Laughing at a bad day

So everyone had warned me that my moment of frustration with Israel would come, and I certainly experienced that today! But like my friend Shira advised, you have to take everything here with a laugh. Humor is the only way to deal! Be grateful we at least have a state, she reminded me. Israel is only 61 years old, she's a baby. Be patient with her.
So patient I was - for an hour and a half at the bank this morning while the bankers tried to set up my account. They couldn't quite figure it out for some reason so they told me I have to come back tomorrow. Fine.
Then to the cell phone store to get a phone and a plan. I brought along my trusty friend Tamar for moral and language support. First we went to Orange to get their rates then walked five feet to the right to compare with the Cellcom desk. The back-and-forth resulted in a bidding and bargaining war over the different rates, features, benefits, etc. I felt like I was in an Arab shuk. There was nothing official, no pamphlets or flyers with official numbers. Just white pieces of paper and pens that they scribbled numbers down and circled things trying to make it look like I was getting a deal. The first offer I got was 500 shekels a month - unbelievable. We decided to take a break for food and come back. When we came back about an hour later, the salesperson we had talked to was gone and the new person told us that what the previous person told us was actually wrong, and quoted me a whole new price package. I couldn't even deal with how ridiculous the situation was - that's when Shira's advice could certainly come in handy! When it comes to salespeople here I'm learning very quickly never to believe any of them. In the end I walked away empty-handed and decided to sleep on it and go back tomorrow.
I came home to do some much-needed laundry and accidentally shrunk the blanket of the bed of the apartment I'm renting. So I realized - this is just one of those days. I shouldn't try to do anything else today because I will most certainly screw it up! So I'm going out :-) I don't think I can screw up fun, I hope!