I just renewed my car insurance. The value of my car was listed by the insurance company as US $27,860. As I bought it (a KIA Ceed) second hand from a leasing company 12 years ago, it has since been in one accident, is badly scraped up, and the entertainment system does not work, I very much doubt that anybody would pay me that much for it. I am considering leaving it parked near the border with an obscenity about Hezbollah painted on it, and hope their aim is good enough for the car to be totaled and can use the insurance money to buy a much better one.

I wouldn't count on the insurance cmpany actually giving you $27,860 if it gets totaled. You might save some money by having them put a more realistic value on it.

The insurance company set the value on it and set my premium based on that value. I can't see how it can get away with paying me less.

This is an enhancement and, IMHO, adds value to your vehicle! It allows you to focus on the sound of your engine while you're speeding through Levantine coast.

it might be good to ask people within the insurance field because I don�t think insurance easily pays out claims to their customers without a fight. There might also be clauses within the fine print of your policy.

I checked out of my hotel yesterday and arrived home. I live on top of a mountain and it can get rather cold. Right now, it is 4 (C) degrees here, but fortunately I have a friend who sells and repairs air conditioners and I had the foresight to have him take care of both of mine (mostly the problem is that they leaked gas during the past 18 months) so it is comfortably warm in my house.

Welcome home Dovster :-)

So good to see you back in your house again. It�s been so long since wars have started. So now the war is over. I�m sure you will be fine with that too. Hope they are peace and restoration of their country.

Sadly, the war is not over -- although it has reduced in intensity in the North. Hezbollah has been crippled to the point where it can only shoot a handful of short-range rockets every week or so and the IDF then returns fire. On our kibbutz we hear a lot of explosions but are informed ahead of time that is only the army doing drills. In Gaza it is a different story completely and 10,000 Israeli reservists were called up for active duty last week.

However, even in the north the after-effects of the earlier fighting are still being felt. Many shops (especially restaurants) remain shuttered. I have to get my eyes checked to renew my driving license and went to the city of Kiryat Shmona two days ago to get examined and there are four optometrists who have shops in the city but not one of them was open. I am going to look for one in a city which is further south.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I still keep reading the news everyday. We're always listen the news on my social media. It's extremely importance. I still can't believe the war still ongoing. Too many people were killed. I cannot imagine what happened in Israel. This must stop! We no longer visit Israel. It's not safe for us at all. Someday in the future when the war is over. You're only hope!

Thanks for the update Dovster and hope you find an optometrist

I had a strange experience with that. Three days ago, I went to Kiryat Shmona and was examined by an opthamologist who did a careful examination of my eyes and told me I have 20/20 vision. He did not, however, fill out the form for my driving license. He told me that checking my peripheral vision must be certified by an optometrist as only they have the needed machine. That is when I discovered that none of optometrists in the city are working.

Today, I went to Safed where there was an optometrist working. She also confirmed my 20/20 sight and told me I do not need eyeglasses. When I asked about my peripheral vision, she held a pen behind my head and then moved it to my right side and said I should tell her when I see it. Then she repeated it on my left side and told me it is fine in both sides and filled out the required form and stamped it.

If a pen is all the equipment needed for this, I have to wonder why the opthamologist cannot afford to buy one!

There are different ways of testing peripheral vision; some are more sensitive than others. Whether testing it with a slowly moving pen (or finger) truly satisfies Israeli requirements I cannot say.

For more sensitive perimeter tests, see: tangent screen, and Goldmann perimeter.

Tariffs dear. Tariffs.

You mean "Freedom Taxes".