Taking Care Of Business

it is 2:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  I have a new repairman here fixing all of my screens and he is now tackling the blinds in the bedroom.  I can't believe that I don't have gaping holes in my screens anymore and that I will be able to open the blinds once in awhile to check out what's happening on the street. I got tired of scotch taping over all of the ripped screens and luckily, a good friend knew of someone to fix them and even more lucky; he was coming today.

he will replace the plug on a brand new fan, I bought four years ago, too.  my dog tiny chewed the wires when he was still a puppy.  I have been wanting to get it repaired for awhile.  I also want him to put up a ceiling fan in the kitchen.  it has been sitting on a shelf for nearly 18 years.  it is really hot in the house and we are having yet, another heat wave here.  I want to make it as comfortable as I can for Shavuot.  I don't have any air conditioning units.

I stayed home from work today.  I only had to give then lunch and I stayed later yesterday to create one.  why schlep out in the mid hot sun for just an hour or two of work?  I left oriental pasta salad, cucumber salad, and tuna salad.  I hope it will be enough.  it is an out Shabbat and some of the guys may have already split for the weekend.  yesterday, I worked until 7:00 p.m.  I felt exhausted.  it was a real scorcher.  I felt so drained and nearly faint.  I baked oatmeal and tahini bars for a treat for them yesterday before I left.  I had tried, very unsuccessfully, to make a cake out of the leftover cooked oatmeal from their breakfast.  I added some flour and sugar and many eggs and baked it for hours and still it was not a cake.

I hated tossing the whole pan.  I should have left the oatmeal for them for today's breakfast.  go know!  in the past, I got away with adding the oatmeal to the meatloaves.  I made a tabouli couscous salad with sautéed carrots and onions because I didn't have any bulgur yesterday.  I also made dozens of corn fritters for lunch as well as a huge Israeli salad and served chumus.  I fried up many dozens of mini hamburgers for their supper and made roasted zucchini and rice.  I actually, had two hamburgers.  they were nice and spicy and juicy.  that was pretty much my lunch.  I had a tilapia fillet for supper with some cooked cauliflower.  I am still fasting for 12 hours every night.

I felt pretty weak this morning.  I stood on my feet yesterday for nearly 7 hours cooking.  I didn't drink enough, either.  I haven't really eaten yet today.  I had 2 spoons of peanut butter in the morning.  I wanted to take an antibiotic.  my loose tooth seems to be infected.  I only have chicken in the house to cook.  my friends wanted to go out to rosh pina this evening for a bite.  it is still very hot outside.  I also wanted to return my empty bottles to the supermarket .  I just can't face this heat.  i think i better go on and cook the chicken.  I'm starving.

the repairman just ran off.  I won't get to see him for a while.  that's always the problem with them.  they are so busy.  I still have three windows to have screened downstairs and I really want the ceiling fan hung up in the kitchen but that's how it goes.  at least I got his phone number and he lives in this area.

9:30 p.m.  at 4:00 p.m. I cooked some chicken and finally broke my fast.  I took an antibiotic and passed out.  it is not easy for me to swallow pills.  I just successfully swallowed a pain killer. yeh!  I never made it out with my friends.  I walked to the end of the street a moment ago to put my plastic and tins in the recycle bin at the end of the street.  I couldn't take the bottles to the bin near the synagogue because I wasn't really dressed modestly. hopefully I will get out early and run to the supermarket.