Safra-Knit

We’ve had the car for about two months, and it allowed us to have a great Succot vacation. Hopefully I’ll write more about that later, but first the car story…

The main reason we purchased the car is so that I don’t lose my mind picking up three girls in a period of one hour in the afternoon. Normally I leave work at 2:30 PM, get to big girl’s school by 3:00, pick her and a classmate up, get to the baby’s childcare and drop off the classmate by 3:30 and then get to sandwich girl’s** childcare by 3:50 (the younger two can both stay until 4:00).

Well, yesterday I completed the first two pickups, and got in the car (3:40) to go to sandwich girl’s kindergarten and the car wouldn’t start. Nothing, not even a little rev, just silence as I turned the key. I had no idea what to do. I don’t even know what I’d do in the US! First I called my not so empathetic spouse who said something about how he never wanted a car in the first place. This gave me the perfect opportunity to vent out my stress.

I attempted to find a Taxi, but Murphy’s law was in full force. Luckily I have the taxi company’s phone number memorized, so I called it and they said they would be there in two minutes. Unfortunately, I looked at the clock and it was already 4:00. I luckily had Sanwich girl’s Kindergarten phone number in my phone, so I called and said I was on my way. The taxi arrived, and we got to the childcare at about 4:08. They had let her go to the park across the street with another mom. Unfortunately, it was busy and I didn’t see her for a few minutes. (Big girl was waiting in the taxi, and the baby was attached to me by the sling.) She said no when I told her we had to go, so of course, I screamed. (I later called and apologized and thanked the mom who took her out.)

The taxi took us home, and I started my search trying to determine what to do. First step, call my boss. She previously owned a really bad car, so I know she had lots of experience with this. She said to call a towing company or the garage. I first called the garage, they hung up on me, so I called back and the guy said to call my insurance company to find out if I have towing coverage. Fair enough. That number was also located in my cell phone. My insurance company gave me the name of the towing company to call. I called them, it turns out that it is the Israeli equivalent to AAA. (Added their number immediately to my phone as well.)

The person there first told me I wasn’t registered with them, but after I told them my insurance company told me to call, she asked me how long it would take for me to get to the car. I would need to be there when they arrived. I said 15 minutes, and they said they would have someone call and let me know when they were on their way. It would be within three hours. I went upstairs to the neighbors and asked if someone could watch the girls if I needed to go before hubby arrived home. They agreed, and I went downstairs to start dinner.

Before the pasta water even boiled, I got a call from the tow company (about 5PM) saying that he would be there in five minutes! I turned off the water, tossed the kids upstairs and ran to the car. (It is about a 10 minute walk.)

It wasn’t a tow truck waiting for me, but “first aid.”++ This guy has a van packed with tools and equipment, and he asks me to start the car. I try, nothing happens. He says “זה המצבר” (zeh haMatzber) [the battery] which sounded to me like “זה מעצבן” (zeh me’atzben) [thats annoying/frustrating]. He might have laughed, but I think he was kinder than that, and I suddenly realized he was telling me what was wrong with the car. Of course, he has batteries with him, and can install it on the spot for a thousand shekels. I realized that not having a car for even half a day to find a cheaper price wasn’t worth it, so I agreed. Of course, he only took checks or cash, and I had neither with me, so he followed me back to the apartment, and I wrote him a check.

I was back home by 6PM! The whole story from start to finish was about 2 hours and 20 minutes!

Total phone calls: 8
Total cost: 1030 shekels (30 for taxi + 1000 for battery)

Thoughts 24 hours later: Hmmm…could there just have been corrosion on the battery contacts? Did I overpay for the battery? I really feel like a completely clueless immigrant for not knowing the word for battery….I have so much to learn.

And now on with the show….

**I don’t like calling her the middle one, and she is still the little one to me, so I’m settling on sandwich girl for now.

++First aid is a subcontractor of Memsi (the AAA type company). If he can’t solve the problem, then he calls the tow truck. I think it is a really good way of doing things, and probably helps solve lots of problems.