Some days are good some days are stressful

I had a chaotic and annoying day, or to quote a line from a book that I read when I was about 6, I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I woke up to my electricity having been cut off. This was odd. I asked David why he thought this might have happened and he said he didn't know, that he was positive that he had paid the bill. I, however, was having doubts, as I don't remember receiving a bill from the electricity company, although, I can't be sure, since I can't read Hebrew and wouldn't know the name of an electricity company if I saw it. David made contact with the electricity company and we owed them money. 8 months worth of money. He went there and pointed out that we had never received a bill from them, to which they said, we know, we forgot, you owe us 2000 shekels. That's about 500 dollars Canadian. We paid it. I was livid. Only in Israel would a company forget to send you a bill. It was also frustrating as it is one of those moments where you really feel the limitations of being an immigrant in a new country where you can't read, write or express yourself the way you would like. I am pretty responsible with bills and never in my life have I had anything cut off as a result of non payment. This one was not our fault, however, except that we could have phoned the company, which I would have done if I hadn't trusted David's claim to have paid electricity before. Then, when the lights came back on, I wanted to connect to the internet, however, I could not, as there was something wrong with it. So I proceeded to call the internet provider, which is something that I do know and I managed to get someone to make an appointment for a technician to come here today to fix it. In the meantime, I figured out what was wrong, so I was able to tell the guy exactly what the problem was this morning when he arrived. It was something that I couldn't fix. Then, at around 5 o clock, a man comes to my door to tell me that I need to pay my gas bill or he is going to cut it off. I was, as you can imagine, by this time, about ready to have a nervous breakdown. You see, sometimes, we get bills for things in other people's names. Such as city taxes and the like. Sometimes, I ask David if it is for us, an account where the name hasn't been switched and so forth. So when it looks important, I ask him. Now, with the gas bill, it was coming repeatedly and never with our name on it. So finally I asked David if it was ours and if we should pay it. He said yes. So on October 25th, I went to the bank and paid the gas bill. Once again, an outstanding bill, but it was paid and that was that. So when this guy came to my door last night to tell me to pay the bill or he will cut off the gas, I almost hit him. He asked if I had the receipt and frantically I went looking through my desk trying to find it. Couldn't. He called the company and they didn't have a record of payment. FINALLY I found the receipt and he looked at it, said ok and left. I later looked at the bill and realized that I had paid it on October 25th. This is two weeks later. I certainly don't understand how it is possible that in two weeks a payment hasn't gone through. I need to call them today to check this out. OK, this is partly our fault, for not paying on time, but Holy hashem! What is with this place? More than two weeks for a payment to go through, bills that are not sent? It is insane. I spoke to an Israeli about this last night and she said "What, in Canada this never happens?" I have NEVER had Telus, or BC Hydro FORGET to send me a bill. NEVER. This puts one more piece of evidence on my list of how Israel is a very disorganized and inefficient country. Personally I think that is why this country has so many problems. They can't get it together. Anyway, this isn't a political blog...So this morning, determined to do something to destress, I called a place where I had heard that they have massage. It is an office next to my doctor's office and the last time I was there I asked the secretary what it was. She told me massage. So I called this morning to schedule an appointment and miracle of miracles, I could come right away which I did and it was so good. And massage is so good during pregnancy, right Jen? And he was very good at it. I feel much better. I could just imagine how tight my muscles must be after 9 months here with barely any exercise but incredible amounts of stress. And, you know, it isn't even that expensive. 4 massages for less than 100 dollars. That's pretty good. My goal today is to call this place where they have yoga and talk to them about what classes they offer. I would like to go to yoga at least once a week. I am learning that if I persist, I can find someone that speaks English or French combined with the Hebrew I know and I can get by. So wonderful! Now I must go and pick up little Emil from school, come home, and clean for shabbat! Happy Thursday dear friends!