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Last Monday I went to the local household goods shop on Harley Too and bought two more 20 liter jerry cans and the owner's son told me about a new, new immigrant from the States, so I gave him, the son my phone numbers and told him to give them to the new guy. He did, and sure enough, the new guy called. We had a long chat and he just kept on asking me all kinds of questions and I barely got one in sideways. I told him that if he wanted help with his Hebrew to come on over, and he did, the very next day, Wednesday. Gulp. I'm still in shock that there is actually another American Republican here and that we are pretty much on the same page in other things too. He brought me book that explains things I know, which is good. Knowing these things is nice, but having them explained in depth is even nicer. If you want to know where things went wrong and why, get Martin Gross's The End Of Sanity and READ IT. Ok, Gimpy, just sit back and see where this goes, if anywhere.(Did I mention that he's quite attractive? GULP)
Something else very odd is happening, as well. As expected, I backed myself into a very bad corner at the bank. I am not sorry I helped Orna and lent Bat Chen that money, but it has left me way short for England and I'm trying to find a way to get my greedy hands on 2 or 3 thousand until the estate pays up. Whenever I'm in this kind of a bind, my eczema goes wild, but it's well and truly no where to be seen or even itched. How strange is that? Could it mean that there will be a last minute save? I'm just not used to exzema not being there when I have money issues like this. I *do* have an idea or two, but have to wait to see how much goes in my account on Sunday. One way or another, I have to find some cash, clear up the credit card, and leave enough in the bank to get through the month. Why do I do this to myself every time?
Speaking of the estate, I spoke to the lawyer and he pretty much confirmed what I thought. Something is very suspicious there, but it will take a lot of time to find out, and it's best to just wait and let The Step Person of Evility pay out the first part, then, go after her. According to him, she could pay it out any day now, or wait for the year to be up. I really should call the ex to find out if Aron knows anything, but I'm lazy. Maybe, I'll just call him today.
Orna and I are going to Bat Chen's on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. I do love driving. The plan is to sort the rest of our plan, and while we are doing that, Orna will do a quick clean, and when Bat Chen and I finish, I'll have a kip, then, we'll come home. Petach Tikva and back on the same day is just too much without a rest.
I got vocal GPS put in my Motorola cell phone, so, this time, I should get there ok! The good thing about it is that it starts giving directions from where you are when you ask, so, if I don't miss that turn, I won't need to call until we are almost there, and Orna will be the navigator.
Orly is home with the new baby and I think I'll take advantage of the break in the rain and take them their gifts, then, get caught up on a few things here. The computer is running just fine with HP at the moment, so I might as well put the addy books back, and try to figure out what's wrong with Thunderbird before I get my server's spam filter!
Israelis have a tendency to a bit lose with truthful advertising. My run in with my *smartass* cell phone company is a good example of how they try to get away with it. All the cell phone companies here are pushing GPS, and I sure do need it, at least until I learn the way to Bat Chen's. This morning I decided to make it Gimp Cell Phone Day and go to both local offices and try to sort things to my satisfaction. I wanted a speaker thingy that goes in your (my) ear for the Cell Com one and to reallocate my discounted numbers. I got the numbers sorted, then that gal told me that they were out of the ear thingies, but the manager said he might have one out back, and sure enough, he did! And even gave it me free of charge. Of course I haven't tried it yet and it might not work. I'll try it later.
My other company has a site and their site said that their GPS has two payment plans, one is just pay air time, the other is pay 14.90 a month but no charge for airtime. I went to the local office and was informed that option 2 is no longer available. I'm sure you can imagine the conversation that followed. Me, "But THE SITE SAYS" Them, "The offer was only good until the 8th of the month" Me. " I don't care, it doesn't say anything on the site about about being a limited time offer. I demand that payment plan" Them "We'll check with the big bosses" Me "I'm really not in the mood This company is either dishonest or looking for trouble. I can read Hebrew perfectly well and know what I read there" They eventually came back and told me there's no way they can give me that plan. Do I want it anyway? Yes I do, if I can cancel it after I learn my way to Bat Chen's. Sure, no problem. Then they told the site had already been changed. I came home and plonked myself down here and went straight to the site. HA! It was still there, so I called the main office in Tel Aviv and was informed that the locals had indeed given me the plan I wanted. I'll know for sure when next months bill comes in. They'd damn well better have. I'll be keeping and eye on their site.
Yesterday was interesting. I must have gone to sleep late because I only woke up when Orna came in to clean. Oddly enough, I remember the dream, and that's rare enough to comment on. After she cleaned, I got dressed and went out to sort Amidar [public(council) housing], then to look for a gift for Orly and her newborn son. At Amidar I just called and Shula Mastula (drunken idiot; in loose translation) came trotting down. I can not walk that long corridor to her office. It's just too much and Orna didn't want to go with and push the wheely. Got that sorted and picked up gifties for mom and babe, who will be home today. After that I collapsed into bed and had a nap. A while after I woke up, the phone rang and it was a new immigrant from America. I'd given my number to someone who had told me about him to pass on. We had a lovely chat, then I had to go because Jimmy was due to arrive for some shu shu business. We took care of that and he'll pass it on to a high up shu shu. Then we just chatted about all kinds of things and made plans to go visit a friend of mine from rehab days near Haifa and to go look for the avocado oil place.
Because of that blasted nap I couldn't fall asleep, so watched TV until morning when I dropped for a couple of hours.
Danny was just in to light the heater and I'm hungry and tired. Time to scrounge something to eat, then, hit the bed for some TV and maybe to read.
I did say that I'd tell the saga of The Gimp and The Computer yesterday, but the day kind of got away from me, so I'll just tell it now. The computer simply refused to work properly. It wouldn't even connect to the WWW. I don't know if it was the HP, or Picassa, but it just would not connect. I sat here and thought and thought because I really didn't want to mess with it until I got back from England, but as I really need it before England, I decided to try it on my own. First I tried a repair and when that didn't work, I took a deep breath and did a full reformat/install. It went along just fine until I got to the part where the dialer has to be installed. No go, so I called Cable and they said there was a connection, so I called Barak and they said to call my computer guy. The problem was that IE would not let me type in the addy bar. I looked, I considered, then I opened Tools and changed it to 'No Home Page' and THERE IT WAS!! I got myself connected, called Teadrinker and yelled "I'm a computer god! Ala Richard Hammond of Top Gear who *is* a driving god" This project only took about 6 hours, but, I got it done, all by myself, and the computer is working, with minimum stuff put back in, but working. Thunderbird has me stumped at the moment. I can't get it to get my mail. It keeps telling me my password is wrong. I've only had the same freaking password since day one, so I KNOW it's correct, and OE works just fine with the same password. I'll call Barak and see if someone there can maybe help me with Thunderbird? I'm also going to install the HP software and if things go tits up again, take it back. Now that I've done it once, I'm not afraid to do it again, and I haven't put everything back so there's not much lose! I'm a computer god. So there!!! Of course all that will have to wait until I get the car fueled and a some kerosene for the heater. The first stage of that is to go get another jerry can (on Harley Too) so I'll have more than enough kerosene for the week. I'll get on to the Thunderbird issue when I get back, or maybe after I install HP. I also have to burn a couple of CDs. No, I am not procrastinating, I just want to get things I promised to do done before I muck things up yet again.
It's certainly been a week, this past one has. After Bat Chen's call about Tsion, I got my mind and self organized, threw a few things in a bag and headed off to Petach Tikva armed with very unclear directions to her house. They were unclear for one reason and one reason only! I scribbled them carelessly. Bless my Cit'ruin'!(new name for Citroens. note the last 4 letters) it started pretty much right away but the water level warning light came on so I had to organize a 'get water mission'. Orna drafted Danny's brother who didn't know where the radiator cap was and he drafted yet another neighbor, then got a bottle of water which the other neighbor poured in the radiator. Light went out. They put the bonnet(hood) down and off I went, only to discover that the bonnet Wasn't latched shut. I wasn't about to stop and get out so I turned into a village and drove around looking for anyone who could close it properly. I finally found someone who closed it firmly (read slammed) and gave me a somewhat strange look. I really must get the gimp parking permit taped to the windscreen. It saves explanations. Please keep in mind that the first part of the trip is one I made daily in 1990 and know well. I made the first turn just fine, then sailed right by the next one and only realized it when I was almost in Carmiel. Right. Turn around, go back and look for the turn, which was exactly where it always was. ONWARD. And eventually there was the Petach Tikva sign. Stop. Read directions. Turn where it says turn. Ok. Read next direction, follow it. Turn. Stop. read next direction. Follow it. Stop. Look around. Ooops. On the wrong road. Drive around looking for a place to stop and be able to describe to Bat Chen. There's a place! Pull over, call Bat Chen, tell her where. Sit and wait. Four cigarettes. Follow Bat Chen home. Stop car. Cry tears of shear relief.
It was some drive down there and it's a damn good thing that I can't listen to Don McLean too many times. I sang myself hoarse with that disk. Good job no one was with me to hear it!
Next problem was how to get BBC (Big Blue Chair) out of the boot(trunk). Bat Chen and I started to wrestle it out and a pal of hers drove up at just the critical moment and got it out for us. We chatted a while, then went into her yard where I met Balthazor, her new Great Dane. What a beauty. Then, inside for a rest and coffee. She went off to get her son from kindergarten and I watched Europeans.
We talked late into the night about Tsion and how to solve her banking issues. Tsion held all her money because she can't leave any in her account without it being snatched to repay a debt caused by an ex. We got all the wrinkles ironed out of my plan by 0230 and went to bed.
We woke up a bit late and put the plan into effect. It worked just fine and stage two will be put into effect on the 29th. Orna will go down with me this time and do a quick clean at Bat Chen's. She just can't do it herself and understandably doesn't even feel like it. I did a quick sweep with the broom and almost collapsed. The plan was to leave around 1200 or 1300. I left at 1315 with good directions (properly written) and got on the main road North with no trouble. There were a few traffic jams at intersections and at one of them I found myself in the wrong lane. I signaled the car next to me with a hand gesture and waved my crip card at him while making a sad face. The driver cracked up laughing and let me in.
I left with the sun shining and about an hour from home the rain started. It stopped then started again several times. As I got into town the heavens opened and it poured down. That is not good for a gimp with bladder issues on anti pee pills. I called Orna just before I turned into our street but she couldn't get the spare chair and I started dancing in my seat. MY parking place was taken, so I stopped where I could and suddenly there was Golan, a neighbor with an umbrella. I gave him the house key and he got the chair. I got in the chair and we piled my bag, the footrest that had fallen off the chair and my slipper that also fell off me, on my lap. The footrest on the chair hit a bump and almost went drove the one on my lap through my chin and everything fell off my lap. Golan picked it all up and loaded it back on me while I danced in my seat and in the end he got me in to the house in the nick of time. He went back out to lock the car while I went to the loo. I didn't pay attention to where he put the car keys and had a panic attack when I couldn't find them. After I calmed down, I looked in the bear slipper that had fallen off and there they were! I finally got into my jammies, turned on the heater and TV and got into bed. Oh, right, I called Bat Chen from the loo to tell her I'd arrived. I know I watched Europeans and had yet another hissy fit at our dancer's ranking. Scandalous.
For the story of today's computer reformat and reinstallment of the OS you'll just have to come back tomorrow because I'm freezing here and I'm mentally and physically exhausted.
While it might be good for losing weight, it strikes me that not being able to get into my kitchen on the wheelchair is, overall, not a good thing. I simply can not stand in there long enough to make a cup of coffee, never mind to cook anything. Back when this apartment was renovated for me, it was done for crutches, not a wheely, even though I used a wheely in those days. I used it, but wasn't confined, like I am now. All they really have to do is knock down a few walls, move some sockets and water pipes, and all will be well. It's really not that big a deal and I *did* argue back when that the day wasn't far that I'd be in the wheely all the time. As usual, for here, I was told, we'll deal with it then. Well, folks, *Then* is now. After a minor temper tantrum at the clinic yesterday, the nurse who handles these things, Pnina, convinced that jerk of a 'home care' doctor that he would be well advised to do something other than say "Not Eligible. Only one to a customer" Pnina just called to tell me that he had been on to Health Ministry people who have to approve it and that they are trying to figure something out before I go into *blitz* mode. A very wise decision on his part. There's nothing I'd love more than to get into yet another shouting match with him. He really is a jerk and should learn that his first reaction to anything should be "We'll have to look for a way" rather than "There's no way" There's ALWAYS a way. Just have to look for it.
I ended up doing a system restore yesterday because the computer was behaving very badly, and disconnecting itself from the internet after only a few minutes. It's behaving much better now, and I hope and pray it will behave until after England. I'm not in the mood for a reformat/reinstall now. Not with Europeans on TV every day now.
They are doing it to our dance team yet again. Galit and Sergei had the best compulsory dance by a country mile, but ended up in 8th place for now good reason. The others didn't even come close. For some insane reason, Europeans just aren't their competition. They really were the best and if anyone thought this new scoring system would solve the political shenanigans, they'd best think again. They just won't let an Israeli get on the medal podium, even if it was earned fair and square.
I have to call Bat Chen and see if she needs me to go there. One of her best friends just passed away suddenly, and she's understandably, a wreck. It was Tsion, the guy who rescued me from the airport when I came back from Holland. He *was* wonderful, not just because he rescued me, but, well, he just was. I'm pretty well caught up here, except I have to call the Florida lawyer later today, and need my computer for that. Maybe I'll go tomorrow. I don't like going away with things left undone. I'd better see what's happening in my account because she does want me to come, and I'll need money fot fuel. This sucks. Tsion was her life line for so many things, she's going to need all the support she can get.
Once upon a most wonderful time I was the entire night staff of a hotel on a kibbutz very close to Kiryat Shmonah. I loved my job and met some wonderful people, among them, a woman who lived in a Lebanese village that was as close to the border as it could be without being in Israel. She had the most beautiful eyes and a marvelous smile. Her husband was an officer in the Southern Lebanese Army that fought with our army against the Hizbolla. Without fail she came to say "good morning" to me the minute she got to work in the morning. If she told me her name once, she told me a thousand times, and we had a regular joke going about my bad memory. I disappeared from work quite abruptly, never to return, and then, Ehud Barak turned tail and left S. Lenanon and to all intents and purposes abandoned the very people who stood shoulder to shoulder with us against Hizbolla. For months after that I tried to find out what became of my friend, but as I could only recall the name of her village and where she worked, didn't have much luck until last night. Jimmy, the guy I did the translation for a couple of weeks ago brought me some tabouli last night and we chatted about things and stuff. He mentioned the village he was from and I started interogating him about my friend. I still get choked up just thinking about it. He knew exactly who I meant and the minute he said her name (Shamms) I remembered that that was indeed her name. Jimmy not only knows her, Shamms's father is his (Jimmy's) Godfather. It then turned out that Jimmy had stayed at the hotel a lot and is still in touch with a Shin Bet guy I used to talk with often and once gave me a computer! He was Jimmy's commanding officer. How small a world is it? I have wondered many times how to get in touch with the Shin Bet guy, and never believed I'd find him. He retired a while before my stroke and whoever replaced me at work would not have known how to get in touch with me. If he tried my home phone, he still wouldn't get an answer because I was in hospital and rehab for close to four months and Irit would have been rude if she deigned to answer. Highly heaped Blessings on Richard's head for bringing Jimmy over. Now I know that Shamms is ok, even though she and her family went through a very bad time after Israel abandonded them, and, I'll soon be in touch with my old shu-shu pal!
I have always believed that if you wait, one day you'll find out. Also that when listening to anything from a converstation to a lecture, most of your questions will be answered if you just pay attention. Of course, I didn't wait patiently after I heard the first clues about Shamms, and the shu shu. I swung into interrogation mode right away! Jimmy is going to have his sister (still in Lebanon) tell Shamms "hello" from me. I am one chuffed gimp.
On a not so happy note. The weather was supposed to be clear until tonight and I had a trip to the clinic planned. Now that I am confined to my wheely, I need the kitchen opened up because I can't get in there with the wheely. To get the work done I need onw of the therapist types to come and write a report and make a plan. To get him up here, I need the clinic to send for him. It's one of those things that it's best to do in person, as the nurse has to do it through that jerk doctor in charge of 'home care'. It was kind of dripping rain when I brought Peg in, and if it's still just drippy by the time I get dressed, I go anyway. This no access to the kitchen is not good.
No, I haven't lost my mind, but I'm pretty close to it. I don't want to change the names of the day's in Hebrew, just in English. The reason is frighteningly logical, (almost) This is the third Monday in a row that's pea soup fog outside. I can barely see the building across the footpath and Peg is blending in much too well. So, could we maybe call 'Mon'day 'Fog'day instead?
It was feezing cold in here last night and I was tired from spending so much time outside, I just hunkered down in bed. There's no kerosene and I'm cash poor with maxed out credit cards, and a broken a/c. I still have the electrickery heaters from pre a/c days, but was too tired to try and drag one of them out of the spare room. I finally gave in around 2100 and got one into my room. It wasn't easy and I almost fell over a few times, but I did it and the room heated up nicely in next to no time. I'll probably be yelled at by Orna and/or Danny, but they have enough going on there with everyone sitting Shiva at their house.
My computer is misbehaving just enough to make me suspect a nasty of some kind found it's way in. I'm not really in the mood to do another reformat/install, for several reasons. 1) Gerald still has my legal O.S. disk and I can't pay him the ransome(what I owe him from last time) quite yet. 2) I still have nighmare like memories of the last time I did it myself.and 3) It just takes too darn much time, and I'm not sure I can sit here that long.
I can probably nurse it along for enough time to get to a point where I can get Gerald over, but this new insanity of Yahoo bouncing all my group mail is almost as annoying as the bank bouncing checks. Luckily the latter hasn't happened lately, and won't in the foreseeable future. It's just a pain in the butt and annoying as hell. Reactivating my account there every other day is a royal pain, but, one I'll just have to live with for now.
There's a very brave (stupid) cat sitting on the retaining wall across the footpath taunting Peg. I hope she doesn't get too bold and go too close to him. The only thing he thinks cats are good for is tearing them apart. Granted, he hasn't done that in years now, but I don't trust him as far as I can walk around cats. It might be a good idea to bring him in and drag the heater over here.
Oi, the sun is out, the fog is gone, must be time to get on with things. (don' cancel the day name change quite yet!)
Great Granny Jenny passed away this morning in the arms of her grand daughter in law, Orna.She was 95 years old and well known as a righteous woman. She lived in the building across from ours and raised most of her children there. Her daughter lived in the building directly across the path from her, and when her son Albert and his wife and children needed a place to live, they moved in with her and eventually forced her out of her own home. She moved in with her daughter, Rachel, who lives above Natan, G.G.J's other son. Two of Rachel's children (Sonya and Simon) also live in the same apartment, and Rachel's son Danny lives on the ground floor. The whole family helped care for her(with the exception of Albert and his wife) Her great grand children visited her often and she would come down to sit in the sun on nice days. I didn't know her well, but Orna said that she always asked how I was doing.
When I stuck my head out the door to see what the weather was like, I saw the ambulance leaving and didn't think anything of it until I decided to go out and sit in the sun. Orna was at my door just as I opened it and told me the sad news. The whole neighborhood was outside their house and relatives were arriving from all over the country. Natan's cries of anguish could be hear from far away. As could Albert's when he got here from Neyanya.
What I do not understand is why children can't be bothered to treat their parents as if every time they see them might be the last. I am indeed thinking of my own daughter here.
The funeral convoy left here at 1545 because she has to buried before sunset. They should be back any minute to sit Shiva at Orna and Danny's house. I'll probably be spending a lot of time there, doing what I can to help, things like driving to the store and the like.
Yes, it's a sad day in Sprinzak City.
I finally overcame my laziness and downloaded Hello and Picassa. Also finally got my Purplegimp on wheelbroom picture into my profile. I've only been trying for since I first started this blog. Well, now it's there. I also got about 26 pages scanned into their own file. That only took all afternoon, but it's done. Now all I have to do is go through all the pictures in Picassa and delete the duplicates. Tomorrow. Right now I'm missing the skating on some obscure Russian channel. Yes, the commentary is in Russian, but tomorrow the action moves to Eurosport.
I've been wanting to post this picture of Kiri Four Wheels ever since I took it, but, never dreamed that Blogger would finally add a way to upload pics from the computer. Picassa was a nice idea, but gave me no end of problems. This is easier and I can skip the whole Picassa thing!
So, Here she is, i all her red glory! Kiri Four Wheels. Isn't she red? There *is* a purple spiky ball on the dashboard as per Cab/Kiri Two Legs instructions! I use it to prop up the gimp parking card while parked. Other wise it just bounced around. I think I'll get another one for the rear shelf. Speaking of Cab/Kiri Two Legs; shouldn't she be back in Indo by now? I'll text her a bit later.
I'm still waiting for the storm that just doesn't quite get here. It was so cold inside that I decided to run the a/c which promptly shorted the electrickery. Grrrr. I'll have to get someone in to look at it. The problem being, that as usual, I'm cash poor, and desperately want to hang on to the bit of cash I still have. I'd rather use the cash for kerosene, and wait to fix the a/c. Of course I can always drag one of my two 'lectrickery heaters out of the spare room and use that, but it sort of defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it? Today is going to be a long, cold, boring, Saturday, unless I get my butt in gear and start doing some of the things I've been putting off. Yes! I will! No use putting things off any longer.
Our meteorologists really should look up the definition of the word storm, or maybe *I* should readjust mine. Two whole rumbles of thunder does not a storm make! Ok, so it was cold and rainy most of yesterday, and I didn't go out. Today the sun has actually been out a bit, and because it's not a good idea to try to charge Harley Too while it's raining, he's pretty much out of power. Taking the car is not on as I can't exactly drive it into the places I want to go, and I for sure can't walk anywhere from a parking lot. That leaves me pretty much stuck in the house. I *do* need more kerosene, but I'm not about to start struggling with a 20 liter jerry can trying to get it out of the car with it full up. I'm leaning towards turning on the a/c for heat later. They say the so called storm is supposed to get stronger later today. We'll see. Pretty sad that's the major thing right now, isn't it?
So the weather man promised me a proper storm. So what? It's not like we have a contract that states he has to deliver. It did rain a lot last night but if there was thunder and lightning I missed it. It was still rainy and wet when I woke up, but turned gray and drizzly soon enough. I thought it might be a good idea to take advantage of the lull in the storm (not) and go to the clinic for my blood test results, and to pick up the few things we forgot yesterday. The blood test results were excellent and I can quit the anti cholesterol pills, the anti coagulant and aspirin! We've decided on monthly tests just to keep an eye on the cholesterol levels, but as I really don't eat much of anything with cholesterol, it's just a "to be on the safe side" thing. Docs here have a tendency to over medicate, but I'm lucky to have one who doesn't.
I got the stuff we forgot yesterday and sat outside with Orna and Danny until it got too cold, came in and took all the meat off the turkey bones. Orna came in and cut up the veggies for the turkey soup.
I was just lolling in bed when the cell phone I rarely use rang. It took a few minutes for me to be sure..............but it was indeed...................Teadrinker. Hmmm, wonder what brought that on? She said she stopped talking to me for no real reason she can explain, she just did. That's nice. I just hope she doesn't think we're going right back to the good old ways when she'd call and yammer on for hours and never let me get a word in. It was pretty much like that today, but, I'm not in any kind of mood to let it go on. I've been through the wringer since September and she didn't want to hear about any of it. And here I was moaning about how much I missed her. We'll just see how it goes. Speaking of going, that's what I about to do, go to bed.
It never fails. Every time I buy a car, I end up buying new tires all around with in the first two months. I was starting to get concerned that I hadn't had the first flat yet, the I saw the rear left tire when I came home from the butcher; flat as can be. Luckily, Golan, a neighbor was here and figured out how to get the spare on. This *is* a Citroen we're talking about here. I swear, the French get their revenge on the rest of the world through their cars. They hide the spare under the rear of the car and put the jack there too. The hydraulics make putting the new tire on a challenge as well. We finally got the spare on and took the car to Harley's tire guys who changed the two rear ones, and put the spare back. I have a sick feeling that the rear right isn't going to give it's flat a pass and there'll be another new one on there before long. The front tires are both new and I'm not expecting them to be any better. It's just the way things are. I have never bought a car and not changed all four tires within two months of buying it. Why should this one be any different?
From the tire guy we went to fill up the tank, then to the grocery store. One of Orna and Danny's kids showed up and started adding things to the cart. I put a stop to that PDQ and we both now have enough to eat for at least two weeks. They have enough from from my butcher to last almost the whole month at 1/4 of what they paid their butcher last month. All she has to do is make lots of casseroles and from scratch hamburger helper recipes. When you're in the financial situation they're in you just can't allow yourself to eat as if there were millions in the bank. I had more than a few periods when the cupboard was bare and had to tell the kids. This is it, eat it or don't. No way to cater to spoiled kids if there's no money to pay for it. I am certainly not going to indulge someone else's spoiled kids. I WILL keep them from starving, but I will not buy expensive things because they turn their noses up at cheaper alternatives.
We got all the groceries put away and Orna will be back soon to stuff the turkey (no special reason, I just want one) and cut up some munchin' veggies for me. I have one or two more things to do here, then, into bed. I'm knackered, and I didn't do much today!
It's about time we get some stormy weather! We've had a fair amount of rain, but no real storms yet, except for a tiny one a while back that doesn't really count. Harley Too is plugged in and will be full enough for a quick run to the butcher shop. Orna and Danny, in an attempt at financial independence have been buying stuff at their butcher and running up huge bills which leave them with nothing to pay the rest of their bills. No more! If I'm going to help them get squared away, I might as well do it right. Orna is going to learn a lot of ground meat stretching recipes and how to cook a turkey, and use every single bit of it! If I can keep their butcher bill at zero, they'll have enough to pay next months bills on their own. When I get back from the butcher, we're going grocery shopping and again, buying stretchable stuff like rice, pasta, and veggies. Hells, in for a penny, in for a pound. They are way beyond the point where pride can have a role.
Electrickery bill came and mine was the lowest yet. I'm almost ready to prove that the jerk contractor was stealing from me. It came with a graph that shows how much was used in comparison to last year. I also dug out all of last years bills while looking for an important medical report.
Of course I found the report in the last place I looked, which has gotten me to pondering on that. Yeah, I know that if you find something in the first place you look, it is also the last place you look, but I'm having fun chasing it around in my mind. See how easy it is to confuddle myself?
Bat Chen, Zahava and Rivka are all clambering for me to come visit them, and I will as soon as the storm is over. I want to be here with Peg for it. Storms tend to be stormier up here, and I fully intend to enjoy this one.
It takes a long time to train an orthopod up to my standards. After all, my very first one was an Olympic team doctor, so I'm used to the best. Dr. M. who came up here for years and took care of my knees and shoulder was one of the very best, and still is. He just doesn't come up here any more. The guy who replaced him is also very very good, but, he quit coming up here too. After getting a look at the latest and hearing reactions to him, I decided; have car, will travel. We just got back from seeing the one the new guy replaced.
Orna and I were both in the car and moving at 0800. I found a way to keep my ankle from doing it's 'bendy on the side' trick by putting the plastic brace on with a sock and my bear slippers. It worked like a charm. We started out in a pea soup fog that let up about half way there. We got to the clinic a bit before 1000, after a very minor wrong turn.
He *was* a bit surprised to see me there, but pleased as well. Turns out he stopped coming up here because the clinic's administrator is a first class bitch. He filled out the form, and we chatted for a few minutes. Poor Orna. She's not used to seeing doctors treated like people, not gods. It shocks her every time! That makes him second orthopod the administrator's bitched away. At least I can get to either of my favorites now. I just might go see the other one in Nazareth for the fun of it. We made even better time on the way home, then about 20 minutes away from home, it started raining. We made a quick stop for hummus and pitas, and the skies opened. I'd left a pair of sandals in the car, and while Orna opened the door to Gimp House for me, I put the sandals on. No way was I going from the car to the house in those slippers. Of course I got soaked to the skin, but I'm home now and will snuggle into bed right after we eat, which should be any minute now. I'm as chuffed as can be from our trip today. It's getting easier every time, and I'm just about ready to take on the drive to Tel Aviv.
The day started off mostly sunny, but turned cloudy and windy, and about an hour after Orna did some 'shopping' in my pantry the heavens opened and we had a mini storm with torrential rain and high winds. Oddly enough it hasn't gotten cold enough to turn on the heater and I'm sitting here in my jammies without even a robe and I'm not cold. I ended up spending most of the day in bed watching TV between catching news flashes and thinking about Sharon. I still think that he won't be able to recover, but, we are in Israel and anything is possible. This whole thing is so draining, and if I feel like this, what must his sons be going through? My heart goes out to them, but I do wonder how Omri is handling the fact that his imminent sentencing most likely contributed to his father's condition. There must be some pretty heavy guilt there, or he's inhuman. I don't much like the guy, but I do feel sorry for him having saddled himself with this burden. Of course Sharon himself was facing a renewed investigation as a result of new information from Austria and that certainly played a role in this. If anyone knows what stress can do to a body, it's me. I find myself doing all kinds of stress reducing things most of the day. In fact, I have to get to bed now. I feel really odd. And I do not, repeat, do not want to go to hospital. This whole Sharon thing brings back The Philmore, and it's just too much.
Like many people here, I can't stay away from the news coverage of Sharon. Until quite late last night all the Israeli channels were having live coverage, so I could indulge my addiction to news. When they figured out that nothing much was going to happen until Sunday(unless he does a Philmore and checks out on his own), they went back to regularly scheduled programming. We are a nation holding it's breath, and I'm feeling oddly alone. I love living alone, and for the most part prefer having Gimp House to myself, but something about this has made me wish there was someone here to share it with. Not just any someone, but The Someone. That is most odd for me. It's not at all that bereft feeling of loneliness, it's just an odd yearning to have someone to share this with. Neighbors and phone calls don't quite cut it. Having Teadrinker mad at me doesn't help as she is one of the few people who are a mental challenge to me and I miss her. Crying over spilt tea won't help. There are three men from way back that I would love to have here right now, but that's not going to happen. One is dead, another is in Jerusalem, and I don't where the other one is, and it doesn't matter in any event because, well, just because. What was, was, and the reasons for the break up with each of them haven't changed.
It's supposed to start raining later today and continue on and off all week. Lucky for me that the only thing I have to go out for is to see the sawbones on Monday. I'll just get the heater lit and spend as much time as I can at the computer studying the "How To Drive On The Wrong Side Of The Road In England" sites, and concocting another picture of my parents from two!
It wasn't that long ago that I went through pretty much the same medical scenario with The Philmore as we are going through with Ariel Sharon. A bad intercranial bleed, brain surgery, anesthetized 'recovery' in neurological ICU and endless waiting. No one is talking about any kind of recovery for Sharon, and I know that *he* has already left us and gone to his beloved Lily. The rest of the world will find out when they try to take him off the machines. This is yet another of those times when I wish I didn't see people leave. It makes me feel ghoulish. Much as I wanted the man out of office, this wasn't the way I would have chosen for him to leave. More of this (much more) at A Gimp's View....
Orna got a late start today, but I managed to get up early after a sleepless night and get myself to the clinic on time for a blood test and the heart echo thingy. I'm getting much better with the car too. I actually managed to get into a crip space, in reverse, thanks to the new steering wheel ball. The other one is just fine for cars with power steering, but this one is fantastic and turns non power steering into almost power assist. After the echo, I sent Orna to get some cash from the ATM so I'd have cash to buy the cough medicine I realized I need last night. It wasn't just Sharon that kept me up, it was also the cough. While I was getting drained of blood(there was a minute when she was filling the 5th test tube that I actually thought I'd run out!), Orna got the prescription. I took her straight home and went to get Kiri Four Wheels lights wired to the switch. They are only wired for turning off, I have to turn them on. KFW came through the surgery with flying colors. Then all hell broke lose when I got home and I discovered that I've lost one set of keys. Orna, Danny, and I looked everywhere and they were no where to be found. I can only hope and pray that I lost them (in spite of my foolproof system) in Carmiel. I went back to every place I've been this week in town, but no luck. I'll have to find out how much it costs to get the door locks changed. If the keys won't get them (the potential thieves) into the car, they'll have to break a window and I'll hear that. I'll call around tomorrow.
I got the concocted picture of Mom and Dad done and ready to send to The Jeffey. I'll mail it tomorrow.
Yogi came by for a few minutes and made my day. He said that I'm looking better than he's seen me in a long time, and that I'm losing weight. I am, but not as much as I'd like, and I must admit that I look better than I thought I would in one of the sweat suits I bought in Carmiel. The other one doesn't really fit so I might exchange it on Monday when we come back from my sawbones. If I want him to keep on being my sawbones, I have to go to the Haifa suburbs. Couldn't have timed buying a car better if I tried. I've got him all trained up and the new one here is a jerk. At least 6 patients complained about him today, so I decided to give him a pass and travel to my guy.
I was attacked by onion skins this morning and suffered a resounding defeat. I have a metal hanging basket in the kitchen for onions and stuff. I bumped it with my head while making coffee and was promptly punished with a shower of onion skins. One fell out of my hair all by itself. Orna had to remove several others before she'd let me go into town. Another one just floated down and I haven't been in the kitchen since the first surprise attack. I figure it's Gimp 0-onion skins 6. I lost.
When I got back from my quick trip to town, Orna and I left to go to Carmiel to look for purple sweats for my trip to England. This after I checked ALL the local stores in vain. We found lots of purple, and I promptly bought a whole collection. We then went to a supermarket to look for American stuff, but they didn't have any, so we had lunch at KFC and I brought home a bucket of nuggets. When we got to the car we discovered that a certain idiot gimp who we all know and love (to laugh at) had forgotten to turn off the head lights which are required by law for driving out of town, and as result, Kiri Four Wheels wouldn't start. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, I went for option 3 and called Achy, who promptly called a friend who wasn't available. Orna, showing great initiative, stopped a guy in a pick up truck and asked if maybe he had jumper cables? He did, and we were on our way 10 minutes later. I cursed my stupidity all the way home and promptly forgot to turn the lights off yet again. Achy, with perfect timing called just as I was about to stagger into the house and call him to let him know we'd arrived safely. Just after I got settled in PJs and a robe, Sonya knocked to tell me I'd left the lights on, yet again. I gave her the keys and she turned them off. Tomorrow I will get the lights wired to the switch so I can't forget to turn them off even if I want to.
Danny and Orna just left after sorting the new monitor. Minor problem. The electric cable that came with it doesn't fit the electric fail safe thingy, so I'll have to get that sorted tomorrow. We also discovered the reason my HP printer doesn't work. It wasn't plugged into the computer!!! So, I'll take the new one back and maybe upgrade to a printer with a fax. I'll see how much I have to add.
It's amazing how much room there is on this tiny table now. These skinny anorexic monitors are great.
I think I'll stop for now, and go read the monitor rule book.
Some things, that is. I still have to get the new monitor and printer sorted, but the Social Security stuff is well in hand. I only need a photocopy or two, then I can send in the forms. I was sort of hoping to be able to copy the things myself, but as the printer isn't installed yet, I'll get it done in town. It's not that big a deal, and I do want to get moving on that stuff. Ultimately the forms I'll hand in today will mean an extra 2000 or so a month. The tricky part is when they get to stage when a nurse and social worker get sent to verify the info on the forms. I also have to get a move on with the housing authority to get some walls taken out so I can get in the kitchen with the wheely. The problem with doing that is the physical getting there. The office is at the end of a long corridor and is just to far for me to hobble and the whole car thing comes into play. There's no place to park, and the car's wheely is in the trunk (boot) and I can't get it out, so even if I found a place to park, I'm stuck in the car!
Hah! A solution. I'll take Orna, and we'll go to Carmiel straight from there. How easy is that?
It seems all I do lately is moan and groan about inconsequential things, when I'm really quite happy. There are so many things to be happy and thankful about. I survived a pretty nasty heart attack, have a car, my beloved Gimp House, more purple things than anyone could need or want, enough money to do pretty much what I want and to help others, a great, loving, dog, a fantastic brother, and good friends. What else does a person need? So I get tired and it takes longer to get things done. So what? They eventually get done.
And on that note, it's time to call Orna and get today started.
It's a bit frustrating to be so tired so often. Ever since the heart attack, I just can't seem to get in gear and stay there. I'm completely knackered by noon and end up staying in bed the rest of the day. Orna complains that I do too much and that it's impossible to keep up with me. It's easy on Harley Too because I just sit on him and he takes me into every place I need. Just thinking of trying to do that with Kiri Four Wheels exhausts me. Today I took the "changed condition" forms to the doc for him to fill in his part so I can get higher 'special services' benefits, paid the butcher,got a new chair to go with the new vanity, as well as a new table for next to the bed, got my meds, new glasses, 3rd party insurance, a new flat LCD monitor, a new printer, not HP, ordered food for Peg and am ready to collapse until Orna arrives to do the monitor and printer. Before the heart attack I tired easily. It's not exactly refreshing to deal with severe pain all the time, but this is ridiculous. Ok, so I was up and burning CDs at 0700, and out of here by 0800, but that's no excuse. I must build up my stamina. It doesn't matter a whit that I did more this morning than most do in a week. I don't like the tired feeling.
Rivka wants me and Orna to visit her one day soon and can't understand why I refuse to do it in a one day round trip. It's just too much. It's only been two months today since the MI, and I'm not about to push it now. And on that optimistic note, it's off to rest for me!
