Blog/December 2008/Dec 26th - Revision history

Ron at 11:56, 2 January 2009

2009-01-02T11:56:53Z

Ron at 09:21, 26 December 2008

2008-12-26T09:21:29Z

Ron at 08:40, 26 December 2008

2008-12-26T08:40:44Z

Ron at 08:18, 26 December 2008

2008-12-26T08:18:24Z

Ron at 07:28, 26 December 2008

2008-12-26T07:28:47Z

Ron at 19:43, 25 December 2008

2008-12-25T19:43:13Z

Ron at 19:15, 25 December 2008

2008-12-25T19:15:24Z

Ron at 12:21, 25 December 2008

2008-12-25T12:21:04Z

Ron at 12:08, 25 December 2008

2008-12-25T12:08:43Z

Ron at 12:00, 25 December 2008

2008-12-25T12:00:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:56, 2 January 2009
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	Shabbat shalom!		Shabbat shalom!

−	{{nav\|Blog\|Blog\|Blog/December 2008/Dec 19th\|Dec 19th\|\|}}	+	{{nav\|Blog\|Blog\|Blog/December 2008/Dec 19th\|Dec 19th\|Blog/January 2009/Jan 2nd\|Jan 2nd}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:21, 26 December 2008
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	{{wiki\|Hanukkah}} is here! The festival of lights. The celebration of {{wiki2\|Mattathias\|religious fanatics'}} intolerance for {{wiki2\|Hellenistic_Judaism\|assimilationists}}. The holiday of the ''{{wiki\|sufganiyah}}''. I never did like sufganiyot, but once a year I have one or two. And that suffices to confirm to me why I don't like them. On the other hand, it's also the holiday of the ''{{wiki\|latke}}'' (''levivot'', or potato pancake) -- and B"H, Esther's ''latkes'' are absolutely the best I've ever had, even if she says so herself! We also have the obligatory meal of ''{{wiki\|falafel}}'', and today I'm having ''{{wiki2\|malawach\|malawaH}}'' for breakfast -- so I think we've fulfilled the custom of eating oily foods during Hanukkah, to the fullest extent possible...		{{wiki\|Hanukkah}} is here! The festival of lights. The celebration of {{wiki2\|Mattathias\|religious fanatics'}} intolerance for {{wiki2\|Hellenistic_Judaism\|assimilationists}}. The holiday of the ''{{wiki\|sufganiyah}}''. I never did like sufganiyot, but once a year I have one or two. And that suffices to confirm to me why I don't like them. On the other hand, it's also the holiday of the ''{{wiki\|latke}}'' (''levivot'', or potato pancake) -- and B"H, Esther's ''latkes'' are absolutely the best I've ever had, even if she says so herself! We also have the obligatory meal of ''{{wiki\|falafel}}'', and today I'm having ''{{wiki2\|malawach\|malawaH}}'' for breakfast -- so I think we've fulfilled the custom of eating oily foods during Hanukkah, to the fullest extent possible...
		+
		+	Esther decided to get us a "family Hanukkah present". We were excited, the anticipation building until she unveiled... {{wiki\|Boggle}} ... in Hebrew, no less! Those of you who know my lovely wife, are probably aware that despite her being a non-native English speaker, she consistently beat all of us (by a large margin) in Boggle. So Sarah and I were understandably apprehensive at the arrival of this latest "gift". However, to be honest, Hebrew is a great equalizer. All three of us stink at it, and since we all learned Hebrew in different ways, we come up with completely different lists of words. So it's not so bad after all... but next year, she should look for something more neutral, like dueling pistols or something.

	The run for the national elections [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129026 is heating up]. Next week we'll know exactly which ''lists'' are running and who is on them. For now, it seems there are a record number of lists contending for our votes (in February). After [http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3637394,00.html Netanyahu's dirty tactics] vis-a-vis Feiglin, the more right-leaning public is shying away from Likud. We'll see how it goes after we know who's actually in the running.		The run for the national elections [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129026 is heating up]. Next week we'll know exactly which ''lists'' are running and who is on them. For now, it seems there are a record number of lists contending for our votes (in February). After [http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3637394,00.html Netanyahu's dirty tactics] vis-a-vis Feiglin, the more right-leaning public is shying away from Likud. We'll see how it goes after we know who's actually in the running.

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 Lots of stuff... where do I begin?
-Plumbing -- we have a love/hate relationship with it.  On the one hand, it's convenient and useful.  On the other hand, when it "backs up" -- whoa! -- you don't want to be near it.  This week we finally got our sewage system fixed (thank God!).  At first, we called the contractor we had used to redo our internal plumbing.  He said he would send out his plumber... which he did, after five days of nagging.  The (Arab) plumber showed up without any actual tools, and after poking about ineffectually with a rubber tube told us he would have to order a ''biuvit'' -- which is a sewage-sucking truck.  My neighbor (who is also a plumber) said, "ma pitom!" (Hebrew for, "what are you, stupid?"), "you only need a blickibobberheim".  I didn't know what that was, but he recommended some other plumber (a Jew) who lives locally.  So we got him to come over the next day and he fixed the problem, without a sewage-sucking truck (it turns out the blickibobberheim [not its actual name] is simply a set of mating rods with a spiral cutting thing on the end, which are fed into the muck and pushed in until they hit an obstruction.  Low-tech, but effective.
+Plumbing -- we have a love/hate relationship with it.  On the one hand, it's convenient and useful.  On the other hand, when it "backs up" -- whoa! -- you don't want to be near it.  This week we finally got our sewage system fixed (thank God!).  At first, we called the contractor we had used to redo our internal plumbing.  He said he would send out his plumber... which he did, after five days of nagging.  The (Arab) plumber showed up without any actual tools, and after poking about ineffectually with a rubber tube told us he would have to order a ''[http://www.tabib.co.il/?CategoryID=171&ArticleID=56 biuvit]'' -- which is a sewage-sucking truck.  My neighbor (who is also a plumber) said, "ma pitom!" (Hebrew for, "what are you, stupid?"), "you only need a blickibobberheim".  I didn't know what that was, but he recommended some other plumber (a Jew) who lives locally.  So we got him to come over the next day and he fixed the problem, without a sewage-sucking truck (it turns out the blickibobberheim [not its actual name] is simply a set of mating rods with a spiral cutting thing on the end, which are fed into the muck and pushed in until they hit an obstruction.  Low-tech, but effective.
 Speaking of plumbing, I've mentioned before that people seem to feel it is OK to urinate in public here.  It's as though they think they are wearing an [http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2005/06/embarrassing_te.html invisibility cloak].  Some jokers put up signs in an English city [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Its_legal_to_pee_in_this_citys_streets/articleshow/3887049.cms claiming it was legal] to relieve oneself publicly there.  In [http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/12/Man_bashed_to_death_over_public_urination India] it may be fatal.  And in [http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?40824 Pakistan] it's apparently just part of the scenery.

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 Speaking of plumbing, I've mentioned before that people seem to feel it is OK to urinate in public here.  It's as though they think they are wearing an [http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2005/06/embarrassing_te.html invisibility cloak].  Some jokers put up signs in an English city [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Its_legal_to_pee_in_this_citys_streets/articleshow/3887049.cms claiming it was legal] to relieve oneself publicly there.  In [http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/12/Man_bashed_to_death_over_public_urination India] it may be fatal.  And in [http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?40824 Pakistan] it's apparently just part of the scenery.
-This past shabbat we hosted two very nice seminary girls.  My daughters told me "please don't be weird".  Wasn't that nice of them?  Anyway, we had a very pleasant shabbat and I think we'll try to join the program they were part of so we can help host more.
+This past shabbat we hosted two very nice seminary girls.  My daughters told me "please don't be weird".  Wasn't that nice of them?  Anyway, we had a very pleasant shabbat and I think we'll join the program they were part of so we can host more often.
-Hanukkah is here! The festival of lights.  The celebration of religious fanatics' intolerance for assimilationists.  The holiday of the ''sufganiyah'' (heavy doughnuts).  I never did like sufganiyot, but once a year I have one or two.  And that suffices to confirm to me why I don't like them.  On the other hand, it's also the holiday of the ''latke'' (''levivot'', or potato pancake) -- and B"H, Esther's ''latkes'' are absolutely the best I've ever had, even if she says so herself!  We also have the obligatory meal of ''falafel'', and today I'm having ''malawaH'' for breakfast -- so I think we've fulfilled the custom of eating oily foods during Hanukkah, to the fullest extent possible...
+{{wiki|Hanukkah}} is here! The festival of lights.  The celebration of {{wiki2|Mattathias|religious fanatics'}} intolerance for {{wiki2|Hellenistic_Judaism|assimilationists}}.  The holiday of the ''{{wiki|sufganiyah}}''.  I never did like sufganiyot, but once a year I have one or two.  And that suffices to confirm to me why I don't like them.  On the other hand, it's also the holiday of the ''{{wiki|latke}}'' (''levivot'', or potato pancake) -- and B"H, Esther's ''latkes'' are absolutely the best I've ever had, even if she says so herself!  We also have the obligatory meal of ''{{wiki|falafel}}'', and today I'm having ''{{wiki2|malawach|malawaH}}'' for breakfast -- so I think we've fulfilled the custom of eating oily foods during Hanukkah, to the fullest extent possible...
 Until next week,<br>

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 This past shabbat we hosted two very nice seminary girls.  My daughters told me "please don't be weird".  Wasn't that nice of them?  Anyway, we had a very pleasant shabbat and I think we'll try to join the program they were part of so we can help host more.
-Hanukkah is here! The festival of lights.  The celebration of religious fanatics' intolerance for assimilationists.  The holiday of the ''sufganiyah'' (heavy doughnuts).  I never did like sufganiyot, but once a year I have one or two.  And that suffices to confirm to me why I don't like them.
+Hanukkah is here! The festival of lights.  The celebration of religious fanatics' intolerance for assimilationists.  The holiday of the ''sufganiyah'' (heavy doughnuts).  I never did like sufganiyot, but once a year I have one or two.  And that suffices to confirm to me why I don't like them.  On the other hand, it's also the holiday of the ''latke'' (''levivot'', or potato pancake) -- and B"H, Esther's ''latkes'' are absolutely the best I've ever had, even if she says so herself!  We also have the obligatory meal of ''falafel'', and today I'm having ''malawaH'' for breakfast -- so I think we've fulfilled the custom of eating oily foods during Hanukkah, to the fullest extent possible...
 Until next week,<br>

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 Hi again!
-* [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Its_legal_to_pee_in_this_citys_streets/articleshow/3887049.cms pee] but not [http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/12/Man_bashed_to_death_over_public_urination in india]  -- we need the [http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2005/06/embarrassing_te.html invisibility cloak]
+Lots of stuff... where do I begin?
-* [http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?40824 pakistani urination]
 Until next week,<br>

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:21, 25 December 2008
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	* [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Its_legal_to_pee_in_this_citys_streets/articleshow/3887049.cms pee] but not [http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/12/Man_bashed_to_death_over_public_urination in india] -- we need the [http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2005/06/embarrassing_te.html invisibility cloak]		* [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Its_legal_to_pee_in_this_citys_streets/articleshow/3887049.cms pee] but not [http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/12/Man_bashed_to_death_over_public_urination in india] -- we need the [http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2005/06/embarrassing_te.html invisibility cloak]
		+	* [http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?40824 pakistani urination]

	Until next week,<br>		Until next week,<br>