bad timing

i forgot my phone's clock is five minutes faster than my computers, which is why the posts appear in the incorrect order.

principle seething

i've just spent an hour sorting through trash to remove all the electronics (most in useable condition) that our intelligent, educated good citizens tossed because they couldn't care less.

and i was told that instead of getting angry, i should have done something productive like make and send a powerpoint presentation. because that would help.

the rest of my working day was spent scrubbing walls. i think the only good thing that happened was my team leader asking me to buy him a duck as well :)
i swear, no matter how bad things get those ducks can always make you smile.

to sushi! and uninvitations

i was thinking about a mad-hatter's pesach seder (the passover meal), with everyone wearing hats and switching seats before reading passages from the haggadah. i think that would be very, very cool.

i know which shower i'm going for, i've paid for the floors, i have the tiles for the shower base, i can't for the life of me figure out what i'm going to do about the panelling, i'm - SHIT! i KNEW there was a post missing! i've just re-sent it - and i don't know what i'm going to do about this recycling thing (that i can now say i posted earlier... it was supposed to be sent around 5pm).

must - go - eat - and - drink. [zombie groans] booooooooooooze.

approaching twitter

this mobile-posting thing is too easy - i can finally get all the daily items outta my hair without having to store it all until evening... this is probably just another way for technology to make my mind useless.

i'm still a bit upset but calming down rapidly, not least caused by meeting with karnaf's buddy the builder, who's decent, helpful AND a carpenter by trade which will help with my storage solutions... and he's ready to come in on friday to sort out my shower base as well. sweet!

i feel like celebrating.

weighed down

today is the last day of march, the last day before the transfer was SUPPOSED to take place.

i sit here waiting for the bus (i *just* missed the last one) holding a surprisingly heavy metre-squared of tiling on my lap and contemplating the absurdity of most of my fixes possibly being completed within the week.

other than that i'm feeling really aggressive today, karnaf's builder friend doesn't seem to want my business nor the plumber my money.
at least the other plumber gets back tomorrow.

a small reflection

step 1) threw paint on canvas that's been empty far too long. it's more or less formed, i'll wait a bit before figuring out what's right and wrong about it.

step 2) shocked and horrified at the ending of the first season of battlestar galactica. loved it.

step 3) passing out in 5... 4... 3...

dear mom :)

i got your first message, that's why i was on my knees yesterday morning :P
i'm waiting for a call tomorrow to tell me which floors they have in stock - pear is my first choice, walnut my second

 

as i said earlier: spiritual crisis. i'm already feeling a bit better after getting started on re-visioning psychology (i'm already ready to recommend it!), but there's a bunch of steps i need to take before i get well again and they include being settled and painting and writing and exercising.

the meeting itself was pleasant. we have some weird issues, like a rented-out bomb shelter and a resident homeless person (they want him to pay fees too :)), and everyone's upset about a rates hike that will bring my fees up to slightly more than a quarter of what they are where i am now.

i'm now waiting to be contacted to give away some money. the internet is crawling. i think i'm going to copy and paste this response onto my blog.

love you!

i want to cry

and i can't. i simply can't cry. i think nystire's right, and that this is me coming down from a paint-fumes high.

i feel completely bombed.

icicle

i made a total ass of myself on facebook earlier - and if i'd deleted the stupid comment i'd made it would only have been worse. one can't win in such a large forum.

i just got back from a drink with yogi, the ride there and back on his motorcycle and his insanity made my day - froze me half to death, but made my day :)

i quote the pixies' most famous song title

my mind is way out in the water. today was absurd.

aside from the obvious aforementioned distraction, today was rough from a work point of view because our systems went down and mine just didn't want to come back up. i *did* reset it, that didn't help, so we tried all sorts of other things until five minutes before home-time, when someone suggested resetting it again.

of course that worked :/

so that was a waste, i took the shuttle home and went straight to survey my very own personal warzone. as luck would have it, the plumber had just left minutes before, and he came back to show me what a sterling job he'd done.

and he really did! and the paint-job so far is quite nice.

now if only it wasn't such a mess :P

i went shopping, found a perfect gift for another birthday coming up, a re-bought the neverending story because my previous TL refuses to part with it ^_^

after a quick snack, i hurried off to my first building meeting participating as an owner. it was long, but enlightening: it looks like we have some very weird issues. we'll see how things pan out, but for the moment my biggest indirect problem is the asbestos.

i didn't recognize my flatmate's girlfriend in the elevator. and even when she told me who she was, i stood there like an idiot waiting for her to tell me where she was going. i'm laughing as i type this, but i'm really not focused.

oh, yes. lake. something's going on, i either can't or don't want to get a handle on it. i don't think it's something that's going to go away if i ignore it.

i began my day on my knees...

... unscrewing shelves and writing a contract for the plumber. i watched them get started, and i'm driven to distraction with consternation over whether or not i'm doing things right.

i have to go to work, so i can't really do more than hope and pray, and wonder about the open floor that was my last vision as i walked out the door.

walking out the door, a not-so-funny thing happened. a neighbour was waiting for me to inform me that the cover of my patio is made of asbestos. this is not good news.

on the plus side, there's an apartment meeting tonight so maybe things will be clearer then.

tired again

the sixth sense - absolutely, without any doubt the most awesome tech combination and manipulation yet!

and i was going to watch how i met your mother. how very droll.

ugh. i still have to write out that contract.

more seafood!

i napped again, although it was a disappointing one. i woke up to eat and watch some red band, then went across to my apartment to make sure that i hadn't left anything important lying around.

i got in touch with a friend of karnaf's, i'll call him again tomorrow to invite him to come around and fix a cupboard that's falling off the wall, and then went to meet lake for a drink.

the drink turned into dinner at goocha, so i've now been there twice and enjoyed it both times. we had such fun, and i'm reminded strongly of why i loved her in the first place. she really is a complete match for head-space, but with a totally different perspective.

this puts me in the odd position of constantly re-evaluating how i feel about her. i think i'm happy with us being very close friends, but i can never be sure about anything deeper turning out well.

it's bedtime! tomorrow is a very big beginning. my first time actually doing something with my home. i'm a bit excited :)

it's all binned

ah, the fresh, slightly lemon-scented smell of a job well done. i think the fact that i just cleaned the entire apartment alone earns me the right to never do it again.

the nin/ja sample is awesome. battlestar galactica is killing my weekends.

hearing the near-future: nin/ja!

that innocuous little nap turned into a full night's sleep: i haven't felt this good in a long time. the difference that's been made by having a workable, visible moving timeline is incredible!

i've spent the morning watching battlestar galactica and how i met your mother, throwing out bad yoghurt and thinking about cleaning. i think i'm going to.

oh shit! i completely forgot. i went through my email today, and found a follow-up from eatliz informing us of the change in plans. if only i'd bothered to read it the day i received it... they should've sent in facebook too.
emails. so last year.

NIN/JA! and they may be paying us another visit soon ^_^

validation - this is really sweet :)

i'm a regular passenger brake abuser.

franz kafka international receives a solid evaluation

the no-show

i shopped on my way home, discovering that i've accumulated a lot of supermarket points over the last couple of years and that they haven't had an address to send the cheques to :D

as i packed away the last of my purchases the phone rang - one of the guys who was released from my unit asking me how to get to the eatliz performance: in all the excitement i'd completely forgotten! so i rushed to the bus and hurried over to the port, only to arrive at 15:30 (half an hour late, two days in a row this happens?!) and find that there wasn't an actual performance, they simply played live in channel 24's summer studio.

bastards. that's not the same thing :/

so the guy and his friends rocked up, also disappointed, messed around with a really creepy israeli clown (he was even creepier than normal ones because he didn't have make-up, and then sat down for beers and coffee. we had a fine old time, but eventually the wind got too strong and we left before the storm hit.

i've been watching battlestar galactica, i've sent my mum a military-style update that i'd post here for the giggles if the info wasn't too personal, and am planning on hitting one more episode before napping and then checking out what SxS wanted help with.

on luck, nerves and PTSD

i cannot believe my good fortune! i almost ordered my floor at home center, but they couldn't help me with the panelling so i decided to wait and deliberate with the painter... while buying tiles at another place, i discovered that they not only do the same quality flooring for cheaper, but with less waiting time AND they work fridays - SCORE!

and the tiles weren't expensive at all, and the shower options are just as easy. we have a winner, and a far more relaxed outlook on life :)

this all comes after the morning trauma: the plumber's great, but i need to do the one thing i was terrified of. i need to replace piping.

shite.

at least i've learned about insurance (not covered, the floor needs to be wet for them to extend a hand), and have gotten in touch with the caretaker.

and stressed a little. and canceled my participation in the section trip. and fretted a bit. but my commanders have been singularly understanding and i have decided that i'm not leaving the plumber and painter without supervision - at least i got them to agree to work simultaneously ^_^

and with the budget on contract.

now i need breakfast and a beer.

no panic...

for the first time ever, i was actually too late for an israeli event: it said 9pm, and it meant 9pm - that never happens! so i missed panic ensemble :(

my cousin and his friends were being ridiculously indecisive and that led me to walk around tel aviv, switching directions at every infrequent update. eventually we got the location right and the timing wrong, and i arrived way before they did :S

we were at the same bar that i went to last week - the 70 elephants, i think - and it was packed. and with a lot of south africans, apparently, which was really disorientating o_O

from there we sat down for a while at a pizza parlour that had closed already, and we ran into the girl that shadowslight's mum was trying to convince me to go for... and her boyfriend, who seems like a nice chap. we talked crap for a bit, then moved down the road to olive, where coffee was available and the waitress all hyped up and interesting. apparently the girls caught a vibe between us, but it couldn't have been too serious if nothing happened.

just showered and crashing immediately.

pos/neg

i'm feeling really proud of myself right now - the filler repairs i did last week have to be looked for to be observed :)

my phone's giving me trouble already - there's a memory issue and it's not clear whether it's the card or the phone itself :(

i got some great photos today :)

the indian guy is really grating my cheese - and it's because i grate his. i'm not sure what to do about it, because anything i say or do pisses him off. and talking to him is like communicating with a stone wall. which drives me frikkin' demented. he resents me :(

the book i ordered a short while back has arrived - james hillman - re-visioning psychology... and so far, i've been enjoying reading the introduction :)

the day began with me being shouted at by a number of nothings at the municipality who i swear get off on making others' lives miserable. :(

i spoke to my lawyer afterwards, and she informed me that i don't need to worry about them :)

i tried to find a plumber to come and give me a quote this morning, and they were a real bunch of bastards :(

i got home to find a note in my post-box: "are you sick of being taken advantage of? here's a reliable plumber! quotes without obligation" - i called him up to ask him where he'd been when i needed him, and he's coming tomorrow morning :)

i had to phone and tell the lady from the food drive that we weren't allowed to help :(

i discovered a way to do some good for the community without stretching too much :) [helping out problem homes on fridays]

walking out of the interior ministry's building, an ultra-orthodox fat man cut me off while i was walking out of a revolving door. i gave him loud, snarky thanks, but i'd really have liked to shove him right back outside :(

i've changed my address officially - army and government! aside from the municipality, and i don't care about them, everyone knows where i'm going to be in a month's time :)

i ran into my TL at the central bus station, and a few of us sat going over last night's paintball for most of the ride :)

we arrived in time for lunch, which was the height of free hate and abuse that i've received from the indian guy :(

work sucked this afternoon, and it took us two hours to do the shopping for a section event on sunday :(

i took a post-shopping survey and scored two slabs of chocolate :)

lake got all sensitive because i was unkind over the phone. i really was just kidding around, but she took it seriously. and then we had a serious discussion about it, and i don't want to be serious with her :(

i actually enjoyed the early-evening work i did :)

being stressed constantly the entire way home over all the apartment shit is eating me up :(

i bought yet another duck tonight; it's like every time i bring one to the office somebody else says "oh, wow! can you get me one too?" :)

i just remembered that i gave the instruction to close my long-lost bank account and return all the money to me, but it'll only take effect one month from now :(

i'm going to see panic ensemble now :)

unpainted

well, almost :P
it was fun, but we had a lot to learn - like that wearing warm clothing is an awful idea, that being the first in line for overalls is a good one, and that a mask that doesn't fog up too much is a worthwhile investment.

i am falling asleep on my feet, and i'm still not home :(

we ate in pituach, i had a decent burger but the chutney wasn't mind-blowing, and i am now simply relieved that we finally got it together.

to artistic premises

right now i'm on the bus, on my way to a game of paintball that's been talked about for almost two years...

i'm almost done in, this has been a stupidly hard week. i actually passed out at my desk this afternoon, and was lucky enough to be woken with an interesting lesson so i was conscious for a briefing i had to give.

we went shopping this morning for donations for a pre-passover food drive: we'd planned to give to a tel aviv organization but that was overruled by our unit commander. bummer.

the stupid girl from yesterday is long-term bitter - i find that rather sad.

i need caffeine before play.

changing again

shite - another late night. and tomorrow's basketball and paintball.

paintball: it's a section event. some girl heard about it and asked if it would bother us if she joined. i said yes, stressing that it's not personal and that she's invited to the next meet... she then tried to force her way in, and went so far as to suggest that it's not up to me (the organizer)... she really pissed me off.

in no particular order (okay, it's pretty much chronological):

 the sneaky kid is trying to get into the course again. i'm thinking of writing him to suggest that he quit it.
 the buses:
  i ran into last night's date after spilling coffee on my jacket due to the wind
  stare and stare alike (some weirdo just wouldn't stop)
  another course failure - the green beret, i wasn't sure if i'd recognized him or confused him with his twin but either way we weren't friends to begin with so i don't really care
  perfect bus timing, i hopped on to the bus the seller was riding so there wasn't any stress over being late or getting lost
 it was really hot inside when getting my loan referral, i can't understand how those girls survive the aircon
 i was actually feeling worse than the previous days. i took my temperature, though: no fever
 good electric timing, and excellent that we did the exchange manually: it turns out that i'm still registered as the tenant in my previous apartment in the south african zionist federation's building. i put in a request to cut the power
 i made it *just* in time to meet with the painter, he seems capable and friendly but the quote is more than i'd anticipated
 lake arrived, checked out the apartment with the painter and the two of them arrived at the conclusion that it's too dark for me to use any of the colours i'd been considering, that i should go with white and mother-of-pearl finishes. we had coffee / lunch afterwards, then i had to run off in the rain (with joydrop - beautiful stuck in my head) to bus back to base
 the loan required the creation of a fictitious account at the soldier's bank, which took about half an hour of signing stuff. ugh
 a few days ago i got a phone call from the bank of jerusalem asking me if i wanted to increase my monthly savings transfer - i refused. it suddenly dawned on me on my way back to my office that i actually have enough money in that account to sort me out! what a great surprise :)
 i got the organization blues, i had a lot of non-work-relateds to deal with. i had stupid application errors to get fixed (they claim it's a hardware problem) and stupid "that's how the army is" responses from the only people in the army in a position to enforce policy change. i'm about ready to give up

the constant squeak of my bag as i transported the ducks was identical to gir's outfit in the first episode :P

we worked late - i actually got into it tonight, i hope that energy remains.

at least the excuse for the late bedtime is a good one: my cousin's here from england, and an evening of whiskey, coconut milk and curry seafood and great company was extremely refreshing!

the sleep of guards

in a strange dream, where i was guarding a hospital in civvies, and some guy on his way out started giving me a hard time. i was surprised by him pointing his finger at me, and when i looked at him questioningly with my own finger pointed at me as if to ask the meaning of the gesture he jumped closer and made a threatening remark.
i immediately grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulled his face to within millimetres of mine and shouted at him to show me identification.

his card told me he was a first sergeant, and i held onto it and made him sit down in a nearby chair. i found a nurse and told her to have him checked to make sure that he wasn't too drugged to drive himself home, but she didn't want to have anything to do with it because there was a long queue of people who'd been waiting for treatment.

that was when i began shouting at her to call for someone who actually cares about saving lives... suddenly a siren wailed and over the PA it was announced that there'd been a breach: someone had escaped from the mental wing.

the date went very nicely last night. i'm still exhausted this morning, but i don't have a fever. i'm off to start one of those organizing days.

collapsing

i was absolutely, painfully exhausted today:

1) work hurt. i don't think i did any.

2) after about forty-five minutes, i got in touch with someone concerning the army magazine that i want to unsubscribe from. she seemed to be getting what i was saying, then hung up after promising to call me back immediately. that never happened.

3) paintball tickets: organized :)

4) i went to pick up a bunch of rubber stamps that had been delivered, only to discover that they'd brought us just the rubber bit, we each have to organize the wood and attach it ourselves :S

5) bathroom fiasco: i was helping one of the guys place bottles in the tank to reduce the amount used per flush when my previous TL tried to use the stall we were in. he stopped, shocked, and his reactions (both expression and then physically as he ran away) were priceless when we began rolling off things like "it's okay! it's not what it looks like! we saw it on the internet! do you mind stepping in here for a second? no, please! come back! we need your help!"

6) i was holding the driver's kid's bunny in the car so that it wouldn't fall under our feet; a cute girl who'd scored a ride with us thought that it was mine and that i carried it around wherever i go - hilarity ensued :)

7) rain-walk
i went to the bank to close my monthly savings transfer - and change my address!
after acquiring more rubber ducks i went to "the duck" with a sticker design for my postbox, and got absolutely soaked in the rain. i placed it before coming back here, but it's not quite conforming with all the others (black and white with similar font, mine's black and orange with my middle smiley in between my english and hebrew names).

8) meeting with our ex-neighbour's cute friend in a few for a drink.

---
when i say "bombed", i mean completely. like, my whole system is constantly on the verge of crashing. maybe i'll just have a coke when i get there.

---
i just remembered lunch: an awful experience trying to get the grunts to stand in line without pushing or cursing.

explosively intelligent

i think it's about time i admit to myself that either i'm suffering a chronic illness (would a brain tumor explain the headaches?), or i'm just terribly depressed... i just can't concentrate on anything especially work.

i contacted the lawyer and the bank this morning, and it turns out that the girl from the mortgage bank has now proved herself more hindrance than help - not only did she confuse the transfer issue, but i just discovered that i won't get the fix-up money until a month or two after i've moved in.

what a complete moron.

instead, i've now taken out a short-term army loan so that i can get sorted out before then. it's on better terms than the mortgage, and with the money i'll get back from my current apartment's deposit i can actually make do without them altogether.

the painter is also a bit of an idiot, but i think we may be able to work something out anyway. i find it incredible that israeli's don't understand that people who work for a living find it difficult to make themselves available during working hours because, traditionally, they're WORKING.

that, and this weird phenomenon that the customer needs to know more than the professional so that he can help him do his job right. it's absolutely ridiculous how much better life would be for all of us if everything was properly automated.

i took a good, ten minute long video of one of the guys being "initiated" into his new rank, so now i've got to learn about editing videos. i'm impressed with the quality and even more so with the fact that my battery could handle it!

apropos not understanding the working man's day, i received a call from a hidden number which pulled me out from what i was busy with - only to discover that it was some prick from my old internet service provider advertising an updated anti-virus package.

i let him have it - stupid sods.

speaking of which, according to our online hebrew-english dictionary, the word for "man" in hebrew is defined as, amongst the more traditional meanings, "sod", "stripling", "sprout" and "dick". interesting.

my ride was stuck in traffic this morning, so i had ample opportunity to chat with the beautiful american girl again. i think it went well, i'm going to have to see about inviting her around for the / some house-warming :P
and to continue in that vein ("vain" works just as well), i went to get my acknowledgement for the shooting range and i had an extremely flirtatious chat with the cute girl in charge.

oh! speaking of ducks (we weren't, but the aforementioned girl seemed quite interested in the duck conversation i was having with nystire), one of the squeaky ducklings caused no end of amusement this morning, and one of the guys managed to figure out a way to incorporate it into our work environment }:)

we finally got most of the organizing for the section paintball done, and tomorrow we'll go acquire tickets. i'm surprised it's gotten this far - and there's a chance we might all be playing a team of strangers which would be a total bonus!

a paralysing snowboard could-have-jumped vision hit my consciousness like a truck earlier, i seem to be back in the fantasizing stage...

i called up my cousin from the kibbutz, and we talked for too long (i was supposed to be working) about all sorts of stuff - and i'm finally going to get a chance to chill with them for a few days ^_^

the drive home was vindicating, my ride confirmed that i'm sane and the rest of the country isn't. he also gave me some good advice, some of it too late and some of it just in time :)
it's comforting to know that i'm not the only person who suffers from the israeli stupidities.

like, for instance, the unbelievably aggravating way that israelis manage to position themselves exactly in the way wherever they may be. that was another thing that irked me while shopping this evening, in addition to the realization that it's passover soon and good food will be impossible to acquire.

last shared purchase! i was informed (i'm suspicious) that it was, once again, my turn to buy toilet paper. from now on - i'll be buying just for me! excellent!

...

hot water on my newly shaved scalp did me good, and while in the shower i was hit suddenly by a spark of inspiration: i'm going to deck my apartment out in natural, earthy style, with lots of ancient looking wooden stuff.

yeah, it'll be dark, but i'll offset it with hippie colours :)

digital downward spiral

frack, my neck's out again :/

nystire is a rotten bastard. galaxy online isn't just free and easily accessed, it's essentially an MMO version of one of my favourite games - master of orion. i lost four consecutive hours to it this morning.

it was due to the game that i left late, and had to rush to meet my cousins for lunch. lunch was magnificent, the steaks were brilliant and the desserts were sinful and decadent. the best part for me was seeing my gift so well received, and not only by the birthday girl - everyone else gushed over it too!

and in addition to that, their little brother enjoyed the hebrew comic i got him for his birthday and i heard from his mother that he's been seen in bed reading hunter x hunter after lights-out ^_^

i stopped at home, running into the neighbour who borrowed a perfect circle - thirteenth step a while back and arranging to meet with him soon, and then at *my* place to check out something that's been bothering me:
the water was running fine until yesterday morning, and i figured that i might have left a tap closed. i hadn't. there seems to be a problem with the hand-basin taps.
this, for obvious reasons, upsets me.

i've been browsing through the game, and i was highly amused at the difference that it makes walking with "alpha male" status in mind.
i have begun working on a very interesting project that lake suggested, and it has a photographic element that ran down my phone's battery very fast. as nice as it is to have a decent integrated camera, for serious abuse one needs a dedicated one.

i'm very amused that i managed to lock myself out on her stairwell when i went to take a couple of snaps of tel aviv.

lake and i watched whale rider, i loved it the first time and enjoyed it this time too. it's a great film. afterwards, though, we finally had a chat that i've been putting off... it was a bit uncomfortable, but i think she understands where i'm coming from. i like being intimate with her, but that doesn't include any sexual contact.

it's a very odd situation.

...

i cannot fully express how happy i am to be leaving this apartment soon - i seem to be the only person who cares about stupid things like cleaning and having enough toilet paper.

i'm unhappy about having to wake up in five hours.

stretching back

the original breakfast plan was for coffeeholic, but of late there's been a problem with smells wafting over from an exposed sewerage pipe in the area. when karnaf arrived, i transferred my coffee to a transportable cup and we headed off to what used to be a well-known bakery chain.

the breakfast was great (except for the muesli, i won't make that mistake again), and we sat chatting until after 6pm. by that stage i was completely bombed, and i called up lake to cancel on plans we'd made - turned out she was going to cancel anyway, so i didn't feel too bad about it.

i showered and crashed fairly early - obviously there was a lot to be done before - and woke up at 4.30am. it's a disease, as i just told nystire (who'd done pretty much the same thing). he's put me onto galaxy online, and now that i've finally caught up with all the comics i'm going to check it out.

and then turn back in for another kip.

voting's open for the music video for eatliz - hey - i had trouble with the streaming, so here's the link to it on youtube

of COURSE they found it in japan! either that, or they created it themselves. i'm suspicious.

on the reality of sustainability: we don't have any

coloured fate

what are the chances of finding two cans of paint in the exact shades of blue and green that i want lying in the cupboard? and a good tile sample? AND a ye olde rotary dial telephone?

them's good pickins, i reckon.

measuring took substantially longer than last time, and was much easier to do alone. i sketched out 3d floor plans and filled in the numbers, which was much more orderly.

i took my measurements to home center - it's annoying that i managed to narrowly miss the bus both there and back. i had a pastry on the way there that left a bad taste in my mouth, but no worse than the service i received it with :(

i liked the grey parquet, but i went with the richer, more wooden-looking one. i couldn't place my order because it's cash up front, and i don't have any yet. that sucks :/
on the other hand, it gives me an opportunity to collect gift cards (they have a 30% discount each on NIS 1000) from my co-workers. that'll make up for the fact that i haven't had the card for the last few months and have been missing out on all the deals.

i went to the dance studio b to try and get her sister a couple of lessons as a 21st birthday gift, but it's a really unpleasant procedure (you have to sign the person up).
instead, i took a walk up dizengoff looking for good ideas, and eventually walked into a book store and found the absolutely wonderful robert sabuda - alice's adventures in wonderland, which the girls there agreed with me is a far more appropriate gift for adults.

i've just learned about crack-filling, and am now finally ready for breakfast. then it'll be bedtime.

done for the night

i'm on my way home, just on the verge of total meltdown and having had a really great evening:

1) watching the lock being replaced was the most wonderful experience!

2) i slept on the bus to the concert, one of those warm and cozy shutdowns

3) i ran into an old varsity buddy at the concert and we had a good chat

4) i thoroughly enjoyed איפה הילד‎ ‎‎‎'‎s [eifo hayeled / "where's the kid"] performance - it was absolutely brilliant! their classic stuff was always great, the new material was of slightly higher calibre and quite different.

the only issues i had were one oversized woman attempting to hump my leg and someone nearby furiously and repeatedly releasing poison gas.

5) i got a ride home, picked up the bottle of rum and went off to a house-warming that had been over for a while.

an hour or so of conversation later, and too much rum, and it was time to head home.

almost there!

big doors part ii

... continued...
[previous post was phoned in]

i was completely exhausted by the late afternoon, and at 4pm made myself a cup of coffee to boost the last hour's production. that made sense, until a girl phoned me for advice dealing with an army unit that functions solely to cause grief, and i spent half an hour giving her tips and explanations.

the shuttle home was painful; one of the engineers i work with explained to me that what i do isn't as helpful as i thought it would be regarding space requirements. apparently, it's completely unrelated. that's almost depressing, but the truth is that i'm definitely a step closer than where i started.

i'm going to need to start acquiring other knowledge to get to where i want to be.

i paid the locksmith a visit, and one of his boys is supposed to arrive in another 15 minutes. lock replacement costs NIS 450 - @#$^! that hurts my bank account :(

whatever, i'm off to a concert soon :)

big doors part i

i forgot to mention my irritation yesterday when an orange representative called me to find out how happy i am with my phone and my upgrade... when i complained that they hadn't given me enough of a chance to form an opinion, her response was "i'm glad to hear that everything's perfect!"

idiot.

the day began with my refusal to sign, although i have to hand it to my SC - he really did try hard.
i finally challenged his perception of our section appropos motivation and team-spirit, and have his support in addressing the issue (even though it doesn't really add value).

paintball organization appears to be going fairly well, which is quite surprising! we may not be the saddest bunch of the lot...

we had serious humus for lunch, and when we got back my last TL have me contact details for someone who might be able to help me with my long-term goals ^_^

... to be continued...

keys, codes and a squeaky duck

my new ringtone - i really love my phone, everything about it is great! except for the battery life, although my mum says that that should improve now that i've dropped the bluetooth.

aside from today's twitter-style posts, i had lunch with lake and *just* (like, with two minutes on the clock) made it back to base in time for the briefing. we then sat around for an hour or so until the bus arrived to take us to the range.

it was very cold on the range, and i didn't have a jacket. this is because my team-mate didn't think i'd have a problem with icy-winds. desert people, i tell you. i got back to tel aviv around 21.45, and chatted with my mum outside for half an hour while still in my working uniform - it was nice to wear it again :P

have keys, will travel

the negative excitement for the day is over, now for lunch and hurrying back to base.

i suddenly understand the whole twitter thing.

getting keys?!

i'm on my way right now to meet the seller and get the keys - the bank WASN'T supposed to make the transfer yesterday and my current status is officially "no cash, no apartment".

let's just say that i'm a little nervous right now.

okay, i'm freaking out a bit. at least i was fortunate enough to score a ride to tel aviv.

ashamedly ungreen

i don't have the energy to go out. this is really sad.

i have acquired a duck, however. a big, squeaky duck (with two squeaky ducklings). i have watched more battlestar galactica. i have turned a cd into bubbles. i have been glad to see the sink filled with dishes and know that very soon i won't have to worry about that sort of shit any more.

speaking of which, my landlady has agreed to give me the key for measurements on friday, which makes my day less complicated.

my eye's scratchy, and i've bitten my tongue. enough! to bed with me!

phone post

so i had a good day today - ignoring the pain after last night's entertainment...

the final payment went through today! And the army is trying REALLY hard to get me to sign on more - a pity that i'm going to have to do the politically suicidal thing by refusing.

i consumed a frightening amount me chocolate today.

it's st. patrick's day and the only irishnan i know isn't celebrating.

yesterday i saw a huge vehicle branded "schwing" -concrete pump - i found it amusing.

a little bit overboard,

although i've now realized something that's been missing from my life. aside from generous quantities of carrot cake, vodka and that english lime cordial we grew up with in south africa, a few very expensive rum & cokes and a great night out with wr celebrating ta2's birthday (i'm a bit embarrassed, after too much to drink i flipped a word on my contribution to his birthday card that made it seem a bit... stupid).

lake came up with a superb solution to one of the problems i was having with the phone, and the rest will have to be solved in time...

and it only got worse

i'm crap at keeping my cool. in fact, it's evening and i still haven't stopped stressing. the funny thing is that the prep went quite well (in its annoying way) :P

two funny things (first one's nystire's) to say at the beginning of a polygraph:
1) "don't worry guys, i've brought my own truth serum to save you the energy of preparing it"
2) "i have to apologize in advance, i pee when i get nervous"

i got back to base around 3pm, had coffee and left just after 5pm. not exactly the most productive day ever. now i'm waiting for my phone to arrive, then i'm off to lake's because i need a drink and i'm not supposed to partake alone.

hormone overdose

i have woken up in blind, abject terror with cortisol rushing through my system: and that's just in preparation for the preparation for undergoing a polygraph.

i find this really absurd - i know it's bullshit and i know that i need to be scared in order for it to work, which only means that they've found their perfect subject. shit, they should bring in their rookies to show them an ideal model.

---
i went with an old friend to the ilke last night, we got to waxing political and had a rather depressing conversation.

he made a valid point though, one that i'd actually forgotten about: we need stress and challenge to survive as a nation, so if we ever did have peace we could count it as a failure.

it doesn't work??

well, then. i was actually in great shape this morning, even ran into the really pretty american girl from half a year ago and had my eyes open :)

today was... frustrating. every time we figured something out something else crashed. in fact, it wasn't until the last hour of the day that we gave up and switched to a different system: and that one worked beautifully :S

so it's been a really long and irritating day, but i've finally managed to test something that i last touched two weeks ago and it worked smoothly, first time ^_^

just got home, now to grab some food before going out drinking again. tomorrow's giving me a late start, may as well make the most of it.

back to the grindstone

i just watched the fifth episode of battlestar galactica, and it really is as awesome as everyone said. that's a bummer for me, because now i *have* to watch the rest. i don't wanna be addicted to television stuff!

i went for a few rounds of vodka and rum with some friends to a really nice bar, stopping for fairly good sushi on the way and still soaking up v is for vagina - it's such a strong album, and perfect for sing-alongs.

i had a very practical discussion with my mum earlier, i've realized that although all the planning we did makes sense and is valid but is too vague. i actually need to know exactly where i want to put everything once i've moved, and i think i'm going to need to live there for a bit before sending off construction requests.

at least, aside from media and books, most of my needs are fairly basic.

in the meanwhile, another week has officially begun.

slow saturday

i've done a lot of sleeping today, and i think i may be sick again. i *just* got over being sick a week ago, so this really isn't good.

219 252 219
144 172 252
i've been playing with measurements, but i'm finding it hard to concentrate. i caught an episode of battlestar galactica instead, and am now on to another one before caffeine-ing up and trying again.

gorgeous, faithful, haunting

*i* just watched the watchmen. phenomenal! eerily faithful, it captured the essence of the story and it felt (and i watched it in imax) like i was staring at moving pages of the book itself. it was a beautiful experience, and the only thing that's upsetting is that i have to wait for the dvd so that i can see the pirate story come to life.

i believe that alan moore can feel honoured by zack snyder's effort, and i personally wouldn't care to see anybody else's interpretation.

---
i woke up late this morning, having slept way too much and forgetting to set an alarm, and spent a while chatting with the orange representative and ordering my 6310i's upgrade to the n95.
i cannot express how sad it makes me that the time has come.
i was pleasantly surprised with the service i got, it's extremely rare in israel to be impressed - and i definitely was.

speaking of service, i made my way to ramat gan (having a long chat with my cousin from the kibbutz along the way) and visited ceramic shops. the first store i actually had to search (unsuccessfully) for assistance, and when i found someone who worked there she couldn't be bothered to help me out.

in contrast, at the second place i went to one of the guys offered to help me and he provided me a personal workshop on the hows of all the fixes i plan on doing. it's not going to work out exactly how i wanted, but now i understand why and what i have to do.

a) get plumber in for a quote
b) buy tiles
c) have plumber construct extension to shower base
d) get measurer (yes, they have those) in to *gasp* measure
e) wait up to 21 workdays
f) have shower doors installed

so it's really a good thing that my rent here's paid up until may.

i found the place i want to make my cupboards (that'll take a month to organize, so i have to work on the sketches tomorrow), and then headed off to meet up with lake for breakfast. she was out walking the dog, and i discovered that the fire-exit affords an absolutely magnificent view of tel aviv; once i have my new phone i'm going to make a point of taking a shot or two.

we went to jaffa, an area i don't usually enjoy being in. breakfast was good and we saw many interesting flea-market items along the way - including a freakin' wagon that would go perfectly on my patio ^_^

while talking over lunch i misunderstood something lake said, and got a confused image of a rehab for people addicted to riding horses, or a rehab for addicted horses...

after a stop for bags of coffee grains we came back to tel aviv, and i came home to watch and be impressed by a couple of episodes of battlestar galactica and continue torturing myself with scales (i suck so much!). eventually i crashed for an hour, then the mongoose came over and sat with me while i gulped down some coffee before we went off to the imax.

i am horrified to have learned of freshmeat's behaviour, his behaviour is a lot uglier than i understood at first and i'm trying to convince the mongoose to take legal action for libel. that kid is disgusting.

---
i'm blown away by the movie, and getting into the shower and then bed.

trade-off

defiance is a great movie, i highly recommend it. i'm disappointed about not going to see watchmen.

did somebody say DISCO PIXIE?!

today was hard - i couldn't concentrate at all. i still can't.

i informed my SC of my decision to leave, and he told me to make doubly sure because if he writes down now that i don't want to take up a position as TL then i won't get another chance. i told him to write away.

the girl in our unit who still hasn't given up on me approached me with a wonderful idea for a video, so i finally entered into talks with orange about upgrading my phone.

today i took three big steps towards my apartment:
1) i contacted a painter and arranged to meet
2) i ordered the internet connection (yes told me that if i'm not paying for television, then they don't want my business - so i went with hot)
3) i handed over the final documents to the mortgage bank and am now awaiting final approval

i didn't enjoy what i managed to do work-wise, and i consumed way too much sugar. lunch sucked.

i called up the mongoose today to organize a mission to see watchmen, and it's not looking good because he discovered that freshmeat went out with his ex-girlfriend last night. that's really not good.

the goto guy had a couple of hours to kill in tel aviv, so i introduced him to great calzone and amazing frozen yoghurt, then took him for a quick tour through the museum gardens. he seems to have enjoyed it.

punked

how did i forget to mention this? yesterday, while packing up after my duties had been attended to, some kid with a red mohawk (in the army? eh?!) sidled up to me, made crazy eyes and began screaming "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" while waggling his tongue and shaking his head.

i looked up.
"stop that."
"are you threatening me?"
"no, i want you to stop?"
"don't you want to fight me?"
"no, i want you to stop."
"take it easy, let's be friends"
"you take it easy"
"are you threatening me?"
"no, YOU'RE threatening me. that's what you're doing, with your crazy eyes and screaming in my face."

the entire time he was stuffing his face with popcorn, with kernels falling about all over the place. he then began showing off his knuckles (apparently he'd just been in a scrap) and tried to convince me of his punkness.

i try. i swear i do. i didn't complain, i didn't even identify myself as an officer. poor bastard's missing a few, i reckon.

eatliz @ the barbie (as usual)

the performance was electric - they were missing a guitar but made up for it with an unbelievable saxophonist! and great costumes :)

i got there alone and early, a great combination to nod off and come up with great ideas for the new apartment: like where the posters will go, and how the shelves will look, and how i'm going to have to organize a mini-entrance table with tiny bottles labelled "eat me" and "drink me" ;)

the taxi driver turned off the meter when i told him that i wasn't prepared to pay more than NIS 25... and then got all pissy because i had more money than that, i just didn't want to give it to him. i wanted to (and then did) use it to buy myself some ice-cream for the rest of the walk back.

the anti-diet

day two: success.

in other arbitrary news, one of my flatmates bought hand-soap. i'm blown away.

a closed door

i watched the first hour of defiance, read a few pages of the metamorphosis, had a cheering-up chat with my mum, and spilled ginger ale everywhere (shouldn't have had the tequila *before* opening the bottle).

i got a late start this morning, and actually got a lift with somebody else from our unit when my usual ride failed to pitch. that was lucky!

i got some real work done this morning by accident, unfortunately i didn't do anything different from what i attempted yesterday. not satisfying to discover that it was a wasted effort because the testing system sucks.

at 9.30 i put on black pants and a white shirt (that felt weird!) and went off to be briefed, but after watching us hang around for a while they told us to come back an hour later. i went back, and romped at my desk for a bit (the new headphone policy coupled with my team-mates sitting with their backs to me affords a good opportunity to bop my head wildly) before returning again.

the briefing was simple. man a table. take fake money. if the person who paid wins, give him a multiple of that money. repeat if necessary.

i got the table that attracted the dodgiest that the base had to offer, some real weasels. i was on a bit of a downer, but their antics were so stupidly amusing that i actually started enjoying myself.

then came the competition for best-dressed. it was a traumatic experience, one of the worst performances i have ever seen and by the time i snuck out i was practically drooling and my head was spinning from the sheer... i don't know, there were too many things wrong and unfunny with what they were doing. it was quite surreal.

i poured over code for the rest of the afternoon, pausing for a good chat with my previous TL (he made me feel really, really good about moving into my new apartment and after grilling me about my issues with our section he was fairly supportive and understanding), and a pointless half an argument with the idiot girl who's responsible for the poor sod i was assigned to make up riddles for being very confused.

that's a horrible sentence. let me try again.

every year we have a gift-trading thing that goes on for a few days, and whoever you (secretly) give your gifts to has to identify you in time to give you a gift on the last day. i participated in this a couple of years ago. it was awkward, primarily because i'm not israeli-born and both my sense of humour and my puzzles contain leaps. israelis don't deal well with things that aren't direct, kind of like most americans i know.

so this year, i told the organizers that i wouldn't be participating because it's not fair or fun for whoever my target is, and after giving up begging and pleading they went so far as to lie to me, telling me that this year we wouldn't be doing the anonymous thing so no riddles would be necessary.

so now the aforementioned poor sod was left in the uncomfortable position of not being able to identify me even after he'd received assistance from a number of other brainiacs (and i'm not being snide, they're very smart people) in his section, and on sunday i'm going to have to sit with him and explain the riddles.

...

i have a sense of closure now that's i've decided, once and for all, that i won't be signing. i'm counting down already.

i'm going to see eatliz again now, i hope i won't be going alone.

last.fm is fantastic!

run down

i ran the same time as usual but twice the distance and with a constant scowl. it was the breathing exercises and ministry mantras that kept me going, and more than once i had to resist the urge to run off the track, get on my knees, raise my hands to the skies and yell "NO MORE!!!"

let's just say that i am definitely, 100%, without any doubt in my mind, never signing on again. it doesn't matter the incentive, i cannot handle being an island of sanity in a reality that's defined by some of the most highly qualified and intellectually capable morons around.

i'm actually beginning to identify with nystire, and i'm angry because i'm starting to see that the only way that i'm going to be able to retain my mental health over the course of the remainder of my service is to put my headphones on and pretend that i can't see anyone.

it has begun. now i'm going to be just like the jerk - maybe he's not really a jerk? maybe he's just another unfortunate sod that gave up? it just crossed my mind that if i'm ever this unhappy even when i get to my dream-job, i'm going to just give it up and do something else. there is no point in being upset to the point of distraction.

and i was mostly kidding last night when i suggested that i'm on the path to becoming an alcoholic.

---
last night i spent an hour or so making a costume that turned out absolutely hysterical! unfortunately, as funny as it is it doesn't actually look like anything identifiable, so not really appropriate for this holiday. i'll try again tomorrow morning. i couldn't set up my webcam to take photos. that sucks.

a couple of hours of organizing, and i sent off an sms to tell ze germans that i was on my way - the response was a cool "cool". it takes me twenty minutes to walk north, the idea being that we'd all hop a taxi together to go south... only when i got there, i rang the doorbell and nobody was home to reply. i called to find out what was going on and they'd already arrived, having forgotten about me.

i've been trying to figure out how to take this without being offended, but i really can't. how the hell do you abandon a friend, and not even have the basic decency to send him a message so that he'll turn around?

instead, i went to ta2's party and mistakenly had a couple of drinks with ptsd. he can out-drink me by a long shot, and she him, so let's just say that i wasn't ship-shape by whatever hour i stumbled out of there. wr arrived at some point, and it was good to see him, but ptsd is - on a verbal level, at least - aware that i'm not interested and she still keeps flirting. i find that quite off-putting.

i woke up smarting, but managed to sort myself out and made it to the lawyer's office on time. i finished there quickly, and then made the mistake of missioning (and it's a mission and a half) to the mortgage bank, which was closed for the holiday. that was very frustrating, and i should have known better.

all the running around did give me an opportunity to catch up on the penny arcade / pvp dnd podcast - really entertaining. i'm going to have to look for a game at some stage.

the network went down today so we didn't get any work done, and when it was up i had so much difficulty that it didn't really matter anyway. and besides, i was having too much fun with my section-mates :S

i did get invited for the polygraph, though - the guys were laughing hysterically because i gave the girl who called me up a really hard time: "don't you guys have, like, a brotherhood of security that operates throughout the army?"
she took it well... the only thing i could've done better would have been: "don't worry about it, i know why you're inviting me and i'm ready to confess to everything!"

i am feeling a bit better, but i've got to go shopping now so that i can have dinner. at least the shower's still holding up. with all the mess from the costuming yesterday, i find my room looks like a reflection of my mind: cluttered and confused.

don't drink the water

don't drink the water. don't speak. don't laugh. don't cry. don't work. work. don't work. don't fraternize. suffer. be happy. don't share. don't understand. don't sleep. sleep. don't sleep. lie. don't lie. decide. don't think. don't be a drone. don't keep an identity. don't drink the water.

i'm feeling bitter, angry, depressed, and morbidly alone. today is hate israelis day, and it's hate the world day, and i'm praying that if i go for a run i'll clear some of the turbulence.

stay in your fucking box. don't drink the fucking water.

i didn't think i'd make it!

but i got there a few minutes before my art closed, and managed to organize some very interesting bits. including lots... i mean lots... of multi-coloured pipe-cleaners.

and tinfoil! and brown spraypaint! and weird yellow netting!

the only thing missing is cardboard, i hope i have enough lying around.

costume shopping

i spent the morning running from office to office, which was irritating and humid. then i urg bussed to base, and spent the day doing sweet bugger-all because every fix disturbed something else and nothing was under my control. i just had to sit and watch tech-support fiddling.

i'm super-stressed about the gritty details concerning my move out of here.

weird al yankovic - young, dumb and ugly is playing in the background, it's been too many years since i've listening to this stuff!

off to try and organize costume materials.

signing off

i feel a bit better after talking to my mum, it's always good to verify that i'm not alone in my sanity.

i watched 25th hour, a beautiful, painful movie.

death cab for cutie - grapevine fires

today was a kak day

my back's still hurting, although it's gotten better during the day, but the day was spent fighting with our systems instead of actually working and then we went off to bowling, which was fun but fraught with frustration (when you suck, it's annoying) and i'm irritated at the expectation that *i'm* supposed to provide a prize alone because i agreed that a prize would be a good idea.

and then gco let me know that they found his uncle's body today, he was taken out in a random act of violence by four sixteen year-olds.

i just made it to the bus, and logged on to find an email from the company who's card i lost (with its 30% discount on an extremely large planned purchase) to demonstrate that they've completely confused my problem and provided me with useless assistance.

it's also the anniversary of my grandmother's passing away. today sucks.

a depressing ending to a nice day

i was already getting antsy because the live band was unadulterated, soulless suckage - and then gco and his sister were informed that their uncle has just been kidnapped in johannesburg.

why do people still choose to live there? my brother and most of my cousins are still holding on to something that really isn't in anyone's best interests.

summer's day 1 2009 part 2

curious george is a wonderful excuse for a jack johnson music video. cute movie, hard to stay awake for it :)

i started watching afro samurai, it's really pretty but very slow and quiet, more classic pop anime future-chop-socky than anything else, enjoyable but stretched out a bit too much. i'm almost done, watching it in pieces...

i slept most of last night and until the afternoon - unfortunately not always well, and my back's out again. at least i was okay for frisbee, and i made up for a static night / morning with crazy exercise and beer at the birthday picnic. when i got there i didn't see anyone, so i began with the traditional toasted bacon egg & cheese while reading this month's wired.

on the way there and back i was listening to the new penny arcade / player vs player DnD game [wizards archive], which caused no end of giggling during my journey.

speaking of giggling, i almost took a jogger out with the frisbee, he spotted it and managed an awkward lean-back which succeeded not only in saving him from injury but also in generating hysterical laughter at the sheer absurd smoothness of the motion.

i can't stop listening to puscifer - v is for vagina, i feel like i haven't fully absorbed enough of it yet. thanks to k-twang for providing the words to cover that sentiment.

off to mike's place to meet with gco and a beer.

summer's day 1 2009 part 1

the measuring went alright, i'm going to have to play around with the numbers at some stage this weekend. i came back home to make some gurgling noises with my guitar - i found my missing pick! it was in the refrigerator. i don't know how it got there.

i went with a couple of buddies for breakfast at duck's, and the girls were out to play :)
from there i went to the metzitzim beach for beers and frisbee, all of which was great except for the water being contaminated again :(

i just got home, showered, and am about to eat and watch curious george and afro samurai. i'm trying to decide if i want to see c.u.n.t. performing tonight, but i can't get their video to play...

from parody to measurement

the exhibition last night was a parody of high-society, and very amusingly so. the photography was wonderful, or more to the point, the make-up and attitudes of the israeli dj's being photographed were interesting and fun.

$1000 for a print? i don't know if that's a fair price, but there were a couple of them that i'd definitely put on my walls.

lake and i had coffee afterwards on a street-corner, she told me a story that made me really glad that i've never been to mount hermon for snowboarding. i've heard from a number of sources that it's not a good experience.

a horrible costume idea: dressing up as a giant turd in order to tell everyone that you're "the shit". that just ruined the expression for me, and it was one of my favourites :(

i spoke to my lawyer yesterday, and in sharp contrast to the agent she's still earning her fees - she got the papers directly from the seller's lawyer and is arranging all the grudwork with the registrar. she's awesome :)

i spoke to the plumber this morning, and i'm going to have to order the tiles and the shower doors three weeks before he arrives to check everything out. i find that a little... inconvenient.

that reminds me, lake and i walked past a shop window and she asked me what i thought of the giant, archaic bathtub with gold feet - i said the first thing that came to mind.
"it's absolutely perfect for slitting one's wrists in."
i could never be comfortable in a tub like that.

puscifer - queen b. is really freakin' cool. indigo children's been in my head for the last twelve hours.

i'm off now to measure the apartment.

half dreaming about laundry

there is nothing quite so tough as getting up from a wonderful, deep-sleep hour-long nap when you're exhausted and janis joplin is playing in the background.

i forgot to mention something super-disquieting yesterday: some woman shouting out at me "what a hot policeman!". ugh. you are confused, lady.

it was too hot to walk outside with a jacket on, we need more winter! this severe lack of water and rush for an even hotter summer just doesn't excite me in a good way.

the big dog outside the guitar store didn't like me. at all. i bought three picks, this time. and was less awkward about it.

last night, after showering with "the dribble" yet again, i decided to give installing that spare washer a try. it warn't no spare, neither. the shower head's working just fine now :)

double coffee marshmallow mocha, super roast-beef sandwich with thai sauce, and in two seconds off to a photo exhibition with lake. i'm probably not going out later on, too bloody tired.

is it here yet?

i can almost feel the weekend upon me...

today was great, i got to play my music for its entirety and we all hummed and nodded along to puscifer - cuntry boner (disco viagra remix). work was quite interesting, we had lots of giggles over some ridiculous ideas for polygraph stunts (i don't think i'll have to do it, but i'm intrigued... what happens if i pull the "what i'm saying now is a lie" line out? will they be annoyed?).

i had a chat with the shuttle driver, and explained to him that it's not okay if he curses out other drivers while he has soldiers in his charge. he agreed, and let me know that he has other methods of getting his own back and has employed them already - i told him that i don't really need to know.

i'm feeling a bit weak right now, just came back from shopping and i'm suddenly snotty and headachey - i was good most of today, ignoring lots of sneezing. at least the bread i bought is great quality :)

now to go buy picks. who the hell did i invite to the photo exhibition??!

big gushing fanboy

instead of resting or eating, i spent the next couple of hours playing with my ipod, tweaking it and getting the tracks workable. then i left, accidentally ordered a terrifically dairy sandwich (oops!) after storming off from bar gurion because the service and attitude were both horrible, then took a bus to levontin to have my socks knocked off.

yael deckelbaum's awesome. i've said so before. but yael deckelbaum with a band and a solid switch from folk to psychedelic plus covers of elvis and janis joplin was absolutely stunning - and her confidence has increased so much with other people on stage that she gave a fantastic stage performance in addition to being wonderfully talented musically and vocally.

and the place was packed. so yeah, we walked away really, really, really impressed. the first album's due in another month and a half, and i will DEFINITELY be at the unveiling show!

lies!!!

why?! why did i lie about the apartment to my landlord? that was a while back, and it's been creeping up to bite me in the ass... it just now came to a head, and after catching myself staring to the right i actually called him up to confess and apologize.

which, in a nutshell, means that i've broken faith with him and that was totally unnecessary :S

today began badly, with me switching off my alarm, then the other one, and then waking up (luckily only) forty-five minutes later. i managed to get to the bus on time, though, and by not catching the earlier one i ran into a girl i haven't seen in years (the neighbour's friend), i got her number before running into a guy i once studied with who's a new father and feeling the sleeplessness.

i was dead tired today, but mostly functional until just before lunchtime. then i started to feel bad, and things just went downhill from there. i got home in pain, although it's been a couple of hours getting better and i'm definitely feeling up to the show tonight.

i was so excited about introducing my crew to squid this morning, but i'd inadvertently ripped it to "oga" instead of mp3, and i've just spent about an hour online figuring out how to install the gstreamer stuff :S

i keep forgetting to post this: on my way to lake's the other night, i ran past a sign for a construction site that had been blown over, and all i could think of was if you can't put up a sign correctly, how the hell can i trust you with my home?!...

why does my ipod keep resetting?! this upsets me. oh! now it's doing the same to my rhythmbox player. maybe it's just a bad file.

another one of maynard's bitches

yeah, i'm now a big fan of puscifer, too. even when he's not being serious, he's awesome!

i joined the old crew at the flame for a few drinks and a bit of chatter, and we're meeting up again tomorrow to see yael deckelbaum. now i need to shower and get back into bed.

improvements

this morning was harsh. when i finally got onto base, i paid the clinic a visit and was told that my arbitrary unhealthiness doesn't warrant more than some throat lozenges. i was filled with scratchy goo this morning, so i'm rolling with it and hoping it doesn't get worse.

work was fun today - i used a cute trick to help me test one project with the use of a separate system, and i've been enjoying doing something more creative than is the norm ^_^

i discovered a tweak on the "put peanut-butter on marshmallows" theme: it has to go into your mouth peanut-butter side down, and you have to wait a second before you begin munching. this noticeably increases the effect :)

yay! my squid album arrived!

i'm completely bombed, going to nap before going out to an ex-team-mate's birthday outing.

probably a lot sicker than i feel

but only because i've consumed enough alcohol that my synapses are on "slow roast".

i'd go to the city officer but that's just too much effort.

new meme for me!

it's a facebook meme, but i can't post something this suggestive - and it's freakishly my style:

credit : photo from dr_nik - i'm sure this isn't okay, this is not my photo, so please check out her flickr as a token of my appreciation :)

quote by evelyn underhill.

1 - go to "wikipedia." hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
the first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - go to "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
the last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - use photoshop [or gimp!] or similar to put it all together. (if you don't have it, here's an online photo editor: pixlr.com/)

conquistador part 1

a large, soy-sauced salad, then jalapeño pringles, a large dose of tequila and some more in a cup of hot chocolate while wigging out to lots of juno reactor (the title is the current track, i advise a listen at high volume) has improved my state of mind considerably, and the washing machine not failing was a bonus.

now i'm off - in the rain - to, umm, well... to drink some more. maybe it's not such a bad idea.

soaked, sick and irritable

this morning started out grand, i had a proper breakfast (granola, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice) and plenty of time to get to the train station.

i finished what i was working on yesterday, and spent the remainder of the "work" day on a project that's going quite nicely. the "meeting" part of the day was terrible. it was a meta-meeting explaining to us the potential ramifications of not identifying potential problem areas before we begin on what is essentially a project in potentia.

let's all roll our eyes in unison.

the astronaut sits behind the partition by my desk and complained that he can't work if i talk on the phone. i didn't know how to respond to that, apparently he really expects me to leave the office for every call.

the seller's lawyer has found something to bitch about in a standard form mortgage bank contract - i hope that doesn't cause any delays - and i found a plumber who has some interesting ideas and comes highly recommended. now all i have to do is measure and plan.

i got caught in a downpour on the way home, and got absolutely drenched. it did make my headache lesson, which i find a bit strange. i was horrified at how bad the drainage problem is this year.

i'm going to brave the washing machine. then i'm going to go out and drink and bang my head on the bar.

in spite of myself

what is this? this higher level set of functions that ensures that at every step of the way i can clearly see - from as objective a viewpoint as a subjective being can manage - scenes as they should be played out... is ignored, repeatedly, by some subconscious, almost masochistic hidden determination to always choose the most difficult situation possible.

on the one hand, i know that i probably shouldn't have gone over there in the first place. on the other, i probably shouldn't have come back home.

blew through the sunday

did i get any work done today? i think so. a lot of copying and pasting, but it's nice to see results.

it was really kak getting out of bed and into the cold this morning, i was almost jealous of the dude sleeping under all the covers in the bus stop i waited next to.

on the way home our shuttle driver got into a fight with a taxi driver, which was unpleasant to see. it's great having "macho men" behind the wheel and in each other's faces.

this reminds me of a story i told my TL today which had him in hysterics: it's the story of my almost being accepted into the gay community - i walked into the office one night (while working helpdesk) and all the guys huddled around me to congratulate me on coming out of the closet - it took a while (like, a couple of weeks) to discover the source of that one.

someone in the office had overheard a phone conversation about someone else with the same name and had assumed it was me, and the original storyteller had been impossible to track down.

[i just retold that story to lake, and got laughed at for thinking that i'd have an easier time with guys. i *know* i would :P]

i went by the notary's, got my official documents and a congratulations: he was trying to impress upon me just how magnificent a purchase i've made. i know ^_^ (the assessor's excitement was a bit of a give-away)

i walked home, dipped out to buy shpachtel (plaster for the wall i knocked in), got a receipt from the agent's friend (they did a double-team on the sale), shopped and frantically (and unsuccessfully) searched for a gift card i received last september that could potentially afford me a 30% discount on the huge shopping i checked out on friday. i really, really hope it isn't lost.

at least i bought oranges and abused them for juice - i don't know how long it's been and i started wondering about scurvy. it says extended periods of time, and i wonder how that might be measured.

i went through the list of items i own with my flatmates, and it turns out that they don't want the couches - now i need to figure out transporting them and re-upholstering them. maybe i'll just buy a few rolls of funky-coloured cloth and a staple-gun?

lake just called me, her horse is being put down tomorrow so she's in need of cheering up. i just found out that my ride leaves an hour and a bit later than usual in the morning, so that kinda works out.