REPORT FROM THE ROAD

I'm not quite sure where to start, and I'm not too sure I remember everything in the order it happened, but I'll try. The 5 on wheels met on time at the appointed departure place spot on time.Our truck was ready and loaded and our sign took pride of place. After a short ceremony lead by my private communist, we rode through town and were sent off by lots of honking and cheers from pedestrians, very few of whom thought we'd get to the town limits, never mind to where we are today! At the first major junction, we pulled over to put the electric wheelies on th truck and skip the road works where there are no shoulders to ride on. At the end of the road works, the chairs came off the truck, the cops joined us and we headed towards our next stop, which was the same place we were turned back from on our first attempt. We had a lunch break there wand were joined by a woman who will be referred to from now on as the Titanic. She is one of the 'leaders' of the demonstration going on in Jerusalem that were supposed to riding to rescue. She was supposed to pay for our lunch, which she simply could not do without insulting all of us. She had a huge beach umbrella attached to her chair, was dressed all in white, and had a mean expression on her face. The umbrella sailed off the chair and created quite the sensation on the highway. After riding for what fely like a week, we arrived at Kibbutz Amiad where we were to spend the night in the 'members club room' Titanic was upset that no one had seen fit to be sure that she hads her own 'private' room. The rest of us were just thankful that we had a place to sleep, and were not at all upset that she took herself off to look for a hotel! In the morning we loaded ourselves in the cars and vans and drove to Afula again bypassing road works. We off loaded at a service station and rode though town to a restaurant that had invited us for breakfast. Sever local big shots were on hand to give us a rousing send off. As we left Afula, the Titanic arrived with her sidekicks and we just kept on going. She eventually caught up with us and after a short temper tantrum, she packed up and left. We were on a road know as the Wadi Ara road. It's a large region of Arab villages. At one of the villages we were joined by a young man on his power chair. We welcomed him warmly and after a fair distance stopped at a service station at the entrance to the a largish city along that road. The people there were wonderful and offered us everything except their wives and houses. We had a make shift and after a rest, took off again. Two of The Iceberg's (the other so called leader who got us into this thing) sidekicks, one on a power chair, the other on a regular wheely, pulled by one of us had trouble keeping up. At the next rest stop we convinced to continue in their van. We covered a lot of ground, and even though we were in good shape and more than willing to keep on for the next 3 miles to the kibbutz that we were staying at that night, our police escort made us get off the road and continue by car. We agreed, and when we got to the entrance of the kibbutz, off loaded and made a triumphant entrance on our chairs with my personal communist blasting music from the speakers on the roof of his pick and telling everyone within a 10 mile radius that the "Marvelous five from Kiryat Shmonah who are on their way to Jerusalem to fight for the rights of 600000 disabled in Israel were entering the kibbutz" He lead us through the kibbutz with the speakers blasting until we got to the building where we were to sleep. It was an old children's house and there were already beds there so there was less to take off the truck. We had a meeting with the Iceberg, his muscle men, my personal communist and talked over the day and planned the next one. We were not happy with the behavior of the muscle men and they agreed to behave the next day. Our photographer came to see how we were doing and to report on what he'd organized press wise. Several reporters caught up with us there, and they tried to muscle their way in. We were notified that the one of the TV news stations wanted to interview us at 0900 on our way out of the kibbutz. The muscle men demanded that we wait for them to arrive before starting the interview, Yeah, right. We told them that we leave on time and stragglers would just have to catch up. Thankfully we finished the interview before they showed up. They were not happy at all, less so when we let them know in no uncertain terms that we really didn't much care what they thought about it. They knew what time the interview was scheduled, but weren't there. They went a little bit nuts and tried to create provocations between us and our police excort. When that didn't work they just fell in line and eventually got in their vans and left yet another time. We rode through Hadera with the speakers blasting, and headed for the next rest stop at a service station very close to where we were to stay that night. There were meeting late into night where problems were discussed and plans for the next day were finalized. After too short a sleep we headed for Netanya, but the muscle men had different plans and wanted us to go to a G-d forsaken town for no other reason than that one of the lives there. Our police escort didn't want to go there, so they both decided to throw themselves onto the road. Well, one of the did,

while the other watched. Somehow they onvinced the cops that we should go there

so, it was back on the truck and vans. I'm glad now that we did go there. The disabled who met us were more thrilled than any of us dreamed that The Five was actually there. We gave them each one of our shirts and shared pizza with them. I was devastated by the whole thing. Their town looks like the most neglected place you can imagine, and the simple act of going there and giving them a little attention reminded us of why we were doing this. At the daily evening summary just about everyone had something to say about going there and that the manipulation angered them. When it was my turn I told them that even though I'm sick and tired of the games I'm glad we went there and put a little sparkle in their eyes and some pride in themselves.

If anyone deserved to have a little hope injected into their lives it was this group! If we do nothing else on this trip, the detour made it all worth while. From there we rode into Netanya for lunch, where I had my daily temper tantrum. It had become a strange kind of tradition for me to have a daily tantrum during which I usually go off on one of the muscle men, take off for a shady spot have a little cry and a cigarette. The other 4 are used to it and expect it, so they just leave me alone. They know I'll calm down and be back soon. We rode around Netanya for a while with the speakers at full volume, then loaded ourselves back on the vehicles and ewnt to the next kibbutz. Here, the 'miracle' happened. The leadres of the warring factions of disabled organizations contacted us and asked for a meeting. We agreed to meet with the representatives of the group that tried it'd hardest to stop us from even leaving Kiryat Shmonah.

Their spokesman had said some very harsh things at the end of a TV piece on us, and was a little concerned that an aplogy woulfd be required. Yoel, my personal communist assured him that one would not be needed. When he arrived, I stopped him, leaned over and while holding his hand planted a huge kiss on his cheek. End of the issue. He and his boss spent a long time trying to explain why what we are doing will never suceed. In the end they agreed to stop trying to stop us agreed to meet with the Titsanic and the Iceberg the next night. Talk about making history. Several other 'leaders' called and wanted to meet too. The next night we had an historic meeting with 4 representatives of the various warring factions. While the 'grownups' were talking, the spokesman and I met with the kibbutz young folks and fine time. A few critcal issues were hammered out and a meeting set for the night with even more groups.

The morning brought us to Herzlia where the vice mayor met us and gave each of us a token gift and much praise. After riding pretty much all over the town, we had a rest at yet another service station, then continued into Tel Aviv!. Get your aps out. There we were The Five on Wheels IN TEL AVIV ON OUR WHEELIES. Wow. We met up with some Tel Aviv disabled at the most central spot there, where the two muscle men were bound and determined to block traffic. We refused poing blank, and most of the ones who had come to greet us also refused.

They just can't help themselves. If it's an intersection they have to block it with their bodies. We just sat there and watched while the police dealth with them. Some of their 'people' were quite rude to us, but we ignored them. That night was another long seemingly unending meeting of the organization heads. It was very loud and I've never seen one room so full of so many egos at the same time. They were all sent home to think things over and get ready for another meeting with as many organization head as we could find. Now, that was a wild meeting. Me, I just sat there and laughed at them all from behind my hand. Th worst were the two who asked us roll to their aid. We met with an MK who pretty much couldn't believe what we were telling him. His wife had to pinch him hard and say. "this is your dream coming true, and these Five are handing it to you" He took a minute, then shook his head and dove into the planning. Again it was long loud session and we ended up going to sleep well after 0300 for about 2 hours. It was decided that there would be yet another meeting in the morning as there was no 'ride' planned for Friday morning as it had been decided that the 'peace'talks were more important.

As we have two very religious guys with us, and Sunday is a fast day, we just came to this lovely kibbutz with computers and internet for a nice long weekend rest before we continue for two more days to Jerusalem. I also needed my left looking at. The top got all sunburned with a blister the size of the Superdome.

It's all nicely bandaged, and the swelling is going down. That's pretty the story to this point. There are going some very important developments over the next few days. Egos will be deflated in such a way that only The Five could come up with. I'll write all about it after it's a done deal.

READY SET GO

After an insane week of preparations and meetings, we, The Five are ready to 'march' on Jerusalem.Afikim, the kibbutz that manufacture the scooters we use generously agreed to provide us with 'new' scooters to use for the trip. They will also provide tech back up if anything should go wrong them. The groups that are helping us, Shatil, the Kibbutz movment and their youth group have been amazing. As have several local businesses who came through big time. Baby Genius and I even got the forum design done in time to start pushing it, only to get a message from the server this morning that there's a glitch. I'm going to do some routine maintenance on the computer after this posts in the hopes it might be ok. The auto save isn't working either. Computer says it's on line and sends mail just fine, but, who knows? In any event, I'm going to have a nice quiet Shabbat and slowly get my stuff ready for the trip.

ALMOST READY TO LEAVE

The Five are almost ready to leave on a demonstration the likes of which has never been seen in Israel. We have two very strong social action groups supporting us and providing back up as well as not a little pressure where needed. We are getting new scooters from the Israeli manufacturer Afikim today as it's public relations for that can't be bought or produced in a studio. We can do this because those of us on scooters all bought them from Afikim and intended to go on them in any event. The truck, generator and just about everything else we could dream of are ready to go on Sunday morning. The only small glitch is our web forum, but with a little more cajoling it should be up and running today. It's basically a Hebrew forum, but does have an English option. Only problem is, you need to know Hebrew to get to the English. I hope to have that sorted later tonight.
I kidnapped Golan yesterday and went to get my right leg 'shot' so it will behave on the trip. After the shot we went to have lunch and quite by chance ran into Baruch, who grew up with my late ex husband. We had a lovely, if somewhat damp conversation about him. It's hard for me to explain how wonderful it was to talk about him with someone who not only grew up with up him, but knew us both when we were together, as well as visited us in Maine. Today I have a list of things to do that just seems never ending, so, I'd best get on with it or it really never will end. There are only two more days to get things done in order to leave on Sunday.

IT TOOK LONG ENOUGH

It only took a month, but tonight it became final. Five on Wheels are leaving a week from tomorrow by wheely and/or scooter for Jerusalem. I haven't posted much here lately for two reasons. One was that my granddaughter was here, the other was all the organizational meetings the Five were holding to get to the point we arrived at tonight. One of the main organizers of the group already demonstrating in Jerusalem came all the way up here to explain things to the guy we needed the final ok from to get the green light to go. Tomorrow I start a new press blitz to announce our impending departure.
Adee and Liat are on their way home now. Strange how things like that work out. I had hoped that we wouldn't leave before they did, and that is exactly what happened! Now I can concentrate on getting The Five on the road. The only issue I can't solve myself is doing the graphics I want for our website and forum, but I'm pretty sure I'll find someone to do it for me tomorrow.
So, now, it's off to bed at 55 minutes past midnight!

I MISSED ANOTHER ONE

It seems there was another earthquake in the area yesterday morning and I slept right through it. I heard about it while having coffee with Itzik and Anita at the coffee shop next to their photo shop which is owned by an old friend who worked at the hotel I used to work at. One of the town's leading businessman was with and he brought it up. After everyone else had made their comment, I looked around and said, "Ok, let's all get hysterical! On the count of three!" Took all the fear that had been building right back down to zero with that.
All the big insurance companies here are pushing 'earthquake catastrophe' insurance. I like one of them which is a bit strange for me as I generally drtest commercials, but this one is ok. It follows the birth, childhood, adolescence and move to Israel of Murphy, disaster by disaster, then, they pitch the insurance. It's actually quite amusing. There's an insurance agent on the other side of Itzik and Anita's shop and people were waiting in line to get in.
After that, I went and got my hair cut. It was really starting to bother me and I had to get it off the nape of my neck and out of my eyes. It's much better now.
The Five had a meeting at Moshe's, and we worked out a few issues. One of the leaders of the Jerusalem demonstrators claims to be having talks with officials. It's possible that he is, but I'm not at all sure about that. I am pretty sure that even if we don't leave for another month, they will still be there, so, planning continues and we came up with a few demands of our own. The major one is that at least two of us be included in the talks. They really won't be able to refuse us if/when we get there. We also came to the conclusion that the very fact of having arrived there will give us a bargaining chip that the local and regional authorities won't be able to ignore, and we'll be able to push through some much needed changes locally. Watch out, Israel. The Five are on the way!

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN

Gob smacked doesn't quite cover it. On Saturday I woke up to a dead digibox and no TV. I called the cable company hoping to schedule a techie for the morning, but the gal told me that they are changing software and their computers are down. Right. I decided to call again first thing in the morning. At 0845 there was a horrendous banging on my door, and when I finally lurched over there to open it, a cable techie was standing there! As the computers were down they all went over various and assorted reports and were going around fixing problems that they found on the reports. He came here because the interweb modem was behaving badly, and YES, he had a brand new digibox for me. And I didn't even have to call! You'll have to trust me on this; never ever has a techie in this country arrived to fix anything without a whole 'to do' before hand!
Golan wandered in at some poing and I mentioned that drain to the sink was backed up. He took the whole thing apart, but it was solidly backed up. I called the public housing 'fix it' folks and they said they'd send someone right over. I told her that I have a meeting at 1400, and she replied that they'd be here in plenty of time. Yeah, right. The guy arrived just as I was about to leave. Luckily, he found the problem and fixed it quickly, so I was only 10 minutes late to the meeting. It was a meeting with the people from the organization that wants to sponsor our roll to Jerusalem. After apologising nicely, I asked if they were serious about helping us, or were they just going to waste more time by talking around in circles, and added that if it were the latter, I had better things to do. The head 'plant' (a play on the name of their organization in Hebrew) indicated that they want to move ahead, so I stayed. The two people who were there, but aren't part of our group were more than a little taken aback by my forcefulness, but, it's nothing to do with them as they aren't going with us in any even. A question was asked about other gimps starting with or joining up with us and I said quite simply "We are The Five and even if the whole country joins us, we will still be The Five, and it's not open to discussion!" We managed to set some guidelines for our next meeting which will be at a hotel not far from here, as the 'head plant' seems to have caught on to the fact that we were not comfortable meeting at the home of the couple who very kindly (with only a few ulterior motives) let us meet at their place. It's taking longer than I'd hoped, but, they do seem to be serious about helping us, so, we'll most likely be heading out again on the 28 or so. I had to giggle at the head plant's reactions to some of my more forceful statements, but towards the end of the meeting he was very complimentary about my determination and knowlege of gimp issues.
WATCH OUT. THE FIVE WILL SOON BE ON THE ROAD! And do I ever have some surprise plans for the trip. And I'm not telling anyone before hand. This is going to be so much fun.
It seems the cable guy didn't sort the modem issue. I'll have to get on to them again!

SOMETIMES IT'S ALMOST TOO MUCH

I guess I really don't understand people at all. At least it feels that way sometimes. This has been one of those crazy weeks when I've been to busy to do almost anything other than work on the project at hand. The demonstration is continuing in Jerusalem, but not getting very far. The other group (the one that has decided that it represents ALL disabled on it's own, has been blocking us at every turn. They can get away with it for now as they are backed by The Histadrut; The Union. Unfortunately for them, it doesn't quite work like that. They have managed to push through legislation that is potentially disastrous for us, but there is still time to defeat it.
There is a group of 'do-gooders' that says they want to help us get our caravan back on the road. So far they have only hindered us, but after the fuss I made at the last meeting, it looks like they might just come through. We have another meeting with them tomorrow and I intend to tell them to either put up or shut up. What they seem not to understand is that if they provide us with the truck and generator that we really do need, all the rest will fall into place. We do not need to have service stations arranged ahead of time because I already have promises for 4 pairs of batteries that can be charged while we are moving and switched when one pair runs out. That will save many long hours of time that we would otherwise have to spend waiting for our own batteries to charge. It really is that simple. Another simple thing is that YES, Israelis can be counted on to help us as we go. On our previous attemp, we were greated at the service area from which we were eventually turned back, by a donation of mineral water, chocolate milk drink, and fruit, as well as the coffee shop where several of us had coffee telling us that the bill was settled and wishing us good luck. I have no doubt at all the support will grow the further we go.
During the last meeting we were subjected to a very condecending speech about the media. Yeah, right. I'd like to see their so called expert do in a week what I did in one day. We had cameras from every TV news station, 3 radio interviews along the way, and one after we got back and interviews and photos from the major newspapers. I rather doubt we need their expert. The largest electronic newspaper in the country has adopted a picture of us as their default 'gimp' picture! So much for their expert. We are a group of 5 adults who know exactly what we are doing and how we want to do it. We do not need an organization of arrogant know it alls talking down to us, and trying to tell us that what we accomplished on our first attempt was a failure. It was not a failure, it was a resounding success even, or possibly, because, we got turned back so soon after we started. All we need to finish are a truck with a rear door lift and a generator or someone to provide them.
We'll know by this time tomorrow if we can go.
The other issue is that my daughter in law brought her mother and sister along for my first meeting with the baby, which was not really fair. I haven't seen her since then, but they are in great demand, and I strongly suspect that my son's sister will be there today with her 3, so, I'm staying safely inside to avoid any unpleasantness.
On the upside, Dem Der has definitly lost his mind. He actually said some nice things about my writing ability, and the fact that I post so much typing with only one hand. What he doesn't know yet, is that his foot had better get well PDQ as he's on for dog sitting when/if we go wheeling to Jerusalem again. Lucky for him that I have my sources in his building and KNOW for a fact that he hasn't been out for over 2 weeks.

AT LONG LAST

What a great day! Ifinally met my little Adee Polly today, and she sure does know her own mind. She had no interest at all in me, but she loved my mobile phones.She didn't want me to hold her, but we did manage to get both of us in one picture! In the one on the right she's looking at all the pictures of her on my cupboard doors. She did seem to be a little more interested in New Harley Too when we walking back to the other grandparent's house, but we didn't get a picture of that.I just hope that sometime before they leave she'll let me give her a proper cuddle.She has that look in her eyes, and will only do what she wants to do.
So much has been happening this week that it will take ages to post it all here. I'll do it when things settle down. I really do need some rest now.

LOSING IT AGAIN

I was just fine yesterday, sore, but fine. I even knew what day it was from the moment I woke up! What happened overnight that caused me to wake up KNOWING it was Sunday? It wasn't at all like the days I wake up and have to use the TV to check the day, or that period of time when every day was Thursday. Not at all like that. I new beyond doubt that it was Sunday. I was on the verge of calling that idiot newspaper for not delivering it today, and thought about calling the Albertos to set a time to meet,(one of them doesn't answer the phone on Saturday), and started a list for the grocery store. Then Golan arrived and said something about Saturday. I just looked at him in utter disbelief, but, checked on the computer when he insisted. You don't suppose that little trip in the sun fried my brain? I got a pretty bad case of the giggles at the thought of going all the way to my grocery store only to find it closed. Ynet, the major electronic newspaper ran another big article about the demonstration in Jerusalem and linked our attempt to join them as well. At least they are getting some coverage now, and it should continue as we plan our next expedition. I'm quite proud of what we managed, even if we were stopped part way there. It was still quite an accomplishment, if I do say so myself.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

It's been a wild few days. A group of fellow gimps has been demonstrating in Jerusalem for almost three weeks with absolutely no press coverage. We(Kiryat Shmonah gimps) were contacted by one of the leaders of the protest and were asked to organize a group to 'march' on Jersulem. We were promised the moon and half the sun, but he only delivered on one item, which was the Police escort from a starting point about 10 miles from town because of road works. We were supposed to have been supplied with a vehicle to take our scooters and wheelies to that point. Needless to say, we weren't. So, I got that sorted at the last minute, a friend who is also a gimp organized the press, and after a little press conference, we were on our way.
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3560605,00.html
The above link will take you to one of my calmer, more reasonable interviews. Just scroll down until you come to the box with Play in English. I'm pretty sure you don't need Heberw to get my gist.I spent just about all of Wedenseday charging around town getting donations of essential things like water, food, and cash. I even shamed Dem Der into Peg sitting. We met up in town at 0730 to organize ourselves before the trailer got there to take the scooters to the official starting place. There were two scooters, two regular wheelies, and a power chair who came with his van. This is a picture of us having a spontaneous pre demonstration demonstration before a local cop came and made us move.Someone, most likely me, was very lucky to have gone off to pick up our donated breakfast sandwiches when the local cop made us move. It took me a few minutes to find them in our new place and I had no sooner gotten there than I got a call from our trailer guy. We all raced to where he was waiting and Trailer guy and my neighbor Golan got the scooters on the trailer and we were off to meet the press at Sde Eliezer Junction. My across the path neighbor Moshe had a canopy on his scooter which flew off on the way. By the time we got all the wheeled chariots on the road and ready to move out, the the press and our escort cops were there. When we finished the press stuff, one Alberto grabbed the basket on Harley and the other Alberto grabbed the canopy pole on Moshe's scooter, while Hezi drove his 'support' van while in his power chair. We kept getting stopped by the press, and my phone rang non stop. There is absolutely no shade on that road and it was close to 100 degrees under a bright sun in a clear sky. Given my tendency to dehydrate quickly, I held a bottle of water in my left hand, and 'drove' with the other one. Try answering a blue tooth in your ear with a bottle in that hand-the semi paralyzed one at that! It was a good two hours before we got to the next major junction-Mahanaiyim, where a lunch and charge the scooters break had been planned. Let's do the math. 2 hours at 12km/h is, um, er, 24 kilometers, which is about 15 miles. While Moshe and I were off looking for a place to charge up, our escort cops told us we'd have to turn back because our permit had been canceled due to road works ahead. I am sure that was just an excuse. We were stopped by an order from on high. The cops got a tow truck to pick up the scooters. Moshe rode with him, while I went with the Albertos in Hezi's van. On the way back, we were in shock at how far we had gotten. On the way we decided to organize ourselves for another attempt, and do it all ourselves and not rely on any outside help. Now we know what we need. We are going to have our first 'get ready' meeting on Sunday. We will get there one way or another. Updates as and when.

WHY AM I STILL AT HOME?

I really should be in Jerusalem demonstrating by now, but I just can't seem to get it together enough to up and go. Not being able to leave Peg is more than just an excuse. He's old, and deserves better than that from his human. Orna is out for obvious reasons and the other neighbors either can't be trusted, or are scared of him. Dem Der could do it, but he's playing the "I don't feel good card" and that well and truly pisses me off. It's not like Peg requires hours of care. All he needs is fresh water, food, and to be put out on his chain in the morning, while keeping an eye out that no one bothers him. Not exactly hard labor. Oh well, I can just stay here and start sending e mails like I did last time to Jewish organizations that contribute lots of money to Israel in English speaking countries. That worked nicely in 2002 and I still have the addresses on a disk!
What are after this time?
Let's do a little maths and see what we get.
Minimal monthly expenses:
130 average rent in housing authority flats
75 average water
80 property tax
400 electric
150 phone
199 cable
75 cooking gas
300 meds
That's a grand monthly total od 1409 and we haven't even had a bite to eat or left the house. A basic monthy benefit is just under 2000 which leaves us the whopping sum of just under 600 to eat and leave the house. Ok, maybe the cable is not a necessity, but, come on,that's the very minimum basic package. The price of everything is rising by the day, while the benfits have been frozen for the last 10 years. There are many more who receive the basic benefit than who receive the other benefits for the more severly disabled. Personally, I'm ok, or would be if I hadn't let everyone and their uncle steal me blind. But I'm still on the borderline of ok. It's for the ones who have to decided if they want to eat or take their meds that I'm up in arms about.

FOREVER ON A GLASS WALL

I guess it's final. I'm a local 'celebrity'! The following picture was painted on a glass wall that surrounds one of our local coffee shops that sits right dab smack in the middle of one of our malls. I am rather well known as the lady biker who had the first motor cycle garage in town!
How cool is that?
Not much of interest has been going on lately, other than being in the midst of looking for parts for a 1969 Cadillac Fleetwood. I think I found a place that has most of them, but won't know until very late tomorrow night.

BELATED UPDATE

I know, I know, I haven't been here for a while, no excuses, just haven't gotten around to it. The local cripple group went on a field trip to certain select sites in the Western Galiliee on Monday, and I got talked into going along as there was a special bus available. The company has a bus with a wheely lift and seats that come out and leave a track that wheelies can be anchored securely to. I actually have a picture of Alberto coming off the bus!

The couple looking on with great interest are my across the path neighbors, the parents of the quads I love to detest.
We started off on our adventure at 0800 sharp, which meant that Moshe (the guy with the cane) and I left in my car for the departure point at 0745, and were in plenty of time to get our stuff organized. Alberto and I were the only Jerusalem demonstration alumni on the trip and we regaled the others with demonstration stories. One of the Polio guys who was with us announced that there might be another demonstration next week over benefits that are not keeping up with the cost of living. There IS a clause in the agreement from our last demonstration that says that our benefits are supposed to be adjusted annually, but, never have been in the 6 years since. In Israel there is no reason to expect that the government will keep any agreement they've signed. Alberto kept getting the 1999 and 2002 demonstrations mixed up, and every time I reminded him that, no, that happened in '99, we were off on more 'were you there when?" He loves telling about how I spearheaded the take over of the Finance Ministry building. I kind of like that story too because not many can say that they took over a government ministry building by threatening to pee on a security guy's shoes if he doesn't let you in to use the loo! I went in but didn't come out, so when the guards went in to make me go out, everyone else went in. Dumb ass guards left the doors unguarded to get me out. Ooops! Then Alberto asked if that was the same demonstration when I smashed my stick down on the arm of the under cover cop who tried to move one of the gals in her wheely out of the way so he could drive off and avoid our road block. Poor guy ran back to his car and sat there until we lifted the road block. Damn right, he was the last one to leave.

Our first stop was Acre, where I spent much time in 1970 on foot. This time my perspective was slightly different, being in a wheely and all. Acre has a scent all it's own and anyone who has spent any time there will know where he is if dropped there suddenly. We ended the Acre part of the trip at the same gift shop where I bought all the little gifts I took to the States in 2006. From there we headed north to kibbutz Cabri, where we had lunch kibbutz style. From there we went to a park that has a legendary arch right on the border with Lebanon. The white ribbon like road in the next picture is the border with Lebanon.

We were that close to Lebanon. If the bus had fallen off the road, we would have been IN Lebanon! The path from the car/bus park was quite steep and even though I had my own wheelie driver, I had to use my right leg as a brake. The views were breathtaking, and it was well worth the trouble to get there.
In the distance there are a few Lebanese villages.

From there, we went to the grottos at Rosh Hanikrah, another tourist site that is right on the border.The grottoes themselves are not wheely accessible, but we saw a nice movie about them. While the men had their evening prayers, the rest of just sat by safety rail and looked at the ocean. When they had finished their prayers, we left for home and had a cigarette break half way there. I got in just as the news was starting, and fell asleep pretty much when it was over.
The next morning I awoke to incredible pain in my right thigh. Gee, I wonder why? But, there was no choice other than to go to the clinic to get a prescription for my potassium pills and to get my meds for the month. From there I went to the mall with the grocery store that always has my precut bagged salad greens(this time they had to get 2 bags from the storage fridge because they hadn't taken them out yet. Go explain to a confused veg department worker that while he thinks nothing of cutting up stuff himself, it's a challenge for some of us to even get the cut up stuff out of the bag!) and corned beef at the deli, and from there home to rest. And rest I did, until I was woken up be a nasty cramp in my left leg that absolutely refused to let up long enough for me to release it to reach for the salt and potassium pills. I finally managed that and popped two of the pills and licked a bunch of salt and drank a bunch of water, then, laid back down. My right thigh is still super sore and my abs are making themselves known, but not loudly. Staying upright in a wheely on a bus makes those abs work damn hard and I'm fortunate that they are still in pretty good shape. I can do sit ups with next to no effort just about endlessly.
All in all, it was a great trip. And I'm not at all bothered by the sore muscles. The sore will go away soon enough.

TV CAN BE SO MUCH FUN

A new channel was recently added to our cable selection. It runs all kinds of reality style shows. There are three that I rather enjoy. One tells strange tales from emergency rooms, another follows ambulance crews around and yet another follows cops. I have a great deal of fun with some of the names of the people in the various shows. The ER one has a Dr. Slay, and last night's cop show had a detective named Crook, which of course could be spelled any number of ways, but is still pronounced Crook. I'm not quite sure how I'd react if I found myself in an ER being treated by a guy named Dr. Slay! From what was shown Dr Slay is one of the best, and he is seriously handsome, but that name, oh my, that name. There are a few others, but the best of them requires a minimum knowlege of common Israeli names, but I'll give it shot. In one of the episodes a resident was looking for his intern; Dr. Buzzaglow, and it took me a few minutes to figure out that the name was most likely Bouzaglo. There really isn't an English spelling for that name as the origin is from Morocco, and the accented sylable isn't necessarily the same, but it has given no end of entertainment.
I finally managed to pay off one my 'get to the rotorooter' debts yesterday, and it feels so good. I asked him if he'd accept that camera I'd found last week instead of cash, and he jumped on the offer. It was a few days before I got around to downloading the card and deleting the 15 pictures left on it. I took it to him yesterday and he was pleased as punch. There aren't many things I hate more than owing money to friends, but giving them a camera that's purchase price is much more than the debt is just fine with me.
I'm very lucky that murder can not be committed over the phone. I asked Dem Der to please find someone else to handle his cable phone bill as his overseas calls are now coming in on that and he still owes me a 100 from last month. He came up with a whole list of reasons why he hasn't found anyone yet, then made the almost fatal mistake of telling me that I can wait another 3 weeks or so. Guess who went ballistic? Yup, that would be me. I have to redo some of my stuff with cable company, and I've been waiting to get rid of his phone carge. I'm not waiting any longer. He'll get his ass in gear or lose the phone, and I don't much care.

AT LAST A REAL THURSDAY

This really is nuts, but, that shouldn't be news to anyone who knows me. Today really is Thursday and for the first time in weeks I actually am sure of what day it is. I even think I might have figured what out what my fixation with Thursday is. Passover was a few weeks ago, and after Passover comes the counting of the Omer, during which period it is custom to not get new clothes, hair cuts, manicures or pedicures. A sort of period of mourning that is broken on Lag B'Omer, when weddings can held, hair and nails cut. As I had decided that it was a very bad idea to use any of my mostly non existant cash to get my nails done before Passover, I found myself with ever lengthening toe nails on my right foot. I thought it would be a good idea to check exactly when Lag B'Omer would be, and discovered that it would arrive on Thursday, the 22nd of May. Today! That's where the Thursday fixation came from. I got the day, but the date kind of took a back seat, and left me waking up hoping(thinking) that everyday was Thursday already!
So, here it is Thursday, and fingernails are all gone, and my toe nails will be gone tomorrow.
Of course all this Thursday idiocy made me get my son's birthday all wrong. I know perfectly well that it's on the 20th, but decided that this year the 20th would be on THURSDAY. Well, it wasn't, and he was disappointed that I'd seemingly forgotten. Of course he was born on a Thursday, so I wasn't that far off. I just hope I can shake thing everyday is Thursday thing now that THE THURSDAY has come.

JUST PLODDING ALONG

I guess I should be more upset than I am, but I'm actually feeling a bit smug. The Suzuki was finally taken away and Shmaryah is stuck with the old Renault Express that doesn't have an inspection sticker, insurance, and hasn't run in over a year, two, even. It's sad that things went downhill like that, but, to be expected. I will say in his favor that he has kept his end of the agreement we made, which has pleasantly surprised me.
Liat and Adee are coming to Israel in about two weeks and I am experiencing that delightful anticipation again. I have started a major cleaning operation well in advance and have gotten most of the boxes in the spare room emptied out and ready to be thrown out. I found an old digicam that I forgot I even had. Good thing I opened all the boxes to make sure no important papers were left in them! Golan will be along one day soon to help me take the boxes out. I also got the table pretty much cleared off and the table cloth washed. Oh, and the sofa is clear except for a box of garden things that have to go into the shed. I do a little bit every day and it's starting to show. Gimp House will be all sparkly clean by the time the girls get here. I'm not going to clean the fridge though. Adee can do that!

CRASH

As I was happily toodling towards home on Harley this morning, I suddenly felt us being pushed in entirely the wrong direction by a gray Mazda. This happened at the turn to the roof top parking at the mall where my clinic is. Mazda guy turned right to go up the ramp while I was going straight past the turn. There are usually tons of pedestrians there so I really don't understand how he didn't see me. There was the usual hysterical crowd asking "Are you ok? Do you want to go to the ER?" Too bad no one just called the cops because even though he did give me his name and phone number and I wrote down his lisence plate number he made a comment about having to figure out who was at fault. That's a no brainer. I was going strigh ahead and he turned into me.
The only thing wrong is that my left (trashed) shoulder hurts like it hasn't since the katyusha knocked me off the motorcycle in 1992 and wrecked my collar bone. It looks like I'll be taking things real easy for a few days.
Right now, I'm off to rest and take a pain pill.

IS IT THURSDAY?

I don't know what's wrong with me, but for the last week or so I've been waking up every morning thinking that it's Thursday. I was awake for hours yesterday and had no idea what day it was.
I was woken up Golan who had come over to rig a crutch clip on New Harley Too. The factory swore that there was no way to do it, but, Golan did it! While he was getting started on that, I took Peg out, made coffee, raced through e mails, then after the clip was in place with the crutch in it, I went grocery shopping, schlepped it all in, had a rest, then found myself wondering what day it was. I'd gotten to 1700 and had no idea what day of the week of it was! This morning was almost as bad, but I checked on the TV and it's Monday! I must be going senile because I am sure that tomorrow will be Thursday. I have no idea why I'm stuck on Thursday. I just am. Of course, the last two times it was Thursday, I was sure it was Tuesday.............I'm beginning to wonder if it matters at all what day it is, and if it does, why it does?
Maybe it has something to do with my new 'night owl sleep schedule'? Having come to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter what time I get up in the morning, I'm not forcing myself to not doze off in the afternoon, and stay awake until I fall asleep around 0300 or so, and get up when I wake up, whenever that is.
This thinking it's Thursday every morning is just a little nuts, but, so am I.........

BE CAREFUL BE VERY CAREFUL

Think twice before being mean to me! If you are, I'll just tell my grandaughter and let her take care of it!
That's one baby to stay on the good side of! Baby with attitude. I wonder what got her going.
There was absolutely no way I could resist posting this picture here. I'm thinking of making it part of a warning sign to put on my door to keep the people who think Gimp House is the medical supply lending service next door from just walking in! Nothing seems to work, not even all the new signs they've put up. Well, locking the door does,but I am only locking it until Ornagate settles down. It's been quiet on that front so far, and I'm sure they've gotten the letter from my lawyer, and Danny has most likely gone in to the cops for his interview. They aren't talking, which means that they know perfectly well that anyone they could complain to know who is in the wrong.
That miserable pressure sore is almost all gone now. It took a turn for the worse last week and we started again with the special patches, and when I went to change it on Friday, the whole sore was almost gone, and it doesn't hurt at all now.
It suddenly hit me one day last week that as there is no reason for me to get up at a set time these days (other than to satisfy some anal retentive's idea of the need to keep to a routine) I have decided that there is no earthly reason not to drift off into a nap in the afternoon, then, stay up as late as I want at night. When I have to function in 'day mode' instead of my preferred night owl mode, I can make the adjustment, but see no reason to when I don't have to. I wonder why it took me so long to figure out.

A VERY SAD DAY AT GIMP HOUSE

I always look forward to Saturday mornings because right after a quick run through my e mails I go straight to my old home town newspaper. I save it for Saturday's only, rather than checking in every day. It's much more fun to anticipate a good read of what's been going on back there.
I was devastated this morning to see that yet another of my childhood icons had died. I read the whole paper with tears streaming down my cheeks. There was one house between the one I grew up on and the one he grew up in. That family was as much a part of my childhood as my own. There was a path by their garage to the college sports field behind our houses that all of us kids used as a short cut to those fields. The Nivens owned the newspapers in our town and the next city over, Bath. I still remember the younger son, Cam, who lived at home with his parents until he married one of my very good childhood friend's aunt. That was quite an event and my parents, and evryone else were thrilled for them. Cam eventually took over the newspapers from his father and combined them into one larger daily area newspaper. I grew up with that newspaper and even though it was a relatively small newspaper as things go, it is still the standard by which I judge newspapers to this day, and find most lacking. Strange thing about us Longfellow Avenuers. We seem to play musical houses, and either end up back on Longfellow Ave. or living near each other. The last house I lived in in Brunswick was just 4 houses away from the house Cam and Betsey lived in, which was next door to the home of yet another Longfellow family. The parents of that latter family's wife lived in the second house from ours in the other direction. They moved out of town to the country, and bought our house when we moved to the country. Their son bought their old house, and their grandson now lives in our old house. There's something about that street.
This morning when I brought up the Times Record's main page, the first thing that caught my eye was that Campbell Niven had died. Of course that was the first thing I read, and it brought so many of my wonderful memories about my childhood flooding back, and a feeling of utter sadness that yet another remarkable influence on life was now gone forever.