Murphy’s Law and Family Visits

January 2, 2007 - 6:56 PM by Allison

When family comes to visit you in Israel, it seems that everything that can possibly go wrong does. Yael is having one of those visits right now. It sounds like, if nothing else, it is promoting family togetherness.

So my mother pretty much got off the plane getting sick. For 3 days she felt mildly blah and then on Monday night through Wednesday the poor woman was unable to get out of the bed (picture being seasick only without the sea. A lot). On the day she got really (really) sick it also rained really really hard. I woke up to discover there was (1) no electricity in the apartment. Opened the door to go flip the electric master switch dealies out in the hallway and discovered a (2) LAKE just outside my apartment. I flipped the switch despite my trepidations of being a crispy critter since I was standing barefoot in freezing water with more water pouring down on my head from the ceiling above. I survived.

Back inside my brother noted that there were sparks shooting out from the wall where the electric switch for the dud (hot water heating) was. And water running down the wall from said socket in the kitchen. Yeah, water outside on one side of the apartment, water inside on the other. The electricity went out again. I called the Vad Bayit. He would come in a couple of hours. In the meantime, no electricity and (3) no hot water.

He came, he examined, he declared the problem to be with the wiring for the dud –they ran the wiring straight down into the apartment from the roof so the water runs merrily down the wires and collides with the switch there. So we had to keep that master switch off (24 hours til it dried out, sort of) but could turn on the lights. Of course, (4)the refrigerator is also on that line….Yeah. In the meantime, he would fix the separate cause of the lake from the ceiling but not until we have a spate of 3 dry days in a row. Until then, when it rains there will be a lake. Happy happy.

Then, on Wednesday, in the afternoon (raining again of course) (5)the Internet went out. Just stopped working. I called. The phone tech guy would come on Thursday. My bro had to deal with him as I was off at work. The water that made the lake has damaged the phone line. He has to come back to fix it, maybe on Sunday. BUT my line is all connected to the line of the apartment below mine and so I have to try to coordinate with the people below me (who haven’t been home in days) so he can get into their apartment in order to fix what is wrong in my apartment. In the meantime, no Internet.

(6)The heater does not work. It worked last year when they were here but this year it just blows cold air around. So my bro and I went to the Ace and bought a little radiator heater. Have you hugged your heater today? (7) Hugging this puppy (tashlomim, tashlomim) is the only way to experience any warmth from it. And my apartment is more than an icebox with wind whistling through the (closed) windows. The poor family have been huddling under blankets. Then this morning (8) the bro fully came down with the seasickness. I ain’t feeling too great myself but I’m refusing to succumb. Well, for the moment. Bleeeeecchhhh. We had planned to rent a car and go touring on this past tuesday and wednesday. Nope, nope. Then we thought my mom would be better by today and we could do the touring today and tomorrow. Nooooooooo. Maybe Sunday? They leave on Monday. And (9)the rain. Lots of rain. Every day raining.

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