JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM

So much to do and so little time to do it in. A month might seem like a lot of time to get things done before a long trip, but, for me, it's not. I used to be able to charge all over the place and get things done easily. Now that I have this stoopid miserable problem with my legs I have to time things so they don't swell up too much before I can get them up. I've been a bit concerned about the flight to Maine. I have a long wait at LaGuardia before the flight to Maine and have been trying to find leg extenders for my wheely. It's a problem if the wheely didn't come with them. Mine didn't. Savta and I decided to take our favorite helper, Jonathan with us to Haifa on Thursday to get my international driver's lisence, and to go to the FedEx office there to send something. Thursday morning duly rolled around, and I remembered that I still owed Sid, my wheely guy 3 thousand shekels for my other new one. It didn't get paid for on time and I told him that as soon as I could, I would pay for it. So, when I remembered it, I called to tell him that I wanted to come down next week, pay it and have him go over the wheely before the trip. I called and someone other than Sid answered, and told me that Sid had passed away a few months ago. Through my shock and tears I told what I wanted to do, and he said fine. In somewhat of a daze I picked up Savta and Jonathan and we headed out of town. Along the way, Savta and I discussed the whole thing, and decided to go to Raanana (where Sid's shop is) and pay the debt and do the lisence there. FedEx would have to wait another day. Part of the reason was that I have a dentist appointment on Sunday, and a meeting with a Knesset committee on Monday. See? No time. When we got there, I asked Chanan, who is running the shop now, if just maybe there were some leg extenders that would fit my wheely. He disappeared into the back room and reemerged with one in his hand that didn't fit. He went back and came out with one that fit! He spent well over an hour adjusting it to my leg, then, got the other one. They were obviously not for my wheely, but they fit! Wait time problem-solved! I happily paid him the old debt and for the leg extenders and off we went to get the lisence. When we got back to the car after that Savta couldn't find the cell phone he'd left in the car charger. Panic ensued until we finally found it under my seat. We stopped to eat about half way home. Partly because we were hungry and partly because my feet were on fire. The combination of my pressure stockings and the rubber floor mats in the car are a nightmare of Steven King proportions. I'll have to find a solution before I leave.

After I dropped everyone off, I came home, fell into bed and cried my eyes out. It's not every day that something like finding those leg extenders happens. Not only that, but for the first time since my leg issues started, I got home from a long drive like that with no swelling at all in either leg. Devine intervention? The Hand of G-d. No doubt in my mind.

THE PLAN THAT CAME TOGETHER

Who thought that putting together a little jaunt like I'm going on at the end of the month would be such hard work? Brain work can be as tiring as physical labor. It really is. I spent the better part of four days at my travel agent's office putting all the flights and rental cars together. We only ran into one minor problem with Alaska Airlines, my nemesis from my last trip. In the end we got it sorted. The problem was with the wheely part, but we finally got that approved. There were more fun and games with the rental car. We started with Avis and got a total dolt who told us that I'd have to return car# 1 on day 28 because a month is too long. Then, he got really stupid about something else(their office in Portland is closed when I land there) and I very loudly told Jenni to forget Avis, that I wouldn't take an Avis car for free and to try Hertz. After she hung up with Avis, she shot me a grin of pure evilty and said that the Avis guy heard me. Fine. Things got off to a really bad start at Hertz. The first booking agent she got was rude and argumentative. This time it was Jenni's temper tantrum and she demanded to talk to a supervisor. When she finally got to the supervisor, it didn't take long to get the deal done, and it came to almost $1000 less than Avis, and there were no problems at all. I gave her a check for the cars and inquired about severance terms, as all that's left is to pick up the tickets and vouchers! At home I reserved the hotel for the first night. No way am I going to even think about driving from the airport in Portland to my brother's in Lewiston after a whole day flying. That is a very stoopid thing to do. I'm brain damaged, not stoopid! I had to use my in Israel only credit card for that, as my international one hasn't arrived yet. Funny thing about that card. I can use it to pay for things overseas, but I can't use it there in person. Handy for Amazon, my game and a few other things. So, my new card will owe my old one the cost of that room. I'm sure I'll figure out a way for the debt to paid. I've been in touch with most of my Maine friends and we have plans to meet up. Some are not in Maine, but, I'll see the ones who are on the east coast! Now, that's a plan that came together. You could even say that I'm on the Jazz!