Blog/September 2010/Sep 17th

Sep 17th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

I forgive you! Tonight starts Yom HaKippurim (the Day of Atonement) -- a total fast starting just before sunset tonight until right after three medium stars appear tomorrow night. The day is one of introspection, supplication and hopefully forgiveness. In preparation thereto, I humbly ask forgiveness of any of my readers who may have been hurt or offended by any of my statements (here in the blog or anywhere) -- it is not unknown for me to speak forcefully without considering my listeners' feelings. I likewise forgive any of you who may think you need such from me, though I can't recall any likely candidates.

Daniela is back in Seattle, spending the holidays with her family and friends. We know she'll have a good time, as will they. She gets a couple weeks off from the pressures of school; and presumably will be ready to resume afterwards.

Sarah spent her first week of National Service in Tel Aviv. She seems to have had an interesting time. Over the next month she'll be introduced to the other "elderly" people she's to work with. This week her "charges" included an 80+ year old Holocaust survivor who speaks five languages, and regaled Sarah with all kinds of stories of her youth. It promises to be a most interesting year for her.

Esther and I were very busy this week getting things in order. Esther decided the bedroom needed reorganization; but since there is not really any space in the room to rearrange, she got storage boxes for under the beds. Storage for her, not for me. I forgive you!. And I worked steadily on the BBQ project, as well as the Mishne Torah translation project. Neither, however, is yet complete. Here's a picture of the current state of the BBQ (it is in fact usable, just not finished):

• front view
• grate under the fire box
• first fire test
• close-up of suspension mechanism

I'm also clearing the spot for our sukkah for next week; and this year, I'm taking a hammer and chisel to a built-up rock and cement protuberance which I can only assume was intended to be a BBQ pit, but which has caused us difficulties in the past in getting our sukkah to fit in the allotted space.

This week I also finally fixed the problem I was having with my "main" computer here. Being a software developer, I usually assume that whatever problems I'm having are due to a bad software update, or misconfiguration or something; but sometimes the hardware is the problem. It turns out the video card had given up and was simply not working properly any more. Seven years later, the $40 card gave up! It's ok, I forgive you!

On the menu this week: nothing whatsoever!. Well, nothing after the meal before the fast ... I forgive you!

Until next year,
shana tovah umetukah,
gemar Hatimah tovah and
shabbat shalom!

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