Some thoughts

I miss life.

2006-09-12T01:41:00.000-04:00

Two summers, same feelings, diffrent results.

2006-07-24T01:38:00.000-04:00

Sitting here in the first part of the summer in denial of what was going down in the land most holy, the disbelief turning into disgust, sadness, and a feeling that the land wedged between the Jordan and the Sea was no longer something I recognized, the soldiers no longer the friends they were.
In a certain way I didn't want to be there, knowing that friends of mine were most likely from the ones going house to house.

So I sat here wanting but unable to be there to help, shed many tears, and made up that I did not want to go back there, to a country I would no longer recognize, at least under to current government.

A years gone by.

I sit here again, not being able to leave, watching my brother arranging a group to go back and join their reserve unit, got a email today from a friend in a elite unit who until now has been doing operations in Jenin, who writes that 'between me and you, I am going north tomorrow', and I cant help but miss it.

I miss the land, in a weird sense the people, the bombs, the action, the gun shots, the music and beer, and once again I tell myself that everyone has their mission in life, and at this time I am doing my duty for the Jewish people by sitting here.

But maybe after this I will go back.

Life in check

2006-07-14T02:04:00.000-04:00

Life is good, its moving along in a way that I don't have time to blog.

Make some money, go to a friends wedding, go on vacation, come home start a business. The headlines are all about drilling for oil, the world cup, a bit of news on Iran, a Washington scandal, hardly life changing events.

Good bourbon, more weddings and engagement parties to drink and shmuz by, enjoying being single.

Then every once in a while, realization hits that there really are things going on in the world, world changing events, either for the whole world, or for peoples private worlds.

Little brothers friend dies, a friend in Tzfat signs off AIM to go into the shelter because there are explosions outside, another brother tells me that one of the solders killed was a s'arsap in his chativah by his draft.

So I wake up, if only for a little bit, even if it lasts only as long as the Eyal Golan music I have playing, say a little extra thilim, and have a bit of a harder time enjoying the sushi for a while, then move on.

Not that I am that insensitive, or cold hearted, just sometimes it can feel that way.

"כה אמר ה' צבאות צום הרביעי וצום החמישי וצום השביעי וצום העשירי יהיו לבית יהודה לששון ולשמחה ולמועדים טובים והאמת והשלום אהבו…"

D Day

2006-06-06T01:00:00.000-04:00

At about this time of the morning 60 years ago today the allied forces started their land invasion of Nazi occupied France.

My grandmother says that my grandfather was the first American soldier on foreign soil in world war two, when he got off the boat in the UK to start training his men. and her second husband was with the Central Command when they librated Dachau.

Anyone who hasn't already seen them, check out "the longest day", and "band of brothers".

28 Iyar - Yom Shchrur Yerusalayim v Chevron.

2006-05-25T21:30:00.000-04:00

Looking at the calendar tonight brings back many fond memories of my years spend in the holy land, perhaps the best memories associated with a specific date.

Looking back at the history of the state of Israel, one finds many miracles, and many things to be embarrassed of.

28 Iyar 1967 is one of those days, The recapture of the old city or Jeru, and the recapture of Chevron are two events modern Israel can be proud of, they did screw up by not letting the Arabs run away, and by giving the Arabs control of the Miarat Hamachpela, but all in all it was a good day.

Its the one day that music fills the air for a good reason, dancing, celebrating, walking around the entire city, from Har Hatzofim to Eir Dovid, the day that Arabs are smart enough to stay inside.

Its the one day that I miss being in Israel for.

We still say nachem on the 9th of Av, we are still in Galut, so when I celebrate tonight, it will be with the thought of Lishana Haba BiYerusalaim. By next year we should all be in Jerusalam, together with Moshiach.

*********
Update: Click HERE to listen to a recording of the capturing of the Temple Mount

Weddings

2006-05-18T22:58:00.000-04:00

Looking at my calendar the other day trying to make plans for the next six weeks I came to the realization that there needs to be a planning commission set up to make sure that my friends weddings don't interfere with my schedule.

I have four weddings, in a four week period in three different parts of the world, so trying to work in a business trip in the middle for more then four days is kind of hard.

So I had a idea, a way to get everyone's wedding in the same time and in the same place, and at the same time help make more weddings.

The Wedding Cruise:

A Ship that can hold about 1500 people.
One nice Ballroom.
Seven Weddings.
A bunch of Guys for the Chosson.
A bunch of Girls for the Kalla.
A bunch of Family Friends.
A few Shadchonim.
A Cruise to South America.

With such a event, you have guaranteed attendance, don't have to move around much, and you have the possibility of many more weddings coming from that.

Doing My Civic Duty

2006-05-10T20:55:00.000-04:00

My short stint in the NYS Jury Pool.

After responding to a Jury questionnaire a few weeks ago, I was a bit surprised that they would want me so soon.

The instructions were quite clear, 8:45 am, I was to be there.

So after a sleepless night I showed up on the dot at 8:53 after getting stuck in traffic on the Subway, thinking that I would be shot, or worse told to come back tomorrow.

But it was not to be, for until 9:40 did we sit in a big room, all 500 of us watching court room dramas on the big screen.

When they finally got around to start processing us, after explaining us how to fill out the forms, a list of exemptions and disqualifications were announced. When the woman announced that all those who don't understand English should go into the next room, about 50 people quickly rose and made their exit, while the rest of the room laughed.

When they finally called my name, not to some murder trial that I had been hoping for did they send me, only to some civil trial where they didn't want me.

It turns out that back in 2003 A Jewish woman from Midwood/Flatbush struck a Latisha something or another, and is being sued for damages.

They didn't want me.

Besides for getting a Jury Questionnaire as a souvenir, I got a letter saying that I am a true American, and that I don't need to show up for another six years

Yizkor

2006-05-01T19:59:00.000-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I haven't gone back to Israel in a while because of the current political situation, and that I only observe (celebrate) two Israeli holidays. Yom Hazikaron and Yom Yerusalaim.

Yom Yerusalim is as far as I am concerned the only day the state of Israel can be proud of.

Yom Hazikaron is when we remember the 22,123 people killed for Israel. From the first fighters in the hagana, to the victims of the last suicide bombing, heroes whose blood stains the holiest land on earth.

May hashem avenge their blood.

Home

2006-04-28T12:38:00.000-04:00

After almost four weeks of traveling, etc. I am finally home.

From the 66th Parallel North, to close to Reactor four, I landed last night at a good friends Lichayim.

Had a wonderful Pesach, trying to keep the flame burning, and just a very exciting and amazing trip.

The main thing that I really learnt again on this trip was that 'ein dovar haomed lifney haratson', if there is a will there is a way. Weather its getting to the top of a glacier, getting by Army checkpoints into a closed Military Zone, or getting to a snow covered Volcano, with all the roads officially closed, never turn back or give up.

After being out of touch for 4 weeks, I came home to find out the world is still around, the city still has lots of pot holes, and that a great friend got engaged, with his lichayim two hours after I landed.

Its nice to be home. My own bed, a full refrigerator, family and friends, but something is telling me to start planing my next trip.

66th Digree

2006-04-05T18:06:00.000-04:00

Would just like to wish a Happy and Kosher Pesach to all of you.

I have been here on the 66th for a few days and will be heading deeper into europe tomorrow.

This year in Yerusaliam.

From a Old Lady

2006-03-30T22:37:00.000-05:00

I bumped into a old lady at a wedding, she gave me this to distrbute.

Speed Dating & Black Hats

2006-03-29T01:33:00.000-05:00

Well it seems that everyone likes writing about shduchim, so I figured that I would join in the fun.

Karl has a similar post but I was going to post about this anyway.

From reading these blogs, and speaking to friends, it seems that there are a few problems with the shidduch scene, which include but are not limited to: Too much time spent doing research to see if the perspective pair are suitable for one another. When things don't work out the cost of the first date or two. People who cant date someone they would want to because they come from different types of families. scared to go out with someone because if their looks, etc.

All these problems can be fixed with a simple and cheap solution.

SpeedDating.

Rent out a restaurant, have different nights of the week for different types of people. One night for the Ultra frum, etc. Line up 15 guys and 15 girls, give them 3-4 minutes with each one, if something strikes the onsite shadchan can set things up, and bingo, its all good.

If there was something like this for my crowd when I become a free agent, I would give it a shot.

******

My other ingenious idea was the Virtual Hat (trademark)

I don't like wearing a hat. But a hat is a symbol of what group you belong to, and what you represent, so I wont just dump my hat.

In walks the Virtual Hat (trademark) For a small fee, I will sell you a virtual hat in your size, your name will be entered in the Virtual Hat (trademark) registry, and we will send you a pin which you can affix to your jacket or Yarmulke that will show everyone that you are in fact wearing a hat.

Patents are still pending, and I haven't worked out how much it will cost or what colors I will have, but were working on it.

The Wall

2006-03-27T01:23:00.000-05:00

Sitting around a few nights back finishing up some work, listening to some Pink Floyd, I decided I would download the film version of "The Wall".

While I really like most of their music, especially the wall, the video was rather disturbing, a really graphic portrayal of pinks life, which in some way most people can identify with.

So while I found it disturbing and can do without the kids coming out of the grinder, I think it should be watched at least once.

Home

2006-03-23T20:20:00.000-05:00

Well I finally landed ( I hope).

After spending 18+ hours traveling since Tuesday afternoon, I think I caught up with myself back home.

Two weddings, countless glasses of tasty drinks, a bout with food and or alcohol poisoning, a drive thru Malibu and a missed flight, all added up to make it a rather exhausting but fun trip.

At least now I have a reason to go on my long Pesach trip that starts next week, when friends wonder what I am vacationing from.

Jetlag

2006-03-17T03:50:00.000-05:00

After tossing and turning in bed for two hours, and still being unable to fall asleep, I have come to the conclusion that I am Jetlagged, mentally, spiritually, and physically.

I am just not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing. Am I going places, or am I just flying around in circles.

Politically Correct Meggila

2006-03-10T17:04:00.000-05:00

Took this from a friends blog, who took it from I dont know where, but its good.

The Politically Correct Megilla

Chapter I
And it came to pass in the third year of the reign of Achashverosh, King of Persia, that the King threw a great party. And it was during that party, that the King became intoxicated and called for his wife Vashti to come dance in front of the guests. Now, Vashti was a liberated woman, and was not at all ashamed to display her body in public ("my body, my choice," she used to say). But she was certainly not going to do so at the behest of a male chauvinist like her husband. So she refused to appear, and the following morning, in addition to a major hangover, Achashverosh had one royal-size sexual harassment suit waiting for him. Public opinion quickly turned against the King, and he was forced to settle out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.

Chapter II
It was after those events that the King missed Vashti, and wanted to find a new wife. He consulted his inner circle of advisors, which, in accordance with multi-cultural practices, consisted of, among others, one woman, one Indian, one Ethiopian, and one handicapped person, who was also rumored to be gay. One of his advisors, Memoochan, suggested holding a beauty contest, attended by all the fairest maidens in the land. But his female advisor informed him that Memoochan was a Neanderthal living in the dark ages, and that beauty contests where men gawk at women walking around in swimsuits had long ago gone out of fashion. Instead, she suggested giving a test in such subjects, as physics, literature and music, and the most intelligent woman would be made queen. And the King, already lagging in the public opinion polls, had no choice, and he said to make it so.
Now it just so happened that in the Kingdom of Persia there lived a young Jewish girl named Esther who was very beautiful, but much more importantly, had a 195 IQ. Having successfully sued her parents for termination of custody, she had been living with her uncle Mordechai. Esther aced the test and was chosen to be the new queen. Only, the homosexual community objected to the word "queen", and the feminists didn't like the whole gender-based title thing, so it was decided that she would just be called "Royal Person." So Esther was crowned Royal Person of Persia and was married to King Achashverosh, though she kept her own last name. And being that Esther was an intelligent woman in her own right, and had no intention whatsoever of sitting quietly next to the King looking pretty, she was given her own staff of 15 and an office in the west wing of the palace.

Chapter III
It was after those events that King Achashverosh elevated his advisor Haman to be his chief advisor. There were some protests by the African-Persian community because he hadn't selected an African Persian to be his top advisor, but the appointment went through anyway. It turned out the Haman was a big anti-Semite, and he asked the King's permission to kill all the Jews, which he got. So Haman sent out a proclamation to all the lands in the kingdom outlining his plan. Distressed, the Jews sought a court-issued injunction to stop Haman from sending it. But Haman was defended by the head of the Persian Civil Liberties Union, who ironically was also Jewish, and who claimed that the injunction would violate Haman's right to free speech. And the injunction was not issued, so the proclamation was sent.

Chapter IV
And Mordechai knew of all that had happened, and he donned a black ribbon as a sign of mourning. And Esther sent a messenger to Mordechai to console him, but he would not be consoled. Then Mordechai sent word back to Esther that she should go the King and ask him to stop the impending killing of all the Jews. Esther replied that other social issues, such as the environment and harassment in the workplace were more pressing, but Mordechai persuaded her as to the urgency of the matter, and she agreed. Mordechai suggested calling all the Jews to synagogue for three days of fasting and prayers, but Esther thought that was way outdated, and instead called for a non-denominational candlelight vigil, and it was so.

Chapter V
And it came to pass on the third day that Esther put on her smartest business suit and went to see the King. The King offered Esther up to half his assets, which he was actually required to give her anyway, based on their pre-nup. Esther told the King that she had come to invite him and Haman to a big party she was throwing the next day. The King was very excited, and both he and Haman showed up to Royal Person Esther's party. The King, for his part, was careful not to violate the out-of-court settlement he had made with Vashti, and there was none of that "dance naked" stuff that night. The party was a big hit, with performances by Fleetwood Mac and crowd favorite Barbra Streisand. And Esther informed the King that both he and Haman were also invited to her next party, being thrown the following day in Martha's Vineyard. Upon leaving the party, Haman spotted his old nemesis Mordechai, which ruined his night. Haman's wife advised Haman to build a gallows 50 amot tall and ask the King to have Mordechai hanged the next day. She further advised him to quit referring to her as "Haman's Wife." And he built the gallows.

Chapter VI
That night, the King had trouble sleeping. He called for his servants to bring him a video to watch, but since having gotten rid of all his stag films as part of his sensitivity training following the Vashti debacle, all they had left were a bunch of movies filmed in Montana and produced by Robert Redford. So they brought him the royal archives instead, and there he read that Mordechai had done him a big favor a few years back. Just then, Haman came in, and the King asked him what to do for someone to whom he owed a favor. Haman suggested maybe an ambassadorship to some insignificant but warm-climate country, or maybe letting him spend a night in the palace's "Lincoln Bedroom." But the King decided to have Haman lead Mordechai around on a horse throughout the streets of Shushan. However, the animal rights activists got wind of the King's plan, and they went nuts, so it was decided that Haman would just lead Mordechai around on foot. And it was so. When he was done leading Mordechai around, Haman walked home, despondent. But no sooner had he returned home than the King's messengers arrived to bring him to Esther's second party. Haman's wife realized that her husband was doomed and commented that she had always known he would never amount to anything.

Chapter VII
And the King and Haman came to drink with Royal Person Esther. And it was during the party that Esther shocked the King by telling him that someone in that very room was plotting to kill her and all the other Jews. "Who is that man?" yelled the King. To which Esther replied "What makes you so sure it's a man? You don't think that a woman is capable of killing all the Jewish people?" After an awkward silence, Esther told the King that is was, in fact, a man, and it was none other than his chief advisor Haman! The King stormed out in a fit a rage and meanwhile Haman begged at Esther's feet for her to spare his life. He told her how he had grown up in a broken home, was raised by a crack-selling mother and had never had a normal childhood. Esther declared Haman to be a product of society's failure to protect its children. So Haman's crime of "attempted genocide" was reduced to "issuing proclamations without a license" and he was given the relatively light sentence of five-to-seven years. After serving just two years of that sentence, he was given time off for good behavior and paroled. And the following year, the residents of Shushan elected Haman as their mayor, his being a felon notwithstanding. Meanwhile, Esther convinced the King to come to terms with his anger and latent feelings of hostility towards women, and the King entered a 12-step program and when he was through, his anger had subsided.

Chapter VIII
That day, the King gave Esther Haman's house, and she told the King that Mordechai was her uncle. And Mordechai asked the King's permission for the Jews to rise up and kill their enemies. But Esther would have no such thing, and instead, she arranged for a dialog being the Jewish leaders and the leaders of the people of Shushan. And while they couldn't overcome all their differences, they did agree to joint-author a letter of mutual acceptance and tolerance.

Chapter IX
And in the twelfth month, the month of Adar, on the day when the Jews were supposed to have been exterminated, the Jews held a three-day conference of the Leaders of Jewish Organizations. And during that conference, they agreed that a holiday should be established-the holiday of Purim. A holiday of charity and gift-giving. A holiday of brotherly love. A holiday where alternate-side-of- the-street parking rules would be suspended. A holiday where Jewish kids could dress up like Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers and not have to feel that they had missed out on something by not celebrating Halloween. And a proclamation was sent out to all the King's lands, in all 127 languages, plus Ebonics. And the Jews were careful not to mention G-d's name, lest any of the gentiles be offended.

Chapter X
And King Achashverosh--the kinder and gentler King Achashverosh- levied a tax across the land, to raise money to pay for welfare and public television. And the great deeds of Royal Person Esther and her uncle Mordechai were duly recorded in the annals of Persia.

2006-03-03T02:36:00.000-05:00

"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend." - Robert Louis Stevenson

A Rock

2006-03-01T02:05:00.000-05:00

Fly, thought, on wings of gold,
go settle upon the slopes and the hills
where the sweet airs of our
native soil smell soft and mild!

Greet the banks of the river Jordan
and Zion's tumbled towers.

Oh, my country, so lovely and lost!

Oh remembrance so dear yet unhappy!

Golden harp of the prophetic wise men,
why hang so silently from the willows?

Rekindle the memories in our hearts,
tell us about the times gone by!

Remembering the fate of Jerusalem
play us a sad lament
or else be inspired by the Lord
to fortify us to endure our suffering.

Just my mood.

Not sure where I am holding on my journey.
Sometimes I think I know where I should be heading, only to find that the here and now is also important.

After all is said and done, its truth, not false glory that really counts.

Arrested Development

2006-02-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

Life is getting interesting.

About a month ago I was handed a speeding ticket, on the ticket it had, State of New York The People of New York VS The Real Me.

Now I get a call from my grandma who received a letter addressed to me from the US Department of Justice, with the heading 'Untied States of America VS Me...

If I don't pay a fine which I received a little over two years ago by tomorrow, the US federal Marshals will have a arrest warrant issued for me, and might come looking for me.

While I do enjoy being a outlaw, and I have always wanted to get arrested, I think I will go down to their office tomorrow and pay the fine.

On the other hand this could possibly be my ticket to money and fame, everyone knows that in order to get famous or make money you need to be arrested, so maybe I am forfeiting this easy chance at getting arrested by the feds.

Stuff

2006-02-17T13:56:00.000-05:00

Being that I was nudged about posting, I figured I would post.

I took my two sisters skiing yesterday on two hours sleep to hunter mountain, the weather was beautiful, but the snow was what us well versed in skier terminology call heavy corn snow, or in plain English, mostly slush.

There were about 400 NYC firemen there, having races and giving Budweiser some good news to report in their next earnings report. We even bumped into this half black fireman who was able to sing 'the hamotzie' brocha for us.

Got home slept for two hours and went out for two friends engagement parties, and one birthday party.

And that's about all the excitement in my life.

************

In other news.

I haven't seen this in any major news site, other then the EJ Press

About a Jew who was kidnapped and murdered in Paris by a gang of Muslims.

Yemen

2006-01-31T00:58:00.000-05:00

Sitting here bored, I figured I could do with some finger exercise

Did you know that five tourists were kidnapped in Yemen last month? What about that if you have a Israeli stamp in your passport they wont let you in the countrie?

While sitting with a friend last shabbos looking for more interesting places to check out in the near future, a friend of his who is from Yemen stopped by, I was reminded of a NGM article about Yemen, and started asking him about going there.

The only things he really knew was that it is more dangerous then Morocco, and that the way the tribal chiefs are kept under control is by having one of their sons in a compound under the control of the president or king ( I am not sure if its still in practice) and if they misbehave he kills their kid.

So I checked it up online, and found the above mentioned info, as well as the fact that it is one of the poorest countries in the oil rich middle east where the average high level hotel costs about $20 a night.

There was a interesting article I found on the Yemen times web site, about how the only place you really have democratic elections by the Arabs are in the two occupied countries (sic), and that the other "free Arab states" should be ashamed of themselves.

So for now I think I will stick with planning a trip to Morocco and the Atlas mountains, and have to make due with the view I had of Yemen from across the sea of reeds in Masawa Eritrea.

Tripping stats

2006-01-22T12:01:00.000-05:00

10 days on the road, five of them staying with family.

Copper twice, Loveland once, Vail Once.

One day, 18 inches of fresh powder, 20 below zero with the wind. The rest of the time was nice and sunny.

Put the first 2400 miles on a Dodge Ram 1500.

Made a bbq the first night on the road in 17 degree weather.

15, the number of times my little brothers kvetched that he wanted to go ATVing.

1, the big thanks I got at the end.

Schmoozed with a certain Jewish entertainer ( who has recently been in the news) In Vegas.

2, The amount of times they thieves started my truck while they tried to steal it.

3, the hours it took to get a new car from the rental company.

0, the amount I spent in the casinos on gambling.

1, another friend who got engaged while I was away.

Best quote in Vegas: "We don't need to make excuses for being seen here" ESPN

15, the hours I slept when I got home.

There they go

2006-01-07T18:32:00.000-05:00

Two friends in one week, engaged. One friend getting married tomorrow. Others dropping hints that they are actively seeking a partner for life. Me, I am in denial.

***

Time to start packing for my road trip, I am flying out west to take my two younger brothers on a 10 day family visiting/ski road trip during their winter vacation, but first tomorrow there is skiing, then a wedding.

***

Its amazing what a juniors cheese cake can do, we have a deal out in the mid west, where for a fresh cheese cake, we get free ski rentals for as long as we need them.

One of the tests you take when you are bored

2006-01-05T03:13:00.000-05:00

Just a test I did while bored. Upps it might give me away. :)

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	46%
Accommodation	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|	16%
Religious	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Hedonism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Self absorbed	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Avoidant	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Physical security	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Physical Fitness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	77%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Hypersensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Female cliche	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Stability results were very high which suggests you are extremely relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were medium which suggests you are moderately organized, hard working, and reliable while still remaining flexible, efficient, and fun.

Extraversion results were moderately low which suggests you are reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and secretive.

trait snapshot:
rarely irritated, positive, tough, non phobic, fearless, likes the unknown, self reliant, high self control, confident, trusting, strong instincts, prudent, optimistic, willful, likes parties, prefers a specialized career, takes charge, altruistic, strong, high self concept, adventurous, practical, thoughtful

Cant sleep

2006-01-03T01:03:00.000-05:00

Went skiing today.

Probably half the frum Jews in Brooklyn were there.

Decided to go down a double diamond that everyone else was avoiding (for some crazy reason) had a good time getting down.

Got turned away from the shopping I had planned on doing on my way home, by being told that they close at 6 pm.

Can’t sleep.

"Ugly Americans"

2005-12-29T16:38:00.000-05:00

Browsing the news today, I came across two articles about rude tourists who are compared to "rude ugly Americans.

One was about horeds of cheap Chinamen overrunning Thailand, the other about our dear British cousins who overrun Prague and the like with cheap stag parties.

Something tells me the Canadians are behind this latest subliminal America bashing.

*******

A small though we spoke about last night after our third drink staring at the candle on our table.

While the flame tries to return to its source, always trying to go higher, its the wicks job to keep it in tuned with what needs to be done, and to keep it from flying away above, where there would be no light from it above, as it would be consumed in its source, and there would be no light below as the wick would lose its soul.

Its the same thing with us down here on this world, our bodies the wick, the soul our flame. Just as with the candle, we must recognize that we are here on this world for one reason only, to give light.

Happy Chanukah.

"All I want is freedom, a world with no more night"

Chanukah

2005-12-26T18:38:00.000-05:00

Its that time of year again, a time usually busy with parties or sharing the light with others. A time that while the weather may be cold and dark outside, we fill the house, ourselves and the world with light.

Although its only the second night, I feel kind of lost.

In years past I spent Chanukah on army bases near Chevron. Went around Paris giving out menorahs, and popping into parties. And spend a Chanukah in Belgium doing more less the same thing.

This year however for the first time in seven years I am home, having just returned from ten days in the big easy, doing the same things I would usually do on Chanukah; Try to spread some yiddishkeit, drink with my fellow Jews, sing the nights away, go thru places that looked like war zones, and in general keep busy doing good things.

So while I sit here bored by my computer, tying to figure out what I should be doing with myself for the next week, I cant help but wonder if for me, this year Chanukah came a week early.

Orleans Update

2005-12-20T01:32:00.000-05:00

Monday, first day of real work.

After spending Sunday picking everyone up from the airport, and getting things ready, Monday was our first day of work.

The cars left to the work zones after breakfast at about 9:30, the main group went to the main Shul of New Orleans that had sat for three weeks with eight feet of water. The goal was to round up all the siforim from the whole shul to be brought to the cemetery and buried on Tuesday, while some were filling up the wheel barrels with waterlogged and moldy siforim, others were taking out the carpet from the main sanctuary.

Like most of New Orleans, the entire shul was covered with a coating of mud and mold, sitting in one of the deserted hallways in the trash was a picture of what the shul used to look like, what was once bright, clean and lively, now sat deserted and dirty and unsure of its future.

While cleaning out the sanctuary, one of the students found a Sefer Torah. All that was left was the mantle, the Atzey Chaim, and a bit of ruined wet parchment. It was raised with reverence, and placed in the trailer together with the few thousand books already there.
When the work was finished at the shul, the trailer was brought to the cemetery, where we offloaded it to be buried tomorrow.

A second group was busy doing demolition work on the water logged walls and floors of the home of an older Jewish couple, the man from Budapest, and the woman from Israel. They had only gotten three feet of water in their house.

A third group was busy painting a Local Charter school, so that it should be ready for the next semester.

The one word everyone could find to describe this, is surreal. Its hard to look around at the utter destruction, the waste, the neighborhoods where you don’t see another human. No cars, no life, you can just walk into the houses and site on the couch where the owners haven’t been back since the storm, and call it real.
Now I am sitting here in the chabad house, after having super that was catered by a Persian member of the community who owns a restaurant in the French quarter, while the student watch a video on the hurricane. I only have internet back at the house where I am staying so this will have to be uploaded later.

Regards from New Orleans

2005-12-19T08:51:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to post this after shabbos, but was too busy.

Regards from New Orleans.

Sitting here on my friends laptop at 12:45 am, in the Chabad House here in the big easy, having just finished putting together welcome bags for the 50 odd students that are coming tomorrow, to spend a week here helping to clean out shuls and peoples houses, as part of the Chabad on Campus New Orleans rebuilding effort.

Shabbos here was very nice; it was the first shabbos minyan since the hurricane. At the meal by the Sholiach the guests were all telling their tales, as for some of them it was their first time getting together. We heard from one woman who left town four days after the storm hit, with her two dogs and three guns, another one told how she snuck in right when the water started going down, all in all it was quite interesting.

Driving from the airport on Friday morning, it was a weird sight. There were houses that looked as if they were rotting for years, some were being put back together, street are still being cleared of dibre and trash from houses that are being gutted. Every house has a color marking by the front door, showing which National Guard unit checked it, and if there were any dead bodied inside, the town still seems pretty dead with only about 30 percent of the resident around. Even with the mess, and the rebuilding you cant help but notice what a beautiful city this place is/was.

I will try to post more later, with some pics.

Hunter hill

2005-12-12T22:59:00.000-05:00

Ok so I borrow that name from my brothers brother in law who used it to make fun of our premier ski "resort" here on the east coast. However truth be told its not that bad.

Having a season pass and my own pair of skis kind of makes it feel like I am skiing for free. Conditions on Sunday were gantz fine, it wasn't even bad for a Sunday. After having been up the night before drinking, it wasn't a bad day of skiing with only 3 1/2 hours of sleep. We even had a minyan for mincha afterwards. So far six ski days this season and counting.

I always wondered what the spam people are thinking when they send me the same piece of junk mail six times in one day. My current average of spam received is about 24 a day.

After having said all that, its time to finish planning this road trip I am taking my brothers on for their mid winter vacation.

My free drink offer is still on for this next pic.

A diffrent type of view

2005-12-08T00:11:00.000-05:00

Sitting here on the east cost, looking at some pictures of places where I have been, and the time I spent being there, had me thinking about where I am today.

I daven, I learn, I work a little, even manage to travel and ski a little. But almost all of it seems boring.

I miss being able to sit on top of the hill, look down, and feel accomplished, feel that I am serving a purpose, then the drinking, and the vacation seemed like vacation. Now it feels more like I go on vacation to do something.

I don't know, maybe I just miss the bullets flying around.

A room with a view

2005-12-07T00:21:00.000-05:00

(Free drink to anyone who can tell me where this pic was taken)

Tables, Benches and floors

2005-12-05T20:04:00.000-05:00

Being that I haven't posted in a while I will share some nonsense I thought up.

Dancing on the bench the other night, I noticed a few things.

There were some of us on the floor, others on the benches, some on the backs of the benches, and even some on the tables.

Dancing there, I wondered why couldn't we all just dance on the floor, and if not on the floor, then why not stick with the bench and keep off the tables.

Then I understood why we were dancing, we were dancing because we felt connected, so we had to get off the floor and leave our selfish selves behind. For some of us the bench was as high as we got, others reached the tables, the thing that we eat from.

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-24T02:54:00.000-05:00

This off Bloomberg:

How Turkey Escaped Ax at White House, Won Trip to Disneyland

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Tomorrow, 45 million turkeys will complete their grim journey from farm to supermarket to America's Thanksgiving dinner tables.

Not Marshmallow. He's going to Disneyland.

Marshmallow, a 40-pound bird with snow-white, silken feathers, is this year's national Thanksgiving turkey. So instead of the ax he gets an official pardon, bestowed yesterday by President George W. Bush.

``The granting of the turkey pardon is not a responsibility that I take lightly,'' Bush said in Washington. The name of the honoree, he added, was chosen by the public on the White House Web site in ``a neck-and-neck race.''

That's the kind of thing the national turkey has to put up with. Also yesterday, there were those 50 school kids who made a beeline for the bird after the president invited them up to ``pet the turkey.''

For the most part, life is good for the national turkey.

Marshmallow and Yam (his stand-in should Marshmallow be unable to perform his duties) arrived in town a day before the big event, chauffeured in a rented minivan by friends of the National Turkey Federation. The trade group represents the likes of the Butterball Turkey unit of Omaha-based ConAgra Foods Inc. and Austin, Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corp., the country's biggest turkey processor.

`Like Royalty'

The travelers, turkeys and humans alike, spent the night at the Hotel Washington, a marble-lobbied hotel near the White House that has hosted the past 30 national turkeys. Marshmallow and Yam spent the night on soft pine shavings in the kitchen of the hotel's top-floor restaurant.

``This bird is treated like royalty,'' said Abel Anane, the hotel's director of food and beverages. A human would pay $195 to $225 for a room on the same floor. The turkeys were comped.

Marshmallow and Yam probably have it better than any of the other turkeys that have been pardoned since President Harry S. Truman made it an annual tradition 58 years ago. (Abraham Lincoln was the first president to pardon a turkey, because his son Tad had adopted the would-be Thanksgiving meal as a pet.)

For the past 15 years, the pardoned birds were sent into retirement at a 1930s-replica farm in nearby Virginia called Frying Pan Park. The name derives from the town, and nothing sinister, though Bush noted yesterday that the turkeys might be understandably skeptical.

Grand Marshals

After the ceremony this year the birds took a motorcade to Washington Dulles International Airport, where they rested in the first-class section of a United Airlines flight (dubbed ``Turkey One'') to Anaheim, California. Tomorrow, Marshmallow and Yam will serve as honorary Grand Marshals for Disneyland's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

``I talked it over with the turkeys,'' said National Turkey Federation Chairman Pete Rothfork, ``and they thought it would be a good idea.'' The birds will then live in retirement in a petting zoo at Disneyland.

By virtue of his position, Rothfork, along with turkey expert Jim Trites, got to pick this year's national turkey. It's an honor that rotates with the chairmanship of the turkey federation, which considers the presidential pardon the alpha and omega of product promotion.

The bird that would become Marshmallow was hatched on a 10,000-turkey commercial farm in Henning, Minnesota. Rothfork and Trites picked 24 prospects in September. Trites, a veterinarian specializing in poultry for Elanco Animal Health, a unit of drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co., housed the birds near his lake home in Minnesota, building a pen with a separate water line for them.

Social Skills

A couple of weeks before the trip to Washington, Trites thinned out the flock, sending 13 birds off to be someone's dinner. The ones that make the cut, so to speak, have to strut, have ``attitudes,'' and ``talk a lot,'' Trites said. Only once, in 2002, was a hen chosen as the national turkey, because the chairman felt she was the ``most regal bird,'' said Sherrie Rosenblatt, spokeswoman for the turkey federation.

Days before leaving for Washington, Trites chose the final two turkeys. The nine other finalists will stay in their pen until Christmas, when they too will, well, you know.

As part of the preparations the 24 nominees underwent ``socializing'' in case they made it to the big photo-op with the president. The birds' handlers talked to them, stroked them, and, this year, played Disney parade music for them.

This socializing is important because the birds have been known to get nervous during the ceremony. One national turkey caused a stir by flapping its wings at Ronald Reagan. Talk circulated of a ``doping scandal'' when subsequent honorees were more docile.

Vote Count

Joel Brandenberger, senior vice president of legislative affairs for the turkey federation, said the speculation is unfounded. He points to 1991, when he had to run down a rambunctious national turkey. He recalls President George H.W. Bush subtly indicating to Brandenberger that the lobbyist had a feather stuck to his lapel following the ruckus.

The Bush administration opened the naming of the national birds up to the public in 2003. The number of votes cast this year fell 35 percent to 12,726 from 19,581 last year, according to the White House Web site.

The voting was for pre-selected pairs of names. ``Marshmallow and Yam'' received 27 percent of the total, edging out ``Wattle and Snood,'' which got 26 percent. ``Democracy and Freedom'' and ``Blessing and Beauty'' each got 20 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Kelly Proctor at  kproctor@bloomberg.net.

Get out, and dont come back

2005-11-21T03:15:00.000-05:00

It seems as if there is never a dull moment in Israeli politics, we run from one election to the next almost as if its a national sport.

These next couple of months will most likely see which direction the Israeli public wants to be taken, one would hope that Sharon's new party gets no more then 5 seats, so that him and Olmret can go home for good. The ultra religious parties don't deserve much either, after having backed the disengagement, all for a measly 290 million NIS. Shas on the other could use another few.

Usually, I couldn't really care about which way the polls go in the holy land, but it is three in the morning, and I cant sleep, so I may as well get some finger exercise while listening to the doors.

Another interesting thing I realized tonight, is that there are lots of interesting people out in biosphere, some know where they are going, while not sure where they are coming from, other know where they are, but are looking for direction, and others are just plain lost. What I figure is that most people who have it found, don't really hang out here... :-)

From my inbox...

2005-11-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.
How about achieving 103%?
What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96 %

But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100 %

And,
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103 %

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Bullshit that will put you over the top!

Never Forget

2005-11-13T03:53:00.000-05:00

Flipping thru some video clips I downloaded a few months ago, tears roll down my face.

This picture is of a house that belonged to a man who gave all for what he thought was his country, a house where I used to hang out quite often, the small white ledge which remained was part of the porch where we sat.

Some places you don't return to because they are far away, this one was given away to people who want us dead.

H.Y.D

The Trumpet in Jewish Music

2005-11-11T00:47:00.000-05:00

Whenever I would speak with some friends of mine about Jewish music, a few of them would always complain about excessive use of the trumpet in all Jewish music.

Sitting up close tonight by the Ohel Concert I finally figured out why. As it turns out the theme of tonight's concert was 36 years of Yisroel Lamm as a Conductor/Arranger/Composer, so one of the pieces was played by the original members of the Negina, with Yisroel Lamm on the Trumpet...

2005-11-10T01:37:00.000-05:00

Anne Frank and German Beer

2005-10-22T19:39:00.000-04:00

Schmoozing with my brother in law the other day, he told me about a nice new watch he ordered, I took down the details, checked out the site, found a watch I liked and was pondering ordering it. However there was one small problem, the watch is German.

While on small things it doesn't really bother me, and I would get into a friends German car. On the most part I tried staying away from buying things that scream German. Lately I started drinking beck's, and was about to buy this watch.

Last night I was bored, so I picked up the first smallish book that I came across in my house, which happened to be the Anne Frank diaries. After reading it I thought to myself whether or not I wanted buy something that every time I looked down at my wrist I would see "Germany" written there, on the other hand something is telling me that they paid their price, and try to make amends.

I should probably wait until I finish my stock of beck's before I try to figure out where I stand, but who knows maybe a beer pouring ceremony is what I need now.

Long time

2005-10-20T04:49:00.000-04:00

Its been a while since my last post, mostly due to lack of interest on my part, and partially due to time constraints.

But here I am once again, bored enough to type some more nonsense.

RH and YK were great, had over lots of guests for the meals on RH and had a very inspiring YK. Sukkos is going nicely, haven't gotten smashed yet, but working on it.

Booked my tickets to go to my friends wedding after Sukkos, with a stop off on the way back in Denver to visit some family, and the ski slopes, we will iyh do three days of skiing at Loveland, A-Basin, and Copper.

*********

When I was growing up, I would go down to Kingston Ave for Simchas Beis, dance a little, schmooze, go to a sukkah and farbee. These days I go, I dance a bit, and while schmoozing, I watch the people.

Its interesting to see the different shades of people all showing their colors, while the black of night is lit up brightly with police spotlights. A drunk fellow hugging everyone in sight, while a older man walks with his sleeping child on his shoulders, and the young guys letting out their testosterone, it sort of adds another whole dimension to the sukkos experience.

Time and time again I say ashrenu.

Shmugarinski

2005-09-23T13:25:00.000-04:00

Well its been a hectic little while, so many things going on, with not much time to write.

Two weeks ago I started learning most of the day with a chvrusa, so that eats up most of my time. Other then that my brother is getting married on Monday in the Midwest, so I have been helping him a bit.

One of my good friends schlepped me with him to a ski shop 20 min from my house, where he had found a nice pair of boots. While I had intended to just buy a pair of boots, I wound up buying a pair of K2 omni 4.5 skis as well, which will hopefully make the skiing a bit more exiting. We also plan on buying season passes this year, so all we are missing now is the snow.

When I showed up to vote two weeks ago, I was unceremoniously told that I am not on the voters log, so either its voter fraud or its just NYC.

My good friend who I posted about a few months ago, got engaged, his party was the other night, we drank, sang and schmoozed until early morning. Its a shame that we are losing a good ski buddy to some girl he found...

Anyway enough nonsense for now, when I find something intelligent to post, I will.

Voting day

2005-09-13T10:30:00.000-04:00

Well its the democratic primary voting day here in NYC, and I have no idea who to vote for.

When in doubt I usually look at Dave Barry or Andy Runny for guidance, when I cant find any inspirational voting commentary from them, I look at the list that our community PAC sends out, and vote the opposite.

Honestly nobody really has much of a chance of beating Bloomberg in the general election for mayor, and I don't plan on going to jail anytime soon, so I don't really care who the DA is. And as for surrogate judge, I will probably just vote for the guy with the most Jewish sounding last name. Not that I am racist of anything but I don't like the name Latisha.

Things that should be on the ballot:

That they start building at Ground Zero tomorrow.

That the Street Cleaners only disrupt our parking once a week.

That the Dolan brothers should be bought out of running the Knicks and Rangers.

They should build a high speed train from Atlantic Ave. to Hunter Mtn complete with a bar and ski racks.

Never Forget

2005-09-11T12:16:00.000-04:00

Four years on, its time to rebuild. Enough bickering, just build.

How Ironic is it that on the same day when the United States showed that we don't bow to terrorist the Israeli army lowered their flag in Azza.

"You cannot run away from a weakness; you must sometimes fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?" - Robert Louis Stevenson

potheads

2005-09-10T21:26:00.000-04:00

Its not often that I find a blog worth mentioning for a good laugh. This one is just so wacky I figured I would share it.

Now I know that there are some people out there all for legalizing pot, and it has its merits, but this is just funny.

http://newsoftheweed.blogspot.com/

2005-09-08T19:35:00.000-04:00

Currently unemployed

2005-09-06T01:43:00.000-04:00

Well, sort of anyway.

I am still not so sure why I started this heap of letters all run thru spell check to make words thing called a blog. One of the reasons was to write about work. Well the work that I started is now done. 9 Weeks after we began the bulk of the work, here I sit, the desks of my two employess empty looking around for things to do.

We worked well together, and we got the job done ontime. In the 19 years of this project it has never been done so early. I am bored and I am proud.

Just bored

2005-09-03T21:45:00.000-04:00

Its funny how secrets stay secret even though lots of people know about them, you can laugh about it, with the right people even talk about it, and plan for it, yet its remains a secret.

Sitting with a few friends last night schmoozing about this, we realized that life is creeping up on us, most of us are done with smicha, some are already married, others are well on their way, and then there are the few of us still in denial, thinking that we can just learn and ski away the year with almost everything remaining the same.

But deep down we know that its catching up, if its not me its someone I would drink with, if not him then the one I skied with, most of my Israel crew are married already, and doubts start creeping in, maybe... possibly... should I... yet I keep on telling myself that I will remain strong and not give in, one more year wont hurt. When it gets hard to find someone get a bit to eat with, without him having to ask his wife I will start looking, until then I think I'le just learn, ski and hopefully make some money.

The last few days

2005-09-01T02:06:00.000-04:00

Everyone has their events in their lives where they will always remember if not where they were while it happened, but what happened.

What happened this past week with Katrina I sadly missed, first I was swamped with work, then on Monday morning I got a plane to CA for a wedding, I landed made a brief stop to visit some family friends for a hour, then I was off to a wedding where I got so smashed that we had to stop the car three times on the way to my hotel to puke. I got on the plane drunk, after just 4 hours of sleep, got home and went back to work.

Only last night when I made it to drudge did I see what had happened to New Orleans.

Most of us live in the elusion that this world is a civil and normal place, that unlike the people who lived back in stone ages, we don't have plagues, the famous flood that we read about that destroyed Atlantis, why today such a things don't occur.

Then we look at the news, Thousands Dead in New Orleans, City Lost, 900 Die in Stampede in Iraq, and if you look a bit deeper you see that in Africa we still have plagues. So after all its not the same sophisticated world we would like to see ourselves in.

Are all these events possibly telling us that we need to wake up and start realizing that we cant be content with this galus world. We need to start realizing that there is still work to be done, mitzvahs to do, people to help, and that we are still stuck in galus.

The Fight

2005-08-26T00:24:00.000-04:00

You know its always nice to watch a nice Jewish boy knocking the crap out of some goy, I am not anti goyim or anything, but it was nice watching Dima Salita fight.

It all started with a grand entrence/intro by Mattisyahu which got the crowd of mostly Salita fans rolling, the first two rounds his opponent had half a chance, after that it was all over, he was woobling around until in the ninth round they stoped it and called it a Tecnical Knock Out.

In the crowd there were lots of Jews among them many a Lubab, it was nice to see.

A day in camp

2005-08-22T22:51:00.000-04:00

After sitting around in the city non stop for a month I finally made it upstate for a weekend. Packed up some clothing, a sleeping bag and went with Michoel to visit the good Jews in camp pre misivta.

After driving in the rain for 3+ hours we finally arrived at our destination, where HCADPHB told me that even though it might be raining outside, they were literally dry. So off we went to the liquor store down the road, where I realized that I had forgotten my drivers license at home. One bottle each of Svetka and Smirnoff, for zochor and shomor, and a 12 pack of beer for the shvotim seemed to be the way to a uplifting shabbos.

We davend in the 7th grade shul, where Shlome and Sendy had their hands full trying to keep the peace. By the meal we started to polish off the bottle of svedka that had been started before shabbos while farbrenging about the Jews in the Gush, and the camps in the Ukraine.

After shabbos we had a sighting of the camp bear, having its milava malka in the garbage dump, then it was story time with counselors trying to get us to say stories to their bunks.

After going for pizza in Monticello, and finding out that the horseback riding place was closed we decided to go hiking. It was me Michoel, my little brother and two of his friends.

First stop was Wal-Mart, where we stocked up on some beef, corn, a grate, and the ill fated pellet gun.

After taking the 'scenic route we finally made it to a place that had a trail and where BBQing was permitted. We hiked up for 10 minutes found our spot and settled down.

While Michoel got busy with the fire, my brother got busy with his new gun, 30 minutes and one shot later he figured out that the had bought the wrong pellets, that was the end of that.

We davend mincha, ate, schmoozed and right after it got dark 'put' out the fire using all possible means.

For me it was a shabbos in camp and a trip into the woods, for Michoel it was as he said 'probably my last such trip before I get married' and for the little guys it was a great day out of camp where they figured out that you don't have to wait online for two hours to rent jet skis to have a good visiting day. As the sun was going down, the food was going on Michoel and his fire
The rifle that wouldent fire

2005-08-19T10:36:00.000-04:00

2005-08-17T05:33:00.000-04:00

"The only whole heart is a broken one." - Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Its begun

2005-08-16T17:56:00.000-04:00

As of two hours ago thousands of soldiers and police have started their raid on niveh dikalim, to uproot its Jewish residence and evict them from their homes.

The pictures and videos brake my heart. Who ever thought that we could ever come to a situation where Jewish police dressed in black would be going door to door trying to evict their Jewish brothers and sisters.

Why this is happening I don't think anyone knows.

Its the week after 9 av, the three weeks are over. Hopefully the people will hold off the soldiers and enough soldiers will not do what they are told, so that by the time shabbos Tu B'Av comes around it will once again be the happiest day of the year when they decide to stop this madness.

Wishful thinking? possibly, but with g-ds help it will be.

2005-08-15T14:46:00.000-04:00

The holy land the holy people...

2005-08-11T17:24:00.000-04:00

After yesterdays prayer rally, something that the kotel has not seen since the beis hamikdash, and today's demonstration in tel Aviv I am certain that this evil decree will not happen.

Everyone was there, its the nine days so I will refrain from writing about the people who stayed away, But there is no doubt in my mind that with all the thilim that the Jewish people have been saying all over the world, it will come down to a physical victory and we will keep our land.

Its a great time for moshiach to come and save us.

Vacation time

2005-08-10T20:36:00.000-04:00

Its finally here, I sit here by my computer bored. The phones don't ring anymore, the emails slowed own, and I have nothing to do.

Still unsure if I should go to the Ukraine for two weeks, or maybe pull off a fast one and go to the gush for a week, I am more and more convinced that all will work out well in the holy land, and that g-d will find a way to fix up the sitch.

So that brings me back to the big Q, whether or not to buy a season pass for hunter mountain. My logic goes that if I am going to be in town its definitely financially viable to buy it, and if I am out of town, then I probably wont be getting much skiing done, so why would I want to be out of town..

Then there is the Switzerland trip, I found the place where we want to go, now we just need to figure out when we are going, and how many other people we want to take with, (Z if you read this, don't worry about coming) So all this snow is telling me to forget about the Ukraine or Israel, and just go to chili to ski.

Or maybe I should just buy new skis and worry about hunter mountain later.

Maybe its just like the Ethiopian Feast

Mazal tov

2005-08-09T22:47:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine asked to post his blog address sanction of the victim
He is almost done with smicha hence the mazal tov, so I figured I would post this pic of him on our hike up to sky pond (in the snow) in estes park.

Second thoughts

2005-08-07T17:36:00.000-04:00

Seeing how plane tickets to the Ukraine are 2,000+ these days, had me thinking that I was probably better off going to Israel.

Then I started thinking, do I really want to go to Israel at a time like this. While on the one hand now is the time to go and show support, on the other hand I will be going to a country that I will not recognize. Ever since the first time I went to Israel when I was much younger, and all thru the years I spent there recently, soldiers where our friends, I would sit up nights schmoozing with them at the machsomim, I spent lots of time on the bases doing mivtzoyim ,and stam schmoozing with them, and now I will be going to a country where the solider technically will become the enemy.

Never mind the regular soldier, I have friends in the army, some of whom I am afraid to ask what they will be doing next week. So I ask myself do I really want to go somewhere where Its almost guaranteed that I will leave depressed?

I was speaking with a good friend last night who is now in Chevron, he was telling me that on his way into the gush, soldiers thought he was a Arab and started shooting at him, then they arrested him. On the one hand my heart is there, on the other I am afraid that if I go there by the time I leave I wont have a heart left.

Maybe I just don't believe enough that we will stop it.

Feelings

2005-08-04T03:38:00.000-04:00

Having just finished another round of work, sitting here by my computer all day with hardly a chance to see what's going on in the gush really hit home.

I have spent my fare share of time in the Israeli settlements, I lived in Chevron for a few months, I visited the gush many times, and spent some great shabbosim in Tel Katifa, a small yeshuv of 15 amazing families across from the beach.

So sitting here reading how people say that we can not make a difference really bothered me. Whatever happened to the power of the people, and if not that, some tehilim always helps.

I remember last year starting with the campaigning by the likud vote, how it all seemed hopeless, we were down in the polls by double digits, people were saying that we should all just give up, go home and stop bothering innocent people with our persistent phone calls.

Then sitting with Marzel and Yoni Ruben the shabbos 8 days before the election we saw hope, the polls were turning in our favor, and it looked good. Then came the statement from Sharon that he didn't care about the results, but we never gave up hope.

Being in the gush on Yom haatzmaut last year when over 80,000 people made it inside and another 40,000 got stuck on the way, gave us all the feeling of hope.

Netzach Yisroel Lo Yishaker were the words painted on the wall of the tzir hagiborim in Chevron after the 12 were killed.

We as Jews never give up. We hope, we pray, and we fight.

I am stuck here in NY (for now) so I can only pray, I hope that the fight will be unnecessary, but if it is, I hope I am there to help.

Dont have much time,

2005-08-02T03:01:00.000-04:00

Or much to write, so.

"No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut." - Sam Rayburn

Work, and then more work

2005-08-01T01:32:00.000-04:00

WoW Its been a long week(end) I started doing my 15 hour workdays last Wednesday, and will most likely keep it up until this coming Friday.

I just wake up in the morning, daven up, and get to work until I drop, usually at about 3:00 am, then wake up the next morning and start again.

It looks like we will make our deadlines, so that by shabbos should be all done, and have two weeks vacation.

*******

Reading the news about the captured bombers in England, and the one caught in Rome, a strange but not unexpected thing caught my eye, while the British were progressing slowly with all their suspects, for some strange reason the guy in Italy was singing away like a canary.

When I was once in Rome, there was a 12 year old girl caught pick pocketing, the cop that found her grabbed her by the her hair and thru her into the police car, that was my first look at Italian police, so its no wonder why the guy in Rome is talking.

If the English were smart they would rescind the request for extradition of the bomber from Italy, and let the Italians get all the info out of the guy.

*******

I am thinking of going to Israel for 10 days in about 10 days, but I am not sure yet. My reasoning is that if I just hang around here doing nothing while my friends are uprooted from their homes, I probably will not be able to look in the mirror ever again. Maybe I should just go do a camp in the Ukraine instead of getting myself arrested.

Time will tell.

2005-07-27T22:05:00.000-04:00

I have never had so much work, and at the same time been so bored.
Maybe ile just go on travelzoo and book a vacation.

It just hit me

2005-07-25T02:13:00.000-04:00

I am not sure why I am writing this.

Sitting here today while fasting, I wasn't that interested in work, so I started planning a ski trip that me and two friends plan on taking to Europe next year.

When I got bored of the planning, I did a bit of blog surfing, and came upon a blog, I forget which one, where he had a thing about tipping, that if it doesn't hurt you and its good for him, do it. That's been my philosophy for a while already, but that blog just brought it to the front of my mind.

I am no rich man by any means, although I have never lacked anything, and always had the extra dough for the extra things, so I have always been liberal with my money. Lately I ran into a extra influx of cash, a nice size addition for my bank account, so I figured I would give tzdaka, and use it as a base to start some investments.

So I started giving money, I gave a bunch more then my masser required, and I felt content.

In shul tonight, I gave someone money, and when he left I said to myself that I probably should have given him more. A hour after the fast, I went to a friends house to pick something up, on my way home this yid came off his front steps and called me over, he told me he was broke, and asked if I could give him a few dollars.

He was a normal Jew, lives in a normal house (prob rents) and had no work so he was broke, he was reduced to asking me for money, so I gave him a 20, he asked if I knew where he could find some work, I told him that sadly I didn't, and we parted ways.

At first I felt good, I just gave him $20, then it hit me. Hashem gave me money, a nice amount of money, I keep on telling him that I want more money to give out more money, and here all that I could give the guy was a twenty?

Something is telling me that I am being to hard on myself, but I know its for sure not my good side telling me that. If hashem wants to give me money he can give me what he wants with a smaller investment, and a extra 20 or a 100 wouldn't make of a diffrence.

So I think I will start giving even more tzedaka, and realize how lucky I am to have what I have, and be in a position to give.

The failed invention

2005-07-24T01:16:00.000-04:00

Its not that scary, but being that there is a lack of anything intelligent to write, I figured I would share this small story.

Basically my brother decided he was going to become rich inventing a tin that keeps food hot in the oven until shabbos afternoon, without drying it out.

So he concocted a double layer tin. Constructed from two made in China tins. A bottom layer, standard 9 inch pan with water inside,and a top layer that was shorter to stay out of the water, and had holes on the bottom to let in steam, so that it wouldn't be in the water.

So shabbos afternoon, we take off the cholent, take out the cold cuts, and eagerly await the red light to go on so that we can take the schnitzel and kugel out of the oven in this newly invented high Tec food warming tin.

After waiting patently, we opened the over took out the pan and had a look, the kugel turned brown and the schnitzel became chicken jerky, it got so over cooked and shriveled up that we just thru it out. That was the end of that invention.

I think that from now on I will stick with good cold schnitzel on shabbos day.

In other news:

After reading the news reports of the bombings in London and Egypt. Its my opinion that there will soon follow a real war on terror, in which many Muslim countries will take part.

I think they have come to realize that they have become targets themselves of the hand that they used to feed, and its come time to just chop it off.

Thursday night

2005-07-22T01:33:00.000-04:00

Its Thursday night, another week has gone by, what do I have to show for it. The same thoughts hit me every week, most weeks I am embarrassed by the time wasted, and the relatively little achieved.

This week its not that bad, I did a bunch of work, went up to visit my brother, yet still I feel wasted. I need a farbe, sitting here myself listening to music just doesn't cut it for a night like tonight. Everyone is out of town tonight, B went up to Montreal, M went home, so I am stuck here myself with my itunes, Dudu Fisher and the Phantom of the Opera.

Maybe I should invite Mr. Beck's down here with me, I think ile do that.

A Mincha Worthy of Eliyahu

2005-07-22T00:44:00.000-04:00

Bloging

2005-07-21T02:02:00.000-04:00

Ya know, I am really amazed by how much I could write without really writing anything.

To just write down my daily schedule everyday, would take up space, but not nearly as much as I have already written.

What amazes me more, is when I visit other blogs, and see how much they write without any problems.

I read the news, I have opinions but I have no interest in writing them, I humbly believe that as intelligent as I may be, most people can figure out what's going on in the world without my help.

Maybe I should start critiquing other blog personalities.

Its amazing what type of info you get from Y Jacobson at a farbee, A whole parsha on how Joseph Lenin's grandfather was Jewish, and how his great grandfather wrote a letter to the Tsar Nichols in Yiddish against the Jews claiming among other things that 95% of the Jews would convert if not for being scared of their wives...

The Siege part Two: Now and Then

2005-07-20T12:41:00.000-04:00

In the Gemara and medrashim, where it speaks about the siege on Jerusalem by the Romans, it mentions a interesting fact. The Jews had enough supplies and food to last them for years, had it not been for the infighting between the Jews, the Romans would never have breached the wall.

Reading this article on Walla about how everyone under siege is united, singing and in high sprits, and how the residents of the kfar have all opened their homes to everyone, sharing their food, their beds, and everything that they have, leads me to conclude that they will succeed in their mission, all we need to do is give g-d a chance.

Its like it says about the wanderings in the desert, that only the stop by mount Sinai was without bickering. This stop in Kfar Maimon, unlike the rest of the things done by Israel, is K' ish Echad Bilev Echad.

2005-07-20T02:17:00.000-04:00

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." - Friedrich Whlhelm Nietzsche

The Seige, Part One

2005-07-19T18:05:00.000-04:00

While I sit here peacefully by my computer, some 5000 miles away 40,000 of my brothers are under siege.

In this case its not by Arabs, or by the Romans, Greeks or any other nation that has put us under siege before. This time its by 20,000 of our brothers sent to do the bidding by a despot premier who cares not of the view of the people or the priciples of democracy.

His party was elected on a platform of "Azza like Tel Aviv", This cowardly plan of expulsion was voted down by the majority of his parties members, but he doesn't care. That Israel supposedly has freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, he doesn't care.

But 40,000 + Jews did care, and they came from all over the country, in buses stopped by the police, thru road blocks. They brought their children with them, to stand up and say "we wont give in"

So now they sit in Kfar Maimon, surrounded by barbed wire and 20,000 police and soldiers. Waiting for the marching orders to be given, when they will march forward, out of the darkness of the night, to join their brothers and sisters in Gush Katif in the light of hope and emunah.

How I wish I was there.

Camps, Here & Ukraine

2005-07-19T00:31:00.000-04:00

Went upstate yesterday to visit my little bro in camp. My father gave me the back road directions, which is really only useful when there is traffic, however I didn't bother checking and took his scenic route anyway.

Three hours after we pulled out we pulled in to camp, only two hours late. The plan had been to leave straight away, instead I shmuzed with the head staff, who happen to be my good friends until about 5:30 when we left.

Officially we had to be back in camp by 8:30, I got back at 11:00, sent sholom off to bed, and brought in the case of beer and farbeisen and farbeed with my friends until 1:00 am, then left to get back home. The ride back only took 2 hours, and we got home at 3 o'clock.

It was nice walking around a frum camp, seeing all the kids enjoying themselves, and hearing from the staff how little they sleep at night.

My bread and butter for the last 5 summers has been the Ukraine, from Charkov, to the Crimea, and then back to the sea of Azov. No tips, almost no budget, and certainly no fully stocked canteen, but when it comes time to decide where I am going for the summer, there is not even a though of giving up the Ukraine.

While we might not have the best food, or six flag amusement parks to go to. At the end of the day the sense of fulfillment you get working out there, seeing before your eyes how the kids change, is worth every bit of lousy Ukrainian food.

From my bunk in the pesach camp, iyh four kids will be coming to yeshivas in the US this coming year.

I was sitting with one of my campers who is in Yeshiva in Dnepr, and I asked him what made him go to yeshiva 4 years ago, so he tells me that his counselor in the summer camp told him to get a bris and to go to yeshiva, so here he is four years in yeshiva, frum with no second thoughts.

Enough ramblings for now, nobody reads this anyway, so its just good finger exercise, and who knows, maybe one day ile look back at these 'writings' of mine and laugh.

12 Years

2005-07-17T01:33:00.000-04:00

Here I sit, having just returned from another trip to the cemetery, another year has gone by.

I remember it like yesterday, when Yudi put us on that plane from Montreal back to New York, after having been in camp for just one night.

I've often wondered what my life would be like had it not happened. I used to be one of the only younger people in shul by yiskor, these days it sometimes seems that there are more of us inside shul, then there are waiting behind the doors. As the years went by there were more and more of us having yor tzites. It almost seemed like a normal thing, life just kept on going on, but every so often it hits me that life is not supposed to be like this.

As much as life keeps on going on, we need to stop and remember the ones that are not here with us anymore, its as much for them as it is for us. For us it serves to remind us that we are only here for a limited amount of time, and to show our appreciation for those that we miss, for if we wouldn't miss them, it would mean that we lost all our feelings for them.

At the same time we must know that life must go on, if life goes on for those that passed on, it definitely can and should go on for those of us left here, if after all the mourning that we do, we know that the nishoma lives on and is being neheneh m'ziv haschina, us down here who are still 'alive' need to keep on living.

So I live, hoping and praying that come next year, we are all together again.

Identity problems

2005-07-15T00:32:00.000-04:00

Reading Y Jacobsons article this week in the algemeiner brought to mind a very interesting experience I had in Chevron.

I was going around the mitkanim base near beit hadasa putting on tfilin with soldiers, when this one soldier walked up to me and asked, why are we better then everyone else? So I started to explaine.

I told him the story of Avraham, how the rest of the world had abandoned g-d , and how he was persecuted, I told him that every other nation on earth had the chance to accept the torah, and that only the Jewish people wanted it. And that every king has a royal family.

So he asked me, why cant we all be equal, why cant everyone in the world be the same.

At that time there were another six or seven soldiers standing about, including one Capitan from duvdivan who was standing 10 feet away who were all listening.

So I tell the soldier while looking at the Capitan, why don't you go tell him that, tell him that he should be just like you, tell your commander that your sick and tired of him bossing you around, you want to be equal. He got the point and agreed with me that we are different, and that we need to be proud of it.

Some Jews say that we are persecuted because we say we are different. If we look back at history we see that in the times when we proclaimed to the world that we are different, and lived our lives as true Jews should we were left alone in peace. But when we began to falter and lose our identity, we began to loose our land and lives.

Germany, the birthplace and home of the enlightened Jew, is where the holocaust started.

We must return to being a people that dwell alone, proud and secure in everything we do as Jews. Then we can respect ourselves and thus be respected by others.

A cool article

2005-07-13T20:59:00.000-04:00

Its a topic covered 100 times already, what struck me different from this one, is that he mentions that it takes 10 days to recuperate. I saw him the next night in shul, and you could really tell he had boxed the night before. Eyes swollen, puffed cheeks, it wasn't a pretty sight, but he was smiling.

Peace and quiet....

2005-07-12T20:37:00.000-04:00

After a long month of hustle and bustle, phone calls and emails, it seems that we finally have some peace and quiet. Alas the last of the files are in by the printer.

It will most likely only last a week or so until we get busy again, but I think I will enjoy this bit of vacation.

On the menu tonight at home:

Frozen onion rings.
Frozen pizza.
Frozen knishes.
Frozen pretzels
Frozen ice cream

Speaking about knishes, this past sukkos, after having worked in my house for about 8 years, the cleaning lady finally had the courage to ask what knishes were.

My trip to Masawa, Eritrea

2005-07-12T00:35:00.000-04:00

Looking thru my pics, I came across this one.

We left Asmara early in the morning, with Chanans second car and driver.

This is where we stopped for lunch.

All in all it was a nice trip, to many details to write here, but we stopped and gave out chocolates to the kids, and bought some of their goods. We got back right on time to make our flight.

The end of the road

2005-07-11T22:39:00.000-04:00

At least for now it seems like we are going to have a small brake in work.

Everything for the first printings need to be in by the printer tomorrow, and the next deadline is not until the 25th, so that gives us 2 weeks with almost no work.

Doing some blog surfing in my spare time, I stumbled onto some rather interesting blogs. While I wont really quote or link to such interesting pages, I will say that some of the BP blogers have issues...

They finally set a wedding date, so now we can buy tickets. I need to find a ticket for Michoels wedding, and finalize the road trip that I would like to do. As of now its either east to Denver, with stops in Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and a park in Utah. Or north to Washington.

I was looking at maps of Oregon, and it seems that they don't have that many nice day hikes, but I figure that if we could hike to the top of mount saint Helen, it would be worth the drive.

Its funny how may lubabs you run into while jogging in the park, I am still trying to get it down to 9 min a mile, but I haven't really been jogging that much lately, so it will probably be another couple of weeks until I get there.

Its ironic how without even trying I can just babble nonsense, but being that nobody checks this out anyway, its just good finger exercise.

3 Tamuz

2005-07-10T14:22:00.000-04:00

Shabbos was nice, lots of people in town. Managed to find two guests to bring home for the meal.

Got my aliyah with a bal koreh that knocked off the parsha in about 10 minutes. when I got back to 770 at about 6, Gershon Mendel was farbrenging upstairs, until some other Jews came in and gave it content befitting a NC17 rating.

Yechiel had a farbe in his house after shabbos, like 9 guys were there, it was nice getting together with the class again. we agreed that we are all confused about gimmle tamuz, but that being confused shouldn't stop us from doing what has to be done to change the matzav. Yoelish mentioned that we need to be strong now and keep at the top of the list mivtzah tfilin, that when you go to a meeting as a shliach, you should bring your tfilin with, and not be worried that the bale batim could be frightened with strange black boxes. As someone else said that these days most shluchim try more for sheurim because they are scared of tfilin.

As of a half hour ago there was a 2+ hour wait at the ohel, hopefully by the time we get there, the storm will have passed.

I saw a interesting article on the algemeine r site which I think is worth reading.

Some ramblings

2005-07-08T02:14:00.000-04:00

52 dead and hundreds injured, carnage and blood, seems kind of strange that people get kicks from targeting defenseless people.

When will the world understand that a people that have no qualms of just killing defenseless people can’t be dealt with in a normal manner. Until they understand that such crimes won’t go unpunished, they will just continue.

We should start with burying them with pigs, and see how they like that, or just move out of their countries, and let them kill each other, and when they amass enough weapons to make and make war, just bomb the hell out of them, and we will finally be rid of them.

In other news:
The calendars are moving along, at a slower pace that we had hoped, but still good to make our first printings, I have barely been working on them a week, and already I get headaches. I put up an ad on shmais.com for our calendar, at first he put it up without any line brakes, so I asked him to correct it, and he did. So thank you Levi.

Went out for pizza today with another starving Jew, ordered pizza and a calzone, they called it a vegetable calzone, but it was more like onion calzone with a pepper.

Then went to carvel for a milkshake, where I found out that Carvel stopped making their chalav yisroel ice cream, so they changed their name to 'sprinkles ice cream'. The shake was still good.

My brother in law came in tonight for gimmel tamuz. so we shmuzed about the mushrooms.

I never thought I would smell the sweet smell of smoke on my front porch, but tonight it was there....

I dropped Michoel off at the airport at 4:30 today, to see if he could get back to the Ukraine flying standby, and as of now he hasn’t shown up at my door, so I imagine that he made it, which is a good thing being that he is taking Mironiveh on a hiking trip on Sunday.

Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal

2005-07-07T00:35:00.000-04:00

Long have I wonderd when this would happen.

Hearing people talk about getting stuck on the FDR and logging into peoples wi-fi connection, kind of made me wonder how leagle the whole deal was, well I geuss we will soon find out.

I suppose its like tapping into someone else's tap water.

A pic I said I would post

2005-07-05T03:34:00.000-04:00

It really has nothing to do with the calendar, but I figure that I am not doing much work anyway these days, so I can post off topic.

The Jew with the uzi, is Menachem Shteinberger, who was one of us four settlers at our machaz.

Before he became a mitnachel for a while with us in Chevron, he was the ra'm in the Yeshiva in Bee'r Sheva.

It was exactly 2 years ago last thursday when the magad of sayerret totchanim shut us down.

A land for its people, or people for their land

2005-07-05T03:01:00.000-04:00

Reading Israeli newspapers, usually brings out in me many different emotions, from the love of its people to the land, to utter helplessness .

So it got me thinking, how we went from being people who lived for the land to people who just live on the land not knowing what we are doing there, all in just 50 years.

Taking it all in reminded me of a essay writen in 'the inside story' which I read in 9th grade, about the doo'r of haflaga, their problem was not in the fact that they wanted a tower, but in the (lack of) purpose of the tower.

Had they built a tower for a constructive reason it would have been good, the problem was that their mindset was bent on survival. They were in the generation after the flood, and they wanted to survive, sounds good, what could be the problem with wanting to survive, to survive is a good thing.

So the rebbe explaines that you need a reason for survival, to survive for survivals sake wont get you anywhere, it leads to the tower of Babel, a dead end, and becomes a vacuum. One must survive with a purpose, to live, to grow, to bring light down into a world shattered by a flood.

And so to escape this vacuum in our land, the people of Israel in Israel need to find purpose in being there, otherwise we see in what direction Israeli society is heading.

But whatever may be , with or without knowing why, we all love the land.

Shluchim....

2005-07-04T17:01:00.000-04:00

Well, here we go again.

July fifth, the deadline for the first printing of the big calendar came and went, and almost nobody is ready, we got in a few, but almost everyone who said that they would be ready for the first printing are aiming now for the second.

So we sit here, like bored Jews, waiting.

We will have a few more days to get the stuff in, because it wont take so long to print it because of the small quantity, I just hope that the rest of the people have it ready for the second printing.

Memories

2005-07-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

Sitting here a bit bored, just looking thru some old pics of a machaz that once was. Just the four of us, all by ourselves with our Arab neighbor. Ahh those were the days...

Just a random NZ pic

2005-06-30T23:51:00.000-04:00

To add a bit of color the this drab page.

The flow has started

2005-06-30T23:43:00.000-04:00

We got in our first few today and last night, still having problems with the zmanim so no proofs yet.

I was very impressed, a full 36 hours has gone by, and still no new mushroom posts on the shluchim xange.

The sitch in the holy land is nuts, I spoke with Danny C yesterday he tells me that he is awol for 5 days from his reserve unit, he also mentioned that he saw the whole thingy on the shluchim xange, I cant really quote what he said because its not nice, but it was a good point.

Yuda and Menachem called today, they are still building over there, in two days they will be putting down the foundation iyh. Noshkeh called, he is a chosson.

Finnaly a bit of work

2005-06-29T05:14:00.000-04:00

Ouch.. Need to rewrite everything because it got deleted.

Anyway, The new computers are working good, finally got to working on the ftp, it should be all done tomorrow.

In the News: Shark pays brooklyn a visit sounds a bit scary, I hope it was just dropped off there from somewhere else.

With all the interesting accusations about Diana, its hard to decide who is telling the truth and which stories are just too interesting to be true, the way I look at it, you cant believe either of them, but its probably very interesting reading.

Our new computers

2005-06-26T04:06:00.000-04:00

Just got the new computers on Friday, and unpacked the first one tonight.

It looks like a good machine but its giving us problems with installing windows 2000, will need to take care of it tomorrow.

Other news. I was given the link and password to a new site to try and force all us retailers to conform to a code of selling only to authorized shluchim, this is after a unsuccessful attempt to garner vast support on the shluchim exchange. We will have to see where this leads.

First post

2005-06-24T03:54:00.000-04:00

Hi there,
I highly doubt that anyone will ever read this, so I can probably write whatever I please.

Just got my new Dell Ultrasharp LCD today, and we are getting in our new computers tomorrow, work is about to start.

In the meantime we sit here wasting time listening to bocelli and brighman, and cleaning up the office. Its amazing how much dust and junk we have down here, we filled up about 15 bags of trash and thru out 3 old computers, and we haven’t finished yet.