Intense pharmacists, mazgan dudes, and change is good

Monday morning, Yaakov was still sick so he stayed home. He and I went back to MaccabiPharm, because I really love that place. We got our number and picked up a couple of things while waiting our turn. When our number was summoned, chick-chock, the pharmacist lady got us the shampoo for Yaakov, and we were able to put the shampoo PLUS the other sundry items on our hora'at keva! Yay! Of course, Monday night, when I was checking our Bank Discount online, I saw that 354 NIS had been withdrawn. For what, you may wonder? Ahhh...hora'at keva comes due. Oh well, it still feels free. Now let us discuss Israeli lady pharmacists. They are INTENSE. To give you an example: I went to get my Hep A vaccine (update: still sitting in the fridge, hanging out with the melon). The pharmacist was a man. I gave him the prescription, he told me that I wouldn't be able to get the shot that day because the needle people were closed, but gave me the medicine with a little tube of ice and told me to keep it (the medicine) in the fridge. Shalom, l'hitraot. When Donny and I went last Friday, in attempt #2 to vaccinate ourselves, we had a lady pharmacist. Donny wanted to pick up his little vial of fun. Donny gave her the prescription. She said, "Well, you're not going to be able to get the shot today, [surprise surprise] so I don't really want to give you the medicine. I mean, you can keep in the fridge, but how do I know your fridge is the proper temperature? Here, we keep it at the perfect temperature. I cannot trust your refrigerator to do the same. Better to come back and get it on the day you get the shot." Whoa. Part of me is thinking, you're intense and maybe a little crazy, and another is starting to secretly doubt the wisdom of letting my vaccine ferment in the fridge. Hmm... Another time, when we went asking about lice treatment, (at a different pharmacy with a different lady,) she did not simply wave me in the general direction of lice products and continue tapping on the counter with her nails and cracking gum. She came out from behind the counter and gave me an in-depth analysis of each treatment, its effectiveness, its ingredients, and how to use it. Today, when I gave the pharmacist the shampoo prescription, she looked at me in a critical sort of manner and said, "Are you sure he told you to use it once a day for 5 days? Are you sure he didn't say once every 2 weeks?" (The directions were written on the prescription, so I'm not sure what she thought I was playing at.) I assured her that the doctor said to first do it for 5 days, and then only do it once every 2 weeks. She seemed satisfied and let me have the shampoo. Phew!


After that Yaakov and I went to Supersol to do our shopping. Donny emailed to say the mazgan guys were coming between 2-4 to fix the AC in our bedroom. At around 11:30, Yaakov was napping and I had my hands full of chicken (see, the chicken in Supersol is Supercheap, but only if you buy the whole chickens, meaning I spend a good part of the day cutting them up and trying not to think about it. Ahhh, those butcher genes coming in handy.) There was a buzz at the door - the mazgan dudes had arrived! Clearly, "between 2 and 4" really meant "whenever the heck we feel like showing up." It was hashgachah pratis (Leezy - put that in your book) that I was home with Yaakov, because otherwise I would have been in ulpan and missed our chance with the dudes. Anyway, mazgan dude claimed he fixed the problem. I'll let you know tomorrow.
There is a lot of change in Israel - as in coins. There are agurot, and 1, 2, 5, and 10 shekel coins. Right now, I currently have in my wallet enough change to bail out the US economy. Maybe that's the problem - no one has any money because it's all in my zippered change purse. Every night, Donny deposits all of his coins into my wallet because he doesn't feel like carrying them around. The problem is compounded because whenever I pay cash, I'm too lazy to sift through the coins; it's easier to just give them bills and get...more change! The collection grows steadily.

Today (Tuesday? I think?) Yaakov was STILL sick, so another fun day home with Mommy! Fun for whom, I wonder? In the morning, after dropping off Ariella at gan - she had some sort of pre-Yom Kippur party today - we came back home and stared at each other because nothing is open yet. Then, a little before 9, we headed out to do Our Errands. We went back to Yishpru, where the Supersol is, to go to "Home Center." There, I purchased a food processor with a blender and a hand vac. Let me rephrase, lest you think Israel is the home of whopping miracle appliances. I bought a food processor with a blender. I also purchased a hand vac. Yippeee! We then went across the street to Supersol to find out why our Supersol card hasn't arrived yet. It turns out, the reason is, that it hasn't arrived yet. Not to worry. We went to the mikvah with our new appliances and then home. Yaakov eventually napped, and I started cooking. We are having our first company on Friday night - the family from our building whose son is in gan with Ariella. She is VERY excited. Yaakov woke up cranky, but fever-free. In the afternoon, once he had perked up, he realized how very boring it was to be in the house for three days, and he was itching for some action. So he proceeded to torture Ariella all afternoon. Let me tell you, I'm in some kind of good mood now! Whoo-whee!

Finally, after 3 or 4 years, the kids were finally in bed (Yaakov in his crib so he couldn't bother Ariella anymore - he was stealing Bunny and hiding it - a serious offense, punishable by one night in the crib.) Donny came home with his new cell phone from work, and he arranged for the Orange (that's the cell phone company) guy to come to our house so I could get my cell phone as well. That's right, cell phone companies make house calls here. How awesome! Ori, our dude, was shocked that this didn't happen in America as well. He did not speak English much, so we (read: Donny) had to battle our way through in Hebrew. We (Donny) did a very good job communicating our needs to Ori. By which I mean I now have a cell phone, so what could have been bad? Also, cell phones go along with "cucumbers" and "tomatoes" on the list of Things That Are Cheaper in Israel. Anyway, not only do I have a cell phone, but MY cell phone is cooler than Donny's! Take that! Now if only I could eat it for lunch...

So another day has gone by and our 2 Rooms of Stuff remain untended to. I think the Stuff in there is starting to reproduce and have baby Stuff. There are going to be entire villages of Stuff, awaiting us by the time we get to it. They'll have appointed a mayor and written a constitution and everything. I'm scared.

Tomorrow we head back to the Kleins for YK. We have to eat the seuda at some ridiculously early hour, so I will not have time to write and therefore we will meet back here after YK. Gmar chatima tova and an easy fast to whomever (Momz) may be reading this.