shana tova

first of all, shana tova to all those for whom this is relevant.

i know it's been a while (insert idan's look of disapproval here), and i of course have no good excuse....

so here i am in good old Columbia, CT! it's nice to be here, and especially nice to hang out with my family :-) all my little cousins aren't so little anymore, but are still really cute and talk like they are grownups of course. last night at my aunt's house everyone was there and there was wine spilled and too much good food and it felt very much like it always does, just everyone was a little older. today i went to the synagogue like a good Jew and the rabbi managed to make me roll my eyes several times with his attempts at humor. sometimes just sticking to the traditional service is the most enjoyable... oh well.

i'm gonna be in beantown on monday and tuesday, with my sister in NJ on Wed, and NYC on Thursday, and Saturday with some time on Friday at Lehigh with Avi...that's the general plan for the week at least. we'll see.

anyway... i am going to go help my mom set the table - dinner is at our house tonight! all 26 of us (including the little ones).

more soon...

upsetting trip to Yeda (the Apple store in Tel Aviv)

(i know what you're thinking...two posts in one day?? no, there was no crack in my yogurt this morning)

so i just got back from my lunchbreak trip to Yeda - the Apple store in Tel Aviv - to see what was to be of my baby (my iPod). He was good to me for about a year or so and then started having issues... :-( While it was still under warranty i brought it in, but of course my iPod was too proud to show that it had any issues during the testing, apparently, and they told me it was fine. Less than three months later the thing is -- as I was told -- pretty much dead. They said that from their experience, when it shows the sad face and tells you to go to the website for support, it's a problem that can't be fixed with downloading the latest programming, etc., and is probably going to have to be replaced.

ok, so being my spoiled self, in my head i'm already freaking out thinking how i'm going to get through the next two and a half weeks (and 10hr plane ride!!!!) without any music :-( and the cheapest mp3 player i've seen around here is 200 sheks (about 45 dollars), which i'm not sure i wanna shell out when i know there will be a nano in my hands in about three weeks...

the options i was given for "upgrading" aren't particularly exciting (the most worthwhile one being upgrading to a video iPod (30G) for 1200 sheckels (~$270) which is still really annoying since i don't particularly NEED the video part. we'll see. i think i'll have to somehow suck it up for three weeks (AHHHH!) and see what i can do in the states with my nonfunctional baby :-(

AND, the OTHER part of this trip that was quite upsetting was this 60-year-old-ish man who walked in about 5 minutes after me and while i was talking to the girl that works there (who now knows me by name after my many visits) he just cuts in and starts going off on how no one is paying attention to him and how he wants to speak to the manager...and while the poor girl is like, just one minute i'm with a customer, he starts talking to someone on his cell phone (yelling, i should say) about how this place is ridiculous, no service, they won't let him speak to the manager, etc etc. It was almost impossible to keep having the conversation with the girl who was trying to help me and telling me pricing and stuff because of this insane (yet all too common in this country) behavior.

Now, no one can accuse me of anything less than loving this country with all my heart, but there are times when i just am appalled at how insane people are in their requests. It seems quite ironic and pathetic that in a country where service is pretty poor most of the time, someone would even consider acting like that and expecting a response. The girl didn't seem phased by the man's behavior and rude commentary and was like, don't pay attention to him this happens all the time. There are not many things I like about American interaction (all the fake hi, i really care kind of bullshit) but sometimes it would be nice if people at least showed a sprinkle of respect for the people around them. No, you are not the center of the world, and everyone would be a lot better off if you remembered this more often. bahh.

Kitzur (in short) I walked out of there pretty depressed and wasn't exactly thrilled getting back to work. but if i'm here i might as well...work.

i know, i know...

what's my excuse this time? yeah. i don't have one really. sorry.

after some comments on how i don't really update my blog (ahem...idan) -- which i haven't in a while, i know -- i realized that i always sort of think about doing it, realize there's not too much NEWS in my life, and move on. Sure, the people that I talk to on a daily basis always have some sort of rambling to listen to about the latest nonesense going through my head, but I guess it's about time I start putting the title of this blog to work...

on that note (laaa!) the latest "deep thoughts" by yours truly
1) I am very spoiled and my currently nonfunctional iPod and laptop is driving me rather nuts. mostly the iPod because who am I kidding, I spend way more hours than necessary in front of a computer every day... but no music while walking around tel aviv? NOT OK. hopefully it's fixable. if not, at least in a couple weeks i will be home and will pick up the nano i got as a gift from my favorite previously-worked-for-Apple-South-American-Traveler ;-)

2) I got text message from a boy i went on a not-so-successful date with saying he doesn't think it's going to work out (clearly) but that he'd like to keep in touch... I haven't decided how i feel about this. While I am not interested in him in terms of a romantic relationship, i guess it can't hurt to have another friend in tel aviv? i don't know. what can i say, this whole dating world still feels sort of new and different to me and i haven't quite figured out my place in it...

3) I got to have lunch and hang out with Liz yesterday before she goes to the army next week. CRAZY. I remember her first getting the letter saying she would be called on the 11th of September... and that felt soooo far away. I'm sorry but Madonna is so very very wrong. Time does NOT go by so (so) slowly (slowly).

4) I'm so ready for vacation...and to see my fammmilllyyyyyy!!! and then my parents come here a week after i come back. and get to see my fun little tel aviv apartment and neighborhood.

5) this friday is my first wedding in Israel. My co-worker Gili is getting married in Mitzpeh Modi'in. should be fun. although interesting to see all my co-workers (yes, all 6 or 7 of them) in a social setting. although possibly less ackward than the Ivri Lider concert at which I was trying my hardest to not to freak out (in a good way) and jump all over the place.

ok. back to work. more soon. and i'm not sure saying that (although at this point why would you believe me... :-P)