shabbat shalom 19.04.12

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Linda Whittaker <olsvig2000@yahoo.com>
To: Linda Olsvig-Whittaker <linda.whittaker@npa.org.il>; Linda Whittaker <olsvig200@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 4:08 AM
Subject: shabbat shalom 19.04.12

Hi everyone,

Thursday afternoon.  I wasn't feeling well this morning, with a sore throat and diarrhea, so I called in sick.  But after a few hours I dragged myself down to the mall to get some throat lozenges and a couple other errands.  Still feeling rotten, I was at the gate to our village when something happened that made my day.

A white car started riding my butt on the way up the steep climb to the older part of the village.  Speed limit here is 30 km/hr and I was going exactly 30, but this guy had roared up behind me going about twice that, and then was tailgating me to get past.  I finally had enough and when we got to a narrow part of the road, I stopped my car and got out. 

I was expecting the usual pimply teenager, since it is mostly local teens and conscripts who drive like a bat out of hell around here, but no, it was a middle aged officer with hardware all over his shoulder.  I can never tell the difference between lewie colonel and colonel, but he was something like that.

Oh boy, God loves me today – nothing I like better than reaming out a soldier.  So while the colonel sat there and turned purple, I calmly and politely explained that

"You were speeding, soldier.  Har Gilo is not a military camp but a village with children, lots of children.  And dogs and cats.  Lots of dogs and cats.  You know, sir, I always worry that a soldier speeding might hit one of them.   I have 14 cats you see.  And three dogs.  I walk the dogs on a leash so they are safe, but I worry about the cats.  And we have women pushing baby carriages.  You can drive how you like in an army camp but in a village the speed limit is 30 km/hr.  I was going 30 km/hr.  You are going to go 30 km/hr too.  It's required of everybody…."

The madder he got the slower and more politely I talked to him.  While he was just chewing his beard and going yeah, yeah, I understand - I could tell he wanted to kill me.  I just love situations like that.  After about five minutes, I let him go with a warning, then drove ahead of him all the way to my house, which is next to the military area, so he never did pass me, and was probably pissing down his leg in fury…..I felt SO much better when I got home.  I am not a nice person.  Just ask the colonel.

Other than that, the week has mostly been pretty quiet.  We had all been on Passover holiday for a week so it was hard to settle back to work.  Most people didn't; there are meetings and events like Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), then more holidays next week, and basically nobody got geared up.  I tried, but couldn't get in gear either….and then got a virus.  Oh well, better now than when I'm really going full tilt.

The weather is mad.  We have "hamsin" (the desert dust storms with high heat and dust), followed by cold fronts from Europe with more dust storms.  This will continue for a while, first soaring heat and then back to clouds and cold and maybe rain.  First I have the air conditioner set in the office to cool and then to heat….

But it is still very beautiful outside with lots of flowers, and even the battered lawn in front of the officer's offices, where the all the dogs pee, is a carpet of beautiful yellow, blue and white flowers.   Maybe dog pee is good for them.  I would like to find a field of flowers where I'm more comfortable about lying down in it, however…..

Shabbat shalom,

Linda