NOT THE BEST Of DAYS

Anyone who doesn't know me well is in for a rude *awakening* (pun intended) if they try to say so much as "good morning" to me before my first coffee. The plan was to go to Petach Tikva and buy M&Ms. Due to circumstances beyond my control (no details so as to protect the innocent) I only woke up when Simon arrived spot on time. I told him to give me 20 minutes and off we'd go. Poor Simon made the mistake of informing me that his mother had sent a package for his brother who lives and works in Petach Tikva. The very thought of running around looking for said brother caused me to be more than bit rude (no coffee, remember) His feelings were hurt so he disappeared. Just as I was ready to leave a monster barrage was released on us....might be a good idea to get on the road now. I went to the car to get situated and ready to move out, only to find that it wouldn't open. It seems the battery in the remote is almost dead. Shmaryah came down from his roof top observation post and got it open and running. I called Golan to see if he still wanted go. He didn't. He wanted to stay in the shelter, so, I decided to go anyway and visit Teadrinker near Ashkelon. She had no idea I was going to see her, and I danced with glee at the very thought of her surprise. Not 10 minutes after I left town a katyusha landed 3 meters from me just on the other side of the road. The car shook and my ears rang. Thanks to my habit of always leaving the window on my side open a crack, the blast didn't break it. Scared? You bet. I didn't relax until I was out of the danger zone, about an hour and a half later.
When I was just on the street teadrinker lives on, I called her and told her to put the coffee on. She was properly surprised...oh, yes, she was. When I finally got into her house, I announced the plan, which was to have a cup of coffee, chat and visit for a while, have a 2 hour nap another coffee and visit, then, head home. The plan worked and at around 1730 I headed for home, wondering if I had one at all. The worst barrage of all had been going on all day up here, so it was reasonable to worry about Gimp House. Not 15 minutes on the road and I ran straight into a monster traffic jam. It was stop and go until after Tel Aviv. Keeping a sharp eye on the fuel gauge, I decided to stop after Afula to tank up. Just as I was turning into the gas station, Teadrinker called all worried about why I wasn't home yet. While the nice guy pumped 60+ liters of diesel, I explained that I was taking it nice and slow.
At Golani Junction I decided that I was hungry and stopped at Mac Donalds drive in, got a Mac Fish and parked to eat it, and call Shmaryah to find out what was going on here. He told meit was quiet, so I continued. I knew that if my house had been hit, he'd tell me. Deep breath and ONWARD. No sooner had I gotten to the Upper Galilee area than I saw flashes.
Us or them?
Us.
Ok.
Keep it nice and steady.
Drive through town nice and slow.
Park.
Get keys out.
Uhoh.
No keys.
Take everything out of bag.
Still no keys.
Draft neighbor to help look.
Still no keys.
Search the Disco
Still no keys
Call Shmaryah, my own private locksmith.
Wait for him to come.
Call Teadrinker.
Use up the cell phone battery.
Watch Shmaryah open the screen door and find the keys on the floor between the screen door and the house door.
Turn 3 hundred bazzilion shades of red.
Have good laugh at self.
Call Teadrinker who had spent a hour on the floor looking for the keys just in case they were there.
Apologize.
Go to sleep.
I woke up this morning to dead quiet. They are telling us to stay in until further notice. No one trusts the cease fire. Damn right. I'm staying in today. It was too much being so far from home and not knowing what was going on back here. It might be physically safer to be off the shooting range, but it makes you sick with worry.
I called Orna and asked her to explain to Simon about the previous morning and the *no coffee* clause. She's on the way home and should be here by 1800 or so. I'll go get them at the bus station (what's left of it) when they get here. Shmaryah had to go out of town today, so we won't be reopening the store until tomorrow, depending on what happens with the cease fire.
I'll just post this, take Peg walkies then do the other blog.