Friday, February 26, 2016

Raindrops keep falling on our heads






For all those out there who are hanging on my every word, I apologize for not posting last week. Time just got away.

We have friends from Chicago who are here in Israel. We live 5 miles apart, but we have to travel 8000 miles to get together with them.

One friend is in Haifa for a month. He came to Jerusalem for a couple of days last week. We hadn't gone to the Kotel yet, so it seemed like a good idea to go with him. As you may or may not know, there are daily knife attacks in Israel. Enrollment in self-defense classes and sales of pepper spray are at an all-time high, and people don't move about as freely as they once did. Not that anyone is hiding out at home, but they are taking precautions. We could have taken a bus to the Kotel, but we decided to walk instead. There are a couple of ways to get from Jaffa Gate to the Jewish Quarter. I like going through the Armenian Quarter because it's the shortest way, and that's how we went. It was crowded, mostly with groups of soldiers who are taken on a tour of the whole country as part of their basic training. We felt very safe, but there was more to it. We normally go back to Jaffa Gate via the Christian Quarter. As often as I've gone that way, the sights and smells continue to captivate me. But at a time when anyone can pull out a knife, it's prudent to take a different route. This impacts the store owners, which is the crux of the matter. The leadership of the Palestinians, whether Hamas or Abbas, skim plenty off the torrent of money that pours in from Europe, the US and the UN. It's in their best interests to keep their population under control by threats and intimidation, and to keep them beholden by creating conditions of economic dependency. If shopkeepers go out of business due to a lack of tourists, so much the better. So we went back the way we came.



 At the kotel.



At the kotel. I'm glad they are armed.

With our friend Henry ... at the Kotel.

We stopped for dinner at Capit, one of my favorite restaurants in Jerusalem, and saw a delightful play - First Date - which is actually an American production that appeared on Broadway a couple years ago. Very funny, cleverly written, great cast.

Last Friday, at 615AM we were awakened by drops of water coming from the light fixtures above our bed. At first I thought I was dreaming - so did Sid. But sure enough, the ceiling was dripping. About 15 minutes later our downstairs neighbor knocked on the door; she came up to see if we had water. We started to explain about the dripping ceiling, but she said no, she wanted to find out if we had water in the taps. Yes, we did. Then we showed her our ceiling. Something was clearly amiss. We decided to find out what was going on upstairs and when we got to the landing between our floor and the one above it was flooded. The source was the apartment above us. A pipe broke during the night. He called a plumber who told him to turn off the main valve to his apartment. In the middle of the night he inadvertently turned off the wrong valve. Mysteries solved and the downstairs neighbors got their water back. As our dripping gradually abated, we were assured that this wasn't unusual
for a building that was built in the 30's, and most probably there was no real damage. If a fuse blew when we turned the bedroom light on, all we had to do is flip the breaker. Fortunately whoever renovated this apartment installed circuit breakers. I remember the days when apartments had fuses, and if one blew and you didn't have a replacement you had to get a copper coin to reconnect the circuits. As they say, those were the days, and the only damage was to our ceiling, which instead of water is dripping paint.





Dori's 21st birthday was yesterday. We were sort of surprised at how low-key she was about it. We went to dinner at Sushi Rehavia, which was very good, even tho I eat my food cooked.

Dori and Saba at Sushi Rehavia. Happy 21st to our granddaughter who has a double celebration - turning 21 and finishing her army service.

 Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem,

Peggy and Sid

Friday, February 12, 2016

Tech Wars





Weekly round-up ...

Sid's 2-week stint in the army was over last Thursday. It was more physically demanding than in the past, and the weather was very cold which made it not so pleasant. But for all the discomfort it's very rewarding, and you go away knowing you've made an important contribution to Israel.

There's always an interesting group of volunteers, from all over the world and from all walks of life. This time one of his two barracks-mates was from Northern Ireland. He will be on base for several more weeks, and will spend the weekends in Tel Aviv with his Phillapina girl friend.



 Sid's roommates Ted (upper photo) and Steven from Northern Ireland



 Local volunteers - something for retired LOLs to do



 Sid's jury rigged man cave


 Co-workers



Mashiah, the warehouse manager


The painting and ceramics classes are going well. I dragged Sid with me this week and he sort of liked the ceramics part. I stayed for an extra class - vegetable carving.



My first attempt at pastels.
It's really occupational therapy.






Here's the tech part...

Israel is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Hardly a surprise, since most of the technology in use today was invented or developed here. So it never ceases to amaze me when I run into a situation where a little technology would go a long way.

This particularly applies to banking. Even when I lived here, in the dawn of the computer age, banks had computers. But they were used as oversized adding machines. Transactions were not simplified nor streamlined. You still had to wait in line at your bank, and when it finally got to be your turn endure the inevitable jerk who elbowed his way in front of you with the excuse that he just had a quick question for the clerk. If you wanted to withdraw cash, you had to wait in a second line, with a form that was filled out in the first line, and again the same jerk elbowed his way in front of you, this time saying he was in a big hurry. The concept of a teller, who could perform all basic bank functions (like deposits and withdrawls) was unheard of until the First International Bank opened in Jerusalem. The other innovation was to install  revolving door, which was quite a curiosity at the time. The only other revolving door in Jerusalem was at the King David Hotel, and most locals hadn't been there. For several months people would go around and around in the revolving door at the bank, like kids like to do today. And branch banking? Fugedaboudit. The reason there were so many banks all over the city was because your bank was, literally, your bank. You couldn't go to the location down the block because that's not where your account was. Besides, it kept employment numbers high.

Change came about, as it inevitably does, and today you can take care of most business at any bank branch. For the simplest transactions ATMs accept deposits and dispense cash, and there are even designations as to which ATM does what.

After spending several months here, I finally decided to open a checking account and get a local ATM. No need to bring large amounts of cash with me, no need to go to a money changer every week or so. And with the strong dollar, the timing was right. So I went to Bank Hapoalim to open my account. Not one of the neighborhood branches, but the fancy main branch downtown that takes care of foreigners. I made the deposit and asked for some of it back in cash. The teller said this branch doesn't have a cashier. I was dumbfounded. I had just deposited a reasonable amount of money but had to go elsewhere to withdraw a relatively small sum. Not only that, but my ATM card wouldn't be ready for 5 more days. So what they had to do was issue a temporary ATM, good for one day only, so I could get some walking around money.

As I said last year ... embrace the chaos.



Shabbat shalom,

Peggy and Sid


Friday, February 5, 2016

The week that was






The news this week has not been good. On average there's one terror attack a day in the current knife intifada. Fortunately most attacks have not been lethal, and most have been so-called "lone wolf". I personally don't subscribe to the lone wolf theory.

But what happened Wednesday was different. Three terrorists from Jenin attacked two border patrol women at Damascus Gate, killing one and wounding the other. This is what happened:

The border police were stationed at Damascus Gate, a major entrance to the Old City's Muslim Quarter. An Arab behaved in a suspicious manner, and according to protocol, one of the women (girls, really; they're only 19) asked for his i.d. He reached into his coat, supposedly to pull out his papers, but instead drew a gun and shot her at point blank range. Although seriously wounded, she reacted instantly and shot her attacker. Her partner then shot a second attacker who had pulled a knife and was about to stab her. What the second patrol woman didn't know what that this was a group of three terrorists. The third one was behind her and stabbed her. The third terrorist was shot and killed by soldiers who were near the scene. The first patrol woman succumbed to her wounds and was buried today. 19 years old. The second was seriously wounded but is expected to recover.

According to the foreign press, 3 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military. No mention of the fact that they were armed with knives, guns and pipe bombs, and had the clear intention of carrying out a suicide attack somewhere in the Old City. The 2 wounded Israeli border patrol women were glossed over, making it seem as though 3 innocent Palestinians just going about their business were pounced on by the Israeli military. Another day in the paradise of the foreign press. Even the current Fox Middle East correspondent, Connor Powell, reported the story according to the Palestinian Authority Playbook.

All this pisses me off, and makes me grateful for organizations such as Honest Reporting, CAMERA, StandWithUS and SPME (Scholars for Peace in the Middle East).

But it's not all bad news ...

Sid finished his volunteer service and got home yesterday. Dori (and her stuff) are here. She returns to base on Sunday. She gets released in a couple weeks (time off for good behavior) even tho her official mustering out is on March 3. It's fun to have her around.

I realize this is short and whiny, but I want to post before candle lighting which is in 20 minutes. I welcome comments from anyone who is reading.

Shabbat shalom,

Peggy and Sid