Blog/October 2012/Oct 19th

Oct 19th (See this week's devar torah)

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Hi, again!

Our first full week of work since the holidays, Sarah's first college days, the second US presidential debate and Israeli elections. Weather has been unseasonably warm, but is cooling down again. No news from Daniela, which I presume means good news. And brilliance is not bliss!

Sarah had two days of "orientation" at her new school, Maʿaleh. She's one of only fourteen in her class, ten of them girls; only a few of the students are "non-religious". She had very long days (like 12 hours or so) where they played the usual (irritating and pointless) introduction "games", had some introductory lectures and became familiar with the layout of the school etc. They were also treated to meals and an evening bowling (say what?). She was also given a very nice looking art book, called "גבולות של קדושה" (Boundaries of Holiness). Next week she'll have an intense five-day schedule and the week after as well, then they'll settle into the "normal" schedule of three-days a week. I suppose they need lots of non-class time for doing their projects. Sarah's impression so far is the people are nice, and it looks interesting. We're excited for her!

Esther and I worked like demons this week. She, because she is leaving that job soon and wants to finish up and leave it in good shape. I, because I've got a major portion of our company's project on my shoulders and it has to be done correctly and quickly. So both of us return home very tired, which is not a Good Thing. Or maybe it is, since it keeps us out of trouble... too tired to do anything sketchy.

The second of the US presidential debates came and went this week, to the yawns of millions. Obama put up a much more lively fight than the previous time, but he came across as rather nasty. The "moderator" purposely lied to support Obama (which she admitted after the fact). The question is: will the USAns re-elect the Bumbler-in-Chief? Are they aware of the abyss of which the USA is tottering on the brink? One way or another, we'll know in a few more weeks... and Esther and I need to get our absentee ballots made and sent!

Not to be outdone, this week the Israeli Knesset disbanded the government and called for early elections. Just so that you know, not one Israeli government has ever completed its term of office. That's right, not even one! In fact, Netanyahu's government almost set a record for the length of time it lasted (and it would probably have been able to last the entire term, but Netanyahu wants to consolidate his hold on power prior to dealing with other more pressing issues). Anyway, our elections are scheduled for January 22nd, and the political scene here is far more complex and interesting than in the USA -- we'll try to keep you abreast of developments here as they occur.

Being extraordinarily brilliant is often a burden to me. At work I've become the "go-to man" for all sorts of technical questions, of late mostly concerning the text-editor we all use, VIM. Most of the staff only know the bare-minimum, so this coming week I'll be giving our entire development group a "short course" on how to use VIM more effectively, giving them tips and techniques which should serve them well (and as well serve to keep them from asking me questions all the time). You can see the outline of what I'm going to say in my Guide for the Perplexed. OK, so maybe it's not so much my undoubted brilliance, but rather that I've been using VIM since forever...

Well, I'm off to fix our trisim in the salon (the other side needs fixed now), and to clean up in the garden. Them plantses keep growing! Maybe I'll pick some herbs to dry.

Anyway, there's nobody here but us chickens this shabbat! We'll soldier on with: pargiot, lentil soup, roasted yams, arroz con pollo, salatim, and brownies

Until next week,
shabbat shalom!

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