Blog/July 2010/July 30th

July 30th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

Happy Aliya-versary to us! This week we completed our third year in the Land -- both on the Hebrew calendar and on the secular one. To celebrate, we ... well, we didn't do anything special, to be honest. Now that we've been here this long, it seems we've been here forever. And yet, there are always the "little things" that remind us we came from a long way away.

Like Esther waiting in line at the supermarket. It was taking a long time, and one of the cashiers suggested she go to the "quick" line. "No", said my wife, "it wouldn't be fair since I have a lot more than ten items". At which explanation, all about her commented with disbelief that anyone could be such a freier (sucker).

Or like a conversation with a dear friend of ours still in the USA. I mentioned to him that there was a nice house "just around the corner" from us, and he asked if it came "with a job that will never have layoffs". To which my dear wife replied, "Do you now have a job that will never have layoffs?". And that really is the crux of the matter, isn't it?

Work was (as usual) hectic for both of us this week, though nothing too out of the ordinary. Our neighbor came over to ask for help translating some instructions from English so she could understand what to do, and we were delighted to find that we could explain everything. Three years, baby!

Esther and Daniela went to the beach this week, and both came back a bit more sunburned than they should have. To offset their fun, they also visited the dentist (not that day). Sarah in the meantime went to Bariloche with her Grandfather, and survived (apparently) by eating cookies (there being little in the way of kosher food in the Andes). Daniela made a dessert she has called fig slop, attesting to both its provenance (made from figs) and its appearance (well, you get the idea). It did taste good, but the recipe from which she made it seems to have had quantities wrong or something.

A bad week for privacy advocates. The WPA2 protocol used to make your "wireless network" secure has been shown to have a vulnerability. In the UK, an ISP monitors its customers without consent. And those of you who are leery of using the ATMs in convenience stores are now justified in your paranoia: some ATMs can be hacked. Someone gives a demonstration on how to eavesdrop on cell-phones. And the Obama administration wants to make it even easier for the FBI to get records on your internet activity. Don't you feel more secure, now?

Ah well. On to the "odds-n-ends":

• Dennis Prager asks, just how open-minded are Jewish liberals, really?
• "Oldest living man" in Tokyo actually died thirty years ago
• Some alternative energy sources can ruin your vehicle
• Another wonderful satire from Latma
• Who do you think I identify with in this comic?

Sarah is coming back next week, B"H! But this shabbat it's just the three of us, and we'll be feasting upon tuna-stuffed tomatoes, salatim, butternut-squash soup, baked chicken, baked sweet-potatoes, roasted lamb-ribs, homemade plum and nectarine sorbets.

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom !

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