Ron at 10:19, 30 November 2007

2007-11-30T10:19:49Z

Ron at 11:34, 16 October 2007

2007-10-16T11:34:12Z

Ron: Blog010 moved to Blog/October 2007/October 5th

2007-10-12T14:01:42Z

Blog010 moved to Blog/October 2007/October 5th

Ron at 14:42, 11 October 2007

2007-10-11T14:42:55Z

Ron: New page: '''October 5th 2007''' Shalom, y'all - Our first Sukkoth holiday without any rain whatsoever! The sukkah came down today, drier than when we put it up last week!! Incredible. I'll star...

2007-10-11T11:28:30Z

New page: '''October 5th 2007''' Shalom, y'all - Our first Sukkoth holiday without any rain whatsoever! The sukkah came down today, drier than when we put it up last week!! Incredible. I'll star...

New page

'''October 5th 2007'''

Shalom, y'all -

Our first Sukkoth holiday without any rain whatsoever! The sukkah came down
today, drier than when we put it up last week!! Incredible.

I'll start with a disclaimer, which is that despite the
requirement to sleep in the sukkah, I did not manage to do that this
year. The reason is that one is exempt if one would be
"uncomfortable" -- and between the cats, the bugs, the cigarette smoke
from neighbors, the screaming and yelling (of neighbors) and the
streetlights which don't seem to go off, I decided I was exempt. Sorry to
disenchant you...

During chol hamo`ed, we rented a car. We've been pretty much
vehicle-free for the past couple months, so our movements have been
restricted to wherever and whenever the bus goes. So we took a couple
interested "tours" this week. First, we went to "Beit Guvrin", which is
close to Beit Shemesh". It's a place with lots of man-made caves, including
some used by the fighters in the Bar Kochba rebellion. There were cisterns,
and dovecotes (and snakes and scorpions, according to the signs). It was a
nice outing, but very hot so we didn't last as long as I would have
liked.

Our next outing was to Caesaria, a coastal town which was once the seat of
the Roman governance in the Land. There we saw a show in the 'hippodrome',
which is actually the ruins of the Roman hippodrome there. The Romans were
able to build incredibly enduring roads, fantastic aqueducts, amazing
forums -- but they didn't seem to get "upholstery". After sitting on rough
stone stairs for an hour, I felt like taking on the Roman Empire myself...
The most entertaining moment was when King Herod appeared, in sunglasses
and a tin-foil crown. Still, the show was nice and we got to catch the
Mediterranean in its full beauty.

The last outing was to "Neot Kedumim", which is a "Biblical nature reserve"
(the only one in the world, according to our guide). We had a guided tour
and the guide gave interesting information about cisterns and the like; but
he was a bit long-winded, and the time allotted was short, so we didn't get
as much of a tour as I had wanted.

Odd fact: Most places to eat advertise they have a "sukkah", so that
religious clientele will be able to eat there during chol hamo`ed. The
odd thing is that with few exceptions, the sukkot look like they were built
by people with absolutely no idea what the requirements for a sukkah are...

Now, it's important to realize that the Entire Known Universe shops for
food during the intermediary days of the Festival. That is because
obviously, one cannot shop on yom-tov, and the food all gets eaten no
matter how much was purchased. So we went to the store to get a little
more food. Daniela was with us, and I made sure she knew that shopping is
a contact-sport here. Anyway, we finally got to the checkout line, but
there were five people in front of us. Five doesn't *sound* like a lot,
but when each one of the five has two full carts of food, it's a lot. Of
course, when one has a cashier who appears to have narcolepsy, it takes
much longer. Anyway, when we did finally get to the checkout itself, I
said we should say a "shehecheyanu" that we made it this far (it took
almost an hour). Note for Erete: the cashier had a "sexy lady" shirt, and
she was not. 'Nuff said...

My daughters had been agitating for pizza all throughout the holiday
period, and I said that wasn't a holiday food, so they would have to wait.
Well, last night they cornered me and we agreed to order a pizza - or
actually, they agreed to have me order a pizza. I told them all they had
to do was tell the store what size they wanted, and what toppings - it was
really easy! To make a long story short, I ended up ordering the pizza
while they listened so they would learn how easy it was. Well, the first
problem came when I said I wanted olives on the pizza. The guy asked me,
"how many?". I said, "what do you mean, how many?". He said, "two, or
four?". I said, "what do you *mean*, two or four?!?". He replied, "on two
slices, or four?". I told him, "on the entire pizza". He was puzzled.
While he mulled that over, I asked him how much the total would be. He was
puzzled further. Finally he gave the phone to his boss, who took my order
*again*. Then I asked for a "personal" sized pizza. He said "we don't have
that size". So I asked for "small", and he didn't have that either.
Apparently, they've only got "medium" and "large"; so I ordered the medium,
and he told me "really, you should order the large since it's almost the
same price". To which I responded we couldn't eat that much, and he said
"well, suit yourself". At long last, the order was complete, and I felt
like I had accomplished something of lasting worth...

Horrible, horrible! I just got my drivers licence today (the actual card,
not a temporary one). The details were all accurate, but I don't know who
the picture is supposed to be. It looks like they dipped me in red paint
and set me on fire. They must be thinking ahead, as it would presumably be
accurate after an accident. At least it's good for ten years, so I can
scare anyone who sees it witless for at least that long.

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← Older revision		Revision as of 11:34, 16 October 2007
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−	'''October 5th 2007'''	+	'''October 5th 2007''' (See this week's [[Devar/5768/Bereshit\|devar torah]])

	Shalom, y'all -		Shalom, y'all -

← Older revision	Revision as of 14:01, 12 October 2007
(No difference)

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 While he mulled that over, I asked him how much the total would be.  He was
 puzzled further.  Finally he gave the phone to his boss, who took my order
-*again*. Then I asked for a "personal" sized pizza.  He said "we don't have
+''again''. Then I asked for a "personal" sized pizza.  He said "we don't have
 that size".  So I asked for "small", and he didn't have that either.
 Apparently, they've only got "medium" and "large"; so I ordered the medium,

Blog/October 2007/October 5th - Revision history

Ron at 10:19, 30 November 2007

Ron at 11:34, 16 October 2007

Ron: Blog010 moved to Blog/October 2007/October 5th

Ron at 14:42, 11 October 2007

Ron: New page: '''October 5th 2007''' Shalom, y'all - Our first Sukkoth holiday without any rain whatsoever! The sukkah came down today, drier than when we put it up last week!! Incredible. I'll star...