Hard Times

it is 10:30 a.m. in the holy city of zefat.  we have had bad news lately.  on friday, i received an email about the funeral of a young man, the son-in-law of long time acquaintances.  the 26 year old died in a car crash.  he had just travelled home from his best friend's wedding out of town.  his young widow's life was spared, as she wasn't feeling up to going to the simcha.  she is pregnant with their second child.

i also received an email from my gentleman 'suitor', letting me know that his sister had just passed away.  although, she had suffered from a long list of ailments for a long time, the doctors had called her a medical miracle.  she seemed invincible.  i guess, so did this young man.  is there any wonder that i stare out of my kitchen window all the time, to see if the kids' car is in front of the house?

on sunday morning, my neighbors came to inform me that our neighbor, israel, had passed away at home.  he had been undergoing extensive chemotherapy for his cancer, for months.  he was skeletal. he was 65.  he had been a real macho guy.   i had prayed my heart out for a miracle for him.  i was overwhelmed by grief and fear.  i ran to the end of the street to visit his kids and wife.  my neighbors took me to the funeral.  i couldn't stand for its entirety.  i had to sit on a bench.  there was no way, that i could escort the body to the grave.  it was way uphill.  it was way too hot, too.

i stayed in bed again, yesterday.  i've been having stomach aches lately.  at first, i thought it was from overeating dairy on shavuot.  then, i thought it was due to the antibiotics that i took against the dysentery.  now, i'm concerned that it is something more problematic.  i see the radiologist on sunday.  i will get the results of the pet scan.  i am scared to death.  with each day closer to the appointment, i am getting more nervous.

this morning i went to the doctor to get the proper referrals and paperwork for the hospital visits, next week. i scheduled a visit to the gyn-oncologist.  i'm hoping the radiologist will tell me that i don't need to see the gynecologist right now.  if i do need to see him, i will have to stay over at a friend's place in kfar chabad, near tel aviv for a couple of days.  i think that i want to go to the doctor alone.  if G-d forbid, it isn't good news, i don't think that i can be around my family.  if it is good news, i will call everyone immediately with the good news.

i stopped off at the supermarket on my way home.  i had a check returned from them back in december.  i was already at the hospital for treatment.  sometime in january, my friend, who was watching the dogs for me, let me know that the supermarket had called.  they left no message.  i questioned my friend about the possibility of a bounced check.  i didn't have any way to call the super market from tel aviv.  i frankly, didn't care about it.  i just assumed that they would call back and leave a message.  when i returned to zefat at the beginning of march, i sent my daughter-in-law to the small supermarket down below.  she called to let me know that they refused my check because i had a bounced check at the affiliated larger supermarket.

i sent her with my credit card to pay the debt at once. the debt was for 160 shekels. ( a mere 45 dollars.) the check had already been sent to a collection agency in tel aviv.  i called the agency and asked if i could pay the debt over the phone with a credit card.  they refused.  they said i should pay 191 shekels at the supermarket.  like a fool, i took a taxi to the large supermarket.  i ran into someone in the office there.  they tried to call the office in tel aviv but no one answered. they took down my banking details and promised to call me back.

i explained that i had been in the hospital for a few months out of zefat, and had no idea that there was a returned check until recently.  it turned out that the check was from november.  the clerk had no way of processing the information without the code from the tel aviv office. i  actually, went back to the super another three times without any luck.  i spoke with the office another couple of times, too.  they told me that i could pay the amount at the post office.  guess what?  they didn't send me a bill to pay it at the post office. like a fool, i tried once again, to pay it at the supermarket.  in the meanwhile, i received a lawyer's letter threatening a lawsuit if i didn't pay 309 shekels at the post office.

i ran back to the supermarket and finally someone form the tel aviv office agreed that i could pay the 191 shekels by credit card.  they gave me a receipt and i figured the story was finished.  when i shopped last week for shavuot, i tried to pay with my checks.  guess what?  it was on the computer that i had an outstanding  debt with the company.  i had to use my sister's credit card to pay for all the groceries.  i brought my receipt today and patiently waited for over an hour to straighten this debt out.  finally, it was taken care of.  turns out that the tel aviv office, never got the fax with all the details from last month. i quickly did some shopping and headed home in a cab.

i'm exhausted and my stomach is aching.  i need to watch the grand kids for a few hours later.  i don't know why my stomach is aching so much.  i am not feeling a bit joyous today.  maybe tomorrow.