Blog/July 2022/Jul 22nd

Jul 22nd

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Well, the visit is over. We took the kids and the Grands to the airport on Sunday, which was a very long day. Sarah met us there; and after seeing off the travelers, we took her back to her abode. We didn’t get home until quite late in the day.

Said travelers arrived back in the Exile safely, to discover that their new refrigerator had gone *plonk* and whatever was in it had gone bad. Not the best “welcome home!” message, but these things happen. The repair technician is only supposed to arrive today, which seems a rather long delay; fortunately, they had kept their old ‘fridge as a backup. Turns out that was a good plan.

In the meantime, Esther and I started the grueling task of returning our house to its pre-Grands state. It’s still not there, but there’s hope. Esther also did useful work, while I mostly worked on 8th (between cleaning jags).

Various:

• This winds of change: A Saudi magazine ran a story praising Arabs serving in the IDF.
• Another fascinating video by Mallen: Yes, it’s hot, but has global-warming paused?
• Monkeypox: what you actually need to know. TL;DR: stay away from people, especially the naked variety.
• Ami Horowitz: Palestinians on LGBTQ+. A lesson in tolerance.
• Triggernometry: an interesting interview on how to make your own luck.
• In good news: the Israeli High Court ruled that the state can revoke terrorist’s citizenship. Finally!
• In more good news: a well-trained 22 year old with a concealed-carry permit stopped a mass shooter — from 40 yards. I don’t know how much you know about pistols, but hitting a target from 40 yards in a tense situation is quite remarkable. The police don’t do as well as that.

Since I regularly use three different computers, with three different keyboards and keyboard-layouts, I decided I needed to get a new cordless keyboard I could use with all of them. I found the Logitech MX Keys which can be paired with up to three different machines. It’s a full-sized keyboard, with excellent key feel and a reasonable layout. Because I’m a good guy, I also got one for Esther. In addition, I found an accompanying mouse which also switches between computers.

Now, you know nothing is perfect! I really like the keyboard, but… for one thing, the tech specs say it works with Linux – and it does – but the Logitech software to do customization of the keyboard does not (and people have complained about that for a few years, since it’s basically a “programmer’s keyboard”). Two of the three machines I use it on are Linux based.

My other gripe is that, when connected over Bluetooth to my (Linux) laptop, it can’t “wake up” the laptop from suspend mode. So I have to lift the lid of the machine, press a key, wait for it to wake up, and then use the keyboard. That’s an annoyance, but not terrible. I could avoid that by using the “Unified receiver” dongle on the keyboard, but I have to use that on my desktop machine (which hasn’t got Bluetooth). Compromises, compromises…

The weather turned hot just as our visitors left the country. Coincidence? Global warming? Or, perhaps, just that thing we like to call “summer”. We’ll never know.

However, the forecast is for reasonably typical weather (low 30s) through the weekend until mid-week, when it will climb to the mid 30s or so. Well, it is late July, after all.

Esther’s going off to knit with her knitting buddies this morning, so a large portion of meal-prep for shabbat falls upon the old man. I’ll try not to disappoint.

Our fare this shabbat’s includes:
homemade sourdough ḥalla, baked chicken, roasted potatoes, various salatim, and spice cake.

Until next time,
shabbat shalom!

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