So there have been a few topics that I contemplated about in the last several weeks. Nothing too existential, but topics non the less.
And well try to keep them alphabetically ordered.
1. Books - it is just amazing to see the amount of reading that is taking place in this city. The morning and evening commutes are times that most people on the train spend by reading. Books, ebooks, articles and more. Any written page is good.
It was once said the the Jews are the "of the book" (although the origin of this phrase from the Quran means both Jews and Christians). And many Israelis say this with pride, as if we are the chosen ones and are above all other people. But when you stop to think about it, it seems like Israelis have abandoned the book a long time ago. Now I know that the MRS will not agree, because she swallows books at an alarming rate, but if you try to generalize the behavior and actions of a whole nationality - it is true! The real people of the book are those who spend their commute reading (with or without earphones playing music) instead of texting or listening to music on their phone's loud speaker as if to annoy everyone around.
2. Bugs - apparently pests are a function of geography. Ladybugs in Israel are not very abundant and are considered cute, with their red bodies with black polkadots. Here, on the other hand, there are so many ladybugs and they get everywhere (even through screen windows) that there is only one way to address them - as pests. Also, it seems that ladybugs have had some transformation here, instead of a red body with black spots you can find many that are black bodies with red spots. And the real questions is 'do you start to mutate when you arrive in huge numbers?'
3. Flip-flops - Summer is almost at an end and the Plagues of Boston (after the Ten Plagues of Egypt) are flip-flops. So let's say it out loud - "NO! Flip-flops are not acceptable footwear with your business suit/formal attire/work cloths/else. If you are not wearing a bathing suit under your cloths or you are on a vacation, please avoid them"
So that's it.
Oh yeah! This was written with my iPad (wooh hoo!)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
From a special place (or gadget)
So the first thing I want to say is that this post has been written and posted from my newest toy - my iPad! Yes, I thank the MRS. for this great gift she got me.
I have not written in a long time because I can hardly find the time to sit and write. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, but free time is a very expensive commodity at the present time.
CJ is growing fast. He is just getting big every day, and he starts controlling his hands. It is really interesting to see how he grows and develops. But again, him growing is a very time consuming matter. It takes a full time job of two (he and the mrs.) and a half (me) people to grow.
The work is progressing slowly, and I cannot report of any ground breaking results yet, even though I have to present a talk in a huge conference in a week.
At least our visa status has been extended for 2 more years, so, theoretically we are here until 2012.
That's all I have to update about right now. I will try to post more short posts (now that I have the iPad it should be easier) every time I have something to say, and until then...
I have not written in a long time because I can hardly find the time to sit and write. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, but free time is a very expensive commodity at the present time.
CJ is growing fast. He is just getting big every day, and he starts controlling his hands. It is really interesting to see how he grows and develops. But again, him growing is a very time consuming matter. It takes a full time job of two (he and the mrs.) and a half (me) people to grow.
The work is progressing slowly, and I cannot report of any ground breaking results yet, even though I have to present a talk in a huge conference in a week.
At least our visa status has been extended for 2 more years, so, theoretically we are here until 2012.
That's all I have to update about right now. I will try to post more short posts (now that I have the iPad it should be easier) every time I have something to say, and until then...
Friday, July 16, 2010
a short (but one that took 3 days to write) post
There are not enough hours during the day. I cannot seem to find the free time to write here. It's either work, CJ or sleep - not much more than that. Even this short post took me 3 days to write.
I will update that CJ is growing and changing every day. He smiles, laughs and talks (baby talk of course) a lot, but also does a lot of baby stuff like cry (instead of conveying his feelings in words!). And I must say that he already knows how to play us, even at this early stage. For example, he learned that by smiling to us and lifting his chest we will pick him up, and he will use that every time. And it doesn't matter if he suffers from stomach aches or really tired, he will stop his crying long enough to smile to us and lift his chest.
As for work - I'm really trying to go back to a well structured schedule, but I'm not quite there yet. In a month and a half I have to give a talk in a conference and I still don't know what I'm going to present. Other than that it's research as usual.
Oh, yes, we also bought a car. Even though we thought we won't, we found out that a kid requires a car. Depending on taxis and public transportation is not fast enough, reliable enough, quick enough and cheep enough when you have a child. So we have bought a small SUV, because in America live like an American.
And again - I'll try to update whenever possible, but I can't promise it will be at known intervals.
I will update that CJ is growing and changing every day. He smiles, laughs and talks (baby talk of course) a lot, but also does a lot of baby stuff like cry (instead of conveying his feelings in words!). And I must say that he already knows how to play us, even at this early stage. For example, he learned that by smiling to us and lifting his chest we will pick him up, and he will use that every time. And it doesn't matter if he suffers from stomach aches or really tired, he will stop his crying long enough to smile to us and lift his chest.
As for work - I'm really trying to go back to a well structured schedule, but I'm not quite there yet. In a month and a half I have to give a talk in a conference and I still don't know what I'm going to present. Other than that it's research as usual.
Oh, yes, we also bought a car. Even though we thought we won't, we found out that a kid requires a car. Depending on taxis and public transportation is not fast enough, reliable enough, quick enough and cheep enough when you have a child. So we have bought a small SUV, because in America live like an American.
And again - I'll try to update whenever possible, but I can't promise it will be at known intervals.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
A late update (and a new theme)
So I cannot keep my word and write every week. But it is only because I had crazy few weeks. (Oh, yeah, I decided to go with a darker theme for my blog - just to keep it nice and black)
Work-wise I am back to work, back to experiments and science. And I finally got to present a group meeting. Some might say "big deal", but it is a big deal. In our group we get to give a group meeting about once every six months (and even then it is really flexible). I gave my first meeting after 8 months in the group. During the group meeting you present all you have done (and plan to do) to the boss and this is the only time he really hears about your project. Usually the boss, and some of his minions, try to find weak spots in the project and once a weak spot has been exposed then they sink their teeth and start tearing the raw flesh. Luckily for me - this group meeting was more of a material science and material/electrical engineering meeting, therefore no one is able to shake me and expose weak spots in my knowledge of these subjects. I gave a 1.5 hour presentation that was very satisfactory. Now I have six more months until the next time I need to report to the boss (unless I decide it's time to publish an article, and then I have to make sure the boss knows that).
But the main interest is, of course, on our personal life and not my professional life. CJ has been growing fast. We can see changes in him and his behavior almost every day. He finally stopped ignoring the world around him and he studies with great interest anything that appears in front of his eyes. He is loosing his hair fast (he was born with a head full of hair, but he prefers to look more like his dad, bold). Also, in the last couple of days he started smiling at me and the MRS, not a smile out of a deep sleep, like he has done before, but a genuine smile directed at that face in his field of vision.
The only thing is that he sleeps whenever HE wants and not when we want him to sleep. By now I know what 4AM looks like pretty well (that's my feeding shift) and we go to sleep at 10PM just to make sure we get our 6 hours of sleep.
But sleeping is not the only thing - I cannot understand why he cannot tell us what's wrong!! He cries when he is hungry, he cries when his stomach aches, he cries when he wants a pacifier, he cries when he wants to go to sleep, he cries when he needs to burp. Why can't he just tell us what the problem is? or, at least, have a different cry for each of the different cases!
Well, we found out that raising a child is a full time job. Now we are trying to juggle that and our previous life. Good luck to us.
Work-wise I am back to work, back to experiments and science. And I finally got to present a group meeting. Some might say "big deal", but it is a big deal. In our group we get to give a group meeting about once every six months (and even then it is really flexible). I gave my first meeting after 8 months in the group. During the group meeting you present all you have done (and plan to do) to the boss and this is the only time he really hears about your project. Usually the boss, and some of his minions, try to find weak spots in the project and once a weak spot has been exposed then they sink their teeth and start tearing the raw flesh. Luckily for me - this group meeting was more of a material science and material/electrical engineering meeting, therefore no one is able to shake me and expose weak spots in my knowledge of these subjects. I gave a 1.5 hour presentation that was very satisfactory. Now I have six more months until the next time I need to report to the boss (unless I decide it's time to publish an article, and then I have to make sure the boss knows that).
But the main interest is, of course, on our personal life and not my professional life. CJ has been growing fast. We can see changes in him and his behavior almost every day. He finally stopped ignoring the world around him and he studies with great interest anything that appears in front of his eyes. He is loosing his hair fast (he was born with a head full of hair, but he prefers to look more like his dad, bold). Also, in the last couple of days he started smiling at me and the MRS, not a smile out of a deep sleep, like he has done before, but a genuine smile directed at that face in his field of vision.
The only thing is that he sleeps whenever HE wants and not when we want him to sleep. By now I know what 4AM looks like pretty well (that's my feeding shift) and we go to sleep at 10PM just to make sure we get our 6 hours of sleep.
But sleeping is not the only thing - I cannot understand why he cannot tell us what's wrong!! He cries when he is hungry, he cries when his stomach aches, he cries when he wants a pacifier, he cries when he wants to go to sleep, he cries when he needs to burp. Why can't he just tell us what the problem is? or, at least, have a different cry for each of the different cases!
Well, we found out that raising a child is a full time job. Now we are trying to juggle that and our previous life. Good luck to us.
Monday, June 7, 2010
A boy was born
So, for those of you who asked themselves 'where did he disappear to?' and couldn't put 1+1 together - the MRS. gave birth two weeks ago.
The story of CJ's birth (his real name will come up soon) is a long one. The MRS. got the first contractions right after SHAVUOT, and for the next 30 some hours she had contractions, however, they were not close enough and we were told not to come to the hospital.
After more than 30 hours (two full nights actually), we were told we can come and check in at the hospital, by then the MRS was in active labor and she was admitted. The contractions kept on going, and after more than 40 hours since the first contraction hit, the MRS finally cracked and asked for drugs to lessen the pain (I have to admit - she was much more enduring and powerful than I expected!!). The boy decided to wait until another day will change on the calendar, and right after midnight on the 22nd of May he came out.
We decided (or rather the MRS decided and I agreed) to call him Ely. Now, just to make sure you pronounce it correctly - ILAY or EE-lie, not Eli or Ellie or any other pronunciation!! For some reason non-americans have a problem with this spelling.
Anyway, we left the hospital 36 hour after Ely's birth and we started our home adventure with feeding, sleepless nights, diapers full of $#%@ and all the fun stuff of being a parent.
But actually it is a lot of fun. The boy grows every day, and becomes more responsive and demanding. He loves to eat, he hates to lay still, he has mixed feelings about baths and he is totally opposed for being nude (even for a very quick diaper change). When he gets mad or upset he waves his fists in the air and screams from the top of his lungs. He is really opinionated even at the early age of two weeks.
That's it for now, there are so many new things happening all at once, but (for me) the most interesting is my child. I will save other stories to when I return to a more orderly life, when I sleep better and when I can get my mind on anything else.
Oh, yes, we have decided not to share pictures of CJ (I think I'll keep this nickname for him) on the blog/facebook/the internet. So if you really know me and you want to see a picture of CJ, just send me an email and I'll send you some.
That's it, the boy is crying, which means "leave everything and tend to me, and only me". So I'm off...
The story of CJ's birth (his real name will come up soon) is a long one. The MRS. got the first contractions right after SHAVUOT, and for the next 30 some hours she had contractions, however, they were not close enough and we were told not to come to the hospital.
After more than 30 hours (two full nights actually), we were told we can come and check in at the hospital, by then the MRS was in active labor and she was admitted. The contractions kept on going, and after more than 40 hours since the first contraction hit, the MRS finally cracked and asked for drugs to lessen the pain (I have to admit - she was much more enduring and powerful than I expected!!). The boy decided to wait until another day will change on the calendar, and right after midnight on the 22nd of May he came out.
We decided (or rather the MRS decided and I agreed) to call him Ely. Now, just to make sure you pronounce it correctly - ILAY or EE-lie, not Eli or Ellie or any other pronunciation!! For some reason non-americans have a problem with this spelling.
Anyway, we left the hospital 36 hour after Ely's birth and we started our home adventure with feeding, sleepless nights, diapers full of $#%@ and all the fun stuff of being a parent.
But actually it is a lot of fun. The boy grows every day, and becomes more responsive and demanding. He loves to eat, he hates to lay still, he has mixed feelings about baths and he is totally opposed for being nude (even for a very quick diaper change). When he gets mad or upset he waves his fists in the air and screams from the top of his lungs. He is really opinionated even at the early age of two weeks.
That's it for now, there are so many new things happening all at once, but (for me) the most interesting is my child. I will save other stories to when I return to a more orderly life, when I sleep better and when I can get my mind on anything else.
Oh, yes, we have decided not to share pictures of CJ (I think I'll keep this nickname for him) on the blog/facebook/the internet. So if you really know me and you want to see a picture of CJ, just send me an email and I'll send you some.
That's it, the boy is crying, which means "leave everything and tend to me, and only me". So I'm off...
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The waiting game
Well, another week has passed and it is starting to appear routine. I go to work, work around the clock, get much done without too many results, and come back home. The MRS. is still round and waiting, and CJ is showing no rush in coming out to the world.
We have been trying to pass the time till CJ will decide to start his trip. Luckily for us the weather has been really nice this weekend. But there's not much to do but wait.
At least now I've got a gym membership and I allow myself to play volleyball once a week. The games are mid-week and mid-day, so I can skip a couple of hours of work for volleyball. Soon the whole group will start playing sand-volleyball in a departmental tournament.
That's it. Nothing else to tell.
Hope for more news next time.
We have been trying to pass the time till CJ will decide to start his trip. Luckily for us the weather has been really nice this weekend. But there's not much to do but wait.
At least now I've got a gym membership and I allow myself to play volleyball once a week. The games are mid-week and mid-day, so I can skip a couple of hours of work for volleyball. Soon the whole group will start playing sand-volleyball in a departmental tournament.
That's it. Nothing else to tell.
Hope for more news next time.
Monday, May 10, 2010
A non-post
I really don't have anything new to share at this point. So I won't write anything today.
Sorry.
Sorry.
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