Safra-Knit

I need to get back into blogging…I think the best way is to start with some news clips….

 I enjoy listening to talk radio in Israel.  It helps me work on my Hebrew, and there is always something new to learn.

 Today on Reshet Aleph, there was a show about the image of "Russian Speakers" in Israel.  The panel included a member of the Knesset, and some journalists.  (I"m having problems with their website, so I can’t get the names of the other participants.)  The main issues were how Russian speakers (since most aren’t from Russia, but Ukraine, Lithuania, Ukraine, this is the proper address for them) are pigeonholed in negative ways.  For example when there was a horrendous murder of a (Russian Speaking) family, the first assumption was that it was connected to the Russian Mafia.  The truth was that it was just a disgruntled former employee with a big grudge.

They also spoke about how having an accent can prevent you from getting television show spots…despite being attractive, intelligent etc..   It was very interesting.  The one place where an accent works is the weather reports…there is an Anglo man who has been reporting the weather on the radio forever.  Also there are some rather annoying radio spots with both a fake Russian and fake American accent…painful to listen to both!

Anyway, this is just an example of one of the shows…I’ll share more in the future…

We had a wonderful vacation during Hanukkah.  I had three days of vacation saved up, the girls had the whole week off (more or less) and hubby got us a room at a "zimmer" sort of a cabin type place) in the Golan Heights.  Since we’ve only had a car for a little more than a year, we haven’t done much traveling.  This was our first "overnight" not staying at a friend’s home.  And we haven’t really done that since #3 was born,. (BTW..she just turned two.)

 The selection of the Golan at Hanukkah is a bit illogical…most people go south where it is warm in the winter..not north where the rain is falling, but it was a great decision.  The way up was beautiful…the weather was overcast but dry, and we took Route 90 which runs along the Eastern border with Jordan. 

 Our first stop was Gan Garoo…an Australian Park.  We even were able to feed and pet the Kangaroos!  It is run by Kibbutz Nir David, outside of Beit Shean.  Beit Shean is the home of Felafel Zahava (oft mentioned in the blog world).  Everything there was great…except for the Peacock who nearly drove my little one mad!  He was big and kept trying to pick up her crumbs.  No matter how much she shouted Peacock go away, he kept coming!  I have a video of it, but I haven’t had the time to upload it yet.

 More info in future posts…

hanukkahgirls

Originally uploaded by safranit.

Happy Hanukkah!!!

No, this post isn’t about sudoku or neopets, but it is a game nonetheless.  It is the game of internet costs.  In Israel, this can be an annual, bi-annual (every two years) or possibly even more.

My internet comes via ADSL and it works well for us.  We just put a little adapter in our phone jacks, and plug the computer modem into the other line.  We’ve been doing this nearly since we arrived in Israel, and not much has changed.  During last years’ “game” Internet Zahav (our internet provider) gave us a deal where we paid a set fee to them for both the provider and the infrastructure (Bezeq).  It was a very good deal, but I don’t remember the exact cost.

A few weeks before the contract for the year came to a close Internet Zahav called and spent some time on the phone with me for the new deal.  The same price I was paying before but getting 8mb speed.  Sounded great!  Unfortunately, I got lazy and didn’t call Bezeq to see what the cost would be for their side of things.  Sunday, I took the time to call. 

First they told me I was currently paying 119 shekels a month for 4Mb and that that was because I didn’t have a required period of payment.  They then said that 4Mb for a year would be 96.90.  They said to go up to 5Mb would be 106.90.  I told them I needed to think about it.  She then said let me see what I can do.  After a minute or so she comes back with an offer of 96.90 for 6 months and then 106.90 for the next 6 months.  Ok, thats interesting…it is lower, so I’ll go with it.  She tells me I need to call my internet provider, and tell them to move me up to 5Mb.  I then told her that I already have 8Mb with them, if I switch to that with Bezeq.  She then says…oh let me check that price for you.  I said no, it will be too expensive…she says let me check and comes back with a price of 111.80!  Only about 5-7 shekels a month more for nearly double the speed!

Sounded good to me…so she said, let me check wether the infrastructure is in place in your area.  BZZZZ wrong answer, I can’t go up beyond 5Mb in this neighborhood!  So she comes back with a counter-offer.  Only 91.90 for 5Mb!  (With a 1 year contract.)  So the net price I was paying went down about 10 shekels, and I got an extra Mb of speed.

I think the bottom line is that the longer you stay on the line with them, the lower your prices go.

Technorati Tags: internet, bezeq, zahav, adsl

In the evening, I sometimes like to listen to NPR radio.  I mostly listen to the weekend programming, such as Car Talk, This American Life,  and some of the other talkshows. One thing I’ve heard lots about is Health Care and Obama’s plan.  I’ll admit, I have not read his plan, but I live in a country which has done a good job of providing socialized medicine.  It is far from perfect, but here are some examples of how we have interacted with our healthcare.

Firstly, there are four very similar "HMO" type organizations.  You can pick which one you want, and there is no difference in basic coverage.  The difference is basically which HMO has what kind of coverage in your city/neighborhood.

 Our pediatrician takes two of the four in his office, and he has two other people who share the office, so that most days there is coverage both in the morning and afternoon.  We can schedule our appointments online, and get complete information on blood tests, medications and list of all the doctors each of us has seen.  

Last Friday, my eldest was sick with probable strep throat.  I checked the computer and saw that none of the pediatricians were working that day, so we went to the Urgent Care Clinic (TEREM).  They are open evening and Fridays.  Within an hour he (hubby) was back with a prescription for anti-biotics, and a note to call them Sunday night (after Rosh Hashana ended) to get the test results.  Since the prescription didn’t come from our HMO, we could only go to one pharmacy to pay the HMO rates (if it was on HMO stationary, then we could go to any pharmacy that our HMO takes).  The pharmacy is also the nearest to the clinic.  

The holiday ended at 7:15 on Sunday night, and at 7:45 I received a phone call that the test results were positive.  I couldn’t believe they called so quickly!  The total cost for this non-HMO service was 50 shekels.  If the doctor’s office had been open, then it would have been free, and I could have received a message to my phone that the results were available on the computer.

On the whole, I’m very happy with our medical care….I’ll give other examples of how things go as I think of them. 

As far as nice events that have happened on this trip, I got to relive an experience of my youth which really was something special.  In a small town called Callicoon Center there is a band…not just any band, but a band that performs every Tuesday night for the last 75 years!  When I was little (under age 12) we used to go often.

We brought the girls, despite the fact that it was after their bed time. The weather was cool, but clear.  We brought folding chairs, and got nearly front row seats. (The baby was in her stroller…)  The music started and the girls loved it!  Two out of three got up and danced a bit, and the older folks near by enjoyed the show.

Before it began, my mother pointed out my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Heinle.  She was a good teacher, who was very strict on handwriting.  I can’t say she was so successful with me, but she didn’t let us use pen until she felt our handwriting had reached it’s best.  I think that left me a few weeks of pen toward the end of the school year.  She always said that from here on out it just gets worse.  There is no doubt that she was correct.  This year she turned 75, and she still looks great, and appears to be very active.  I thought she was old when she was my teacher, but she was only 4 years old than I am now…wow!

I really hope I’m as active and together as she is when I’m 75.

In 1990 I graduated from college, and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.  I decided to spend a year in Israel and take some time to think about my future.  I went to Kibbutz Ulpan and then did a volunteer program in what was then the development town of Beit Shemesh.

While on kibbutz, I met a few of the non-Jewish volunteers; one from Alaska and another from Wisconsin.  These were individuals I never would have met under “normal circumstances.”  One was a dairy farmer, the other an Air Force pilot.  I think for all three of us it was a pivotal time in our lives.

Jump ahead nearly 20 years, and we managed to have a reunion of sorts during my visit to the US.  You might wonder what would a dairy farmer, airline pilot and a religious Israeli librarian have in common, but we managed to have a wonderful day together, chatting, walking around and reminiscing. The thought that kept going through my head is whether or not any three people could be put together and get along so well…it just seemed so natural.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but after 7 years of living a rather homogeneous life, it was nice to have some diversity. (But isn’t it funny to note, that all three of us consider Israel to be a central theme in our lives?)Technorati Tags: israel, reunion, friends

So, we’ve moved on to the next stop on our tour, and the hubby is here.  Just having him here has improved the situation. I don’t think that he is the only disciplinarian, but I do think that the girls like testing, so they do better with two people telling them the same message.

The  kashrut and shabbat issues here aren’t as bad because hubby’s mom isn’t as into cooking for us, so the grill is the only in house cooking. Also Shabbat won’t be too bad because there is an eruv.

I slept until after 6AM, so that helps as well….

Hopefully I’ll also have time to get some knitting done here.

Thanks for all the well wishes and suggestions!

I haven’t posted in nearly a month, and I’m in a deep funk, so I don’t know if posting is the right way to go….  I’m currently in Florida…nearly half way through my month long trip to the US.  My current thoughts aren’t very positive….

• My kids are treating each other more horribly than usual.  Not only that, but they don’t show any respect to me, my parents or any other authority figure.  I feel that this is a reflection on me, and not a positive one.
• Being religiously observant with family that isn’t sucks…no sucks doesn’t begin to describe it.  I have never felt so alone religiously in my life.  Firstly, I’m rather apathetic about my Judaism…despite being Orthodox, so it is even harder when I do "minimum" and I can’t get any support for that.  Shabbat with children under ten without an eruv, or with a semi-eruv….keeping kosher when your kosher dishes are being treyfd…early shabbat…how many things have I had to transgress for Kibud Av v’ Em….and even that is being kept up on a wire.
• Tomorrow will be gatherings with other family members, and other issues will come up.

I really need a vacation…from parenting, from my family…but within Judaism.  I don’t see it coming up in the near future. 

Because of my profession and job, I take copyright very seriously.  Recently a large box of patterns was given to me, and I decided to give them away to members of my group.  Unfortunately, she had made many copies of the patterns for herself to work from (which is fine from a copyright point of view), but they can’t be given away to separate people.  I started sorting through the patterns, but I didn’t get too far.

For everyone out there who is interested in how copyright is applied to knitting patterns, take a look a this website, which has an excellent review.

• On the needles: Fingerless glove swatch, and bubbles II