Why I am Starting to Hate Blogging...

Okay, I rechecked my blogging and I am hating this. I try to make it look normal but no can do. I try to change it, and repost my blogs, but it doesn't seem to see my changes all the way through. I try to post a blog and lost it three times. I just do not get it. Why and how does this happen?

There goes blogging. I might not like it, but what choice do I have? Any suggestions? You finally got me to blog, but there are major issues here...so I guess I will either deal with it or not. Time will tell.

Small time, USA

So, I am not original with my title, but so what. My small town that I live in has gone political before my very eyes. I don't know the ins and outs, but I keep hearing bits and pieces and find it funny. I mean, who do they think they are?

So the gossip in this town is as follows. Hotzalah one, Hatzalah number two. A shul that has been around for at least 15 years was finally shut down due to violations and now the school where I send my kids to, called a meeting for tomorrow night with the Rosh Yeshiva of the yeshiva here, and I am clue less along with everyone else as to why. Oh, and the latest, having new parents sign they don't have TV or computer in the house.

I have no real idea why there is the hatzalah issue here, though I know there has been two organizations. One just got its ambulance. One had an O in the name. I don't know all the details about the two and why or why not they couldn't combine the two. I am just as curious as to why we needed one here in the first place. I feel that the people here tend to forget they have moved out of Brooklyn. I guess you can take a person out of Brooklyn (gasp! You can?) but you can't take the Brooklyn out of the person. You get my point. There are many people here who moved from Brooklyn to here recently (well, yeah me included, but I haven't lived in Brooklyn in a long time, I moved out six years ago). Since there has been such an influx of Brooklynites here, I guess they felt the need to be at "home" and had to have Hatzalah here. Had to have the walkie talkie, had to have the jackets, the status, the whatever...Okay, I am probably being too harsh here, but hey if there is politics regarding it, then it probably was not necessary in the first place.

So the other topic was a shul closed down. Okay, so it was illegal and maybe a fire hazard, but why now was this the topic of conversation. There are rumors going around and who knows which one is really true? Do I care that they called a police on someone who in turn, turned them in for the illegal shul on a residential street? Is this the way we are supposed to behave to one another? What is the point?

As for TV here in the school, that doesn't bother me. Though I think they are taking the Brooklyn approach to things and making parents sign papers and some are lying anyway. I was asked when we applied, but we don't have a TV. But computers?! What in heavens name is that? What is the deal? Do they mean computers or internet? I need both. I live for both. I do my work via internet, don't you dare take it away from me (yes, I have been internet free long story, way back when.) I need it to do my work at home. Who do you think pays for it anyway? I just don't get it. The school has computers, and how else can the older kids do their book reports? Typewriters are gone.

So much politics in this small community and I don't even know the others. I am sure there are more as there are usual politics in small towns. I guess I get to hear bits and pieces and see what kind of puzzle I can make from it. Stay tuned for tomorrow nights meeting with the Rosh Yeshiva. My take on it, to get us to pay more money for tuition. Mind you they just raised it for this year! I wonder what the increase will be, and if it will match the potential raise I might not get....Go figure...I gotta go to the meeting. My friends are not. How else will we know what is going on here?

Brrrrr

WooHoo. I got my thermostat to register 71 degrees in the house! Can you believe? It is sooo hot here! You can't imagine...OK, let me explain myself, as to why I am so happy to know that it can get so "hot" in here.

This past Shabbos we had this couple(post about them another time) over for Shabbos lunch. It was pretty cold outside, and not that much warmer inside. We were talking about thermostat and how cold it was inside the house. I mentioned that we leave the thermostat at 67 degrees and not much higher and no matter what, it will still be cold here. Yes, we live in a big old house that needs to get warm...one day. So the husband was complaining that we were slum lords..funny since we are the only ones living in the house. Our poor kids. We freeze them. But believe it or not, they do not complain, and the upstairs bedrooms are warm! It is just downstairs that is very cold...And downstairs, meaning the first floor, is where we eat. Hence the man had the right to complain that it was cold. He didn't want to stay and decided it was due time for him to leave our house, and did. I can feel bad that he did, but don't.

So today being that I was home with the kids due to their vacation and me having no babysitter, I raised the temp a bit and noticed how it hit 71 degrees, even the thermostat was NOT set to 71 or higher. I immediately lowered the temp as it was too high. But even with the temperature that high, it was not that warm on the first floor. Therefore I conclude that there is something wrong with our thermostat. Or with the first floor heating. Probably the heating as it used to work?! Maybe.

On another note, today was the last day of vacation for my kids. They go back to school tomorrow, thank G-d. It is hard for me to be home every day with them and hard for them as well. They are young and don't need so many days off from school just yet. They are used to their routine their schedule and don't really like the break in it. Neither do I. I mean, I had to take off from work those days, and I am sure my boss really appreciated that, but there was nothing I could do...Along with my babysitter being on bed-rest, what choice did I have. Tomorrow it is back to the norm or almost norm, except I need to leave work an hour plus early! Oh well. Such is life.

Have a happy day and keep warm my dear readers.

What a Stressful Day

What a day. Yesterday. A busy hectic day. A crazy day. A day I do not want to repeat again so soon.

My babysitter is on bed-rest and quit. This is after telling me she is looking for a job and finding out how soon can she take the job, if it is offered to her. Go figure. I told her two to three weeks is only fair. After all, I wasn't looking for someone to replace her so if she was leaving she needed to give me time. Also, where I live, it is hard to find Jewish babysitter to come to my house. All was fine, until I get the phone call.

BH she is fine. Everyone is fine. But she needs to be on bed-rest for the week. And after that...the baby is getting to big, etc etc etc. Poof. Just like that she leaves. What torture. I needed to find someone to babysit. I needed to drop off the baby. I needed to fix carpool so I can accomodate all the kids. ARGH ARGH!

So the day started off wonderfuly. I called my friend to remind her she is doing pickup that day. She leaves a little bit later and hits traffic on my block. What should take two minutes, took her ten minutes. I couldn't sit down to feed the baby, because I needed to be available to help the other kids into her van when she showed up. So that delayed me some more. When she did show up, I told her to pull into the driveway and then go the way she came to go to school. She pulls in over the snowbank..and can't get out! Meanwhile my baby is inside the house by himself, and the minivan full of kids are stuck! I try to help her, telling her which way to turn and back up, but between the snow and the traffic, it was impossible. I finally stopped two men on their way home from shul, and one stopped to really help. Then another two stopped and began to shovel, direct and push the car out. I forget. I drive a 4-wheel drive...We just go over the snow there...minivans don't.

I get inside and the baby is crying..I calm him down and feed him, but it is already after 9, and I am running late. Again. Not a good way to start the day. I drop him off at the sitter which is getting better and off to work I went...only to hit traffic. I finally did show up to work at 10! Mind you, I am leaving at 330 to go home. I am late to work, but no one cares except me.

I speak to my boss about the upcoming meeting that was scheduled for noon time. We spoke freely about the main issue we were having...and then went back to the office to find out that the main issue was already there. Ooops, hope he didn't hear the issues. It was hard to talk about him when he was there, so I went with one of the girls I supervise to the kitchen to figure out what all the issues are to bring up in the meeting. Can't talk about him in front of him. That is just plain rude.

At 12:45 I prepare the foods for the 12:30 meeting. The meeting has been delayed. There was another meeting scheduled for two hours earlier, but only started at 12, so of course ours was delayed. I bring the food in, and we just eat and some of us are talking and not including the entire staff. About 45 mintues later, we call the meeting to order and get to talk. Unfortunately for me, my issues was saved for later and we spent an awful lot of time on things that did not pertain to half the staff. What a waste. Finally I get my turn to talk. The main reason why we were all there. I get to say my piece and split. I had to leave it was 3:30 and my kids got out of school at 3:45. I was sooo mad. A lot of information that pertinent to me was going to be discussed and I was missing it. Too bad. I had to go. So I did.

I sped home, made it on time for pickup. And dropped the other kid off. Then unloaded the two kids to the store to buy some TuB'shvat food. No more bukser. Only bukser left was in a platter but when I asked, they said if I buy the platter I can have it. Hellooooooo...TuBshvat is over in a mere two hours and there is no one here going to buy it...so why not just sell me a piece?? But I had two little ones with me, and two people working the register who could care less about logic, so I left with little fruit and a small treat for the kids. Then I went to pick up my baby and go home.

What do I do? Two kids in the car and one upstairs. I left the two in the car and ran upstairs. Luckily another mother was picking up her daughter and kept an eye on my car. I had no choice! I couldn't unbuckle two kids to go upstairs and then come right down..I know it was wrong, but so happy I am not in Lakewood or Brooklyn. Stressed out already from all this running around, I go home to collapse and let the kids play. I throw some food in the oven and feed the baby. My son goes to the bathroom and starts shrieking. He had an accident. Just the icing of my wonderful day. I calm him down and run the bath, since it was bath night anyway. I tell my daughter to get her pj's and give them a bath and turn off the oven. I wash them, towel dry them, and get them all nice and clean into pj's. Give them their supper and treat and collapse on the couch once again. I banish the kids to their rooms to play or the basement. I couldn't tollerate the noise. I was so stressed out. I called my husband and told him to forget his supper..and take out it is.

Later that night, after the kids have gone to bed and it was quiet, the phone rings. It was someone responding to my ad, looking for a Jewish babysitter to come to my house. We talk. She sounds perfect. I am ready to take her now without seeing her, without references, just come here and help out! I am meeting her tomorrow (kids have mid-winter vacation, so I took off b/c of no babysitter) and she is giving her current employerS notice and can start in a week and a half.

What a great way to end the day. Thank you thank you thank you.

Oh, and then I went to the gym, and I have lost some more pounds!!

Oy

I offered my services to help with the Ladies auxiliary with their Chinese Auction this year. I offer bookkeeping help. I figured, I got an accounting degree, might as well use it. Little did I know what it really entails.

I get a call asking if I can help with the pledges. They have a list of pledges, and letters need to go out to them. Thank them for the pledge. Reminding them they need to pay up. I was taken aback. Not exactly what I was counting on, but I agreed. What choice did I have. I found out later the person who is in charge, just had triplets. Her youngest is 4 years old and has like three other kids as well. The family almost doubled. A short week and a half later, she was back in service. Impressive! How could I say no now?

So I read this impressive list. Sorry. I am a snob. I am used to computers. This is list is on a pad of paper, hand written. Not only that...But there is a lot of work in entails for me that I had not counted on. They only give me the last names, and occasionally a first name. I have to look up in the phonebook and pull out the names and addresses of the pledgees. What fun. Then I need to match the name to the actual item that they have bought with the money. So I am dealing with two or three books at one time (the old phone book, the new phone book and the Chinese auction booklet) Frustrating to say the least. At least is is small, I had to decipher some handwriting and hopefully read the right name.

I have a few issues with this. I don't like most of the prizes. I think they should have and could have done better. They need to do better, as they need to get more money. They need better prizes. I am so curious as to how much this auction will bring in. Mind you, they did get things donated, they got items and time, or money off daycamps, etc...at least someone else is doing those letters.

So tomorrow my letters should be going out. Then I might be getting mail. Mail addressed to me, but not really to me. The envelope where they are supposed to pay up, will be coming to my house. Lucky me. Like I don't have enough things to keep track of. At least they will deposit the monies and not me. I hope it all works out. I had a hard time with it. I am still missing a list of names, like where an entire alumni class chipped in for something, etc. That will come later. Oh the joy. I cannot wait.

I call the one who is in charge. I didn't want to bother her..She just had triplets a few weeks ago. But I had to call someone, as no one gave me full details on what was supposed to be done. The end of the conversation was nearing. She asked me to keep a file on this. A letter, the spreadsheet etc, so that next year....The Chutzpah! But it will make life easier on the next years person.

I had company this past Shabbos. Friday night we were reminiscing about old times and discussing people who we haven't seen on our last trip together. I mentioned I haven't seen a certain person on my last trip up...and before I had a chance to say who...my company guessed who, and said plain and simply "he's dead, you know he died, right?!"

I was shocked. I couldn't express myself there though my eyes almost gave me away. I was shocked beyond belief. I heard he was sick etc and not that I would keep in touch with him, but NOT one of my "contacts" there had mentioned it. Mind you this happened around Rosh Hashana time. I was shocked like you wouldn't believe. I went on discussing other things, but couldn't really get it out of mind. My connections didn't tell me everything that is going on. This was important news...at least it was better than some of the gossip.

I was very sad. My eyes kept watering everytime I think about it. It is sad. I am not so happy the way I found out. It could have been said nicely, but hey can't really blame the company, why would anyone know that I didn't know already. I must have known. But I don't recall hearing it. It is very depressing..and sad..

Blog accounts. I am going to allowe anonymous signing, and maybe get more of you to sign. I have noticed that there are more readers out there and no one seems to want to give me their two cents.

What I don't get is why people refuse to get a blog account. What I don't understand is what is the big idea of using another sn and password? Why cant you use the same password for this as you do for your email account and for your whatever else you need a password for? A blog is not high security. It doesn't hold much information on you and most who own blogs are not interested in those to know who they are. So use one password for the misc unimportant stuff that still need some protection.

As for blogs out there...boy are there more than I have the time to read. Where do you people find the time to read, respond and post your own stuff? Where do you find the time to link them to your blog. Where and why do we blog? What is this? An open diary for all to see? Do we want people to read and respond, or do we want to brag.

So forget all those millions of passwords for stupidity. Sign up and go with the flow.

Sad

I am so very sad now. Very sad.

I get a phone call last night after 11 pm, and got the most shocking news to hear. A good friend of the family whom I just saw last month was in a major car accident in Israel. They had to amputate his legs. He is still in the ICU and needs a refuah.

I hung up the phone and cried. My mind went back to the a month ago when he was standing in my kitchen with his 12 year old son. How happy he looked. My mind jumped to his newborn son who is only 7 months old.

Then my mind raced to his wife whom we haven't heard from to see how she is. A father of six kids with the oldest being like 15, the youngest 7 months.

I cried. I just hope that everything else turns out okay. I feel for him. I feel for his kids. I feel for his wife.

Please include him in your tefilos and have him and his family in mind.

avraham ben orah yittel.

I just do not understand this. The chutzpah of the person running the register (I have no idea if she is the owner or not)

Okay, here's the gossip of why I am not happy with the Jewish merchants.

A few weeks ago I had the chance to shop in a hemishe store. They were having a sale. Buy one get one free. Great. I needed clothing for the kids, I will pay the price if in reality it half off the expensive clothing. I'm with my sister in law. It is Friday. I find ONE outfit that is semi in the price range. I was fine with it. I will splurge on my princess, so be it. I tried to find for the others, but couldn't. My s.i.l was still there looking. She already found three items and was looking for a fourth. I told her, if she didn't find a fourth, use my outfit and I will split with her.

It was a Friday late morning. It was getting late, and we still had to drive home and had things to do. I suggested that I will wait on line and pay if need be. She mentioned that they might not take credit cards and only cash or check. I brushed it off because I noticed on the door the Visa and MasterCard symbols meaning that they do accept plastics. So I went on line.

I waited while she rung up the other customers secretly hoping that my sil did not find another outfit. I overheard the register lady. 'Cash or check" Absolutely NO credit cards now. I floored. What do you mean no plastic? I never have cash on my anymore. Those days are long gone. Everything I buy goes on a credit card for numerous reasons. One, I pay it a month plus later and 2, I get 1percent back on all my purchases. Yes I pay my CC bill on time, so why not make money while spending it? I snuck a peak at the bill the lady was writing up. She was figuring out how much the outfit was, and then was adding on TAX!

I double checked to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. Here is a store that is having a sale. Normally takes credit cards, but is not doing so now during the sale, but has the audacity charge me tax on the item that she is sure NOT paying tax on?? I couldn't believe it. My sil was correct, they don't take credit cards.

I went to find her, gave her the clothing and decided I will buy breakfast for us, and she will pay in cash for the merchandise.

What is wrong with this picture? Let me tell you. I grew up in BoroPark. The place where we know all the tricks of the trade. I know stores that will tell you to pay in cash so neither one is paying tax on it. If you pay cash there is no tax. If you pay credit card, there is proof of selling, there must be tax. But to charge tax while selling only in cash is wrong. Knowing perfectly well how the system works, she just had a sale for whatever reason, charged the tax to keep it for herself. That is the only logical explanation I can think of Whey else are you insisting on cash only when you advertise you take credit cards. It is not because of the little money they charge you for accepting a credit card. It is to have us pay for the fact that you are having a sale.

I am upset.

It bothers me greatly.

These are frum people...