Actions

Difference between revisions of "Blog/June 2008/Jun 20th"

From RonWareWiki

< Blog‎ | June 2008
(New page: {{subst: :Blog/Latest}})
 
 
(4 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 2: Line 2:
 
-->
 
-->
 
{{blog}}
 
{{blog}}
{{bheader|June 13th|Devar/5768/Behaalotcha}}
+
{{bheader|June 20th|Devar/5768/Shlach}}
  
 
Hi again!
 
Hi again!
  
This week was very busy, but not a lot to reportFirst, it was a short week: Sunday was ''erev shavuot'', so we had to get ready for yom-tov immediately after shabbatThe yom-tov itself was very quiet; especially since we didn't hear my alarm in the morning, and so missed going to shul for ''shacharit'' services.  Unusual, that; I almost always wake up early in the morning even without an alarm -- I guess we needed the sleep.
+
The week has been another busy one!  Sarah finished school, and had been taking all kinds of testsI've been coordinating several projects at work, as well as coordinating the contractorsAnd we've all been packing our stuff -- but at least that's almost done!
  
Because of the yom-tov, our contractors didn't work the first two days of the week; nevertheless, the floor tiles are mostly in place on the first floorThe contractor informs me the kitchen will arrive next week (that is, the kitchen cabinets) and he might have the downstairs "done" end of next weekThat would be nice, indeed, as we are moving the end of June no matter whether or not they've finished all the work.
+
I know you heard me brag about Sarah's successes only last week, but this week she got her first Israeli report-card (actually her second, but it's the first "year-end" report card)She got really excellent grades - and I'm happy to say that she did it on her own (albeit with tutoring help).  Neither Hebrew nor a much tougher school proved too big a challenge, so we are really happy for her, and wish her even more success this coming year (which will indeed be a harder year in school).
  
We also have been looking for clothes closets for a while; and because they're expensive and because we knew we were moving, we never took the plunge and bought anySo we've been living out of our moving boxes (literally) since last AugustBut no more!  This week we ordered closets from [http://raamltd.co.il/ Ra`am] and in a few weeks (at most a month) we'll have proper closets in which to hang up our clothesThe closets from Ra`am are cheaper and nicer than most of the other ones we've seen, and they even do custom sizes if necessary.
+
At work I've been given a lot of responsibility, so my days are quite fullBesides having to do the programming work, I'm also coordinating the technical handling of our potential clientsFor that reason I'll be flying to India in a couple weeks, to help build up our Indian operationBut in order to get to India, one needs a visa -- and that is more tricky than I ever thought possible.  Hopefully I'll get the visa before my intended flight, because otherwise I'll not be able to get into the country!  Not that I would mind, but my boss would be unhappy.
  
In preparation for my upcoming trip to India, I took a few immunizations (Hepatitis A and B, Tetanus) and got prophylactic drugs against malariaSounds like fun, doesn't it?!?  I also need to get a visa to enter India, and as it turns out, it's considerably less expensive for me to use my Israeli passport than it is to use my American one! I guess they assume all Americans are richIn any case, filling out the forms is an exercise in patience -- all this time, I thought ''Israeli'' bureaucracy was bad!  The Indians are even worse than we are...
+
Besides that, I've been working like a wrangler trying to coordinate all the different contractors we have to deal with.  There is the main contractor, and the electrician -- they're the main guysBut there's also the countertop guy, and the cabinet guy, and the tile guy, and the grout guy (yes, there's someone who specializes only in grout, apparently). There's the movers, the roofers, the cleaners, and the pest controllersThere's the painter, there's the plumber and the air-conditioner guy.  All we need is an Indian chief and we'll have a complete set.  The electrician and the main contractor don't get along well, so I have to try to get them moving around their differences.  The painter paints every single thing in his path, mobile or not -- so that also upsets the other contractors whose work gets painted over.  The main contractor assures us "it will all wash off", but he's not the one whose going to do the washing -- the 'cleaners' are.  I sure hope they're good at what they do...
  
Daniela's done with school now (Sarah's done next week), so she's staying at home (finally, yeah!). We look forward to hearing her divrey torah now that she's had a year's education at seminaryBut mostly we look forward to engaging in mutually beneficial discourse with the fruits of our first successful procreative venture. She knows what I mean...
+
Just to give you an idea, this is the kitchen [[Media:Kitchen-week-3.jpg|as of Thursday]]; here's [[Media:Kitchen-week-3a.jpg|a different view]]Imagine what it will look like when the countertop is installed, and the appliances are in, and the wall's fully painted, and ... well, just imagine. Remember what it looked like just a week ago?  Well, they've done a lot of work in a couple weeks, so stop complaining!
  
 +
Because Hashem is merciful, He arranged for a friend of ours to invite us to spend shabbat with his family in {{wiki|Nof Ayalon}}, which is between {{wiki|Modi'in}} and {{wiki|Beit Shemesh}}.  We stayed there once before, several years ago, and look forward to a relaxing shabbat.  Next shabbat B"H, we'll be in the "new" house, but it will be pretty messy.
 +
 +
As I was at the store getting some wine for shabbat, I noticed the guy behind me had a large bottle of Clorox.  To my surprise, it had in large letters: "Not for eating" {{hebs|לא למאכל}}.  I wonder, how many people would drink Clorox were it not for the warning?  Wouldn't the smell alone put one off drinking it?
 +
 +
The disputation: at the "new" house, one of the rooms had a very well done drawing on the wall.  The painter (an Arab) said it was Jesus.  The main contractor said it was Moses.  The electrician said it couldn't be Moses, because Moses wouldn't have been holding a lamp.  My girls said it looked like a character from one of the "Lord of the Rings" books, which was my opinion as well.  So I called the original owner, who said it was actually Moses, as rendered by her artistic daughter.  So the main contractor was right -- I'm going to have to tell him on Sunday.
  
 
Shabbat shalom!
 
Shabbat shalom!
  
  
{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/June 2008/Jun 6th|Jun 6th||}}
+
{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/June 2008/Jun 13th|Jun 13th|Blog/June 2008/Jun 27th|Jun 27th}}

Latest revision as of 16:55, 27 June 2008

June 20th (See this week's devar torah)
Send Ron feedback on this blog

Hi again!

The week has been another busy one! Sarah finished school, and had been taking all kinds of tests. I've been coordinating several projects at work, as well as coordinating the contractors. And we've all been packing our stuff -- but at least that's almost done!

I know you heard me brag about Sarah's successes only last week, but this week she got her first Israeli report-card (actually her second, but it's the first "year-end" report card). She got really excellent grades - and I'm happy to say that she did it on her own (albeit with tutoring help). Neither Hebrew nor a much tougher school proved too big a challenge, so we are really happy for her, and wish her even more success this coming year (which will indeed be a harder year in school).

At work I've been given a lot of responsibility, so my days are quite full. Besides having to do the programming work, I'm also coordinating the technical handling of our potential clients. For that reason I'll be flying to India in a couple weeks, to help build up our Indian operation. But in order to get to India, one needs a visa -- and that is more tricky than I ever thought possible. Hopefully I'll get the visa before my intended flight, because otherwise I'll not be able to get into the country! Not that I would mind, but my boss would be unhappy.

Besides that, I've been working like a wrangler trying to coordinate all the different contractors we have to deal with. There is the main contractor, and the electrician -- they're the main guys. But there's also the countertop guy, and the cabinet guy, and the tile guy, and the grout guy (yes, there's someone who specializes only in grout, apparently). There's the movers, the roofers, the cleaners, and the pest controllers. There's the painter, there's the plumber and the air-conditioner guy. All we need is an Indian chief and we'll have a complete set. The electrician and the main contractor don't get along well, so I have to try to get them moving around their differences. The painter paints every single thing in his path, mobile or not -- so that also upsets the other contractors whose work gets painted over. The main contractor assures us "it will all wash off", but he's not the one whose going to do the washing -- the 'cleaners' are. I sure hope they're good at what they do...

Just to give you an idea, this is the kitchen as of Thursday; here's a different view. Imagine what it will look like when the countertop is installed, and the appliances are in, and the wall's fully painted, and ... well, just imagine. Remember what it looked like just a week ago? Well, they've done a lot of work in a couple weeks, so stop complaining!

Because Hashem is merciful, He arranged for a friend of ours to invite us to spend shabbat with his family in Nof Ayalon, which is between Modi'in and Beit Shemesh. We stayed there once before, several years ago, and look forward to a relaxing shabbat. Next shabbat B"H, we'll be in the "new" house, but it will be pretty messy.

As I was at the store getting some wine for shabbat, I noticed the guy behind me had a large bottle of Clorox. To my surprise, it had in large letters: "Not for eating" לא למאכל. I wonder, how many people would drink Clorox were it not for the warning? Wouldn't the smell alone put one off drinking it?

The disputation: at the "new" house, one of the rooms had a very well done drawing on the wall. The painter (an Arab) said it was Jesus. The main contractor said it was Moses. The electrician said it couldn't be Moses, because Moses wouldn't have been holding a lamp. My girls said it looked like a character from one of the "Lord of the Rings" books, which was my opinion as well. So I called the original owner, who said it was actually Moses, as rendered by her artistic daughter. So the main contractor was right -- I'm going to have to tell him on Sunday.

Shabbat shalom!




Top: Blog Prev: Jun 13th Next: Jun 27th