Then again, public transport and taxis were so affordable and easy. . .

They had changed the light but not the painted arrow in the street, so I went into the turn like normal only to discover there was oncoming traffic (all legal left turns there have a turn arrow). So I stopped and the police comes running over. “You can’t turn left here.” “Since when?” “Since next week.” “I think you mean last week, but I always turn left here.” “Well, you have to go straight.” I am already into the turn at this point, so going straight would mean backing up in a busy intersection, which to me seemed more dangerous than finishing my turn. So I said, “I can’t, what do you want me to do.” And he responded, “You have to go straight.” We repeat these two sentences back and forth for about three or four verses, and in the meantime, my partner, who is also and FSO, develops terets, muttering over and over and over “F*ck you, mother f**ker” (clearly we’d been in Jerusalem too long). Finally, on my last, “I can’t, what do you want me to do,” the cop says, “You have to come with me.” I too have dip plates and a dip card, so I responded, “No, what else would you like me to do?” And he let me make my turn!

In my and my partner’s defense, insanity at the end of a Jerusalem tour is pretty common.

Have you actually been assigned a date and place yet? I didn’t know they had started assigning the December slots.