tuesday wednesday

yesterday:

i managed to ignore all the noise and focus on an important refactor i've been working on / trying to work on for a while, and last night i managed to get it completed, reviewed and deployed in time to test it. i woke up this morning to see the results and they were heartwarmingly positive. that was a nice way to start my day.

i've been snacking constantly for a while, and not completing my daily fast, and not getting much exercise. last night i got home with a bellyache, and the belly in question was a lot bigger than it should be, and i've made a decision to reset and get back into the routine.

not every day can be a "cheat" day.

today:

aside from the fact that mr smear threw up at school while gd was at the doctor's and i had to jump on a bus to the rescue - he gleefully bounced out of the gate knowing that he was going to get to enjoy an afternoon off - i had a really constructive day and squared away a couple of important things. i left work on a good note.

i also had an opportunity to talk to ric, but as much as i'd like them to understand that they've done amazingly well in spite of fighting a series of uphill battles alone, the tone of the conversation was really sad. i'm praying that whatever happens, the next phase of their life is smoother.

i've been thinking a lot lately about our situation here. my aliyah was only successful because of the support i received and an incredible amount of good fortune. there's no way i could have handled any of the first twelve years alone, and there's no way in hell we could have handled last year's move alone. we have every - single - day of our israeli lives to be grateful for and amazed by.

...

i've been entertaining introductory calls, and it's weird. mostly because i'm not quite convinced i want to leave. some days are better than others.

...

i've been doing a lot of reading lately - newsy articles more than anything else - and i have to say that it's inspirational how much we're advancing technologically. it looks like we're fast approaching the singularity, and the curve is becoming more and more visible, in particular when looking at AI, VR, aerospace, genetics, robotics... these are certainly interesting times!

restful shabbat

it was. it really was. my on-call shift still isn't over but today was great. mr smear spent half his day playing spider-man (it's awesome), i spent a good chunk of it reading about interesting things, listening to comedy, napping...

in the afternoon, we all went to pay the mongoose and his partner a visit and meet their daughter! she's beautiful, and it was an enormous relief to see how happy and relaxed they all are. they've got good support and they're doing great ^_^

we had to leave in a hurry (as usual) when gd's allergic reaction to their cats became overwhelming, we had a nice walk home and then realized we'd left something important behind, so i got on my blades to race over and pick it up and it felt like i got the perfect amount of exercise.

the evening started off awesome (we ate a delicious dinner and watched the end of back to the future part iii, and mr smear was literally jumping up and down and yelling at the screen he was so excited), turned a bit sour (gd upset and mr smear throwing a wobbly), but i managed to get everyone back on track in spite of their protests and ended up having a great chat with mr smear before reading more charlie and the great glass elevator. we've almost finished it and i love how much fun we're both having with it!

...

i had a long chat with my mum after putting mr smear to bed, mostly about the fact that ric and his wife have called it quits and are leaving israel. i'm particularly sad because the two of them have done incredibly well considering all the challenges they've faced, but they probably won't appreciate that and i'm confident his parents won't either.

...

it's late, and it's a bit stressful having to prepare an on-call handover session when i myself neither know nor care what actually happened and i don't want to look foolish. otherwise, gd's got another nerve block scheduled for tomorrow and we're praying it goes smoothly and does the job.

the staycation: over

i'm starting this post at 2.15am on tuesday morning. i've spent more than two hours lying in bed, the first hour or so reading and the last stretch just trying uncomfortably to sleep.

friday:

we went to the tomorrow exhibit at the ramat gan museum. the AI-assisted videos were mostly amazing, but we could have experienced that at home on youtube. the female pop icon NFT thing (women ape yacht club?) was dramatically unimpressive and the icons themselves so remarkably uninteresting that we rolled on by, the VR experience was interesting for all of two minutes (the games we've played on the mongoose's setup were incredible, this seemed like an attempt to suck the joy out of the technology), and the "classics" stuff was hebrew-only; one section was boring, the other was cool for gd and me but unnerving for mr smear.

i hard napped when we got home, then dragged myself out of bed to walk with mr smear to the beach to join cm and his family. we had a really great time!

overall, it was an excellent day.

saturday:

we started walking to the port to meet up with ric and his family, but a quarter of the way there gd realized she was in too much pain so i walked back to pick up a car and we drove there instead.

driving in tel aviv? not recommended.

we enjoyed our outing with them, their little one's super cute. mr smear was mostly cool until just before we left, and we ended up with a bad vibe on the way home.

we stopped at home for a short while, then i took mr smear to ra'anana to meet up with dod* and his family. mr smear wasn't being particularly social (we have to teach him that the concept of "strangers" in israel works a little differently), but he thoroughly enjoyed the ninja obstacle course.

* divan orange dude. i've just learned that le divan orange closed down a few years ago and that makes me a bit sad

we left just after a gangly kid wearing glasses tried to run up the side of the ramp mr smear had been using, and i looked on in horror as he slipped and smashed his glasses into his eye socket. dod and his wife helped tend to him while his grandparents made phone calls, the cut looked awful and i hope his eye's still functioning.

sunday:

sunday was accompany gd to the pain clinic day. it was a long day of doctors and bureaucrats. some of it felt constructive and promising. between clinic visits she got her nose piercing switching out and mr smear and i had a huge hummus breakfast at mashawsha. it was expensive but delicious.

monday:

back to work! aside from a tedious day of completing reports (two down, one to go) interspersed with multiple distractions, it was a good day and i must admit that it feels good to feel welcomed and appreciated.

gd had a rough day (feeling nauseous), but i was pleased to hear that mr smear had a very successful playdate.

...

the other day we watched a compilation of child comedians on the got talent shows, and mr smear is trying very hard to be funny, with results that are sometimes hilarious but usually for the wrong reasons...

...

i've been re-reading neuromancer for the last while, there's soooo much i'd forgotten and it's really, really amazing in spite of the anachronisms. during the staycation i also started reading the elements of eloquence, and it's very enjoyable!

...

of course, i got side-tracked writing this. i wonder if i'll be able to get to sleep soon.

on the offensive - part ii

[... continued]

the woman working the metro counter was visibly in need of a verbal pat on the shoulder, the elderly woman ahead of me was driving her crazy. she's either demented or has never been in a metro station before... after i got through, she waddled back towards me from someone who couldn't help her.

"do you know how to get to the casino?" she asked, in french.
"not a clue," i responded. and proceeded to ponder casino ethics. only stupid people gamble, in my opinion. it's just not a past-time that makes any sense to me.

...

the plan had been to see godzilla, but neither gd nor i were up for it. we went to p.m. instead, where i found my stomache to be bigger than my eyes. it's kinda scary how much i ate, especially considering the belly ache after having eaten too much that afternoon.
we finished dinner at yeh! again; the insane crowds and impatience on grand prix saturday night were unsettling. shit, i hadn't even realized it was time for that yet!

i was so absolutely exhausted that i had difficulty maintaining balance, and we went to gd's where i shuffled into bed as soon as i could.

---sunday:

i woke up feeling marginally more human, and would incrementally feel better as my sudden sinusitis slowly went away. i spent the morning trying to repair gd's ubuntu installation and update mine while she gave private haircuts. she doesn't have a sound system in her cutting room so the telly was turned on eardrum-burstingly loud, i didn't even realize how bad it was until it hurt and i grabbed my netbook and ran to the bedroom. it wasn't even a case of turning the sound down: psychologically it was such a brutal experience that it would take a while before i was ready to go back in there :(

i couldn't fix her system - chrome displays in funny colours and flash doesn't work, so i eventually left flash uninstalled and told her to use firefox instead - but i at least sorted out mine. my netbook thought it was in israel and was unsuccessfully trying to update from middle eastern servers.

not that that should have been a problem :/

i did some work on my comic script, gd's brother arrived and we all went shopping. we had a good, cold-salad lunch and relaxed on her balcony for a while, and while she cut his hair i missioned to the pharmacy to pick something up for her. that way we wouldn't be stressed when we went to meet some friends of mine.

or so i thought.

---we were in good spirits as we arrived at berri-uqam, and were on our way out (approaching some police officers) arm in arm when some guy walking in the opposite direction closed in and shouldered gd as he passed. we stopped, shocked, and a few other people behind us stopped and stared as well; i thought he'd misjudged and simply not apologized, which in retrospect would be super weird for a canadian.
gd started saying something angrily, and i told her to let it go... which she did, and *then* told me that he'd actually hurt her.

*then* i was pissed, but by that time he'd disappeared around a corner. i spent the next while beating myself up over the incident and have been brooding on and off since. as we walked out i said to her, without really being convinced myself, that it might have been for the best. as the days have gone by, i've thought longer about the correct response and i can't decide between my first instinct - to run after him, hamstring him and drag him back by his ear to the police - and taking a "wonderfully nice guy" approach and trying to talk to the man.

either way, that shit's never gonna fly with me again.

---we met with my friends and did a serious ice cream and alcohol mission, twice each. at first i wasn't sure that we were all vibing, but an afternoon walking, drinking and sitting on a terrace quickly sorted that out.

weird note: mcauslan's griffon is not a proper griffon. i find that quite jarring.

gd and i came back to my place so i could shower and change, and we ended up having a long talk about the paranormal challenge. you see, she's apparently got a bit of a gift that i haven't mentioned because she's an obvious not-a-loony and she doesn't really talk about it. i'm not dismissive, but i am skeptical; i also believe that regardless of whether she's got second sight or not she's not irresponsible or harming anyone; i'm staying perched on the fence. what i have borne witness to is incredible sensitivity and intuition.
what we were discussing is how to go about setting up a scientifically valid test, if we get anywhere i'll be sure to share it here.
[otherwise, i'm not looking to argue with anyone about it. this is my journal, and i'm not interested in debating gd's powers or lack thereof. i am, however, happy to discuss possible, reasonable scientific methods to test for paranormal abilities and what would be considered a satisfactory demonstration.]

i had her in hysterics when i told her the story of my experience reporting a broken window while high in a charge office, i really need to remember to repeat that here sometime! it's been fifteen years, i guess i don't need to keep those days in the dark any more :P

we went back to her place, she put on hannibal and i sent lengthy criticism to supertongue on a draft of a slam poem of hers.

---monday:

it was a long night of weird dreams. i've heard from ric, who returned to south africa with his tail between his legs, and i'm extremely pleased to report that he's finally found a way to merge his i-was-pushed-into-law-by-my-parents profession with his desire to be a musician: he's created a record label and opened up a law firm specializing in music and the arts. i cannot begin to describe how proud i am of his progress! and how proud i am to have been a part of it.

[continued...]

double stand-up

my morning was kinda slow, and then i went to work. i got through all the important stuff fairly efficiently, then came home and decided to chill because ric bailed on our get-together. then my kibbutz cousin called to cancel our plans for tomorrow evening...

i'm reading sarah glidden - how to understand israel in 60 days or less, and it's really, really good. accurate, to a very large degree, even if it's not the most ambitiously artistic comic attempt ever.

after lots of food, rum and two episodes of romeo x juliet, i'm super-relaxed and not sure if i'm going to read some more or pass out.

all the sons and daughters - part ii

[... continued]

an afternoon at work in the office - .net and javascript lie!!! they don't delete cookies like they say they do. why can't i hide third party cookies from other third parties?!

veganisms: the long argument.
it was a beautiful morning, and pg and i went to our new local so that i could have another eblt. totally awesome.
late sleeping, again no inclination to get out of bed.

i spent the night / morning in fitful sleep, restlessly dreaming euphorically about solving the issue of the dark mistress' identity using meta-reflexive readings. it was a bit nuts.

---sunday:

ric and i walked and talked, then sat and talked, until rather late.
i didn't forget my umbrella! the long bus ride home seemed short because we talked the whole way.

the wedding was sweet: great place, the ceremony was simple and tasteful, the food was almost all good*, and while they didn't have whiskey they did have rum. the music was a bit bland, though, so i didn't really dance. at least it wasn't bad. it was nice to see the family, weird to see so many south africans. ric and i agreed that it would have been a lot less fun if we'd arrived alone.

* we missed the hors d'oeuvres, and the steak was tough.

the ride to the wedding was longer than we'd expected, but fortunately the event hall was right across from the stop so we arrived on time. the ride was mostly awkwardly quiet.
the veganism argument began online, just before i disconnected from the internet (until the next day). i won't lie, i found that stressful.
work was pleasant.
it was a late, rainy morning.

---saturday:

i didn't get much studying done. i suffered pizza dreams after grabbing a slice from ric's :/

i had a nap, then ric arrived. he's far too south-african polite, and it would take until after the wedding for him to chill out a little.

nystire visited and we had lunch at goocha and frozen yoghurt at tamara's. i was hesitant to tell pg about it because that's a description of our idea of a pretty good date. she was jealous. i owe her :P

---success and ethics

american warehouse conditions