Blog/November 2008/Nov 21st - Revision history

Ron at 13:49, 28 November 2008

2008-11-28T13:49:12Z

Ron at 13:58, 21 November 2008

2008-11-21T13:58:15Z

Ron: Replacing page with ' {{blog}} {{bheader|November 21st|Devar/5769/Chayei Sarah}} Hi again! Until next week,
Shabbat shalom! {{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/November 2008/Nov 14th...'

2008-11-21T06:03:50Z

Replacing page with ' {{blog}} {{bheader|November 21st|Devar/5769/Chayei Sarah}} Hi again! Until next week,<br> Shabbat shalom! {{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/November 2008/Nov 14th...'

Ron: New page: {{subst: :Blog/Latest}}

2008-11-21T06:01:48Z

New page: {{subst: :Blog/Latest}}

New page

{{blog}}
{{bheader|November 14th|Devar/5769/Vayera}}

Hi again!

The election season is now behind us. The municipal elections in Israel were heatedly contested, and thankfully the assault of election literature and phone canvassers is over. I have a 100% accuracy record: no-one I voted for (neither in the US nor in Israel) won. Perhaps I should hire myself out as a prognosticator?

I'm doing better in the personal realm: [http://classifeye.com/ my company] (well, the company I work for) is [http://www.centredaily.com/business/technology/story/951948.html in the news]. This is the project I'm managing, and which is giving me enormous headaches. The main problem is that though we all speak English, we don't all seem to mean the same thing when we use the words. For example, I send an email to my Indian counterparts and ask later, "did you read the specification?" -- to which they answer, "yes, we did" (imagine an Indian accent there). Later on, when discussing requirements I find that not only did they not read the specification, but they didn't even open the document. GRRR!

In preparation for the local elections, the [http://www.jpost.com/ Jerusalem Post] sponsored a "meet the candidates" forum (in English) here in Maaleh Adummim, which ended up being more entertaining and informative than I would ever have imagined. Of the seven "lists", four sent representatives and a fifth sent a person for only five minutes. We got to hear the lists' representatives answer questions of interest to locals, and we also got to hear the opposition candidate for mayor (the incumbent didn't show: despite the fact he "dissed" us, he got 75% of the vote. I guess we ''really'' weren't an important demographic for him). As the night wore on, we were witness to escalating rhetorical violence, which b"h didn't manifest itself in a physical manner. Who knew politics could be so exciting?

As we came into the room and took seats, a friend of mine sat next to me, and a friend of his next to him. I introduced myself to his friend, "Hi, I'm Ron Aaron". He said, "I'm {{wiki2|Fred_Rogers|Mr. Rogers}}". I thought he was being a smart-ass, so I asked him, "Oh, do you want to be my neighbor?". My poor wife, overhearing me, whispers to me, "No, his name is really Mr. Rogers". But I didn't get a chance to talk to him again after that -- maybe he won't talk to me now. Anyway, who says "I'm Mr. so-and-so" these days? Particularly in Israel!

One thing we weren't prepared for was the decidedly "low tech" election system. Votes are cast by placing a pre-printed slip of paper in an envelope, and placing that envelope inside a flimsy cardboard box (like one of the boxes you might get at Office Depot to store documents in). We both thought it couldn't be too hard to commit election fraud and get away with it.

Esther is volunteering at an ''ulpan'' for young kids who are new immigrants. She says she envies them their ease with acquiring Israeli accents (even if they don't know many words). Sarah is volunteering (as part of her schoolwork) with young kids in a different school, who are also recent immigrants. Both my ladies are finding it a much more challenging task than they had thought it would be.

We asked a gardener to give us a bid on how much it would be to clean up our "yard". There are climbing vines on the outside of the house which we want to remove, the trees need professional pruning and the ground needs to be cleaned up and prepared. There is more to be done, but we just wanted a quote for that. I expected it wouldn't be cheap, but I didn't expect 3500 NIS (about $1000)... not including tax (16%) or the dumpster. So I think I'll invest in some good quality gardening tools and for ''much'' less, take care of the mess myself. The only problem is one of time -- by the time I get home it's dark; but to save that much money I am willing to do the work myself.

Until next week,<br>
Shabbat shalom!

{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/November 2008/Nov 7th|Nov 7th||}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:49, 28 November 2008
Line 20:		Line 20:
	Shabbat shalom!		Shabbat shalom!

−	{{nav\|Blog\|Blog\|Blog/November 2008/Nov 14th\|Nov 14th\|\|}}	+	{{nav\|Blog\|Blog\|Blog/November 2008/Nov 14th\|Nov 14th\|Blog/November 2008/Nov 28th\|Nov 28th}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:58, 21 November 2008
Line 7:		Line 7:
	Hi again!		Hi again!

		+	I don't have a lot to tell you this week, but I will mention a few things.
		+
		+	Esther and I went out to do some necessary shopping. As we were going to the store, she looked and commented that it's easy to get caught up in what's wrong here. But just look around, and realize that most of this country has been built in just the past 60 years! Almost all the infrastructure is new. The majority of the cities are new. The society itself is new! Expecting it all to work flawlessly is ridiculous. That it exists, and works as well as it does, is really a miracle.
		+
		+	When things don't work so well, it's usually traceable to someone simply not caring enough to do a good job. For example, the people who put in our plumbing didn't care to set the drain pipes perpendicular to the floor. So the caps on the drains are not flat with the floor as they should be. Or the new push-broom I bought; the handle is at the wrong angle to the broom body, so it doesn't push as easily as it should. Simply ''rashlanut'' (carelessness) and lack of pride in what one does.
		+
		+	In order to make our company more attractive to investors, the CEO decided to reduce our expenditures significantly. Fortunately, he did not choose to fire anyone. However, he did decide to reduce salaries across the board. I would have told him that's not usually a great idea, particularly when we just signed a deal and have others "in the pipeline" -- it's a bit hard to convince the rank-and-file that their sacrifice is necessary. I really did not appreciate the pay-cut (it's the first time I've ever had my salary reduced), and I hope it does make us attractive to investors so we can undo the pay-cut.
		+
		+	Daniela had her first set of mid-term exams, and did very well. Now she just has to deal with winter in New York... Sarah is not enjoying the serious "PE" teacher she has, who seems to think the girls need exercise.

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

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 -->
 {{blog}}
-{{bheader|November 14th|Devar/5769/Vayera}}
+{{bheader|November 21st|Devar/5769/Chayei Sarah}}
 Hi again!
@@ Line 25: / Line 11: @@
 Shabbat shalom!
-{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/November 2008/Nov 7th|Nov 7th||}}
+{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/November 2008/Nov 14th|Nov 14th||}}

Blog/November 2008/Nov 21st - Revision history

Ron at 13:49, 28 November 2008

Ron at 13:58, 21 November 2008

Ron: Replacing page with ' {{blog}} {{bheader|November 21st|Devar/5769/Chayei Sarah}} Hi again! Until next week, Shabbat shalom! {{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/November 2008/Nov 14th...'

Ron: New page: {{subst: :Blog/Latest}}

Ron: Replacing page with ' {{blog}} {{bheader|November 21st|Devar/5769/Chayei Sarah}} Hi again! Until next week,
Shabbat shalom! {{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/November 2008/Nov 14th...'