Blog/November 2007/November 9th
From RonWareWiki
< Blog | November 2007
November 9th (See this week's devar torah)
Send Ron feedback on this blog
Hi there!
It's been a pretty busy week, each of us in his own way kept out of trouble. I already had to change a tire on the car (fortunately fixing the flat tire only cost 30 NIS, which is much much cheaper than replacing the tire). Esther has been going to classes of varying kinds all week, including a new 'ulpan' (Hebrew class) which is on a very high level. Sarah has been running between school and outside classes, and spent Thursday night with Daniela in Jerusalem. So it's been busy.
According to her math tutor, Sarah has a real aptitude for math (which I knew already, but Sarah used to deny). She's also been "getting" Hebrew a lot more. One night this week we watched "Finding Nemo" in Hebrew with Hebrew subtitles, and she noticed that the subtitles did not track the speech very closely.
The pizza struggles continue. This week we ordered a pizza again, from the same shop as before. I ordered "two toppings, olives and onions". When we got the pizza, it indeed had two toppings: two slices olives, and another two onions. The rest of the pizza was plain. I thought I was speaking clear Hebrew, but perhaps there's a special lingo for ordering pizzas. <sigh>
Both Esther and I visited our 'sick funds' this week. She needed to see a dermatologist to check something out, and I had to do a 'follow up' and renew prescriptions. Apparently, the dermatologist sees patients every five minutes. So if you want to have a meaningful conversation, forget it. I guess given the sunny climate, dermatologists are quite busy. On the other hand, I could have sat with my doctor as long as I wanted. What is interesting is the difference in approach between here and the US. There, my doctor wanted me to come in for a follow-up (with lab tests) every three months. Here, I don't have to go in but every six months, and I can renew my prescription over the phone. Much more convenient, and cheaper as well.
We have winner! For the second year in a row, Prime Minister Olmert was chosen as the most corrupt politician in Israel. It makes me want to cry.
More rental joys. Our landlords, coupled with the neighbors downstairs, are making us really anxious to move to a different place. The electricity company called this week, as they were sending a technician to cut off our power. Apparently, the bill hasn't been paid for four months, though we were assured (by the landlords) that it was "taken care of". So I paid the bill and managed to get the electric company off our back. But now I have to collect from the neighbors, who have shown no willingness to pay their share of anything. If they don't pay, I'll just debit the amount from the rent to the landlords, but that makes them testy, don't you know? This is not a good situation to be in, and I highly recommend anyone who is looking to rent a place here to make sure one has a separate bill for electricity etc.
Savlanut! סבלנות - it means "patience", and it's a word one hears a lot around here. It means, "just hang in there", and "what can you expect?", and "don't get upset at the inefficiency", and lots of other things. Well, this week savlanut paid off: after almost three and a half months, the city finally did pay us the rebate on property tax we are owed. Now, the fact that we went to City Hall five times in order to make it happen seems like a petty thing to recall, since we have the money in the bank...
The other night I was glad my Mom wasn't staying with us. She would have located a shotgun and used it. I don't know exactly where the sound was emanating from, but somewhere nearby the stereo system was so loud, I thought there was an outdoor dance party (maybe there was). With doors and windows closed, I could hear the music as if I had a stereo on in my own place. At least they didn't go on past 10:30 at night. You can do anything in Israel! - especially if someone else is inconvenienced!
ATT - we hear you! Yes they do, but they don't listen. A month before I left the US, I cancelled my celphone which was Cingular (now the new ATT!). They told me there was a cancellation fee of $175, which I could eliminate if I sent them a fax with a bill from my new foreign address. I did that as soon as I had received a bill. Now two months later, I got a love letter from ATT saying I owe them $195 (I guess the $20 was fees and taxes or something). So I called them and told them that I had sent them the proof they wanted, so why are they charging me? Their reply: "Your request was denied, because the bill was in Hebrew and we don't know if that's really your name and address or not since we can't read it." So I asked them what to do, to which they responded I needed to send a bill in English, from either the phone company or a utility company. I told them that was a pretty ridiculous demand, since the native language here is Hebrew. They said "do what you can". So I sent a copy of my Israeli driver's license, which has my name in Hebrew and English as well as my address (in Hebrew). Then I sent my phone bill, and showed them where they can compare the names and addresses on it. Finally I sent them another piece of mail from the US which was sent to my PO box here, so they would be able to see the address in English. B"H, they accepted my proofs...
'till next week, shabbat shalom!
| Top: Blog | Prev: Nov 2nd | Next: Nov 16th |