I WAS A BAD HUMAN TO MISS MISSY

 












I was a very bad Human this week. Miss Missy was in bad need of a hair cut and getting her nails clipped. Neither of which I can do myself. I made her an appointment at the local doggy spa for the full treatment, had Golan move her seat belt thingy to the front seat, and somehow got both of us in the car. She was just fine riding along, then, she balked at getting out with a perfect stranger. SHe did not want to go. I did wait until she was out of sight before driving away to get the a/c in the car it's annual dose of cooling gas. That done, I went back to wait for her. Thing is, I can't get into that shop on any of my wheely things. The step is just too high. Had I been able,  would have gone in and waited downstairs where she could hear me, if not see me. As that can't be done..................When she came out the door nd saw the car waiting for her, she literally pulled her escort to her door and flew in when it was opened. Poor little thing couldn't get close enough to me. I hugged her and petted her until she calmed down enough for me to put her seat belt thingy on and she got as close to my driving arm as she could and I could still drive. She stopped shivering after a few minutes, but looked very confused when I turned into the Mickey D's drive in to get her an ice cream cone. Ragamuffin and Pegasus loved this part of their spa days and scarfed their cones down in record time. Miss Missy was not having any of it, and refused to even taste that lovely vanilla cone. I tried and trying to conjol her into taking just one lick, even showed her how, but she wasn't about to budge. She was not going to let me off that easy. No ice cream bribe for her! When we got home, and out of the car, she went nuts and pulled on my arm just as I went around the corner with the stone wall and I got the scooter stuck on it for the second time thus year! Serves me right for what I did to her. So, I called Golan nad he came running to get us free of that wall, and she was all over him in a flash. He took her in the house, then, came back to free me nad Harley from the stone wall. Once I was in, and Golan was ready to leave after yet another successful heroic rescue, she danced around him in an attempt to make him stay. I think it was her way of showing me that I was not yet forgiven.I'm not quite sure that I have been forgiven yet. She is still a bit aloof, in spite of having gotten two huge steak bones. I think I'm going to make a "Miss MIssy Ice cram Day" once a month and take her for a car ride to get her one. At the least it will get her used to going in the car with me nad not being dropped off only to wonder id she is being abandoned yet again by her human.

PAYBACK IS A ***** FIVE LETTER WORD

Payback #1 Last week the new wheely story took a wrong turn that I just can't let go. The fool physiotherapist sent the required forms with more wrong information than correct. For example, he wrote that I am 1 meter 65 centimeter. The last time I was that short was when I was 10 years old. I am 1 mete, 77 cm, or, would be if I could stand up straight. That explains why the chair I ended up with in 2002 is midget sized and I can't get up from without using a thick pillow. That was just one goof. After seeing them all, I decided to go on a medical spending spree on my health provider's dime. The first expensive test was an echo Doppler of my neck arteries and leg veins. I gave them a break by asking for them at the same time. (more like I gave myself a break) I asked for them to be done at the provider that does them at the hospital my vascular surgeon reads them for. It just happens to be the most expensive place to have them done at. It's also at an inner city hospital with major parking issues. As my neighbor, and frequent partner in crime had just quit his "job", I asked him if he wanted to go along as wheely help. For some strange reason he enjoys these jaunts with me. The big day rolled along and I was showered, dressed, and ready when he showed up on time. I got the car fueled and we headed out of time a good two hours before we would have to if not for the parking issues. As expected, there was not a parking space to found. I decided to offer to let drop me off and take the car to the fishing shop he wanted to go to in another area of Haifa. He came back with an offer to drop me off and find a parking space. That sounded good, so we went with that. Having shown up very early, they called me well before my assigned hour and the tests were done by a gal who has done them to me before. Fun is not a word I would use to describe the tests, but they are not intrusive, so we had a fine time. When it was over I rolled out, thinking that he'd be in the area, but, he was nowhere to be seen. I called him and he showed up a few minutes later. Poor guy didn't find find a parking space so he just kept driving around. Next time he won't be so quick to tell me I'm being silly about finding parking there! He wanted to hit the fishing store, which is very close to where I used to work in Haifa, so I know the area intimately. I found a nice little spot to stop at which just happened to block a marked spot of the owner of a bakery we used to go to often back when I worked there. No problem as I had every intention of staying in the car, to read, and move it, if I had to. He didn't take too long and returned to the car with two ginormous fishing lures and some line. Next on the agenda was lunch in Carmiel at a place that we both love. Everything was just fine until we got stuck in a traffic jam that took well over an hour to get out of. Cops and private ambulances were whizzing by on the shoulder, so we figured it was an accident. By the time we got there, I was tired from the stop and go of the traffic jam dancing in my seat to pee. I told Golan to go straight to the loo, pass the seating guy and just get me there. He did, and thankfully there was a gimp loo. I had to go so badly that I didn't really care that the toilet was a gnome height. Maybe I should have, because I couldn't get up. It was just that simple, no way could I g et up from that toilet. The way I saw it, I had two choices. I could just stay there, or I could ask Golan for help. I went with option number 2. We managed to get me up without much too much trouble, and went to a table to order and eat. By then all I wanted was water, so I drank down a carafe by myself, had a few of the salads that come with the skewer of lamb I ordered, and we left to head home. The heels of both my feet were burning like never before. That was thanks to all the stop and go and my tendency to get sores(of the bed sore variety) there. Golan wanted me to drop him off in town, which I did. When I got home, it was to find a truck blocking my numbered gimp parking space. I tried twice to back in, but it just wasn't going to happen. That carries a hefty fine, so I called the cops and two came right away to find the truck owner. They finally tracked him down and he was not anywhere in the area. One of the cops asked what I wanted to do, so, I suggested that they bring Harley down to me and that the cop park the car, and so it was. I hopped (not very sprightly) with the cop's help onto Harley and went into town to get the few things I needed. I was very impressed by the cops. They were super sweet and not at all rushed. While all that was going on, the truck owner's mother showed up and when she understood the problem, apologized and swore that it would never happen again. By doing that, she saved her son from a whopping fine. I really didn't care about the fine, I just wanted to get the stuff I need and back home to bed, which I did. I ran into another minor problem with the getting into bed. I could only get one leg of my pants, and one anti death sock off, so, there I sat on the edge of the bed until Esther, Miss Missy's best friend and walker arrived and peeled the other leg for me. AAAAAHHHHHHHHH, I thought. "it's over". Uh, not quite. I did fall asleep quickly to dulcet tones of the Fox News folks, only to wake up an hour later with cramps in both legs and feet. It went on like that all night, but let up in the morning. (note to self: get a new salt for the bedroom) For my next payback, I'm having a full body bone scan, you know, a glow in the dark test that really costs. ANd I am ready and willing to pay my share. At least that test is at a hospital with parking. And I just might let Golan drive home! Was it worth it? Damn right it was

PESACH SAMEACH

Pesach (Passover) is and has always been my favorite holiday. When I was young, I loved the family all coming together for the Seder. There were usually grandparents, aunts uncles and cousins to enjoy it with. I still remember the ones at my grandparent's in Portland. THat's going back over 50 years. Then, there the ones at my parents where we all got together. Then, there was my mother's last one at my house with absolutely all the aunts uncles and cousins. That one and the ones at my grandparents are the two that I remember every year. For the last few years I have been going to The Savta's (friends who earned a strange nickname in 2008-Savta means grandmother, it's what I call Mr. Savta for some decidedly grand motherly behavior one day). Seder at their house is a proper from beginning to end Seder. Not a word is skipped. It's all just the way I like it to be from beginning to end. It always gets me to thinking that pretty much ALL the Jewish folks in the world are sitting at a Seder table somewhere in the world, reading the exact same words from the same book, and doing the same ritual things all other Jews are doing to commememorate the exodus of the Jewish People from from Egypt all those many years ago.I also get thinking, usually on the ride home that Pesach is quite possibly the oldest continuous holiday in the history of the world and that is wonderful to be a part of it and belong to the people who celebrate it every year, and to have the privilege of living where I do and being able to be a part do of such a wonderful Seder every year. I also like the complete change in foods for the week of Pesach. I really does make me stop and think and be thankful that I am me. I love Pesach.

I SEEM TO HAVE A FAN CLUB

I'm not quite sure just how I twigged to this insane development, but it does look like I do in fact have a very small, very demented fan club. As far as I can tell, there are 2 living human charter members, one long deceased human, and two deceased canine members, as well as one living canine charter member who seems to have appointed herself to be the reigning chairdog of my fan club.

The first fan I was aware of was my orthopedic surgeon from way back in the 1980s. Every time I had an appointment with him, he made a point of telling me that he thought I was amazing for going through all those shoulder surgeries with such a great attitude. He was, in his own words flabbergasted that I went through one of his procedures without passing out on the spot. We won't go into the time I took the stitches out of the second operation site. Sadly, he retired, then died and we got a new orthopedic surgeon at my clinic. It seems that my attitude to this whole being crippled thing is something he admires, not to mention my willingness to try just about anything he suggests. I've heard him take off on patients who he thinks are faking it, and even heard him tell one that if she wants to see real pain to take a good look at me on her way out. She left in a huff and glared at me in a most unfriendly way. He doesn't have much patience with slackers or pretenders.

Pegasus and Ragamuffin were also great fans of mine, but it was mutual. They adored me, and I them. No brainer there.

Now, my dentist has added his name to the fan club roster. It has turned out that the last few times I've gone to see him, I've gotten worse as far as taking a few steps goes and I have to take a few more than a few to get to his chair of torture, and he always has something to say about my spirit. Yeah yeah.

Now, last but far from least we have Miss Missy, the intrepid terrier who was badly abused before we found each other. It was love at first sight when we first saw each other. She shadows me where ever I go in the house and has appointed herself to the role of bathroom supervisor. She scoots under the wheely every time I go in and parks her little butt firmly on the floor and makes sure that I'm doing it right. She cracks me up every time she does that.

Coming home to her is incredible. Obviously she hears me on the ramp before I get to the door, and as soon as I open it, she's all over me with her little body literally quivering in excitement. I love coming home to that most times.

Last week it was almost a problem. Golan and I went to see my orthopedic doc in a suburb of Haifa. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant we both like. I got the car parked just fine, if maybe a little to close to the pole that supports my gimp parking space sign and had a little trouble getting on to Harley. When I got on the scooter I saw my cell phone on the seat, and that the little blue bit of silk that I use to put my anti death stockings on with had fallen out of my bra onto the ground. Great, just great. There was no way I could get to either item, so I decided to go to the ramp and get my picker upperer off the back of my in house wheely which was chained to rail the on the ramp. I took the corner badly and Harley got stuck on the little wall and could not be moved. There I sat with no way to get to my phone, until some guy came along and I asked him to please get the phone and blue thing and to close the car door. He was a blessing at just the right time. I immediately called Golan to tell him I was stuck on the wall and he came a run to get me off the wall. As if all that wasn't enough, I needed the loo badly. Oh, did I need the loo. Poor Miss Missy must have going wild hearing my voice so close, but not coming in. She went ballistic when I finally came in and couldn't care less that I needed the loo. She needed loving first, so while she did her 'happy that her human was home' dance I did my own dance of 'I need the loo' in the wheely while petting her. I made it there in the nick of time and she of course supervised.

So, that's my fan club. And I'm a great fan of each of them in return. Anyone interested in joining can sign up in the comments section of this post!

The infamous Harley capturing wall: That's Harley on the ramp, and last but far from least, Miss Missy, Loo supervisor extraordinaire

I'M BACK FOR NOW

Things have gotten interesting now that Miss Missy has arrived. She hasn't been here for a month and already has me pretty much trained to her standards. The poor little thing was abused badly by previous humans She must have known that I would never do that to her.Fischel the intrepid guard fish drowned in his bowl on the Friday. On Sunday I suddenly decided that I wanted to go to the shelter to see if they had a dog for me. Golan came along to help. When we got there, I was put through an interrogation that would have made the Mossad proud. I passed and the owner told us that she had just the dog for me at her house, where she keeps 30 dogs. We followed her to her house and when she came out with the dog, I opened the car door and she jumped right on me. That was it. End of story. There was n question that she had found her human! So it was back to the shelter to do the paper work. And that was it. Miss Missy had a new human. At first she was a little confused as to which of us was in fact her human, but she figured it out quickly. She now knows exactly who her human is, and adores Golan as well.She has pretty much gotten over her fears and even asks for a tummy rub.She doesn't much like it when I leave the house, but her welcome when I come back is worth going out for no reason other than to be welcomed back by her. Her whole little body quivers in joy and she jumps up and down demanding attention which she gets in excess.We have a wonderful mutual admiration society thing going on here.

Just checking in

It's been one of those years. In truth I just got lazy and was a bit disconnected from myself after that insane trip to the States last summer. In most ways it was great. I got to see a lot of people I've really missed over the years, but also missed some, like my son. A full week had been planned to visit with my son and his family in Florida. That never happened for an assortment of reasons, among them was sever exhaustion from driving from Maine to Kentucky. The heat didn't help either. I was feeling so out of it that I didn't realize that we had flight from Orlando to Reno until less than 24 hours before it was due to leave.  We piled everything in the car and took off on an all nighter from Kentucky to Orlando. We made it in the nick of time, but I never got to see Aron and the kids. It looks like I'm paying for that now. They were just here and I didn't find out until after they had left. I'm batting 100 with my kids. Neither of them is speaking to me. Never mind. They have their own lives and if they don't want me in them, so be it.
The last week and a half has been a bit weird, even for me. About a week ago, I developed a cough that had a somewhat usual effect on someone with a stroke damaged bladder. Urine started escaping every time I coughed, so I took to wearing adult diapers and taking cough syrup. Then, on Thursday the escaping urine turned into blood. Uh oh. Not being one to panic, I just asked Mr. Google to tell me if what I thought it might be was possible, and sure enough it was! I had been taking way too much rat poison by accident, I had pulled  muscles from coughing, and that stroke damaged bladder. I immediately stopped taking the rat poison (coumadin), and figured out a way to keep the Israeli 'diapers' in place. It was truly a bloody mess around here. Luckily the worst was over the weekend. By Monday it was over. The next  step was to organize a shower. I planned the shower around my cleaning lady's times, and turned on the solar water heater's electric booster. She is supposed to come at 0900, So, of course she showed up at 0645. So much for my plan. I had a feeling that I wanted someone else here while I showered. A little before 0830, Golan wandered in and I decided the electric booster had been on long enough. Into the shower I went. I had to ask Golan to close the sliding door for me, then, I got in, and scrubbed myself down. The cleaning lady left just as I was going in,but Golan was still here, or so I thought. I got out, and into my 'shirt', and discovered that the sliding door wouldn't open because it fell off it's roller.There I sat in the bathroom with no way out and no phone. Now what? There IS another door to the bathroom from the living room but it's blocked on the living room side by a massive pile of junk. Don't ask how, but I did get it open and tossed all the junk into the living room, and with the help of the floor washing squeegee's wooden handle somehow got to the recliner in the living room. How I did that is a mystery to everyone who knows Gimp House and it's gimp (me).Ok, I'm out but my wheely was not. Now to get to a phone. for that I needed to get to my bed. To that end I scootched the recliner to the entrance of my bedroom, and somehow got to the bed, then, on it. I called Golan and I swear he broke every land speed sprint record getting here. Bless him. He went out to my car to get the tools he needed to sort that sliding door's slider, put all the junk back where it had been, and rescued the wheely. I took a pain med because my usual hurts had aches and pains. I ended up staying in bed rather that going out and doing what I had taken the shower before doing. That was Wednesday. on Thursday I still didn't feel like going out, so I finally went out on Friday because I was expecting something I'd ordered from the States to arrive. It did in fact arrive so I went to the post office to collect it, then to look for a cordless phone that I can take with when showering I not only found one, I found a purple one. I skipped the things I had showered for as Friday is not a good day for either thing. I'll just do them on Sunday.
That was one insane week and a half. I'm not at all sure how I made it, but I did. I really don't know when or if I'll post next.........

IT'S BEEN QUITE A TRIP SO FAR

Amazingly, we got me to the airport in plenty of time for my flight. After a farewell coffee with The Savtas I was whisked away by wheely driver and left to carry out my cigarrette smuggling plot. I bought 10 cartons, 5 of marlboro light for me and 5 Marlboro red for Jeff. I took the packages apart and stuffed the individual packs into my carry on bags, and they got through!Never mind the 3 cartons in my checked bags-giggles- The only problem was at LaG uardia, where the TSA stole the gifts . That for Jeff and Jonathan. I got to Portland a few minutes after Susie and we got the car and went to the hotel. That was a bit of an adventure! I was headed in the right direction but stopped at a huge place with a huge parking lot in to try to figure it out. A guy in a pick up stopped to ask if we were ok and tried to show us where the hotel was. He was very sweet and found two wrong ones. Then I found the right one quite by accident. In the morning we went to Jeff's and found it after quite a few wrong turns. I made it up his porch steps but went ass over teakettle trying to get in the door. I landed on our bags and my crutch and burst out laughing. I used the steps to get up and got in. We had a lovely visit with Vicki until Jeff got home. Then the waterworks started. We laughed and cried and told old stories until it was time to head for Brunswick and find a hotel. We stopped at the Comfort Inn-no smoking-grrrrr- and took a room until Sunday. Ok. This coputer is driving me wild. More later. -- Posted By Purplegimp to A Gimps View From The North at 7/07/2011 05:01:00 AM

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!

MY LATEST CAUSE

One fine sunny day last week, Savta and I were 'holding court' in our usual conference room, aka the mid level entrance to the mall in town. While enjoying the warm day over cigarettes, and friendly banter with he guards and paasers by, several of the local gimps came up and asked us what was going with a program they are all members of. The closest I can get to name of the project in English is The Support Community For the Disabled. That condenses down neatly to 2 words in Hebrew. The JDC started it a short time after the last Lebanon war in order to train those of us who were able and interested to be able to give real time answers to local disabled folks during a security emergency, war, or other emergency situation. Members were also supplied with medic alert/call buttons and phone numbers as well as the option to get greatly subsidised ambulance and medical service. There were bi monthly get togthers, seminars and movies as well as trips to various places that we don't often get a chance to go to because of mobility issues. We don't all have adapted vehicles. There were several projects carried out members that were 'commisioned' by the municipality, which in the end were proven to be nothing more than busy work devised to keep us busy and quiet while things just stayed the same. The JDC turns projects like this over to the 'locals' after three years, and only after securing the funds to continue from the government, which is supposed to channel the agreed upon amount to the company that runs the project. The transition was seemless in the other localities, but, not in Kiryat Shemonah, which was the flag ship of the whole program.

Savta and I promptly set out to find out was going on, and the information was at our finger tips with in minutes as one of the project's employees showed up at just the right moment. He told us that the company intends to close the project at the end of this month, whether or not they get paid what they owed. The do not and will not trust the municipality to uphold their end of the agreement and transfer the funds they contracted to pass on. This just wasn't acceptable to us and we called the other two members of ouur local group and contacted the press. The reult of one is in my previous post. I will post the newspaper article after I bully my HP scanner into working. Not all handicapped people are as fortunate as I in being relatively well educated and somewhat able to express myself, so here I am, finally posting about something important here. Tonight we are metting with a group of students at the local college who are interested in helping us. I even opened a Facebook for us. It's in Hebrew at the moment, but my page is the English one for anyone who might be interested.

BEEN A LITTLE BUSY

Our local government is messing with us gimps again. I think this is clear enough even if you don't understand half a word of Hebrew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQP5f0rz-w

Graffiti

It's done! My wall mural is done except for the varnish. That will be finished in a day or two.

It makes me grin like a fool every time I come home from that direction. I love it madly!

I HAVE A PURPLE SMILE

Have I mentioned before how much I adore my dentists? Mr and Mrs. Dr. Painless did it again! My new teeth arrived and I couldn't be happier. Mr. Dr. Painless worked long and hard to get them to fit perfectly, and we had a slightly insane photo session when they were finally in! It's not everyday someone gets purple teeth! I haven't stopped smiling since they went in. And there are 2 more to go, on the other side. The tech who actually made got the color just right. I can't hardly wait to get started on the other side. It's so much fun going to this dentist! He and Mrs. Dr. Painless are just the best.

I'm taking the day off today because it's a little yucky outside and I'm taking Savta to see a doctor in Nazareth tomorrow. Two long car trips back to back can be exhausting for me, So, I'll play it smart and stay in today. Next Monday will be here soon enough. Monday is my day at the dentist's. The best day of the week!

THE JOKE WAS ON ME EXCEPT IT WAS NO JOKE

Panic? Who? Me?

I managed to send myself into an emotional tail spin yesterday. I am quite used to getting notices from the courts here that this that or the other thing has had a lien taken out on it. I actually was foolish enough to think that those days were behind me after clearing up the debts Shmariah dumped on me. I was free and clear, or so I thought, until I went to the mail box yesterday and found a notice that informed me that my salary(I don't have a salary that can be attached. By law disabled benefits can not be taken for any reason other than owing social security back payments) had been attached by the court as a third party to the debt. Panic immediately set in and I called Homeless and ranted and raved about the whole thing. I understood it to mean that the company he owes 54 thousand and change($15,428) shekels to wanted me, as Shmaryah's ex employer to pay his debt them. It made no sense at all to me. I gave Homeless all the information from notice and he tracked down the lawyer who told him that I had it all backwards. That notice simply instructed me to not pay his salary to him, but rather to the court! Joke on me. I honestly thought they wanted ME to pay it! I have already written them a letter informing them that I no longer employ him, and very kindly included where they could find him! After the total panic I felt at first I can quite happily laught at myself. It really is over! That guy is a liar, coniving, thieving, debt dodger of the first order. I hope they catch him this time and lock him up for a good long time. If/when that happens, I'll know it really is over and stop looking over my shoulder and panicing when I see strange things in the mail.

PAINTING THE JERICO PROJECT AND BAD HABITS

Moving right along with the Jerico Project. Golan started painting today while I was still sound asleep. I was up until almost 0600 after playing my game for way too long. I logged off at 0445 and was still awake until after 0500. I vaguely heard Golan painting and woke up at around 1130. Th difference in paint colours is amazing. This shade is more 'alive' than the old one. I love it

Things are going great guns at the dentist as well. He's finishing the right side tomorrow which will be nice, then we move to the craters on the left side. I just hope those go more easily than the right side crater did. Not that I mind going to this dentist. I quite enjoy having him excavating and building in my mouth. He is an absolute dear and has as warped a sense of humor as I do. That is always a big plus.

I seem to have developed a very bad habit of late. I've started leaving the house before my wake up coffee. That has rarely happened before, and I can't say I like it much. Thing is, I stay up so late that it's late by the time I get up and don't have much time to get things done before places close at 1300. Maybe I should go to bed earlier? I'll have to think on that one for a while. Morning coffee is a non negotiable clause in my contract with myself!

ThE JERICO PROJECT

For the last week or so Golan and I have been working industriously on the Jerico Project. Two walls came tumbling down, but not because of a trumpet; it was a nice big sledge hammer that did it. I'd been thinking and pondrering for the longest time on how to sort the crowded kitchen issue for once and for all. Thing is, when Gimp House was renovated for me, I could still walk and the tiny closed in kitchen was perfect for me. Then, when I couldn't walk any more, an office chair in there was fine. It's not any more. The wheely to chair transfers get harder by the day. A radical solution was needed-The Jerico Project was born! After months of turning it every which way in my head, I suddenly 'saw' the answer. After a brief consultation with Golan about whether or not it could be done, and a short negotiation about cost, I hired Golan as project manager for The Jerico Project! The first day of the project was kind of a yucky day out and I was feeling not too great, so I just stayed in bed and slept through most of the demolition. I did wake up at one point long enough to tell him to stop everything and rebuild the walls because I forget to take a before picture. He almost put me to sleep permanently after that. I did take a couple of pictures that show where the walls were, but are no more. We ran into a minor problem with the washer and drier but came up with the answer quickly. Golan cut a few of the 'pantry' shelves and they slid right in. It might look a little strange, but Gimp House is all about what works for me. On Thursday night I had a vision of a trolley type thing on wheels that I could keep my mixer and crock pot on. On my way to the grocery store I swung through the Home Center store and saw the very thing! I decided that I would go back for it on Sunday as there was no way I could take it and the groceries home on Harley. First thing Sunday morning, I went back and told the guy I want THIS. He went off a few feet to get one in a box and I said, "No, this, not in a box". He went off to get the manager's permission, which, was a no brainer. I paid for it and a guy from paint brought it out and scud taped it to Harley, and I got it home just as Golan was coming over. It's absolutely perfect

Another minor hiccup came a long in the shape of the annual inspection by the housing authority. They come around once a year to make sure the place is still standing and the right number of people are living in it. Every year, the clerk who 'takes care' of the place comes alone. This time he had the district enginner and a boss in tow.

Hmmmm, you think maybe somebody told them I was tearing down walls? Not a doubt in my mind. Thing is we can do what we want to 'our' places, but have to return it to the way it was when we got it. I'm leaving Gimp House feet first, so who cares? There's also the fact that this place will stay on the books as a disabled flat and losing the walls will only make less work when the time comes. I did point out to Moshe the engineer that we left all the support columns and beams in place. All the other flats in this building took them down. All the tattletale had to do was ask me if I had and I would have shown him, but, oh, no, it's much more fun to do it that way. That was a waste of a phone call.

Quite a week

It's been quite a week! My server finally got my gaming issues sorted, or so it seems. I couldn't log onto my game for close on to four months, unless I used my net stick. That set off warning bells that the trouble just might be with my server, and not my computer, which the game support types kept trying to tell me. After a chat with my ISP, I got a static gamer's IP and the problem was solved for two whole days, then, the whole thing started again. I got back onto them and told them in no uncertain terms that if it wasn't sorted PDQ, I'd switch to another ISP. That time they put me on to their gamer super tech guy who admitted that they were indeed at fault and that at least 3 other people who play the same game had complained, and that they had turned the issue over to their engineer types. So, I just kept trying to log on this computer and if it didn't work, went to the lap top. Then, one fine evening it worked! Now I can play pretty much when I want to and not worry about getting disconnected at the worst possible moment!

The bad news is that I have a bad case of the stupids. I let my myself gain some weight back and now my pressure stockings don't fit. My legs swell up like balloons if I sit here too long. Back to diet board. I don't have to lose much; maybe4or 5 kilos or so, then, I'm back in business. The swelling goes right down when I lie down, and I finally figured out how to get worst foot propped up here.

That seems to help. I also think I broke something in my knee. I did one of my weird twist and fall into the wheely moves and heard a snap there and felt a fierce stabbing, very sharp pain in my knee. I'm not too bothered by it as I don't walk in any event, and don't see any reason to rush to get it fixed. My pain med keeps it pain free. It will either heal itself, or not.

I spent a lot of time watching the European skating championships and they were amazing. There are lots of youngsters coming up in the ranks, and most of my favotites placed pretty much where I'd hoped. The very best was Sarah Meier from Switzerland. I've liked her ever since she started competing at Europeans and was hoping she'd take the gold this time, especially as it was to be her last competition, and at home. She did it with one of the best and best skated long programs I've ever seen. There wasn't a dry eye in the place, or in Gimp House, for that matter. I couldn't have been more pleased for her and I will miss her in future competitions.

I have a sick feeling that ice dance will soon be going the way of the dinosaurs. They've eliminated the compulsary dance and are just having a short, and long program. It seems to be getting more and more like pairs, and less and less and less like ice dance. That's too bad. Ice dance was always special, never mind that it was 'my' thing!

I finally found a place in town that sells purple pots to go with my purple frying pans! And that after being told that I'd never find them. Then, a friend sent a link to a place that sells only purple things. Gimp heaven.

DEAD ROTTING GONDOLIERS

This whole dentristry thing seems like it might not have been the best idea I ever had. The really dumb part was stopping after Shmaryah ran through all my money. If I'd realized how bad restarting it in the middle would be, I'd have found a way to continue it and get it all done before I started with the whole rat poison thing. The oral surgeon who consulted on my mouth stated caregorically that going with our original plan which consisted of I don't know what was a very bad idea and strongly recommemned doing root canals and crowns and bridges, in effect, turning my mouth into a royal Interstate highway system. I'd rather have teeeh pulled than get root canals. Turns out I was right! The very first root canal didn't have any canals, but the tooth next to it turned out to not only have canals, but a dead gondolier in one of them that started to rot and made my cheek swell up like a balloon. After digging around in that first tooth, and still finding no canals, we came to the conclusion that it was the one next to it that was causing the trouble. Crazy thing is that it really didn't hurt much because I'm on naxyn and it masked the pain. If my cheek handn't swollen up I might never have known what was going on in there. Taking the tooth out should be lots of fun because we suspect a broken root. No. It is not going in a cast until it heals. It's coming out on Monday one way or another, and should supply me with lots more one liners about my teeth and Venician gondoliers in canals not to mention complicated road systems!

What a day today was! I called Oshria as agreed. It turned out that they (husband, son, brother) were coming up here to go to the prehistoric museum on Kibbutz Mayan Baruch. We decided to meet up there, and of course I got there a few minutes before they did. She called and I drove around the corner to where she was. Seeing her again was a little like a hand grenade going off in my head. Lots of hand holding and smiling through tears, and best of all, when she saw me again, she really did remember the little brat that I was back then. When I heard her voice again after so many years memories came flooding back like a mini tsunami. I remembered clearly that at the end of that summer I wanted to go with her, but not home again. I recall being devasted that she was leaving. She sure did make quite an impression on a little Jewish girl from Maine. She was and still is the very best.

We traded abridged life stories of how we got to where we are today and could have gone on for hours if not days. The museum was fascinating, but I only really had eyes for her. Our time together was way too short for me, but she is here on a family visit, so I tore myself away and they went off to see the 'Jewish snow on Mt. Herman and I went to the Savta's for couscous, and got home not long ago. I'm having a hard time finding the exact words to describe how felt, so I'll just let the pictures say it all.

THE BIG DAY IS HERE

I'm pretty much the only person I know who has a good time at the dentist. I actually look forward to going to him. His new name in Israel is Dr. Painless, and his wife (also a dentist) is now Mrs. Dr. Painless. My appointment was for yesterday at 1500, So Homless and I left early and went on a shopping expedition at the huge shopping complex not far from the clinic. At last, I have new phones with headsets that allow me to talk with both hands free. I also stocked up on lots of new replacement purples-pens, a diary, and new notebooks. I go through those notebooks at a frightening rate. I take notes on new things from the game to help fix them in my memory.The phone near the computer is up and running and just might have two numbers I use most from that line in it's memory.

I was on pins and needles all day waiting for my camp counselor to call. She finally did, and I am heading out for where they will be today in an hour or so. I am so excited I can barely stand it. I was so wound up last night at the very thought of seeing her again that I couldn't even think of bed much before 0230. And it here is; the big day, and I'm counting the minutes until the agreed that I'd call gets here. Why do clocks move so slowly? Only half an hour to go now.

Of course I used my foolproof stress/excitement cure until my eye lids started drooping. That is possible only because Moshe Savta got my log on issues sorted for once and for all, we think. I'm afraid to even think that it might really be fixed. One of the reasons I love tha game so much is that it requires my total concentration and there's no room for anything else in my poor damaged brain when I'm playing. I still don't trust the fix enough to even think about trying to do some of the more difficult things there yet, but maybe by the weekend. For the time being, I'm concentrating on periferral things in the game that are almost as important as moving my character ahead. That is quite challenging enough for now. It is now to get dressed and ready for my trip back to my childhood!