Things I never thought I'd learn in Israel

By: Rebecca and Jason

We all believe that there are things we will never need to know: algebra, the metric system (turns out that's useful), the capitals of all 50 states, and... how to change a tire on a Ford F-350. 

Wednesday started as a typical field day (maybe even smoother than most). Meeting Amir and Mosheco at the sadna (dive workshop), loading up the gear and boat trailer, and piling into the truck - wetsuits, bathing suits, and the all-important snacks in hand.

We arrived in Akko in record time thanks to the newly opened highway. There was even time for a cup of coffee before heading out to sea. The field work went smoothly and quickly. On the way back to shore, Amir jumped overboard to mark the location of a newly discovered ancient wreck (just another day at sea in Israel). 

We cleaned up, hosed everything down, and 3 of us decided that we should go for hummus in Akko (famously delicious). There was dissension in the ranks. Mosheco was anxious to get back to Haifa so we aborted the hummus mission and started home. He did acquiesce to stopping at an aquarium store for Jason just down the road. 

Right now you're thinking - why blog about this day? 

As we drove away, Amir noticed that the "tire pressure low" warning light was on. When we stopped at the store, Mosheco got out to look at the tire. Turns out, a ghetto repair in the hose (fixed with nails?!) had punctured the truck tire. We pulled into a mechanic shop and they took off the leaking tire. 

I don't know how many people reading this have trucks, but you find the spare, take it out/off the car/truck, and replace the tire. Luckily, the F-350 comes with a full spare. Unluckily for us, we couldn't figure out how to get it off the truck. We seemed to be missing the "spare tire lock key" and without it, could not remove the spare. Picture the four of us and a couple mechanics huddled around the tailgate of the truck with the owners' manual trying to figure out how to remove the spare. 

We finally gave up and the mechanics put the leaking tire back on, filled it with air and we set off for home, towing a trailer, and hoping that the tire would hold on for Haifa. No more than 5 minutes from mechanic #1, Mosheco opened the glove box and after rooting around came up with the missing key. 

Obviously we are better at field work than
reading the owners' manual of an F-350
(even in Hebrew I don't think it would have mattered)

We arrived at mechanic #2, key in hand, and within minutes had the leaking tire off, spare tire on, and were set to go. 

Oh Akko...next time we will go get hummus!!

The Akko waterfront