating the war over the electric chair. I'll probably get a Texas style one before it's over!

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

SORRY

I've missed a day or two here, sorry. Not much of incident has happened EXCEPT;Achy found found the recalcitrant remote right where I thought it was hiding and moved one of the chairs out to the soon to be dining room. Nice.
STL sent 200 yesterday, so I CAN go with one of Fanny's daughter's to Haifa. He is such a liar it's not real. When I called with the Threat Of The Day, he said he was waiting for someone to bring him some money. He called back in a too short a time for anyone to have done that and said he was going out to send it. He had it the whole time and was hoping I'd let it go. Not likely. He does have money, and I wonder who he scammed it from. I'm going to call Yogi later and tell him to let the Safad cops know that he hid a bunch of stuff in a neighbor's apartment because he knows there's a repo order out on his stuff. There are times it's nice to know cops other than my own daughter, (whose ambition is to arrest her own mother) Yogi will know who to talk to at the Safad cop shop. Look out STL.
If I had any doubt that City Hall and the mayor are 'out to get me' I no longer do. They've started tearing up the street and sidewalk by Gimp House and I don't know how I'm going to get to the taxi to go to the bus station. I have to go through to park on Harley to get to to town and come home. What a pain. Speaking of which, I'd better get a move on.

Monday, August 16, 2004

THREE CHEERS FOR ACHY!

One TV/cable remote........found! One chair moved to soon to be dining room......moved! and many compliments on self built bookcase in *liberry*.... and 50 shekels for survival and getting to CT scan. Aren't brother's wonderful? Ok, so he's not my real life brother, but that it is what his name means in Hebrew. Literally, my brother. That's exactly what he's been just about from the day we met and his wife is a dear friend. I never could have gotten through the hospitaization and rehab without them. He's one of the few people I let in to see it as it is, worts and all. He must be the reason Mark and I opened the motorcycle garage........so I could meet Achy! My guardian angel at work again. I don't know how I would have survived the last 12 years without him.12 years? Wowsers! Has it been that long? Must be. We opened the garage in '92 and he wrote the article on the female biker soon after, and joined in the special "lunch and beer" afternoons at the garage soon after the article came out! He got me though the katyusha/busted shoulder episode and that was pretty much the cement. Not a week went by that he didn't stop by the hotel to see me at work. I honestly don't know what I'd do without him.
Ooooof, Teadrinker has me captive here again. I want to go to my room and have something to eat and see more Elvis. It's Elvis day om MGM. Lord, I love his singing.
Teadrinker happily announces that she put the first scratch on Bronco today! But she won't let me get off the phone......grrrrrrrrr. I'll get rid of her and come back later to finish this.

Sunday, August 15, 2004

LOUD PRIMAL SCREAM

Nope, it wasn't from Mara. It was one of those Nigerian scam sob story letters.
So why the scream? I just spent an hour and a half trying to get this beknighted electronic pencil to work. My beloved firewall refused to let Yahoo Messenger and Outlook Express and IE connect. Grrrrrr. I managed in between at least a gazillion restarts to uninstall it then reinstall it and it has now decided to work. Talk about frustrating. Now I have to run all my anti bad guy progs. I just hope it continues to behave. STL called and wanted yet another phone number. He's really not getting anywhere. The short list of things being left undone thanks to him:
1) trip to England
2) repair a/c
3) install ceiling fans
4) continue bookcase
5) get new motor for Harley
6) get little travel scooter
7) have bank account run normally
8) get rid of eczema
9) no more heart attacks in diagrahm(stress)

That just about sums it up and much of those might look relatively unimportant, the sum total of them is pretty big to this old gimp.

GEEZER BRIGADE PARADE

I should have known I was creating a monster when I agreed to do that interview with Menahem for the news! It seems there are more scooters on the road every day. Sundays usually have a line of us headed for the Industrial area. Today was no different except one of the geezers almost caused a bad accident. The resulting confrontation was not fun. I got yelled at (in front of the the whole Geezer Wagon Train for encouraging them in taking over the streets of our fair city. Yeah, ok. So the old boy thinks he has the right of way at all times, and drivers here KNOW they do. It's my fault? I just sailed on past them, not being in the mood for a fight that could ugly.
On the STL front; he just called to ask me to look up another phone number for him. He's not having much luck conning the money he needs to pay me back. Mara and Richard loved the mail I've written to Brian and have promised to send me their summary today. Something just came in to Yahell mail. I think I'll go check it and if it is their synopsis I'll post it here after I post to the site.

Saturday, August 14, 2004

STAGNANT SATURDAY

About the only thing I got done today was the e mail to STL's brother, and that's no small accomplishment. I'm still waiting for Mara to get her summary of their experience with him to me so I can post it at the web site. I'm on the verge of writing it myself as I know most of the details. There's not much sense in sending Brian's letter until Monday morning as it's a university addy and though he probably gets his mail at home too, I want to be sure, so it will go Monday noonish, unless......yeah, well. Other than that, I didn't do much of anything today except continue my perusal of mouths on TV, and plan grave(operative word) bodily harm to STL if he makes me miss going to England in October. It's either England or jail and right now the latter seems more likely! I alternate being ragingly pissed of at myself, then STL for this mess. I mean a rage like I've never been in before. Thanks to him, I haven't been able to get my ceiling fans installed, the a/c fixed (lucky for him the one in the 'liberry' keeps the house livable, but the other one does it better and I can't get it fixed unless I can pay. Of course the ceiling fans would be better as I wouldn't need the a/c as much and would save on the electric bill. I think I'll give him a call and see what the newest excuse is. They are getting a bit old, but......might as well.
I said "I'm glad I didn't wait up for you to call" He said " I didn't call because there's no money left on the card, I'm going out now to call you from a neighbor's" I said " yeah, yeah" He said "10 minutes" We shall see. His stories are deteriorating. His Edith scam went nowhere, he got told to go to hell by Rabbi Isaacs and the guy in Hatzor he's trying to scam supposedly had the cash he thought he was going to get grabbed by the guy's wife. He also talked about two doctors who were going to give him some money, but backed out at the last minute.
Ok, just had a nice scream up at him and threw out the fact that an e mail to Brian is ready to go. His reaction was he won't get it 'cause he's not there. So what? It'll get to him eventually. He thinks I'll wait for ever. I had another of my super bitch moments when I told him that his health is better than mine and I'm sick of his whining and why doesn't he just get on with it and check out?! He just called back to tell me that the chances of my having Brian's correct mail addy are slim and that they don't get along anyway. He misses the point. I guess that rattled him. I hung up on him after telling him that I KNOW I have the right addy and if he knows what's good for him he'll get me the money fast. Crash. Next time he starts jerking me around I'll throw out the fact that I have his mother's phone number and address in Bangor and friends there. I'll let him connect the dots.

Friday, August 13, 2004

STUPID OR GENIUS?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I think I'll go with cry for now. I got a comment from annonymous about the ermote situation and sent a mail back, with a smart ass comment to "whoever you are" Then I looked up two e mails in my in box, and found out who annoymous is! So, yeah, stupid it is for tonight! Still no sign of the remote, but, as I'm captive to the phone, I can't get up to look in another maybe place. I seem to recall hearing a thump of something falling in the liberry, but I don't remember where I heard it from. It could be behind the sofa, but there's just no way I can move it.
ust wait for able bodied help. Achy will be here on Monday, so I'll enlist him.
Speaking of Achy.....Teadrinker was all in a snit about breaking news on Sky that reported that Boogie Ya'alon said that he expects us to leave the Golan Heights within a year. I told her that I doubt he said any such thing. He's an army officer and as such would never come out with a political statement on those lines. Teadrinker said they only ran it once, which means they made a booboo. When Achy called I asked him about it, and it turned out that Sky reported a mistranslation of Achy's article on Y-net! Boogie actually said that the IDF is capable of defending the country from the 67 lines and that it would take about a year to get things in order. Ooops. Sky made a big ooops, and from my Achy's article.So, there's that cleared up!
Teadrinker's house has just been renamed. It is now Bonanza, in honor of Tonto and Bronco, her scooters AND the fact that moving there has truely been a bonanza for her. So there!
I have developed a new fixation, looking at peoples mouths. So mant seem to be in a frown when at rest, some are pretty straight, and a very few are up turned in a smile. The things I think about. Interesting way to pass the time. I just hope no one gets the brilliant idea to do a government funded study!?

Thursday, August 12, 2004

SKELETAL TRANSPLANT?


Israeli clinics are enough to drive a sworn pacifist (which I am not) to commit random acts of violence. It's not enough that the average every day generic Israeli has a hard time waiting his turn, now we have all those "cultured" Russians who think they they don't have to wait their turn as well. Add to the mix a big mouthed American/Israeli who takes advantage of the unwritten law that crips do not wait in lines, and you have recipe for mayhem. It's even more fun when the Russian 'can't speak Hebrew' Yeah, right. It's more a case of won't. They are the only ethnic group that has been catered to in that manner. No other group, not Morrocans, Germans, Polish, Romanian, French, American, Brit or anyone else has ever been so catered to. They/we all had to learn Hebrew to get along here. Some did better than others, but never ever did we expect everyplace to cater to our language like has happened with the Russians. I've been known to lambaste more than one Russian in a flood of English insults that even a native English speaker would have trouble following. Of couse I can and have done the same in Hebrew. To me it's as simple as this;if you want to continue living in your native language and culture, don't come here, but if you do come, learn Hebrew and stop expecting Israelis to behave as if they/we all were in your native country. Not that Israelis couldn't learn from other cultures, but there's not all that much wrong with the one here. It's not better or worse than any other, it's just different. You may have gathered that I had yet another run in with a Russian while at the clinic this morning. It ended; me-1 Russian-0. My saw bones, who speaks fluent English and witnessed the whole incident was hard put to keep a straight face. Of course I had just come out of a meeting with Ygal, the social worker who yet again told me that the woman in charge of electric wheel chairs at the Health Minisry told him that I'm not eligible for one because I have Harley. Great, now, she had better get her butt down here and show me how to use Harley in the house without taking ALL the furniture out first. Lord I HATE STUPID people, especially Canadians who should know better. It looks like I'll have to write a nasty letter in Hebrew to get this moving. To come out of that and run straight into a Russian bitch was just too much. The one who was in with the sawbones was also Russian and was in there so long that I figured she'd had a complete skelton transplant. I was in for just enough time for him write out orders for a bone scan and a few x-rays. Of course I missed Charmed, but I'll live. Before all of that I went to Zohar's again, but he wasn't there and the kid he left minding the store didn't know prices. The black table I saw and am interested in is till there. I saw another table with a glass top and black frame with 6 chairs that need recovering, and a chair for the corner. I'm heading back out there in a few minutes to see if he'll take the computer table, matresses and maybe the penguin a/c in exchange for the stuff I want. Penguin has never been used-long, real long story, and should work just fine. I really don't need an a/c in that room, so, might as well get something out of it. I'll see what Zohar says. Might as well go now.
I'll get on to STL later. Too bad for him I'm such a combative mood today! he he he.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

TEADRINKER AND ME

In the end, I gave in and am allowing Teadrinker to call me. What happened? I don't know. Much as I enjoyed the peace and quiet and uninterrupted TV watching, something was wrong and much as I try to project an image of being the ultimate mean bitch, I guess I'm really not, though I can be for short periods of time.
Anyhoo, during our conversation last night it hit me! Now, stay with me here, because it really does sum up the insanity that is my life; After 4 1/2 years of nonstop flat tyres on Harley, 4 on one infamous day, I got solid tyres, and go gaily whizzing around town knowing that I can only get a flat on the front tyre. Yeah, so? So....there of course came a day when I didn't get a flat-rather the whole complete $#@&*+!~ wheel FELL OFF! Talk about the story of my life. Teadrinker, who is actualy quite brilliant and usually "gets it" as I'm saying it, had to have it explained, then, of course we couldn't stop laughing. And that, my friends is what drives me wild about Teadrinker. She's so involved with telling me a detailed account of her day that she misses what's being said to her. On the other hand, when I come up with a name for something, like her new shed, she loves it. The new shed is Shack, her new ramp/path is Happy Trail and her House is The Ponderous-osa, which is a play on the Western names of her scooters and Harry Potter. She is the one person in the world who agrees when my answer to her question about how I come up these plays on words is "I'm a genius!" And she's the one who tested off the charts.
We also had a good time having a go at the johns who think they are going to win the US election. She got that one right off and has taken to calling john # 1 The Bog! (Brit for bathroom) She has never liked The Bushwhacker much, but when I got done telling her about the johns, she now wishes she could vote in that election! I liked The Bushwhacker from the minute I met him at an MSRC event in '79. He listened to my opinions on the Israel-Raghead situation and said that he'd never thought it that way, and would pay more attention to things here. This was way before anyone thought he'd be a national figure, never mind President. He was a bit taken aback by what I had to say about the State Department, and I think he has since found out that I was spot on. At least it looks like it from here.
I don't recall ever being this scared before an election. It the johns get in, it's all over but the learning of a new language and religion. That scares me, but then appeasers always have.
STL woke me up this morning with his usual whiney excuse that he's got test at hospital. Yeah, right. He really thinks I'm buying his bullshit, may he rot. The only plus to that call was that he woke me up at a bit after 09:00. It's now after 10:30 and I want to go and see that black table I saw at Zohars when Eema Rivka was here. I obviously can't buy it until STL pays up, but maybe I can talk him into holding it for me, or trading it for the computer desk. I also want to check out much the computer desk costs new these days and how much it will cost to get a keyboard drawer for it as the one that came with it is now on this table! So, I guess it's time to head out if I want to be home in time for Charmed. I get it twice today, I think.

Monday, August 09, 2004

THE WEEKEND

The weekend was pretty much same old-same old. I spent a good part of it obssessing about STL and anticipating Rmoi's visit on Sunday. How's that for schizo like behaviour? STL is still dragging his feet. Nothing new there. I must light a fire under Mara for her STL story.
Romi's visit, on the other hand was a joy. We met up at the mall, chatted a bit with Yael of the jewelry shop, had breakfast-Irit and Romi did, I just had the worst cup of coffee in the world. Irit let me "babysit" twice for 3 minutes each time. Then we came here for Irit to get the iron and frying pan that have been stored in her old room, and to go sit on the grass in the park. Irit actually let Romi sit on me for a few minutes of cuddles and kisses, and love nips. I, of course left my camera at home so there are no pictures of that. Irit keeps saying that she will not let me hold Romi because I might drop her. Not likely. I mentioned to Irit that I want a little travel scooter and her reaction to the price was typical. She thinks they are cheap and wants to know why I haven't bought one yet. 7-8,000 isn't that cheap, especially when STL is still not paying up. Irit seems to have solved the transfer to the Northern District on her own. She starts at Kishon Jail on Sunday. She's not wild about it, but it's better than going back and forth to Hebron! As usual, the hysterics leading up to the transfer were just that. With any luck that position she's qualified for will open up soon and she won't have to work 24/48 for too long. At least she's now in the Northern District!
STL is so presured now that he can't even keep his stories straight. He seems to actually have convinced himself that someone will give him what he needs to finish off his debt. I doubt it. Too many people know him too well and his reputation preceeds him. I also need money to get the main a/c looked at. Grrrrr. It's probably just gas, and lucky me, the a/c in the new room is doing a good enough job of keeping the whole place comfortable.
I had a nice rest in the afternoon and went to see King Arthur. It's a whole new take on him. It opens with a notice that the movie is based on new finds about him. This version has him being a Roman commander sent to return a Roman youth to Rome's jurisdiction, lots of bloody battle scenes with Merlin as a dark sorcceror and no mention of his parentage, Mordred and the whole Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad thing was odd in the extreme. It might be historically more accurate, but I prefer the Mary Stewart take on him. I am glad I saw it. Hallmark is running it's Merlin movie now and I'm missing most of it right now. But that's ok, they usually rerun it, so I'll catch it next time.
I called Afikim to ask Shirli when I last got new batteries and motor for Harley, and about a little travel scooter. The batteries are still under warranty, the motor is approaching changing time and Larry says I can a semi used scooter for 4-4.5, 000. Those are new ones they've used for display and test drives. One way or another I'll find a way to get one. They all saw my TV news thing with Menahem and loved it. Larry did tell me that I can rent a scooter if I want, but I want one of my own so I can just get up and go.
Billy has up and disappeared again. I wonder what's going on with that. Hmmm. He was on once, then did a vanishing act, this after I sorted the webcam!
Fanny was supposed to come clean today, but she's too tired so she's sending her oldest. Gimp House is a war zone. Full sink and we won't even discuss the floor, which could be worse. I've been really good about taking the dogs out, so I guess it's not as bad as it could be. Speaking of the dogs, Irit got each of them new collars and leads, so they are now dressed in purple splendor! Fanny's oldest is here now and working her way through the overflowing sink. This might be a good time to take a shot at tuning the little TV. I just seem to put it off for no good reason. I also have to upload the newest picture of Romi. I want to take it to Amos to get a real picture made of it.

Friday, August 06, 2004

GOOD GIRL

I was a good girl I was. I got up a tad early after having gone to sleep a tad late, raced through coffee 1, charged off to Tzabri to get BBC's tyre filled, grabbed the papers and raced home at a breathtaking 10 km/h. When Achy called I was actually ready and waiting outside when he arrived. He had to pick up a lady from Cfar Giladi, I wish I could have my job back. Then, to Cfar Blum for the rehearsal. It was held in a rehearsal hall and by the time we got there the seats were all full, but as I came with my own seat, they let me in. I was parked right behind the conductor and couldn't see Achy. Be that as it may, the least that conductor could have done, considering how much time he spends with his back to the audience, is develope a cute butt, his flat butt is boring and detracts from the whole. The soprano soloists have just the high pure voices that I could listen to all day. It was quite nice even for a cultural barabarian like me! There was a French Provincial grand piano that I'd love to have;so what if I can't play and it's bigger than my whole apartment. I can still covet it. can't I? I *do* have one major concern. The sopranos were lovely and have nice figures. How will the audience know it's over if there's no fat lady to sing? Sheesh, the things I worry about.I had a short nap after I got home and woke up just as Louise's funeral would have been starting, so I *was* with Beck as promised. I'm still sad.
Mazal sent me a little pixie figurine. I'm going to glue it to one of the phone jacks here. I just love those little figurines.
King Athur is finally in town. Now, do I go to it tomorrow at full price, or on Sunday at 1/2 price? Descisions, descisions. I've been waiting so long for it to get here that I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain myself until Sunday! Arthur freak that I am. I'm dying to find out if it's the Mary Stewart or T.H. White version, or something entirely else. I must remember to check which of the Stewart books I don't have and order it. I love her Arthur series.
I think maybe I'll try to adjust the little TV in the library soon. The a/c in there is the only one working at the moment and it's HOT in here. At least it blows straight into the computer corner. Yup, sounds like a plan!

Thursday, August 05, 2004

LOUISE HAYES ABELON BOOKCASE

Thank God for Alice. She gave me a heads up on Louise's death. I've been expecting it for a week or so now, but it was much better to get a mail from Alice than to just stumble on it in the paper. I'm very sad that she's gone, but Beck says she's out of pain now, in a better place with better people, and that is good. We had a nostalgic moment thinking of our mothers together.
In a way, it's a bit easier for me than it is for Beck. I remember her mother as she was when I left 24 years ago, not as she was with Atzheimers towards the end. I have always had a thought for Mrs. A when I saw the summer weight quilt she gave me back in '72, at my bridal shower, especially when I'm sewing up a seam.
I told Beck about the bookcase, which of course was inspired by the first one of it's kind that I ever saw; the one in their basement. She was a bit surprised that I even remembered it. It was a long long time ago, but I always wanted one just like it, and now I have one! I'm going to have 2 plaques made. One for the bookcase; The Louise Hayes Abelon Memorial Bookcase and one for over the door to the room; The Harry and Louise Abelon Memorial Library. They were all such a major part of my life when I was growing up. There were times when Beck and I were not sure whose house was mine, and which was hers. Both houses felt like home to both of us. I have so many wonderful memories of those days. It's sad that such a major part of them is gone, but comforting to think that our mothers are together again. I've been weepy on and off since Alice called.
I had to go out right after I talked to Beck. Richard and Mara opened their coffee shop today and there was a huge do in the area the shop is in. The Americans had the good sense to open on the same day as the Morrocan Judaism Festival. Talk about timing! They were run off their feet. It's good practise, and good exposure. People came back for seconds, which is a good sign. When I was there this morning Mara mentioned that someone wanted "ness caffe'-instant with milk and sugar and that she told them they don't do 'ness' I suggested that instead of telling them they don't do 'ness' to just make 'white esspresso' and shut up! Richard thought that was brilliant! No one will know except that white esspresso is better than ness and costs the same.
I have to get up early tomorrow because Achy is picking me up around 10:00 to take me to the dress rehearsal of his concert, and I have to get air in one of BBC's tyres, shower and dressed, and with any luck get the local papers. Cooking for the weekend is done. A huge pan of veggies, and chicken that is ready to go into the fridge. Yum. I knicked a piece of chicken and it's GOOD! I also have to have a word with cable because it's started with the self disconnect again. It's starting to get old. And the a/c in the living room is not cooling. Have to get the techie over to check it. I opened the door to the new room and turned that one on and it actually is doing a pretty good job of getting the whole place comfortable. Of course I have to remember to close the barrier to keep the dogs out. I'll turn it off now, close the door and take the dogs out for the night clintons, then to sleep. Crying makes me tired.

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

STL AND THE RABBI

Are there no limits to his unmitigated gall? It was reported yesterday by an authorotative source that he actually called the old rabbi from Bangor who retired to Jerusalem and asked him for $ 500 because his mother is dying(she's not) and he wants to go visit her (he can't leave the country) The rabbi told him to go to hell! The only part of that I can enjoy is that he's desperate enough to try even that to pay me back. It also proves to me that Edith never agreed to give him a shekel.
One bright spot. I paid Richard and Mara back today. Thank God the Visa worked! Whew, what a relief. I also got the computer back to it's old firewall. I like this one alot better than the other one AND I got the cam working on Yahell again. Yeah, me. AND cable got their TV glitch sorted after a whole evening and morning of no TV. AND the idiots from city hall finally fixed the leak! It's only been leaking since Friday. I'm hot and tired and need a shower. Later.

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

HO HUM

It just won't end. STL is dragging it on and on. I did get an interesting tidbit from Gerald. In spite of STL begging me not to say anything, I told Gerald that I let myself be conned by STL, and that STL had offered to talk to Gerald for me and take the amount of the bounced check on himself. Gerald then told me that STL's reputation in Safad is about as bad as it can get and that he, himself, never lets STL owe him more than 300 at a time and that it's actually his own fault the check bounced. If he'd deposited it on time, it would have been fine and he's not at all worried about.The interesting part was what he said about STL's reputation and how well known he is in Safad for conning and cheating. It backs up my intuition the Edith is playing payback with him and has no intention of giving a penny. Next time he offers to have her call, I'll take him up on it.
After spending the weekend obssessing about my credit card, I went to Tzabri to pay for the Harley rescue and it went through. YES! Today, I'm going to get my meds and try to pay the butcher bill. The ultimate test of the C.C. I have resolved that the only things going on the card this month are fags, groceries and emergencies. Lucky for me, it's not an electric bill month, so it will be pretty close to ok. Of course all will be well if STL pays up, and he'd damn well better. England is coming up soon and I have to start buying pounds. I didn't get to the travel agent yesterday, so I'll do that today. It's time to get a move on here, if I want to be back by 12:30.

Sunday, August 01, 2004

I DO HAVE MY MOMENTS!

Ha! Bet you thought I'd never figure out how to get the Cellcom phone to work as an alarm clock. HA! I did and it does! It was the one thing that worked correctly today. The very first thing the computer told me this morning was that it had the flu. Dark Matters was fine for anout an hour then it self disconnected and refused to come back up, even after repeated reboots. Fine, said I to me, and ran my anti virus. It killed the flu, but I had to reinstall Media player to get DM back.
I had a go at STL, then called Gerald to ask when he could come have a look at the problem child. Then, off to the supermarket to stock up on whole grain roll thingys, dropped them at home, finally remembered to take my name change certificate to be copied, bought fags, went to my travel agent and we agreed to keep an eye on El Al. The deal I saw yesterday is for the next month only. There is hope that there'll be more deals for Succot, but for now, the charter stands, and came home to wait for Gerald. He played around with the problem child for a bit and diagnosed a mysterious flu virus and told me to to run this, that, and the other, which I did, after a too short visit with Billy who reapppeared suddenly today. The webcam refused to work, so after he went offf to pacify his sister,I ran spybot and kicked out a couple hundred spy things and rebooted, ran it again, rebooted again. After all that running and booting, I tried the camera and it works! Happy Gimp does happy dance. I've been mucking about with this computer for hours. I am now going to run scan disc, then defrag. It should be all sorted by morning. It was great to see Billy again! Just for the hell of it, I think I'll see if Mssenger will work now.