Sitting In The Dark

it is midnight in the holy city of zefat.  I spent the entire day yesterday washing the floors.  I tackled the herculean task of cleaning the upstairs roof top apartment. too.  I managed to clean up all the pigeon poo from inside the apartment and outside of the fridge.  I got the wooden floor to shine.  it took over 3 hours. 

I had gotten it into tip top shape before Pesach but sometime afterwards, a pigeon flew in and nested on the two burner stove on the top shelf and pooped all over the wooden floors.  I even washed down the porch area yesterday.  we are expecting paying guests right after tisha b'av.  I came downstairs at 8:00 p.m. and I was tired.

the kids got back around 10:00 p.m. and shortly after the electricity blew. I couldn't get the circuit breaker to work.  I tried until 2:00 a.m. and then went to bed.  I woke up very irritated and anxious.  the kids kept on blaming me for the power outage.  every time the circuit breaker popped I got yelled at.

I was ready to tell them all to pack a bag and beat it.  I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and the first thing I did was to try the electricity.  it seemed for the most part to come back on.  I think that all the water I poured onto the porch seeped into the walls causing a short.  I felt terribly at fault, once again.  my son called a friend who is supposed to be a master electrician.  they were taking care of it this time.

I was told to be home from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. to let the electrician downstairs.  I needed to get dog food at the local supermarket and I wanted to get mascarpone cheese and whipping cream because I decided once again, to make a tiramisu dessert for Shabbat.  I was afraid to start any projects before the repairman came.  I refrained from doing any cooking , lest, I be caught short without electricity.

I was going nuts.  I had so much I wanted to do but I didn't do a thing.  I wanted to finish the upstairs apartment and finally get rid of all the dried pigeon poo on the inside porch but I let it go.  I finally called my son at 4:00 p.m. to let him know how I had wasted my day by waiting for the electrician in vain.  he told me that the daughter-in-law was coming home and I could step out.  I ended up stepping out with the little kids to the supermarket down the stairs.

the granddaughter fell down a few steps on her rear end but didn't get hurt.  she cried for a while.  we found a small turtle and I automatically handed it over to the grandson.  I then realized that we didn't really have anywhere to house it.  with 3 dogs running around the backyard, it didn't stand a chance.  I knew that the daughter-in-law would never allow the turtle in the house downstairs.  I made the grandson give it up and, of course, he cried.  now I had two crying kids on my hands.

at the supermarket, much to my surprise, was a package of mascarpone cheese.  I couldn't find the regular  cream cheese that I had used once before.  the cheese was a small fortune.  I shelled out $4 for a cup of cheese. that's outrageous!  I never got to make the tiramisu because shortly after we returned from the supermarket, the electricians, mutt and jeff, arrived. 

at 6:00 p.m. all the lights were on.  as soon as they opened the circuit box and meddled with it we lost all the power until well after 11:00 p.m.  I don't believe they knew what they were doing.  the trouble with this generation of technicians is that they don't know how to fix things that aren't brand new.  I was told right from the start that the circuit box was a balagon.  my son wanted to know how much the insurance company would put out if we got a new box.  I shot him down right away.  the box has been updated throughout the years and does work.

the young electrician played around with the circuit buttons for hours before he left to get a 'machine.'  he came back an hour later without 'said' machine.  he fiddled with the buttons for another couple of hours and actually replaced the main button.  he left close to midnight.  the electricity was returned to part of the house only.  he will come back on Sunday. we can't do any laundry or use all of the rooms downstairs.  I'm scared to death of an electric fire.  and I'm worried about losing power on Shabbat.

the kids paid him $100 and he didn't fix the problem.  I am really feeling irritable.  I threw a small fit around 9:30 p.m. because I needed to get veggies for the kids' Shabbat meals.  they were supposed to shop for them today.  I took the rest of my charity $ and bought veggies and melons for Shabbat.  the daughter-in-law drove me to the store.  the kittle kids fell asleep in the car. I carried the granddaughter to her bed.

I would have gotten an electrician to come in the morning.  we all sat outside on the steps where there was street light for hours.  it was getting cold but the house was pitch black inside so we didn't have a choice.   I am pretty stressed out.  my son turned on me like he always does when he's stressed.  I wanted to tell them to hit the road today and don't come back but we've been down that road before.

I think that I was already freaked out after finding out that season 7 of 'Nurse Jackie' ended the series.  I was already at such a loss.  it is my favorite show. I have nothing to look forward to anymore.  I am so tired but I can't unwind.   this day was the pits.  I have to make Shabbat meals and watch the kids tomorrow.  I am pretty ticked off at the kids attitude, too.  I have to be thankful that we are all safe and healthy for the moment, I guess.  I don't look forward to tomorrow.