Blog/March 2015/Mar 13th

March 13th (See this week's devar torah)

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Run a little faster! Esther and Sarah participated in the Jerusalem Marathon (the 5K, not the entire thing). Election day is coming up. We continued working. The family members seem to be staying out of the hospital. The Gates of Perdition opened next-door.

The house next-door to us was finally sold (after a very long time on the market: the owner was asking way too much for it). The new owner got possession this week and promptly set his contractors to work — they started jackhammering this Thursday. From 7 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. As I write this, they’re still sawing and hammering at the concrete. The good news is that once they’re finished remodeling, we shouldn’t have to hear any more construction for at least ten years…

B”H, my mom and brother are at home and doing OK. Thanks again to everyone who helped (and is helping) them.

Work proceeds apace. We have been working to port our “zemanim” application to 8th, but there are some significant issues with proper display and editing of Hebrew text — and without that, the product cannot be finished. So, because we really need to get a finished application published on Google Play and in the Apple Store, we decided to make a simple game which illustrates some of 8th’s capabilities, and to get it published ASAP.

The creation of the game took just two days, including all the “polishing”. It works great on all the desktop platforms, but when I tried on Android I noticed some issues that need work. That’s a good thing, in a way; better that I should see and fix the issues than that a customer find them. So that’s what I’m working on these days, and we expect to release that sample game to the ‘stores’ at the beginning of this coming week. More on that next week.

We’ll all be very happy when the elections are over (this coming Tuesday, March 17th). I’ve been getting text-messages on my phone from the various parties trying to convince me to vote one way or another. I just delete them. The choices this time around are not so great, but I think it’s very important for Israel’s security to prevent the “Zionist Camp” from assuming power.

That party is an amalgamation of the “Labour” and “Tzipi Livni Party” (whatever she’s calling it these days). They’re so Zionist, they’ve already said they’ll turn over large chunks of Israeli controlled territory to the PLO. Because it’s an amalgam, the Prime Minister’s office will be held in rotation by the two numskulls “Bougie Hertzog” and “Tzipi Livni”. Also known as “the mouse” and “the rat”.

But unfortunately, there are no really good choices. This time around I’m casting my ballot for the “Jewish Home” party (not so Jewish nor much of a home, but I digress). This, even though I have problems with a number of their positions; in a democracy you have to choose not only who you think represents you most closely, but who has a realistic chance to effect policies you support. What I like most about them is that Bennett is more “free market” libertarian; hopefully he can get some of our taxes as well as gov’t interference reduced. He’s not ready for the PM’s seat, though.

This morning both my ladies were “winners”. That’s what it says on the T-shirts they got for participating in the Jerusalem Marathon. I could have told them they were both winners without them having to go to congested downtown Jerusalem on a Friday morning. Where there’s no parking and half the streets were blocked-off. But I digress again…

Sarah’s away this shabbat; so Esther and I will be delighting in our solitude and:
carrot soup, chicken-wings, meatloaf, oven-fried potatoes, roasted vegetables, “blasted peppers”, salatim, and pastries.

Until next time,
shabbat shalom !

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