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.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, February 4, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, February 1, 2008
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.
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.
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