The News From Israel

The news is never really good from there and things seem to lurch from crisis to crisis. I know from living there that things always seem a little worse from the outside looking in but I also wonder about why things aren't better.

Israel is a marvel. An economic and military powerhouse, a place where people can get a good education and live productive lives, and one where innovation can be found in every sphere. My experience may be outdated but in a county like Israel the impossible always seemed possible.

This is true except for the never ending conflict with its neighbors. I just don't understand how after 60 years the people that seem to be able to engineer just about everything else can't engineer an end to this conflict. I don't have an answer but maybe the truly smart people just stay away from the diplomatic sphere. There certainly doesn't seem to be anyone that has anything to suggest other than a military solution. You can't kill everyone, or put them in jail, or deport them so is this to be the situation forever? The Arabs would tell you that just integrating the territories into Israel and coming up with a fair power sharing arrangement would resolve the problem. All one needs to do is look at Lebanon to see why that wouldn't work particularly with the clans and factions that seem to rule Palestinian society.

So where does this leave us, with an impending military operation in Gaza? That won't stop the missiles. Do they just keep taking it? I wouldn't suggest that to anyone who has to live there and expect a civil response. Again, I have no answers just more head scratching.

Bicycling Magazine

Our local library has a pretty fair collection of magazines. I'm interested in many of them but wouldn't really consider buying or subscribing to them. Being in the publishing business I probably shouldn't admit that.

Over the weekend I took out a back issue of Bicycling Magazine. I've enjoyed riding my bicycle since I was 11 years old. With it I felt that I had the means to explore the whole world. Not having a driver's license, I still feel the same way today. Now, though, I ride more for recreation. Bicycling magazine, was a bit of a shock to me. First of all, I discovered that casual touring cyclists are cruising at 20 - 25 MPH!. On a good day I can do that downhill and mostly I'm averaging 12 - 13 MPH. I always knew that bicyclists were gear heads but the amount of expensive junk advertised was astounding. Also, no one in the magazine seemed to be smiling. They were all into how hard their workouts were and how they needed to improve.

My idea of a fun outing is just having a good destination; preferably a good coffee shop, pancake breakfast, or diner that we take our time getting to and enjoying the scenery along the way. Maybe that's why I have a hard time keeping biking buddies. People start out with me but they soon get faster than I want to go and seek more challenging outings. I may make a concession to this, I've heard that switching from my basket toe clips to the shoe/pedal combination will increase my speed by 2 - 3 MPH. I think that I can handle this and perhaps this will keep me in the pack.

Home by the Fire

Tonight, we managed to make a fire in our wood burning stove. We've been unsuccessful in our last few attempts. Tonight we've rediscovered the secret. Before the big logs go in you've got to put smaller ones, preferably ones that have been split from the larger ones. This may seem obvious to you but the sequence eluded us until now. Now it's warm and toasty in the living room and I'm sure the dancing flames will lull us to sleep.

A Day of Travelling

Yesterday we hit the road. We travelled from Westfield, New Jersey to Trumbull, Connecticut. From Trumbull Connecticut to Brooklyn, New York. From Brooklyn, New York to Westfield, New Jersey.

We paid a condolence call, visited my mother, and then had dinner back at home. By 9 PM I was fit for nothing better than falling asleep with the Sunday newspaper on the couch.

The weekend was filled with other pleasures. Saturday was sleeping in and walking to the library. In the evening I went into the darkroom for the first time in months. I made some contact sheets and printed some stuff from last summer; the girls at Niagara Falls, a neighbor at the pool, and my sister and brother-in-law in the hammock at Lake Huntington. It's nice revisiting those times on a chilly February night. I don't think that this is my greatest work but it's nice to feel creative every once in a while.

Today was a typical work day. I have no excitement for any of the projects I'm engaged in. We did receive our 2007 bonuses today which were pretty good considering that the company must be worried about the impending recession.

Eclipsed

Last night there was a total lunar eclipse. When I first came home it appeared that it would be too cloudy to see but as the evening advanced the sky cleared and we could see it all. It is so simple yet so remarkable to stand outside at night watching the moon silently slide into shadow. The eerie site of the moon bathed in red was one, I understand, that we might not see for another 15 years in this part of the world.

The end of the week at work is always filled with meetings and frustration. Tomorrow will be worse. I'm booked for 3 hours of meetings on Friday afternoons for the next six months in just the time slot that I'd like to be winding down in.

I wish I could figure out another way.

A Better Day

Yesterday was one of those days where nothing would go right. I even tried to make a fire in the evening in our wood burning stove and couldn't make a go of that either. The best thing to do on days like that is to turn in early. For whatever reason I didn't sleep well either but a new day dawned and with that new possibilities.

Today’s adventure involved the bank. For the past year I’ve been taking care of my mother's finances. They are a bit complicated and took some time to get under control. I think that I'm just about there, though. The biggest part of it was trying to invoke my power of attorney, which she'd drawn up a few years ago. All of the papers were in order but getting each financial institution to recognize it took some doing. Citibank was the absolute worst requiring probably 7 separate visits to get everything in order. Washington Mutual was the best taking all of about 20 minutes.

Today I ventured back to Citibank to redeem a Certificate of Deposit. I was greeted with lots of suspicion but the woman who helped me with the process originally was there and remembered me. This transaction only took 30 minutes.

There is still a long list of things to do to get things totally sorted out and this doesn't include filing her taxes. One step at a time, though, and it will all get done.

Post President's Day

It's hard returning to work after a 3 day weekend. I had no motivation before the weekend and I had even less when I came back. Usually, the break will energize me but today when I got in there were already people making demands on my time. It all seemed so pointless. I made it through the day without quitting or pissing anyone off so I'd have to call it, in the end, a successful one.

The house is quiet now that the Trudester is gone (see yesterday's entry if you don't know what I am talking about). Having a dog again has demonstrated to me why we shouldn't get another one. Neurotic people shouldn't have pets and no one here really is eager for the responsibility. We also learned yesterday that there is a contagious disease at the Seeing Eye kennel and that all of the dogs are in quarantine. Our Paris is now in her 8th month at the kennel probably undoing all of the good that we did raising her.

The house is also quiet because the rest of the family is taking advantage of the day off and paying a visit to Muhlenberg College. My older daughter needed some subjects for her photography class and needed some models. I'll wait until they come home to eat dinner.

President's Day

It's been a busy weekend. Events in my life aren't earth shaking but some are of interest and I hope worth sharing.

This weekend we've been watching Trudy, a golden retriever that's being raised by our neighbors for The Seeing Eye. She's a very friendly dog and missing a lot of the nasty habits that the Geman Shepherd that we raised had. She doesn't chew eveything in sight and she's not particularly aggressive. I don't want you to think that we didn't enjoy raising Paris the Wonder Pup. She was just a lot of work. Trudy on the other hand is obedient and loves to take walks. The weather has mostly cooperated and we'ver taken her out at every chance we get. I don't think that she is used to this and settles down to contented sleep when we let her. Everyone needs a nickname and her's is "The Trudester". Her people will come for her sometime this evening.

On Saturday evening was another of our Coffee with Conscience concert series. This time the headliners were a band called Red Molly. They really should have been good. It's 3 women with good stage presence and lovely voices. The material they played had no spark, though. There was a good turnout so I'm guessing it was just a bad night.

Yesterday I made a trip alone out to viist my Mom. She was not in particularly good spirits to start but she improved as the day progressed. I know that she is feeling out of control of things and that is frustrating to her. I have few words of comofrt but I try to listen. She enjoys looking though old photographs and discussing things that she sees on TV.

Today, President's Day, was mostly spend hanging around the house. I've enjoyed the extra sleep that I'm getting. We did take The Trudester for a long walk this morning and I got in a bike ride this afternoon. It's back to work for me but not back to school for my daughter. She's got another day.

Our Nation's Capital

I spent yesterday visiting my company's office in Washington DC. I used to go there every year or so to fill them in on developments in NY and do some server configuration. Now that I am no longer in the Publishing Systems group I don't have as much responsibility for what goes on there. For a project that I'm working on now we did place a server there and it needed to be tended to.

Most of my colleagues would have made a two-day trip of it but I don't like staying in hotels by myself so I did it as a day trip. With Amtrak's Acela Express it is quite an easy trip. I left my house at 6:15 AM and was there by 10 AM. I caught a train to come back at 7 PM and was back in the house by 10:30. It was a full day of work and fortunately successful

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. I found it remarkable that at Union Station in Washington there were lines to get into the two high end chocolate shops. These holidays rankle me. I don't like to be manipulated into having to get someone a gift. Does this prove that I love them if I buy a gift? Does it prove I don't love them if I don’t?

We are puppy sitting this weekend. This time it's a golden retriever We’ll have her until Monday afternoon.

Let It Snow!

There's finally a layer of snow outside. I was beginning to think that we wouldn't see any this winter. It's not certain if it will still be here in the morning since the prediction is for rain after midnight but the forecasts have been so far off this winter that this could be the big one.

Of course, tomorrow would be a day that I have to be in work early. The Times is sponsoring a meeting of a user group for a piece of software that we use pretty extensively. The meeting starts at 8:30 AM but I probably should be on the bus by 6:15 to be sure I get in on time. This evening I left at 6:05 and didn't walk in the door until 8 PM.

Today was another primary day and Obama and McCain won big. Although there are still lots of primaries ahead Obama seems to have momentum on his side. I can't say that I'm comfortable with him as a candidate. I find his message of "change" vacuous. We are, of course, going to get a change in November. Neither George Bush nor anyone from his team is running. I for one still don't know who Barack Obama is or who he will bring to Washington with him. I think that's what other voters are going to feel come November. Perhaps I am wrong and he is the new John Kennedy. I will vote for him if nominated. I think that Americans, though, will vote for the candidate that seems to be the most centrist. Unless he makes a dreadful mistake, John McCain will be the next president.

It's Gonna Get Cold Tonight

The forecast is for temperatures in the low teens tonight. The wind is banging things around outside and I'm glad that I'm indoors with no need to go out.

We spent the afternoon at my Mom's. We've been giving her a little less time lately since the aides have been working out pretty well. One of my Mom's neighbors asked me for some computer help so I spent a little time there and we did a little shopping for my Mom. She didn't want to go out because of the wind. She seems to like the idea of us coming out now and doesn't seem to mind if we drift off for a while.

This evening is quiet. I cleared some clogged drains and am in the middle of making bread. At my daughter's request I'm making something called war bread. It's got oats, corn meal, molasses, whole wheat and white flour. I'm not sure why it's called war bread. The only thing unusual about it is that it uses about half the yeast that a regular bread uses and you put the yeast directly in the batter rather than letting it proof. It comes out just as big as other breads.

I'll close out the evening getting through the Sunday paper. Since election night I've havnt't been feeling 100%. Today is the first day I've had a chance to sleep in and catch up a bit. I'm feeling much better this evening and am grateful for that.

The Philadelphia Story

No, not the movie. I've never seen any of them. It's a day trip that we took today.

My daughter managed to secure a free ride from her school in Allentown, PA to Philadelphia for the day and we met her there at 10:30 this morning. The one thing that I've always liked about that city was that while it is only 1.5 hours from New York City it has it's own distinct character. You'd never wake up in Philadelphia and think that you were in New York City.

We mostly spent the day wandering around. We started out in a very nice neighborhood coffee spot called Mugshots. We then visited the waterworks behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art and walked over to the Franklin Institute. There was a surreal scene in front of that museum. A Star Wars exhibit was opening today and Imperial Storm Troopers (or people dressed like them) were arrayed in front of the museum. They were chasing kids, posing with people, pointing their guns at others, giving their guns to people for pictures. It was quite amusing. Yoda and Darth Vader were on hand too.

We visited the Philadelphia Free Library where there was an exhibit by blind artirsts. It was as amazing as you might expect. We lunched in a very busy restaurant in a bustling Chinatown and then wandered slowly back to the bus's pickup spot to take our daughter back to school admiring the many murals along the way.

Tonight we're making a fire in the wood stove and trying to get through as much of the weekend newspaper as I can before turning in.

Memorial

Tonight and tomorrow mark the 7th anniversary of my father's death. On that date on the Hebrew calendar, the 2nd of Adar, we light a candle in his memory. Tomorrow I'll also go to the synagogue down the block from my office and say the Kaddish prayer.

It's hard to believe that 7 years have gone by. I miss him but not the way he was in his last years. He was unhappy and he made those around him unhappy. I remember him in his better years when he was full of life and a great role model. When I think of him I want my children to feel the same way towards me as I felt for him most of my life. He was quiet, smart, and respectful.

I'm feeling tired this evening. Hopefully, it's not a cold or the flu but I will retire early.

On the bus ride home I finished The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Beynon Rees. It's a mystery set in the Palestinian city in the shadow of the intifida and the intrigues among the variou local factions. What's curious about this is that it concentrates on the intricacies of Palestinian life and the Israeli conflict plays only a minor part. A disturbing story but a fresh perspective.

Garbage

I came home early tonight because we were having friends over for dinner. I don't think we've had anyone over since Chanukah so this was quite a treat. Our old friends from kibbutz days who are now farmers in Pennsylvania were on their way back to Israel for a visit and to try out kibbutz life again. With 2 children in tow I can appreciate how difficult and exciting a prospect this is.

Dinner was lovely and we got them to the airport with time to spare. We'll play host to their car while they are overseas.

What I wanted to talk about today was trash. Since my days in high school I've always been an advocate of recycling. Sometimes I've been more successful than others. I'm never really sure that my stuff doesn't just end up in the same place as the rest of the rubbish but I go on as if I am saving the earth singlehandedly. Recently, we may have realized some very positive results.

The turning point seems to have been when we started composting. We began to notice that when garbage day rolled around there didn't seem to be anything worth putting out. We called out disposal company to see if they could reduce our pickup to once a week and lower our charges. Until I moved to the suburbs I didn't realize that you had to pay someone to take your trash away. I didn't realize that you had to pay for water either. Anyway, the trash company said that the town ordinances said that they had to pick up twice weekly but they could charge us a lower rate seeing that we had so much less to haul.

So, sometimes not every good deed is punished.

Super Tuesday

I'm at work babysitting some of our computer systems. It's usually quite boring but enough systems people are hanging around to make it sociable. There's been one minor system problem to deal with otherwise quiet. I came in at 1 PM today which gave me a very pleasant morning at home. I did some filing, paid some bills, and went out to the "Y" for some exercise. Oh yes, I voted too.

So far, the election is predicably very close for the Democrats. I don't think that anyone is going to come out a clear winner tonight and perhaps there won't be a winner until the convention. When was the last time that happened? My prediction still stands; whoever the Democrats nominate won't be able to beat John McCain in November.

No Direction Home

Over the weekend we watched the Martin Scorsese directed documentary about the early career of Bob Dylan. I didn't think that I would find this as engaging as I did but it is a remarkable piece of work.

It includes interviews with many of the principals of the time; Joan Baze, Maria Muldaur, Peter Yarrow, Pete Seeger, Alan Ginsburg to name a few. It also includes some great concert footage. The meat of the movie is that people kept looking to Bobby (everyone called him Bobby and not Dylan) to be something more than he was. To everyone who asked him he was a musician and a song writer. The media and his fans wanted him to be the leader of a movement or a great political thinker, a folk singer, or something else. He couldn't interpret his lyrics any more than anyone else could. You could see that the words just spilled out of him and that they felt right. If they spoke to you of something greater than good for you.

I've often felt this about performers. We like their roles or the music they play and we think that we are going to love them or that they, somehow, are going to be these amazing people to know. It's hit or miss just like everyone else.

Almost Shabbat

It's 4:15 on Friday afternoon and I've gotten as much done at work as I plan to this week. With a little luck the phone won't ring in the next 45 minutes and I can clear off my desk, make a to-do list for Monday and get back to Westfield without incident.

I had my performance review today and while it was overwhelmingly positive there was one thing that I got "dinged" for. We have a section on the review about adherence to our "Rules of the Road". In that there is a section on integrity. While none of my management question my integrity and honesty, I did receive a 2 out of 5. I'm in the needs improvemnt category.

The reason that I received this rating had to do with a conversation that we had over lunch several weeks ago. One of our projects this year was to try to reclaim disk space that is being taken up with old and unused files. I mentioned during this conversation that we had discovered lots of music files and lots of photos, some of which were inappropriate. This is a case of being careful what you say during what you think are casual conversations. The management folks responded by asking if we had reported these offending users to our Human Resources department. We had not thinking that we are not the police and this was not our business. Clearly we were wrong.

I can accept this type of criticism and I can even agree that they are probably right. I still don't want to get involved in something like this which will probably cause more pain than joy. I also know that I must be a lot more guarded in the things that I say in supposedly friendly settings.