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{{bheader|Feb 11th|Devar/5771/Tetsaveh}}

Hi again! 

Rain and more rain, but not enough to extinguish middle-east fires.  Jobs and careers.  Friends all over.

The rains continued much of the week, thank God!  Now they've tapered off, but are scheduled to return on Sunday.  That's mighty convenient, having no rain fall on ''shabbat''!  We hope and pray the gentle rains continue the rest of the winter and spring, but who knows?  Certainly not me.

Sarah was ''most triumphant'' this week!  She interviewed for a second-year position in National Service (working with new immigrants, this time). Though there were ''many'' applicants, Sarah was called back only a few days later and told, "we want ''you''".  She was very excited, and is now considering whether or not she will accept it or wait for a response from the other place she applied.  בהצלחה בתי היקרה!

The rains did not serve to extinguish the flames of revolution currently making the rounds in the Arab world.  Nor was the unrest in Egypt helped by Mubarak [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142271 promising to step down], and then [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142278 deciding to remain in power].  But what I don't understand is why [http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbC5dst5daTRlP1hWH-zp6Lyc5tw?docId=38c7932397114358ac8cf1623d20f8ca Obama feels the need to intervene] in Egypt's internal affairs?  Does he really think America's interests are advanced by causing instability in an allied government?  Oh, wait -- I forgot -- Obama doesn't care about what's good for ''America''.

One of the email mailing lists I receive has members all over the world.  One of the participants started signing his emails, "The Egyptian".  I knew he was Arab, but not that he was in Egypt -- so I emailed him directly and told him I hoped he was safe and that things would calm down.  He said that he lives in a suburb of Cairo, that there were almost no disturbances there -- and that (surprise!) the mainstream media reports are full of ... ordure ... and that you can't trust anything written in them.  Amazing what you learn, when you just talk to regular people...

I've been contacted by several different people over the past couple months, trying to recruit me for other jobs.  Though I'm happy to be considered, I wonder: do I ''really'' want to be somebody's employee for the rest of my working career?  The period of my life (over eight years) when I was an independent contractor was one of the best in my career.  Not having a direct boss appeals to me greatly, but I know that going independent means more work on my part -- and I'm a bit too lazy (or, perhaps, too busy) to want to spend extra time working.  What do you think? [mailto:ron@ronware.org?subject=Contracting Tell me].

Sarah's invited three of her roommates over for ''shabbat''.  They will hopefully enjoy: homemade ''kibbeh'', (homemade) vegetarian ''kibbeh'', (homemade) cauliflower soup, (homemade) quinoa stuffed veggies, (") roast brisket<sup>*</sup>, (&c) baked salmon, Ron's homemade kumquat chutney,  beet salad, roasted veggies, Sarah's deadly brownies.

Until next week,<br>
shabbat shalom!

<small><sup>*</sup> Ironically, brisket is considered an inferior cut here, so it's cheaper than the others.  Go figure...</small>

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