It Takes A Lot Of Patience

it is nearly 12:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.  i have been sleeping all morning long.  i spent yesterday in bed too.   i slept away the entire day.  i couldn't even talk to friends.  the 9 hours of laundry on thursday and the 2-3 hours of washing the floors on friday,  proved to be too much.  at least, i am not in pain.  i am just worn out.  as long as i eat a lot, i suffer less.

i didn't bother to check for weight gain.  i haven't taken a pain pill in two days.  i am able to move the old bowels, more or less.  i can't do anything more with myself right now.  i haven't gone upstairs since friday to check out the pigeon problem.  last i looked, there was a pigeon or two roosting in a far away part of the roof.  i probably need a professional roofer and exterminator.  it's only more money to spend.  money, that i don't really have right now, unfortunately.

the rat is still running around downstairs.  we have been trying to catch him at all hours of the night.  he usually appears after 11:00 p.m.  he has been spotted in the children's bedrooms, the laundry room and in the kitchen.  the dog had him cornered at one point, but he made a mad dash to beind the closet.  it is beyond frustrating.

the electrical outlet in the laundry room is shorting out the electricity in the house.  that's the one that he electrician played around with last week, when he checked out the maytag.  he is scheduled to come a little later.  i have been literally, stranded in pitch dark rooms, a few times this week.  it isn't pleasant.  i have a larger problem in the guest bathroom.  i believe a pipe is leaking under the floor.  my sister and brother are coming next week for a visit.  i need the spare guest room and i most definately, need the spare shower.

there is always water on the floor.  it took me a while to figure out that it wasn't from taking showers.  the shower stall needs to be re corked.  however, the water eventually dries out with the aid of a towel.  i kept on noticing that the towels were getting even more wet after a couple of days.  and yet it still didn't register that i was in trouble.

i called in my plumber yesterday,  he couldn't determine where the water was coming from.  i tried explaining to him the real situation.  he said that i needed to get in touch with my insurance company.  i have been paying through the nose for years.  i have never called the company , even when i should have.  when mom was alive, she simply paid for damages by herself.  she never thought about going through the insurance company.

i called the insurance man who is my second cousin.  his cell only took a message.  i was in the middle of sending him an email when i lost my internet connection.  my son had internet downstairs through my server so i was very frustrated.  he didn't want to come up for a moment to help me.  he never has a moment to help me.  he lives here for free and doesn't lift a finger to help out.  he finally agreed to check my computer out.  i had my connection back in a moments' time.

after all that fuss, the email came back.  so did my grandson for a couple of hours. i finally escorted him downstairs at 10:00 p.m.  we then had another rat sighting so i ran downstairs for a little while.  my son gets nasty when he's frustrated and tired.  someone flicked the switch to turn on the laundry room light, and i was once again, trapped in a dark room for a moment.   i spoke with my brother at about 11:00 p.m.  he mentioned that our cousin was out of the country.  i thought that i was screwed.  as soon as i hung up with my brother, my cousin called.  he had just gotten back in the country and had received my message.

i haven't spoken with my cousins since i got sick.  he was concerned that i might be worse off than i am.  he was relieved to hear that i was okay.  i called him a little while ago.  he had just gotten into the office.  he arranged for the company to dispatch a plumber from zefat to come over tomorrow.  now i will be at the mercy of a local yokel.  i can't use my own man.  and i really respect and trust my plumber guy.  he is a family friend.

so  that's the story.  i don't think that i'll be able to clean up the third floor roof top apartment by next week.  my siblings and i will have to camp down here together.  brother is only going to be here for a week, so hopefully, he'll cope.  i'm in no shape to offer them a pesach cleaning this time around.  i will not get to do windows and sills before they come.  i will not get the water damaged walls re plastered and repainted, either.

i read an article on line about cancer patients and survivors.  it is quite normal to want to get all these nudgy problems taken care of when we finish out treatment.  the lists of 'things to do'  weighs heavily on our minds. we just don't have the stamina to deal with them all at one time.  it takes a lot of patience to let it go.