I'm afraid I've had to redact two of your questions from this public post. :-) You are welcome to ask two others, though I will answer the others privately.

( Read more... )

http://www.scatoday.net/node/14568

A hoard of over 350 pieces of rare, antique marble has been discovered beneath a cellar floor in the Israeli coastal city of Akko. The hoard dates to the 13th century, and is believed to have been collected from nearby destroyed buildings.

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It's a miracle! Blame it on clean living. ;)

But today, I'm NOT sore. I feel great, I feel like I could help someone move again (though sadly, olletho, I have another commitment). Shoulders and biceps seem to me to have that lovely day-after solidity, too!

So today I'm feeling good!

When I told my Rosh Yeshiva that we were making Aliyah his first reaction was "How are you going to pay the bills?" This is probably the #1 concern that people have when deciding to make Aliyah. For many the fear of the unknown is enough to shelve possible plans for the big move.

For us we had approached this problem from a different angle. Rachel's growing jewellery business success was not tied down to geographic location. I was completely miserable in a dead end job and a lousy relationship with my employer. There was some glimmer of hope as I had made it through a bunch of huge hurdles with CBSA. There was still a long way to go with that selection process. Aliyah without a saftey net was scary but not as scary as continuing to spin our wheels in the rut we just couldn't seem to break.

The way I found my job was the perfect foreshadow for how happy I would be. I met the right people at precisely the right time. My last day of Ulplan was on a Thursday and I started work on the Sunday.

My job involves QA software testing on cell phones. AT&T Social Net and Social Beat on the Verizon network are two projects I have been working on. They involve putting Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, RSS Feeds, GTalk and Gmail into one easy to use application. I need to make sure it works properly. Both products are free and already on the market.

The working conditions are great. The company is located in Har Tuv (just outside of Beit Shemesh) There is a Hassa that takes me to and from work everyday. There are snacks in the kitchen. For Rosh Chodesh there is a company lunch where we find out how the business end of the company is doing. Each meeting starts with a Dvar Torah which really throws off some of the visitors from our California office.

My boss is well respected for the work he accomplishes and the quality of the people he hires. When I have to call in sick, I get wishes to feel better and that is it for the day. I also know I will not be called while on vacation. When overtime is needed my home life is taken into consideration. Erev Sukkot, the company paid for a cab so that I could come back to the office after buying my lulav and putting Channah to bed.

Over the last 3 months I have enjoyed the oppurtunity for extra responsibilities. The regulars were broken up onto different projects while temps were hired to help meet some critical deadlines. It was myself with two temps working on the Blackberry project. As a matter of practicality I got to be pretend to be the team leader. I would help direct what tasks were being worked. I was even called in to participate in some of the important development meetings. It was on my recommendation that convinced my boss that they were ready to be allowed to help out with more complicated tasks. I feel that I performed well in the situation and hope that similar (more formal) opportunities will come my way in the future.

Last night was Channah's Chanukah mesibah. We realized in the afternoon that it was called for an hour before I normally get home. Channah had her heart set on being there. It was extra important because the original date was set for when my parents would be there. I sent out a company e-mail looking for a ride. My boss offered if a bunch of other factors worked out. Another co-worker would not let me miss the party. It meant leaving early in order to drive me there which was not even close to being on her route home. This is typical for the type of people I work with.

I can only hope that the business will continue to be successful and I have more oppurtunities to continue to grow with the company. In the mean time, I am loving having a job I enjoy with an employer who values their employees.

http://www.scatoday.net/node/14641

A recent episode of the web-series All's Faire considers the implications of a visit to the Ren Faire by a Romulan and a robot. (PG-13 for language)

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1. If you have a Flickr account and are interested in our baby picture repository (which is a private group), make gnomerino one of your Flickr contacts and (provided I recognize who you are) I will send you an invitation to join the group.

2. We received a gift with no card mailed to our PO box. If you sent it (four books), *please* let us know; we've been scratching our heads over this one.

3. We received a gift with no card a while ago, a gift bag with two lovely toys in it. We'd love to be able to write a thank-you note for the gift, especially because the girls adore both toys.

4. Does anyone have a crib mobile with a wind-up music box that they're not using and that they wouldn't mind me canibalizing for parts? I need a music box (the kind that makes the mobile spin; like the music box on this mobile) for one of our two mobiles, and I've been unable to track one down.

Switzerland has voted, by 57%, against the minarets. We French always say the Swiss are Nazis and all kind of nice words, but... 67% of the French agreed with their decision.

Now there are h1n1 vax ads on tv! The centers will be opened on Sunday to vax more people more quickly.

http://www.scatoday.net/node/14565

Dr Laura Ashe, a professor in the English Faculty at Oxford University, has been awarded the prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize given to academics under the age of 36 for "contribution to their particular field of study, are recognised at an international level, and whose future contributions are held to be of correspondingly high promise."

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i am sad to say that i am mourning the loss of yet another friend.

Balu, mka as Thomas Hufford died Sunday night at Bethesda Naval Hospital. he had attended Darkover with Seanara this year.... for their wedding, which was held Friday at Darkover.

he was due for surgery and etc for his recently diagnosed colon cancer immediately following Darkover.

I wish i could say i was surprised, but i had been having very bad feelings about this as soon as i heard.. however we all know that i am personally very touchy about colon cancer , having lost my dear friend ladyrowansplace , mka as Lynn Hunter to Colon Cancer after a long battle. There wasnt much i could say... either i really did have a "bad feeling" about it, in which case i have said what i can to be helpful, including diet suggestions.... or i am just being paranoid, in which case why stress them any worse?

while the official cause of death on this one may be "heart attack" or "complications from mumble" or what not..... it is yet another loss to colon cancer in my book.

PLEASE! get your screenings done on time.
eat a high NATURAL fiber diet (no, metamucil doesnt count.. i mean leafy greens and whole grains)

and make sure your significant others know how to look up your insurance, what bills need to be paid, your last requests and have a copy of your lawyers phone number and your will. even if you are perfectly healthy.
especially if you are perfectly healthy

i have lost over 15 people who were "perfectly fine" to sudden strokes, heart problems, and car accidents in the last two years. and most of the stroke/heart attacks were in people under 40.
the ones with life threatening illnesses tend to have these things prepared.... its the ones who think everything is fine who leave their families wondering who to call...

excuse me, going off line a bit

It was four years ago today that we took possession of our place. I remember it was quite an ordeal... a miscommunication with the mortgage broker leading to lots of last-minute unexpected fees (ohmygod Lots), the move, the celebration of our first-ever home sale (the previous condo)...

I feel like we still haven't entirely figured out our decorating... sometimes I feel like a student (but not flat broke anymore!) in a rented place.

And we haven't entertained enough. I need to organize a few more of those Dinner and a Movie nights. In fact, I should have them be common enough that I don't draw too many people to each one, thus making them less stress to prepare for, and therefore easier to have more often (you see where I'm going with this?)

EDIT: Ahh, history. I remember now... we DIDN'T take possession four years ago today, we took possession four years ago TOMORROW. Wow, I get all knotted up even now thinking of that crazy day when we tried to move heaven and earth for a 25% down payment.

Dana Perino said that the Ft. Hood murders were a terrorist attack and that sort of thing didn't happen when Bush was President.

Ok, first, she's either been struck in the head or is mentally challenged in some way. I'm serious, here. You can't say the mindless shit she says and not have a closed head injury or some kind serious mental defect.

Second, I don't know if she's heard, but there was a terrorist attack while George W. Bush was in office. I know it was a long time ago, like the Cuban Missile Crisis, and we can't ex[ect her to know EVERYTHING about American History, but I'm pretty sure Fox News ran a story or two about it.

Finally, she said this on Fox News and everyone just sat there and nodded. I can only assume they didn't want to embarrass the poor woman by correcting her on the air. I mean, Fox News would NEVER EVER distort the news to forward their own political goals. I mean, they report, we decide, right?

FOX NEWS!

...but 99.9% of frum North American guys really gross me out. Whenever these skinny, pasty Yiddish-looking stereotypes hit on me I get so repulsed that I feel an urge to take whatever level of Judaism I'm at during a particular week "down a notch" in fear of winding up with someone who I'm so vehemently un-attracted to ("Yikes, maybe lighting Shabbat candles is too far"). Then I get pissed off because its a detriment to my spiritual progress, which I unfairly wind up blaming them for. Non-religious North American Jewish guys I don't seem to have the same violent reaction to, but I'm really not into them either. In fact, the only Jewish guys I ever wind up being attracted to (religious OR secular) are Israelis. Hmm... think I need to get back over there.

Ughhhhhhhhh

The Bhakail Yule schedule has been posted. Feel free to pass this on.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

ETA: Bhakail Yule is Saturday, December 5 at LuLu Shriners Temple in Plymouth Meeting, PA. Click the above link for the actual event announcement.

Not sure I agree with Chris Bowers assessment that the latest polls showing generic bad news for Ds in 2010 is neutral-to-neutral-good for progressives.

Bowers argument in essence is that the majority of Ds at risk are non-progressives, that progressives have some shots at pick ups, and that a smaller D majority with a larger progressive component is better for progressives overall. I think this largely depends on how well progressives do in mobilizing progressive Ds to vote when they are discouraged by the outcome in 2008. And, as usual, I continue to think we are way too far out to do reliable polling. The current correlations and indicators on various questions and methodologies have proven less predictive, rather than more predictive, in recent years due to numerous factors -- shifting demographic of the electorate, impact of broadband, and changes in the media landscape all being contributing factors.

On the plus side, the Rs show a a continued ability to shoot themselves in the foot, as demonstrated in NY-23. Self-identified Republicans are a much smaller base of support, although a healthy number of independents are conservatives who can be counted on to support conservative ideological candidates. But if independents largely stay home, the advantage favors Ds at this point. And while the most recent poll had independents more motivated than Ds (and primarily motivated by anger, which is bad for incumbent party), that is against generic candidate rather than against specific candidates.

Guess we'll have to hold an election after all to find out.

( Gail Collins, on egregious spin )

deadjournal crazylife journalfen dreamwidth

Yesterday turned out to be a really lovely day. Classes were not particularly thrilling, but at least they were un-offensive (with a humorous sideline where the line "I don't want to know what you do", that line generally applied to subjects more or less racy was used regarding shaving implements- for all my kvetches, the class is sometimes quite amusing).

After school, I came home for about an hour, and then I headed off to a murder mystery party. It turned out to be a truly hilarious time. My character was the deceased's eldest son, described as "not very bright". I had a pretty good time playing up exactly how dumb the guy was, which fit in pretty hilariously with a variety of other folks' over-acting. The game was great fun, leading me to be up far later than I had expected without really noticing it. Really, it was a lovely time, and a chance to get to spend some time with folks I don't know so well, as well as a few whom I do. The complications and results were pretty well set-up. Being a crowd full of rabbinical school and yeshiva students, there were a lot of humorous claims about being home learning gemara at the time of the death, "my hiddush is" etc. One of my favorite touches to the event was that my hosts put up labels turning their wall decorations into stuff relevant to the murder mystery- so a picture of Solomon Schechter got labeled as a picture of the deceased, etc, etc. It was delightfully funny.

This holiday season, whatever you celebrate, is a rough one for a lot of us in terms of money and stress. Instead of gifts I propose this:

Take the time to write the people closest to you. Send them an email, or a letter in the mail. Tell them how much they mean to you, and why. Share some history. Remind them of why they're so close to your heart. Maybe they don’t know, maybe they do, either way a reminder is a magical thing. Thirty of them. Probably just scratching the surface for most of us. One email a day for the whole month. That's it. Think of how much awesome and wonder we could spread. Between ourselves, our close ones and their close ones. Spread the idea, spread the joy. Thirty emails. That's it. Think of the effect it can have on the people you love, and frankly, on yourself.

Thirty emails. We can all do it. Join me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from Rosefox, i pass on the meme. except i also suggest pretty actual written cards if you can afford it. This year i plan on using any holiday cards i get as decorations in my house. and i am trying to mail out many myself. although knowing my habits people will be getting holiday cards until march.

so.....
if anyone needs my address, just say so, and if you want a actual dead tree card from me, send me your address.

i was at Darkover convention as usual......
the crowd seemed a lot smaller, i hear several of our usual suspects were ill, but generally the numbers "looked" down, i dont have anything official though.
My sales were definitely down.
I certainly hope that the SCA event "Bhakail Yule" brings in some money because frankly this wasnt nearly what it should have been.

that said, i saw a lot of folks i know, met some Lj people i hadnt met in person .... etc...
(hey, shout out if i saw you at Darkover!)
( ...about the dog )

The diet was shot to heck over the weekend. oh i ate better than i usually do at a convention, but no WAY was it what i wanted to eat.
we had a dealers' food plan with a few of us.... i brought crock pot and bread machine, and lots of fresh veggies.
i over packed a lot of food stuff... and packed too many things that required too much prep, so ended up not using them. live and learn... the overnight steel cut oatmeal, however was a hit.

after going to bed at 4am last night, we had to get up at 8a to go to jeanis md visit. she got her stitches out. jax was very interested at first, but freaked when he started to pull them out. lol
her hand is doing well and she has been cleared to go back to work next monday barring any major issues.

i took a walk in the almost full moonlit woods to see if there is a tree back there for jeanis sister. i did not find much, but will go back in the morning. after i got back i was changing my shirt and jeani found a tick crawling on my belly. 4 hours later, laying in bed, there was a tick crawling up my arm. wtf? is is november, almost dec. shouldnt they be gone?

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