Blog/October 2010/Oct 15th

Oct 15th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

I spoke too soon last week -- the hot weather has returned; but this time dry rather than humid, so it's not too bad. Besides which, winter is approaching so the frequency of the hot-spells will decrease. We were all busy this week with work and/or study. I had blood-work done. Translation work is almost "done" for now. The folks at Canonical released Ubuntu 10.10, and I had fun with updates. Then there's the regional news ...

Both Esther and I were extremely busy this week with work. I had the particular joy of having "deadlines" which turned out to be fictitious, though the pressure put on me was anything but fictitious. I really don't appreciate that! Esther had to meet the IRS tax deadline this week, so she was very busy; though now she should have a bit more quiet. Sarah did not (as far as I know) have anything exciting happen to her this week. Daniela has been fighting with her school's administration and the insurance company over her being a "foreign" student. After all, her family does not live in America, and she therefore should get foreign rates on insurance. But the school thoughtfully and automatically signed her up for US rates, even though she had told them her status, and even though they did give her foreign rates last year. It's a long and complicated and frustrating story. More money we don't have being poured down the gullets of avaricious insurance companies.

About a month and a half ago, my doctor took me off the "statin" he had prescribed because I was complaining of leg pain. He wanted to check after a month or so, to see if my cholesterol levels were fine without the statin -- since in the meantime, I had managed to reduce my weight by 12%. So this week I went in for a battery of blood tests, and B"H! -- not only is my cholesterol level "good", but so are all the rest of my blood levels -- including the glucose indicators. I'm very pleased, though the leg pain remains (probably unrelated to the 'statin').

The Mishneh Torah Translation Project has progressed to the point where the "rough" translation of the entire Preface is finished. Now I am refining some of the verbiage, and hope to give a draft to my proofreaders next week. At this rate, I'll be 120 before it's done!

Ubuntu 10.10 was released this week, to much fanfare. Most of you won't care; but if you had installed the previous 10.04 release, read this to see whether or not you should upgrade. Since I use kubuntu, it was a compelling upgrade. But alas! the upgrade process did not go smoothly. Here are my notes on the kubuntu 10.10 upgrade process, should you desire to upgrade and have your machine work properly afterwords.

Our region of the world is always entertaining. The idiot leadership of the fakestinians refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish country. Never mind that all that is required of them is a few words, for which our own idiot leaders would hand over the keys to the castle. Then there's Mad-dog'n'jad who has (not quietly!) effectively annexed Lebanon -- without a single peep of protest from the UN (or Lebanon, or the Arab League or anyone else). To be fair, he does have his own problems. Interesting times, indeed! Time to get Biblical on them, don't you think?

By Sarah's request, we are having a quiet shabbat this week. No guests, nothing fancy. Looking forward to relaxation and introspection. The menu this time includes: teriyaki salmon, brisket, glazed carrots with mushrooms, chicken soup, chicken-in-a-pot, various salatim.

Until next week,
shabbat shalom!

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