Husbinator called the mechanic this morning, who told him the car might not be ready until tomorrow, but he should call back at noon and they'd discuss. As this was Not Cool, and since it's really hard to hear the mechanic over the phone, we decided to just drive to his shop and explain in person why we REALLY need the car today, and barring that, what our (somewhat annoying) options were. We show up and the guy tells us the car is getting its yearly test done as we speak: it'll be ready in an hour tops. And so it was. Huh.
So Husbinator drove our car back, and I drove the rental car back (sans GPS!), and All Was Well. OK, for the sake of honesty, I didn't drive back without any digital help: Waze used the cellular network to give me my approximate location, and gave me directions like that. So I couldn't depend on it for turn-by-turn directions, but it did plot my course for me. For the record, I made a turn it missed even though I couldn't see the name of the street: the highway sign said Malcha was leftward, and I vaguely remembered that I should be able to pick up Begin North from Malcha Mall, so leftward I went! As I turned left, I saw that indeed, the street sign matched where Waze wanted me to make a left, too. Ha!
I broke up the two-hour drive shortly after learning why Ema/Abba have a habit of reaching to the back seat to hold their kids' hands during car-trips: this is most likely due to the fact that when you're driving alone with a crying baby, about the only thing you can do is reach back and play with their foot. This actually did soothe BSM to a certain extent, but not completely. So without much regret, I stopped at the rest-stop between Beit Shean and Jerusalem that I've been wanting to stop at since we saw it. Due to various sleeping passengers (thank G-d!) we only stopped there once--for 10 minutes--the one time we traveled to Yerushalayim by bus. We haven't been missing much, though there is a second-hand store (the only one I've seen since we moved here) that's open from 9-1. Next time, eh?
I also bought little pretzels from the grocery store at the rest stop and put them into one of those spill-proof snack cups that we bought while we were in Yerushalayim. BSM had enjoyed Nosie-Boy's so much, I figured we could splurge a few dollars and get him one of his own. I wasn't sure that it was completely necessary, but it was something of an impulse purchase. I will say that I think it will be very, very useful on future car trips. Or maybe immediately, but filled with (smaller) Cheerios instead of pretzels. Right now, he only succeeds in getting a pretzel about every third time, frustrating him mightily the other two times.
When I finally got back, I saw that the trisim (best translation I have is "blinds", but these things are a cultural phenomenon, I tell you) opposite our front door had collapsed. Well, we'll let someone know, but what do I care? We have a ticket out of here, and I feel great. I spoke with our future landlords again today, and as soon as he explains the chart on page 6 to me, we'll sign the contract and scan it over to them. (Husbinator's cousin-in-law says it's a perfectly standard rental agreement, with no evil clauses.)
It will be sad to pull BSM from the daycare here, though. It's such a great place, and he really loves his friends: he saw two of them at dinner tonight and was just so excited. One of the mothers invited us to sit with her, too: now that we're on the verge of leaving, it looks like we're about to start settling in. Whatever, I'm still pretty thrilled.
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