Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Dumb American?!

I sit here basking in my fantastically freezing living room curtosy of my newly fixed AC. This is the life.............The only thing that I lament (other than 2 weeks of endless sweating) is coming out of the whole ordeal feeling like a dumb American.
Our warranty expired a few months ago but we suspected that the problem stemmed from faulty installation. So, I convinced the company that it was in the interest of their own good name to send someone to check it out- on their dime. This was all communicated in hebrew. I was quite proud of myself. So, we waited for 2 weeks for their technician to show up only to be told that the problem was most certainly not the instalation. (Incidentally, the technician they sent was the very same person who installed the AC. Whatever.)
He was more than happy to fix the problem for a mere 350NIS. Not wanting to be taken for a chump, I told him I'd be in touch after I got a few estimates. (No one's gonna call ME a stupid American!)
I found out afterwards that 350 NIS was a very reasonable price. You live and learn.
In the meantime, We called a private (and very highly recommended) handy man to check out our ailing AC. His quote: 500 NIS.
We told him that company X (who'd sold us the AC originally) quoted us 350. (see?! I'm no DA- I can bargain like a sabra!) He laughed and said that company X is no company.

Uh oh.

Does this guy really know what he's talking about? If so, were we taken for a ride originally? Should we trust him since he's a local resident and offers us a warranty on his service or do we go with our friendly technician who could have created the problem for us in the first place?

Meanwhile Mr. Handy Man lowered his price to 450NIS...............

I feel like I'm always falling into these traps! Pay an extra 100 NIS now and save the possible 350NIS later? Jason always tells me that we are going to go broke on my 'bargains'.

I'm HOT and I just want my AC to work already! I'm so confused!

I said a silent prayer, agreed to the higher price, kicked myself a few times for being (or at least feeling like) a DA, and looked forward to a frigid living room.........

What's an extra 100 NIS in the scheme of things? (please do NOT quote me to the husband.)


On a different note, here's a picture of my boys enjoying our entertainment center.


They actually sat in front of the stereo for an hour as they listened to a story about the 10 plagues.............Who needs TV?!
I love raising kids on Torah values!
Tootaloo. I'm off to get a sweater.

Monday, August 18, 2008

3 Cheers for Global Warming

You'll please excuse me for being remiss in my blogging frequency. Its just too hot to blog. I don't think I've ever experienced a HOTTER summer in my life. And, incidentally, our AC is broken. So I have no energy to do a blessed thing (including work............) ::sheepish grin:: except sit on my couch and be hot. Someone told me recently that I shine. I pointed out that its just my sweat she's noticing.
And my 2 big boys are home- though that's going far better than could be expected. With Yisroel Meir out of the picture for the morning, the dynamic is very different and surprisingly pleasant. (no guarantees how long that's going to last.......) That's not to say that we don't LOVE YM- surely we do! Its just that he gets in his brothers' faces and then they clobber him and then I go into protective mode "HOW DARE YOU HIT MY BABY!!!!!!!"- and then we end up with 3 very sad little boys and one very frustrated Mommy. I don't even mind when the big ones fight with each other because AL can dish it out about as hard as YZ can. So, with the stakes even, its every man for himself (as long as they don't step on my piles of laundry in the process). But may G-d have mercy on you if you mess with my baby. (And, of course, YM is very very well aware of his coveted status and makes sure to cry extra loud- just for me. Won't he be in for a rude awakening when he's dethroned.........iy"h)
Nothing much else going on here- just drinking tons and plodding our way through the oppressive unbearable heat to the local supermarket since their AC is AWESOME.
Praying hard for the heat to break or our AC to unbreak.
Here are some pictures that my downstairs neighbor took of my boys. She's quite talented (and quite convenient). The photo session and ensuing pics were free since she's in the midst of creating her website and attempting to enlarge her portfolio to display on it. Unfortunately, my boys will NOT be featured on her site since they were less than cooperative (except for my baby.........he was so good) and, thus, she didn't find any pictures of them that excited her. (No indication of their overall cuteness, of course!) Either way, I got my free pics- so I'm happy (and hot).