Blog/January 2014/Jan 3rd

Jan 3rd (See this week's devar torah)

Comments or questions? Click here!

---

Hi, again!

After my “painful episode” of last week, I set up an appointment to see a chiropractor this week. So I went to the “Maccabi Tivʿi” office, which is the “natural medicine” affiliate of our “sick fund”. There I was interviewed by a doctor, who’s supposed to figure out which of the various treatments one needs. Now, since my pain seemed to me to be caused by a pinched nerve in the lower back or thereabouts, I figured a chiropractor would be in order. Especially after taking pain medications for a week didn’t get rid of the pain.

But though the doctor agreed that chiropractic would help, he also suggested acupuncture. I’m hugely sceptical of “alternative” medical treatments, and the only reason I occasionally go to a chiropractor is that it has actually helped me in the past (and because my father a”h was also helped by it). So I asked the doctor, “just how does acupuncture work”? He replied that, in fact, we don’t know how it works — though if you ask the Chinese they’ll give you a whole explanation of “chi” and “meridians”. But, he said, the Chinese have 4,000 years of experience with it and it does seem to work.

On that less than encouraging note, I went forth to get poked with needles. The acupuncturist laid me on my non-hurting side, and I thought she was going to examine the sore area. But no, she just started stabbing me with needles. OK, “stabbing” is a bit harsh; in fact, the sensation was mostly nondescript, but for one of the needles which really did hurt. After she had me all decked out, she left me laying on my side for about twenty minutes. Then she came back and removed the needles, and I went on to the chiropractor, who did what I expected him to do.

After the treatments, I felt like I had been run over by a truck; that night, I slept soundly though I was in pain. The next morning, however, I felt much better! The “better feeling” wore off through the day, but in general there was a slight improvement. So I don’t know if it’s due to the chiropractic or the acupuncture, but I have another four joint-treatments to go through before I’m done. I’ll let you know how it goes…

In other adventures, our business consultant had recommended us to another of his clients, and they contacted me this week for a “consult”. So I met with them for a bit more than an hour, and helped them understand the technical side of implementing their plan. It was interesting, and they said I helped them a lot. So who knows? Maybe something will develop from this. In any case, it’s “networking”, which is one of my least favorite activities but a necessary one.

And finally, the second “beta” of 8th is just about ready. I have only a couple more things to add, and some documentation to write, before I unleash this (much) improved version on the world.

Other than all that, it’s been a pleasant week weather-wise; cool to cold, which is expected this time of year. A bit of rain, but not much, nor are we anticipating any rain in the coming week. Perfect weather for my “birthday-moʿed”!

One can never have enough house-guests! This week, Dinah will rejoin us after her sojourn in the Olde Country. We’ll be going mildly Asian this week:
kung-pao vegetables, miso soup, rice, mushrooms with onions, pepper chicken, cauliflower kugel, chard-mushroom pashtida, veggie soup, salatim and coconut-chocolate brownies.

Until next week,
shabbat shalom!

---

Top: Blog

Prev: Dec 27th

Next: Jan 10th

---