Difference between revisions of "Blog/May 2009/May 1st"

Latest revision as of 12:05, 8 May 2009

May 1st (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

Update on the ant obliteration campaign: situation under control for now! Last week I told you I put out some home-made poison syrup for the ants. Now I can tell you that the first day there were some ants on the bait, the second day there were a lot, and the third day there were hardly any. I then switched the bait for fresh stuff, and no ants came -- and in fact there were only one or two ants to be seen in the kitchen. So while they were coming in to take the bait, I spied a hole in the wall from which they were coming. Once they ceased coming in, I plastered the hole -- and so far, B"H, we have been ant-free this week.

I forgot to include a picture of Esther's challah, which she wanted me to post. And she's reminding me to mention the sheseq chicken she made with some of the sheseq we picked last week from our tree. It was a sort of Persian recipe, and came out delicious. This week we picked a lot more sheseq -- we're going to have to find a way to use it all.

This past week was Israeli Independence Day (יום העצמאות), which is generally celebrated by barbecuing entire herds of animals and firing off fireworks. We were going to go see the fireworks in the central park in Maale Adummim, but instead we watched from the comfort of our "office" room. As it happened, we could see everything perfectly and didn't have to leave the comfort of our home.

The following day (Independence Day day), we were invited to friends of friends of our friends, out by Rosh HaAyin -- for a festive day. After we had been invited there, cousins of mine invited us to their place, but we had to turn them down since we'd already accepted the other invitation. Once there, we met a lot of other olim -- who were all from Cleveland and, it turns out, all seemed to know the parents of the cousin who had invited us over! Small world ...

For the 61st Independence Day, someone posted a list of 61 things he liked about Israel. I can add a few more: 1) Any kind of furniture can be made twice as expensive if the term "`ets male'" (solid wood) appears in the name -- even if the closest it came to wood was the pulp used to print the advertisment 2) Israelis are not shy about correcting you about your mistaken choices. "You don't want that ice cream!". 3) I can look out my window, see the holy city of Jerusalem, smell the sweet aroma of roses from my garden and hear the din of the muezzin all at the same time. 4) Everybody in Israel is only two people away from the Prime Minister (most are only one). It's a small country.

Work has been incredibly stressful, since my particular product is the first thing we're shipping, and it's going to go onto CDs to accompany our customer's products in stores. It has to work correctly or we don't sell our actual product (which is downloaded by my product). So I've been worn out and stressed, but now I can see the end of the tunnel. Next week should be less stressful, B"H.

I didn't realize there was a good physical reason to dislike our old neighborhood here, but according to this report from the CDC, where we used to live has the highest incidence of Leishmaniasis in Maale Adummim!

Travelers in the Indian Ocean have recently been the targets of Somali pirates. Not too long ago, some of the pirates got more than they bargained for when they attacked an Italian cruise liner and encountered the Israeli security detachment on board. That's how to take care of business!

This shabbat Sarah will be staying over at her partner in hair-crime Rivqua's place. We hope she has a great time, and we'll miss her!

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!

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 Hi again!
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 Help [[tsedaka|feed the hungry]] in Israel!
-Another busy week!  Work has been crazy, the birds and the flowers are bursting with activity (as are the ants).  Had the opportunity to do a new mitsvah.
+Update on the ant obliteration campaign: situation under control for now!  Last week I told you I put out some home-made poison syrup for the ants.  Now I can tell you that the first day there were some ants on the bait, the second day there were a lot, and the third day there were hardly any.  I then switched the bait for fresh stuff, and no ants came -- and in fact there were only one or two ants to be seen in the kitchen.  So while they were coming in to take the bait, I spied a hole in the wall from which they were coming. Once they ceased coming in, I plastered the hole -- and so far, B"H, we have been ant-free this week.
-Last week I posted pictures of flowers, and a friend of mine asked if there were any birds in Israel -- since it seems so arid.  It turns out that Israel has a very large and varied bird population, because of its unique location at the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa.  We have a tremendous number of birds... here are [http://www.israbirding.com/gallery/ professional pictures] of some.
+I forgot to include a picture of [[media:challah.jpeg|Esther's challah]], which she wanted me to post.  And she's reminding me to mention the ''sheseq'' chicken she made with some of the ''sheseq'' we picked last week from our tree.  It was a sort of Persian recipe, and came out delicious.  This week we picked a lot more ''sheseq'' -- we're going to have to find a way to use it all.
-Just yesterday we noticed a hummingbird hovering outside our ''salon'' window -- it was interested in the [http://ronware.org/Pictures/Roses%20(Iyyar%205769)/index.html sweet smelling roses] which are growing like crazy all around our house.  Today there was a dove trying to establish a nest right at the front door of our house (above the electric meter).  I sent it away, and hopefully it won't return to litter our front stoop with its offerings.
+This past week was Israeli Independence Day ({{hebs|יום העצמאות}}), which is generally celebrated by barbecuing entire herds of animals and firing off fireworks.  We ''were'' going to go see the fireworks in the central park in Maale Adummim, but instead we watched from the comfort of our "office" room.  As it happened, we could see everything perfectly and didn't have to leave the comfort of our home.
-The ants have not yet given up.  This week they finally drove Esther crazy, so my war of extirpation has had to be turned up a notch.  I've been looking for {{wiki|boric acid}}, which is a primary ingredient in the more effective ant-baits.  In the US, one could purchase it in any drugstore... but here, no such luck.  However, I did find one place (beware: advert for a local vendor follows), a privately owned pharmacy "Brosh", here in Maaleh Adummim, which not only has boric acid -- but can make all kinds of custom formulations (they actually have a laboratory, unlike the chain drugstores).  I was very happy to find they carried the poison I needed.  After getting back home with my stash, I cooked up some ant-be-gone syrup and put it in a couple places in the kitchen.  Sadly, no ants have yet bitten the bait -- which isn't too surprising, they're fearfully clever little creatures.
+The following day (Independence Day day), we were invited to friends of friends of our friends, out by {{wiki|Rosh HaAyin}} -- for a festive day.  After we had been invited there, cousins of mine invited us to their place, but we had to turn them down since we'd already accepted the other invitation.  Once there, we met a lot of other ''olim'' -- who were all from Cleveland and, it turns out, all seemed to know the parents of the cousin who had invited us over!  Small world ...
-Living in the Land gives you opportunities for ''mitsvot'' which simply don't exist in the Exile.  This week, for the first time in my life, I separated "tithes" (''teruma'' and ''ma`aserot''), on the fruit of our ''sheseq'' (loquat).  Not that there was a large crop of them, but one may not eat vegetables and fruits and grain grown in the Land by Jews, without separating out the tithes.
+For the 61st Independence Day, someone posted a list of [http://www.whatwarzone.com/2009/04/you-wanted-ityou-got-it-61-more-things.html 61 things he liked about Israel].  I can add a few more:  1) Any kind of furniture can be made twice as expensive if the term "`ets male'" (solid wood) appears in the name -- even if the closest it came to wood was the pulp used to print the advertisment  2) Israelis are not shy about correcting you about your mistaken choices.  "You don't want that ice cream!".  3) I can look out my window, see the holy city of Jerusalem, smell the sweet aroma of roses from my garden and hear the din of the muezzin all at the same time.  4) Everybody in Israel is only two people away from the Prime Minister (most are only one).  It's a ''small'' country.
-Also this week was "Holocaust Memorial Day" ''{{wiki|yom hashoah}}'', which is marked among other things by a two-minute-long siren -- during which most people stop what they are doing and stand in silent memorial.  However, there are good reasons to object to this particular memorial day.  First, we already have fast days (in particular the 9th of Av) to commemorate the evil which has happened to our people.  Second, the majority of Jewish practice is that the month of Nissan (during which ''yom hashoah'' always falls) is a month of happiness and mourning is curtailed.  Third, and please don't get upset -- the ''shoah'' is not the worst thing which has happened to the Jewish people, and singling it out for special treatment above the far more formative events in our history (such as the destruction of the First and Second Temples) is perverse and wrong-headed.  Understandable, but wrong in my opinion.
+Work has been incredibly stressful, since my particular product is the first thing we're shipping, and it's going to go onto CDs to accompany our customer's products in stores.  It has to work correctly or we don't sell our actual product (which is downloaded by my product).  So I've been worn out and stressed, but now I can see the end of the tunnel.  Next week should be less stressful, B"H.
-Work has been utterly crazy for me.  I was the last one hired, but I'm the first one who has to produce final product.  The part I'm working on is going to be burnt to CD end of next week, and shipped to paying customers -- so it absolutely must work 100%.  Incredibly, I've got it working quite well right now -- so probably I can make the deadline, even though we have one more vacation day (Israeli Independence day) next week.
+I didn't realize there was a good physical reason to dislike our old neighborhood here, but according to this [http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/14/9/1424-F2.htm report from the CDC], where we used to live has the highest incidence of {{wiki|Leishmaniasis}} in Maale Adummim!
-This past ''shabbat'' I had a severe attack of {{wiki2|Benign_paroxysmal_positional_vertigo|vertigo}}, which made me sick to my stomach and kept me at home.  Some of you remember I had this before -- so after ''shabbat'', I looked up how to perform the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa6t-Bpg494 Epley maneuver] at my home.  When I did it, almost miraculously, the vertigo was cured -- and I'm back to "normal".
+Travelers in the Indian Ocean have recently been the targets of Somali pirates.  Not too long ago, some of the pirates got more than they bargained for when they attacked an Italian cruise liner and encountered [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517955,00.html the Israeli security detachment] on board.  That's how to take care of business!
-In manly news: I took apart, cleaned and re-heat-sinked our laptops.  They had been getting very hot, so I figured cleaning out their cooling systems would be a good idea. When I took them apart, I found they were all wearing felt coats of lint blocking the fan-exit holes -- so naturally, they didn't get cooled down properly.  Now, after cleaning and "tuning up", they are all running much cooler and more quietly.
+This shabbat Sarah will be staying over at her partner in hair-crime Rivqua's place.   We hope she has a great time, and we'll miss her!
 Until next week,<br>
 Shabbat shalom!
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Difference between revisions of "Blog/May 2009/May 1st"

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Latest revision as of 12:05, 8 May 2009