Just shu

It's been a long time

2011-01-10T00:56:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to look at this blog and see that it's been over a year since I last blogged. A lot has changed in my life. I failed at my start-up, got a job as a project manager, left that job after a few months and starting working for a company called Convertonet, I'm an optimizer for casino.com and several other of our brand sites.
I'm also doing some work for my father new site, for those who don't know he is a home care eye doctor in the Detroit area.
I guess the biggest change is that I no longer work from home. After 6 years of always being at home, I am generally out of the house from 7am to 7pm, which is tough. All in all, life is good, I wish I could be home more often, but what can you do

Today was rough

2009-12-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

Outside of the night that Nat left us this evening was probably the roughest, and I'm not sure why. I decided that when the boys came home from school we would play XBOX, I thought this would be a nice afternoon activity. On the way home from school, and before we actually started playing, I gave a great big speech about how I don't want any crying, not over which games we are playing, and not over when I decide that XBOX time is over.
Sadly, my speech/plea fell on deaf ears. Jonah was unhappy with the racing game that was chosen, mostly because Sammy got to choose. Last time we played Jonah chose Hockey, and Sammy wanted racing and we played Hockey. I told Jonah that we would play some racing and then he can choose a game, if he stops whining.
Generally, the way XBOX time works is I play a game and pretend that the kids are helping. Lately, however, when I play Madden, with Jonah, he is the running back and he is also able to play hockey. I pass him teh puck and tell him to shoot. He's scored a few TD'S and a few goals.
Racing is not really a game he can play. The first few races I was in control and both boys had an extra controller and all was fine. Then I decided that I would let Jonah control a car, and I would control a car, and this is where everything went to hell. After explaining how to use the controller and which buttons he needed, we started racing. Jonah realized that he was in control of his car, and he couldn't keep it on teh road. He had a huge melt down, I'm not positive what his issue was, but I think it was that we weren't on the same team. I explained that of course we aren't on teh same team, there are two cars on the road one is mine and one is his. But I'm not trying to win, I'm trying to help. Well, he was inconsolable for a while, then I got really mad that he was crying yanked the cords off the system, and told him to stop crying or it will be a long time before he sees the XBOX again. He cried more and told me that he couldn't stop crying.
In teh end he finally stopped, and actaully apologized to me without me asking, which may have been a first, gave me a picture that his friend colored for him and colored me one of his own.
Then I gave them dinner and after all was calm, I brought teh XBOX back out.
Bedtime was also a disaster, but that's enough bashing on my eldest.

I really needed some grown up time, so I set up a play date for myself with a friend and we played XBOX for a few hours this evening. I don't want t brag, but this guy is Canadian, and I won the NHL2K6 hockey tourney that played 2-1

But Mommy Lets Me

2009-12-22T00:31:00.000-08:00

After getting Sammy dressed this morning he walked into the kitchen with a gleam in his eye. I asked him if he wanted breakfast, he said, no he wanted something else. He went straight for the snack cupboard, pointed to a bag of Bisli, and said "I want that." I told him that he can have breakfast and Bisli later. He threw a nd fit and kept saying "Mommy lets me, Mommy lets me" I told him that mommy wouldn't let him, but he didn't believe.
Finally we reached a compromise he had breakfast and I gave him a bag of bisli to take to day care with him

Day 1 - What a day

2009-12-20T10:17:00.000-08:00

There are few things worse then receiving a phone call from a franti,c hysterical wife who is on the other side of the world. The feeling is very useless. Sadly, I got to experience that today. Nat called today to say she landed, but the flight was not great, Kayla wasn't as dreamy as her older brother on airplanes. But she managed, unfortunately she had to fly into a blizzard. Her connecting flight to STL was cancelled, and she was told that she wa sbeing rerouted to Dallas and from there she will fly to STL, I can't imagine how long of a day this is for her.

Before she left Israel she went to the cell phoen stores and asked them to unlock her cell phone, so she can use an American SIM card. They said it was no problem, she would recieve a text message with a code, and this will unlock the phone. In addition to that, as a backup she brought a prepaid cell phone, that a friend gave her, which still had some time left on it.

However, when she landed she discovered that the code she was sent didn't do anything, and despite being plugged in before leaving Israel the prepaid phone did not hold a charge. Luckily a stranger lent her a phone so she could call me and let me know what was going on.

Before she hung up with me, she heard that the flight to Dallas was delayed at least a half hour. I assume that she went to Dallas, or she would have found a way to call me, but I don't really know.

As far as my single dad-ness, today wasn't a bad day. Jonah woke me up in the morning, then I woke up Sammy and took them to school. Work was very lonely (I work from home) I had GI Joe on, so I would have some noise, but it was a bad movie. I picked teh kids up around 4, worked for a little longer, and then played NHL 2K6 on XBOX with Jonah and Sammy, a bribe from teh previous night. Then I made dinner, hot dogs and fries, which they sort of ate. We followed that with a game of Candlyland. I told Jonah that we would play orry afterwards, but some friends came over with Pizza, and it was really nice to talk with old people again. Jonah didn't think that was a good reason to not play Sorry, so at 7::00 instead of getting into bed, we started a game of Sorry. The plan is to finih it tomorrow.
Bedtime was normal, after I finished singing to Boys, Sammy called out "Mommy, it your turn" SOmeone should really tell him that she is gone for a while.
In sucky news, I came down with a cold this evening, I hope I don't get sick now, that would really annoy me.

Chronicles of a single father

2009-12-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

For the next two and half weeks I will be running the house all alone, Nat took Kayla and skipped off to the good ol' US of A, leaving me at home with the two boys. It was a hectic evening, as Nat scrambled to finish packing she taught me how to use the washing machine.

Then she was off, and I was left with one very sad boy, who is crying that he misses mommy, and he wants to go with her. Sammy also claims that he wants to go with her, but he isn't as vocal; as Jonah is yet. Jonah is laying in bed wailing "Mommy, mommy" is all very sad. I hope things get better quickly.

mystical powers?

2009-12-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

Sammy was refusing to go to sleep tonight, he stayed awake in his bed even later than usual. A few minutes before 10 I told him that mommy was going to sleep and I was going to shul, so he should lie down.
"Why are you going to shul daddy?" He asked
"To daven to Hashem that you go to sleep" was my awesome reply.
"You should daven for rain"

I walked outside and lo and behold the sky had opened up and rain was falling.

The three little pigs

2009-11-29T01:52:00.000-08:00

We bought Jonah "The 3 little pigs" and it was a version I never heard before. The big bad wolf huffed and puffed and blew down the first two pigs homes, and ate them. There is even a picture of the second little pig in a roasting pan with an apple in his mouth. He obviously couldn't blow down the 3d little pigs house, due to the bricks, so he tries to get teh pig to come out apple picking with him, then to the fair. At the end of the book (Spoiler Alert) when Big Bad tries to come down the chiminey, the pig boiled water, the wolf fell into the pot, he quickly covered it and boiled Big Bad and ate him.
Have you ever heard that version before? After Nat read it to Jonah for the first time he said " That's not what really happened...right?"

What would I do without Nat

2009-11-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

I started reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown last night. I told Nat that I was thinking of watching the movie Angels and Demons, which is based on a previous Dan Brown book, because it's been referenced, and I want to know whats going on.
Nat was like, OK, but didn't you read Angels and Demons already.
Bottom line, I don't have to to watch Angels and Demons before I get into the new book

New Job

2009-10-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

My plan for past year or so was to start my own company and work on my own. At some point I quit looking for a job and dedicated to starting Non Stop Media (NSM). The downside of not working for a year is at some point the money runs out. Sadly, this happened as I bought several computers and plasma TV's for NSM. The plan was to start selling the ad space as soon as Succot ended and install the TV's this week.
I had some trouble with the sales, turns out my Hebrew isn't as awesome as I thought it was, and I felt this was a detterent in my sales approach. I started thinking that I need to hire a part time Israeli salesperson, and maybe I can find a job that was flexible enough that I could run my compnay and make some money on the side.
On Friday, completly out of the blue, I got a phone call asking me if I knew anyone who might be interested in full time, work from home management position. I thought about it for a few minutes and realized that I had to take the job.
So now I am a project manager at GlobeTask, and Virtual Assistant company.
And I am looking for a part time salesperson in Jerusalem who is preferably Israeli or speak Hebrew fluently.

Playing with Kayla

2009-10-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Kayla and I played "Israeli government vs. Settlers" today.

I would build towers with blocks and she would come and start to destroy it, but before she could finish the destruction, I was already building a new tower. Finally, she gave up, and my tower stood proudly.

Smallest girl in the world..

2009-10-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

or just in Israel?
Last week, Nat took Kayla to the doctor, After weighing her, the nurse said that Kayla dropped from the 3rd percentile in weight to not on the charts. She was under 0 percentile in weight for girls her age. This means that 100 percent of all 8 month old girls outweigh her. If even one kid weighed less then her she'd have to be in the .001 percentile.

Twins fan and baseball hats

2009-10-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

We went to Noat Kedumin today, it’s a nature trail, it was very nice, but that’s not the point.

As I pulled into what I thought was a parking lot, a couple other cars pulled out. Next to me was a minivan driven by a man in a Minnesota Twins hat. He rolled down his window and said in Hebrew that this wasn’t an actual parking spot. I said thanks in English, he said you’re welcome, as he rolled up his window, I yelled, “Go Tigers.” According to Nat he glared at me.

We drove into the parking lot and he parked next to each other, he got out of the car and said that was a brave thing to say, considering how the Tigers ended the regular season and you’re wearing a Lions hat. He had a point, we talked baseball for a minute and went on our separate ways.

A side note about baseball hats, I noticed that noticed that most of the caps that were worn were from playoff teams. There were Yankees, Red Sox, Angels , Phillies, and Twins. The exceptions were a couple of Mets hats and one Pirates hat.

It's just not right

2009-10-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

Iplay basketball on Saturday nights, on an outdoor court, and lights shut off a little before 11:00. Ive requested that they stay on longer, but I'm told that since it's a residential area, all must be quiet by 11.
Last night I woke up around 3:3o AM, saw the last few innings of the tigers game, and got back into bed around 4:00. As I was laying in bed, I heard the "callto prayer"music from some neighboing village. This isn't the first time I've heard this noise, sometimes it wakes Jonah up and he wants to know what it is, but I digress, the point is, if I have to stop playing a nice quiet game of basketball by 11:00, shouldn;t there be some noise restriction on the loud music coming from the villages.
FYI - I know that it's not a legit comparision because the city of Ariel doesn't control the noise level of the Arabs, but this what I was thinking last night

On a side note, if I was an Arab and lived near the Minneret and every night that noise woke up my kids, I'd be pissed and probably move.

Yom Kippur

2009-09-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yom Kippur was nice here, we davened at a minyan that was a combination of religious and non religious people. The upside was there was a play room, so the kids were happy, and Nat wasable to daven a little bit. The downside was there was no air condition, I did have a seat by a fan, so it wasn't to bad.
Services started at 7:30 and we took a break at 12:45ish, returned at 3:30 and finished up by 6:00.

is this an "only in Israel" story

2009-09-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone has these story that can "only happen in Israel" except me. I might have one now. you be the judge.
I tremped (hitched) home yesterday, and it was a two-parter, I got a ride from Jerusalem to Ofra (about halfway between Ariel and J'lem) and then from Ofra I got a ride home. As I entered Ariel, I realized that I didn't have my cell, I feared that I somehow left it in the first car.

When I got home, I called the phone, and the driver picked it up, and said she found teh phone in her car, I told her I was person who left it there, and when can I pick it up. Our schedules didn't mesh, so she said she'd leave it with the guard at the entrace to the yishuv.
This morning I tremped to Ofra, and got my phone.

I told someone this story and he said, "only in Israel" I'm not sure I agree that the same thing wouldn't happen elsewhere. Generally people who pick up hitchhikers are good people, unless they like to hack people up and harvest their organs, and they would get me my phone back.
Your thoughts.....

Hypothetical question

2009-09-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

If an old person gets on the bus and there is no place to sit, common courtesy is to get up and allow them to sit.
What about a kid, should a little kid, lets say 4 or 5 years old, should they give up their seat for the old person. Or do kids also have preferential treatment when it comes to seating on a bus.
I believe that the kid shouldn't stand up, due to safety. They are still pretty small, don't really know how to balance themselves as the bus stops and turns. I think you should tell the kid that when they are bigger they should give up their seat, but right now they should stay in their seat.

Boys will be boys

2009-09-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

Iwas walking home from Shul with Sammy (2 yrs old) and Jonah 5(yo). Sammy said something. which I didn't understand so I asked him what he said, he look at me and said..
You farted?
I hadn't and I told him so, but Jonah wasn't a believer: he told Sammy to smell my tush. So Sammy smelled my tush and announced that I smelled.

I have such sweet boys :)

Turns out I have a sensitive side

2009-09-12T15:16:00.001-07:00

While I was giving a speech at our kiddush today, I spoke about why named our daughter Kayla Rivka, and thanking the community for all they've done for us in the past year, I just broke down and wept like a baby....
Oh, wait that's not what happened at all. My sensitive moment took place on Friday Night.
During dinner, I started feeling itchy all over, I checked myself ouyt and saw that I broke out in hives, for the first time since I was probably 1o, It was crazy looking. I showed Nat my blemished skin, and she mentioned that she just switched laundry detergents, my skin must be sensitive to the new stuff.
Then she made the comment that it's weird that my skin is more sensitive then everyone else in the family.

Kiddush in SHul

2009-09-10T23:24:00.001-07:00

This past week we celebrated our Aliyahversary, one complete year living in Israel. Therefore, plus the fact that we still haven't made a kiddush in honor of Kayla being born, we decided to make a kiddush in our shul.

Tremping

2009-09-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest adjustments I've had to make in the past year is not having a car. Ever since I got my drivers license (I was either 16 or 17) I had access to a car. Now we have to rent a car when we want to go away for a few days, or over the holidays. It really sucked the other day, when my sister made Aliyah (moved to Israel) and we couldn't get to the airport to greet her.
My main method of travelling these days is hitchhiking, something I never would have dreamed of doing in the States.
Ariel is about 40 minutes to the entrance of Jerusalem, an hour to the city center, by car. The bus takes anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. Tremping usually gets me there somewhere in between driving and the bus.
Today was a pain, it took and hour for me to get off Mount Ariel, but once I did, the rest of the trip wasn't so bad. Last week it took me 5 rides to get from Jerusalem to Ariel. Luckily I didn't have to wait that long in between rides, and it went pretty quick.
On average It takes 2 rides to get to Jerusalem, maybe 2 or 3 to get back. There are rare occasions where I can find one ride that takes me there or back, those are great days. I only speak when spoken to, I usually speak in Hebrew, the conversations are pretty much teh same, where are you from before making Aliyah, why did you leave the U.S.. do yo, have family here, what do you do for a living etc. I pretty much know how to answer all these questions in Hebrew, which is nice.
The few times that I've had a car, I pick up hitchhikers, sometimes I try and speak to them, I'm not sure what it depends on, I guess my mood.

I'm back (Again)

2009-09-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

After a long break from blogging, I'm going to give it another shot.
Today(9/8) is our Aliyah Anniversary, I'd love to say that I've been so busy in the past year that I didn't have time to blog, but that would be a lie. I've spent a good part of the year sitting around on the couch figuring out my plan.
I gave up looking for a job after a few months, and spent time trying to start my own company. After months and months and months of getting everything figured out, I started working this past Sunday. I walked into a bunch of restaurants in the center of Jerusalem, and I have a couple of leads and I'm hoping for the best.

I'm tweeting

2009-04-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

I decided that I don't waste enough time online so I decided to join Twitter (you can find me @shaulizacks)

I'm not sure I get the point of twitter yet, but it can't hurt. I figure I'm starting a marketing company, hopefully in the next few weeks, and I can use all the help I can get.

In my two and half days of tweeting I'm following 28 people and I have 15 followers, I've updated my status 40 times, which is good hour for some people.

Update on my life

2009-03-29T10:01:00.001-07:00

It's been a little over 6 months since we made Aliyah and so far so good. The kids have acclimated themselves to their new home, Jonah is basically fluent in Hebrew. He speaks better then Nat or myself. Watching his transformation has been amazing. When we got here, he had a basic understanding of the language, but didn't speak hebrew. Now he is comfortable talking and playing in Hebrew, he told me that he likes both languages the same. I was shocked one day when he came home and told us that he learned what causes rain. He explained it to me in English, but had learnt it in Hebrew, not only is he understanding, he can translate it as well.

Sammy is doing well, I think he's had teh toughest time of us all. He was finally understanding English when everything changed. He now enjoys going to Gan, he has some friends. at least he constantly yells "Maya" and "E-Tie", two kids from the gan, but we have no idea who they are.

Kayla, our little Israeli, is getting bigger every day, she loves to sleep which is nice. We just hpe that she will know how to speak English one day.

Things have been interesting for me, I haven't been succesful at finding a job. I went on a few interviews, recieved two letters saying, thanks but no thanks. No one second interview. For the past few months I have been planning on starting my own marketing company, and it should finally happen after Pesach. In the meantime I have kept busy with XBOX, movies and trying to learn Hebrew.

Nat and I were in Ulpan but the class ended early due to lack of showing up by many of the people in the class. We just started a "conversation club" in Ariel so far there are 3 of us and a teacher who facillitates the conversations. There has been two classes so far and it is very enjoyable. I'm also reading the newspaper in Hebrew trying to get a good grasp on things here.

Nat is amazing, she navigated through the medical system, she is in charge of calling doctors and setting up appointments (I'm in charge of ordering pizza) and getting our lives organized, mostly while pregnant. She is working a lot, someone has too, doing the medical billing for my father practice in the states.

All in all I have no complaints, I wish I had a job, (can't believe I said that) but thankfully we have survived this far with me bumming around the house. We have become the poster family for Ariel Aliyah, they have done a series of interviews with us startingw ith our pilot trip. One of teh questions they asked me is what do I think is more difficult, our first 6 months in Israel or the upcoming 6 months. The first 6 months have been relativly easy, I'm guessing the upcoming months will be tougher, as I learn how to run a company here, need to actually speak hebrew to strangers not just friends.

It hasn't all been roses, I miss my life in Detroit, I don't like living in an apartment and can't wait till we can move into a house and buy a car. I feel like I don't talk to my friends as much as I would like and I've played one game of basketball since moving here.

I'll try and keep this updated, I know I've been a slacker lately

Update on Magic Jack

2009-03-12T02:40:00.000-07:00

Based on a recommendation from a friend I contacted the Better Business Bureau and filed an official complaint. within a week we received an E-mail from Magic Jack agreeing to give us the upcoming year for free!!!

Jonah's Mesibat Shabbat

2009-03-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Jonah's Mesibat Shabbat

My fight with Magic Jack

2009-03-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

Here's the story. Our Magic Jack (its a phone jack that you plug into your USB port and it gives you a US phone number) broke last week. My Mom bought us a new one in the states and brought it to us. All their advertising, including the packaging, claims that when you purchase a Magic Jack it includes a year free.

Last night I was chatting with the customer service people (they don't have phones, just livechat) I wanted her to transfer my old number to the new jack. After she was done, just before I logged off, I asked her to confirm that our subscription is extended a year.

She told me that I don't get a free year, only new customers do. When I told her that their advertising doesn't say that, she told me that I was being to literal and I should read between the lines.
I copied the conversation , it's really good read. - When it says Natalie Zacks, it was really me, just logged in on Nat's name

Lizzie: HOLD

Natalie Zacks: ok

Natalie Zacks: will it add a year to my subscription because I paid for it

Lizzie: May I know if the new magicJack is the one you plugged in?

Natalie Zacks: yea

Natalie Zacks: the old one is broken

Lizzie: Are you sure?

Natalie Zacks: yes, I opened the box right before we started chatting

Natalie Zacks: and the old one is broken

Lizzie: Where did you buy it?

Natalie Zacks: radio shack

Lizzie: Please wait while I check that for you

Lizzie: This will take time, Natalie, I am double checking the steps we have done, to ensure that everything have gone smoothly...

Natalie Zacks: ok

Lizzie: Okay, the old magicJack already expired it's service.

Lizzie: Service Began: 02/19/2008

Lizzie: License Expires: 03/04/2009

Natalie Zacks: thats today

Lizzie: The number was successfully transferred to the new jack.

Natalie Zacks: thank you

Lizzie: Therefore your new jack needs to be extended it years of service by going to my.magicjack.com

Natalie Zacks: shouldn't a new year be added because I bough the jack

Natalie Zacks: it says my purchase comes with a year of service'

Lizzie: No, since the default year will be voided due to request for transfer of serial number.]

Lizzie: When you purchase it, it comes with a year.

Lizzie: But you asked that the old magicJack number be transferred to the new jack, the default year was eliminated.

Natalie Zacks: it says on the box that I paid 39.99 and I get a free year with that

Lizzie: Yes.

Lizzie: But you asked that the old magicJack number be transferred to the new jack, the default year was eliminated.

Natalie Zacks: it doesnt say anything aboiyt that being waved'

Natalie Zacks: then I should get 20 bucks back from teh cost of teh jack

Natalie Zacks: i don't see what one thing has to do with the other

Lizzie: One moment please...

Lizzie: It's like ordering a McDonalds cheese burger.

Lizzie: then you decided to upgrade it with an additional beef patty and cheese..

Lizzie: It becomes what? Double cheese burger.

Lizzie: I

Lizzie: It's like what we do.

Natalie Zacks: wwhy is keeping my number an upgrade?

Natalie Zacks: it doesnt mention that anywhere

Lizzie: What was mentioned there in there package is for new users...

Natalie Zacks: doesnt say intial users on the box

Lizzie: For customers who have no numbers yet.

Natalie Zacks: it says it says the purchase price inmcludes a free year

Natalie Zacks: its liek if mcdonalds advertises a burger for 99 cents

Natalie Zacks: and then I buy a burger for 99 cents

Natalie Zacks: and then go back and buy another burger

Natalie Zacks: it will still cost 99 cents

Lizzie: Purchase price includes free year, for new members, that is

Natalie Zacks: where does it say this

Natalie Zacks: because the box disagrees with you

Natalie Zacks: nowshere does it say new members

Lizzie: Nathalie, read between the lines.

Natalie Zacks: I'm reading the lines

Lizzie: You look at it literally.

Natalie Zacks: which say that I am entitled toa free year with purchase of a magic jjack

Lizzie: If you are a new member

Natalie Zacks: so yourre saying that magic jack has false advertising?

Lizzie: It's not false ad, Natalie

Natalie Zacks: should i not literally read thaat the service is good?

Natalie Zacks: it says the phone servive is good

Natalie Zacks: but maybe i should read between the lines

Lizzie: Purchase price includes free year, for new members,

Natalie Zacks: where does it say that

Natalie Zacks: I'm looking at the package right now

Lizzie: "........"

Natalie Zacks: teh words new members isnt there

Lizzie: It's not there because it is understood that the packaging is designed to attrack new customers.

Natalie Zacks: why is that understood?

Natalie Zacks: your company refuses to replace the parts

Natalie Zacks: so repeat customers have to buy new jacks as well

Lizzie: I would like to ask you Natalie where did you originally purchase the first magicJack?

Natalie Zacks: i didnt

Natalie Zacks: it was a gift

Lizzie: Who gave it to you?

Natalie Zacks: my mother

Lizzie: What's her name?

Natalie Zacks: this is all irrelavant

Natalie Zacks: the point is that Magic promises a free year with teh purchase of a new jack

Lizzie: So that I can pull out the original account info.

Natalie Zacks: y?

Natalie Zacks: what does that have to do with this false ads?

Natalie Zacks: ive seen the infomercials, he says you buy the jack and I'll give you a year free

Natalie Zacks: he also forgot to mention new customers

Lizzie: It's nothing to do with anything, Natalie..

Natalie Zacks: is teh unlimited calling also pretendshould I read between the lines that since I'm an exsisting customer I will charged 10 dollars per minute?

Natalie Zacks: the box also promises free voicemail

Natalie Zacks: is that just to attract new customers?

Natalie Zacks: what is between those lines?

Lizzie: It has free voicemail

Natalie Zacks: can I trust that

Natalie Zacks: its on the box, just like my free year

Natalie Zacks: and you told me not to take trhat literally

Natalie Zacks: did magic jack really get great reviews frin NBC and ABC and FOX news?

Natalie Zacks: or shoudl i read between teh lines, that they mentioned them ina broadcast, but didnt say if it was any good?

Natalie Zacks: now I have a hgard time tajking anything in your ads literally

Lizzie: To only one thing Natalie, that is "Purchase price includes free year-for new members" and the rest is good.

Natalie Zacks: how can I believe that

Natalie Zacks: if one line isnt true, why should I believe that the rest is?

Natalie Zacks: also, it doesnt say new members

Natalie Zacks: you keep adding that

Natalie Zacks: I find it a little ironic that my subscription happened to run out today

Natalie Zacks: is there somewhere I can see that in writing?>

Lizzie: That's internal information.

Natalie Zacks: can i see it?

Natalie Zacks: or should i read something in betwen the lines?

Natalie Zacks: it seems weird for my subscription to fro 2/19 to 3/4

Natalie Zacks: why would I have a subscription for a year and a few days?

Natalie Zacks: Well, I now have a hard time recommending magic jack to any of my friends, since I can't eblieve what your company says

Natalie Zacks: and my social network is always looking for VOIP services since I live outside teh US

Natalie Zacks: it's like I went to McDonalds and they said I could have a hamburger, but then they gave me a veggie burger

Natalie Zacks: u still there?

Ariel Aliyah

2009-02-23T10:31:00.001-08:00

Here is a short video that was made by someone here, it starts with our pilot,has a piece from our arrival, and few other interviews. It's used as a promotional piece for Ariel Aliyah.

Just remember the camera added about 20 lbs to me:)

What a Shabbos

2009-02-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

Shabbat started out normally, it seemed like the highlight was I sat with a dictionary and read the newspaper on Friday night. Then Jonah woke up came into our room and said that there was water everywhere.

Israel was blessed with lots of rain this Shabbat, and it really wanted to come into my apartment. I spent a little over an hour fighting with the water, pushing it to the drain in the bathroom. Meanwhiel Jonah and Sammyreally wanted to help, so they played in the water, and did their best to help. Jonah was sad that we only have one large Squeege, and he thought he should have it instead of me.

The water was coming in from the porch, I checked teh drain and it there was nothing in it that I could see. The blockage must have been somewhere else.

I got it cleaned, and the rain had stopped so I went to shul. I knew that if it rained again we would have more issues, since the porch was still backed up.

About an hour or so after I got to shul it started to pour, I ran home and shortly after water started pouring in again. Another hour of squeeging, plus this time I started to bail out the porch and it was time for lunch.

Thankfully, there was no more flooding, which is good because we were running out towels, and patience. Plus our kids dumped all their toys on the floor, and spilled multiple cups of on the floors, and I don't think I coudl handle any more clean-up

I need a vacation

my son

2009-02-05T01:55:00.000-08:00

Sammy is walking around the apartment holding an XBOX game, and yelling "XBOX, XBOX"...I'm impressed he can tell the difference between an XBOX case and a DVD case.

What's more impressive

2009-01-28T09:22:00.001-08:00

Whoever wins the Super Bowl this year will accomplish what only 43 other teams have done. What the Lions ACCOMPLISHED this season, losing every single game, is something has only been done one time. The Lions outdid the other team, who had only lost 14 games, but blowing all 16 games.
So I ask you, which is more impressive?

Funny Jonah Story

2009-01-25T05:13:00.000-08:00

Jonah wanted to play on the computer today, and I decided to try some educational program, a learn how to read website called starfall.com.

Basically, the website gives you the last two letters of a words, and a picture and you have to come up with the first letter, and they give 4 options.

They showed "en" and showed a hen, so Jonah was sounding it out "hhhhhh" and then said "Hey" (a letter in the Hebrew AlphaBet that sounds the same as "H")

It was very funny, I told him he had the rights sound but the wrong language.

Kayla Rivka

2009-01-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

Life has sure been crazy lately, Nat and I had a baby girl, her name is Kayla Rivka I will post some pictures probably tomorrow

night out

2009-01-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

Nat and I went out to the movies last night, I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've gone to the movies since the day before Sammy was born. We saw Madagascar 2, there were 2 options for Madagascar, we could see it in in English, or in Hebrew, obviously we chose the English the English version.

This brought a couple questions to Nat's mind
1. Is it really worth it for the theater to have the English speaking version if there is Hebrew speaking one -
A. We were the only people in the theater - so it probably did not make sense for them to have an english version.

2. Since people have the option for the hebrew one, will there be subtitles
A. Yes, they still had subtitles, whoch I don't mind, because I like to read the hebrew.

The movie itself was cute, oddly enough out of the last 4 movies Nat and I have been 3 have been animated - Flushed Away, Madagascar 1, and now Madagascar 2, (don't remember what the non-animated one in the middle is so it's possible that the last 3 movies have been animated.)

The problem with the movie was it reminded us a LOT of the Lion King, I think the writers couldn't think of a great storyline for the Lion so they just stile Simba's life and used it. But other than that it was pretty funny.

makes even less sense then yesterday.

2009-01-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Well, Israel decided they didn't want to fight anymore despite Hamas saying they weren't ready to stop firing rockets at us.

Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped Israeli Soldier, is still being held by Hamas. The israeli prime minister and defense minister said they are still commited to bringing him back home, I'm curious how.

We blasted the crap out of Hamas and didn't get him, and then instead of finishing the job, Israel quit. Do they expect that Hamas will give back Shalit as a thank for leaving present?

I don't get it

2009-01-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

I just read on arutzsheva.com that Israel is considering a ceasefire with Hamas. and here are the terms.
Hamas doesn't attack Israel for 1 year and Israel has to pull out.
At the same time they have sworn to avenge the death of one of their leaders, and they demand 1000 terrorists returned from jail.

I don't know a lot, maybe someone can explain it to me better, but why teh hell would Israel accept this? Basically, Hamas has sworn that they will avenge a guys death, and probably in 365 days they will once again attack Israel, and Israel will be able to reattack GAZA and have the whoel thing happen again. Why not just finish the job now when Hamas is on the run. Don;t give them time to replenish their troops and get new weapons...

Spitting at the clock

2009-01-10T10:32:00.001-08:00

A while back someone, I think it was Yaakov, told me that of you stick your tongue out and blow at the computer the screen will dance and jump around.

I was bored this afternoon and I did it at the clock and it was fun, the numbers were going in all different direction. I told to Nat to do it, but she refused, so instead I called Jonah over and showed him what to do. After that Nat saw how much fun we were having and she tried it and saw how much fun we had, so she stuck out her tongue and gave it a whirl, and agreed that it was so much fun.

Then Batch tried, and we all learned that Batch (some of you know her as Shev or Shevy, or just my little sister ) doesn't know how to spit, she tried and tried but couldn't bring herself to see the numbers bounce. Finally, she managed to do something in her throat and made it happen.

Good time on Shabbat in Ariel

An all around sucky day

2009-01-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

A little background...
I had an interview two weeks ago Jerusalem and I left hopeful that I would get the job. They said I should hear back from them within two week. Last Thursday I decided to follow up with the interviewer and see if I made it to the next round of interviews. She spoke to me in Hebrew and I was pretty sure she said that she was going to call me on Sunday and let me know, do I want to come in on Monday morning for an interview. I told her that would be great, how did 10:00 sound. She said that was good and we hung up.

Last night I went to bed a little nauseous, I thought it night have something to do with the huge schnitzel sandwich I ate, and I figured I could sleep it off. Sadly, I woke up around 2 something in the morning and threw up. I was debating about calling and rescheduling the interview, but then I decided I should man-up and go.

I caught the 7:30 bus to Jerusalem, it took a little under 2 hours of twisty turny roads, I felt like throwing up for much of the ride. I got to Jerusalem and walked to catch the bus that would take me close to the office. I got on the bus around a quarter to 10.

I called the person I had been in contact with and told her I was on the way, just running a few minutes late. She was very confused as to why I was coming in. I told her I spoke with her on Thursday about the second interview, and she told me to come in today.

Then she switched to English and said there must have been a miscommunication, she told me to call her on Monday and she would be able to update me. The promblem with my Hebrew comprehension is that I know some of the words and then I plug in the ones that I didn't understand. So I heard Monday at 10:00 and assumed that what she meant I had an interview Monday at 10:00.

I got off the bus in Geula, walked back to the central bus station, with a stop-off at Marzipan for some rugelach, and caught the 11:00 bus back to Ariel. I was so exhausted, a bit nauseous , but there is very little leg room on the bus and I couldn't get comfortable, add that to the bus having issues, so the driver had to keep shutting down teh engine and retsrating and it was not an enjoyable ride back.

I got home around 12:30 and found Nat lying on the couch looking sick. she must have caught whatever I have. So there we sat all day curled on the couches, neither one of us wanted to get off teh couch to deal with the kids, so they kinda were kind of neglected all day. And now Sammy isn't going to sleep, he's just sitting in bed screaming "Mommy"

Hopefully tomorrow, a fast day, will be an improvement

Prayer for the Welfare of Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces

2009-01-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

Prayer for the Welfare of Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces

May He who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, bless the soldiers
of the Israel Defense Forces who keep guard over our country and cities of
our Lord from the border with Lebanon to the Egyptian desert and from the
Mediterranean Sea to the approach to the Arava, be they on land, air or sea.

May the Almighty deliver us our enemies who arise against us, may the Holy
One, blessed be He, preserve them and save them from all sorrow and peril,
from danger and ill.

May He send blessing and success in all their endeavors, may He deliver to
them those who hate us and crown them with salvation and victory, so that
the saying may be fulfilled through them, "For the Lord, your God, who walks
with you and to fight your enemies for you and to save you", and let us say,
Amen.

Israeli Air Force

2009-01-01T11:06:00.001-08:00

I saw this the Muqata blog , he gives up to teh minute updates on the war here. He explained how the Israeli Air Force operates and I felt it was was worth re-posting

"5:05 PM Just to give people an idea of how the Israeli Air Force works, they use a method called "Knocking On The Roof". There are several steps...
1. The AF calls the house they're about to hit that they are about to bomb it.
2. The residents send all the women and children to the roof of the building with the understanding that the AF won't strike civilians.
3. The AF has developed a small missile that creates a small non-lethal explosion without shrapnel to scare off all the civilians.
4. When they have left the area the building is hit with the big guns.

5:01 PM IDF called Nazir Rayan (He was a top hamas bad guy - shu) to tell him that they were about to bomb the site. He decided to stay in the house with his family and people. 10-16 killed in the attack."

Addicted to war...

2008-12-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

or rather , I'm addicted to war coverage. I pretty much spend all day online flipping between some news sites and blogs reading the latest happenings. I'm pretty sure it;s unhealthy, but it's become a war pattern for me. I spent 9/11 and the days following that watching non-stop news. Two years ago during the Lebanon war I was glued to the all news networks for a few weeks. That actually had a lot to do with my decision to move here. Nowadays I don't understand the TV news so I pretty much do all following on the web.

Just to let everyone know, we are not in the south or within range of the rockets. Despite being on the "other" side of the "green line" I feel very safe and secure here. My daily life hasn't changed..of course my daily routine is mostly me sitting at home trying to figure out what to do.

May G-d watch over us and the brave soldiers of the IDF (Israel Defense Force)

What Christmas

2008-12-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

So here we are on December 24th, Nat and I take the kids to mall and there isn't of Christmas anywhere. Instead there were Dreidels hanging from the ceilings, menorahs and candles being sold in lots of stores.
It is really cool to live here

A chanukah miracle?

2008-12-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

It is pouring tonight, I guess that's part one of the miracle.
About 20 minutes after I got into bed, the storm was raging, I could hear the wind smacking into my building, and then I heard a loud and long crack of thunder. My first thought was " Crap, that'll wake up at least kid." It didn't, but for some reason, it got me out of bed. I enjoy watching a nice rain storm as much as the next guy, I couldn't see how hard the rain was from my room, so I figured I would go to the porch.
The lights were all out, and I stepped in a big puddle of water next to the couch. I assumed I left a cup on the floor and it must have gotten knocked over, then I saw that there was a huge puddle, and it was coming from my porch.
The drain on the porch must have gotten backed up, and the water was coming in through the door. There was a lot of it, and this had started within the past 15 minutes. I started squee-G-ing out the floor as fast as I could, I put towels in front of teh door to slow down teh water and I jammed a stick in teh drain to try and unblock it...I was succesful, it is now nicely drained.
Baruch Hashem I gor out of bed to see the storm, or who knows if I would have had to swim to the front door when I woke up.

Sammy

2008-12-23T14:06:00.000-08:00

I don;t know what is wrong with Sammy lately, but I'm pretty sure he is crazy.
Last night he woke around 2 in the morning, and he stayed up until almost 5!! Some of the time he played in his room by himself, most of teh time he needed to be held or cried. Around 4 I put on the TV the kids channel had some shows looping, he was very entertained by this..Finally his eyes started to glaze over, and I was turned off the TV and took him to bed. He moaned TV, TV a few times and finally fell asleep. I watched the first half of the Packers - Bears game, Sammy fell asleep at the 2 minute warning.

He woke up around 8:30, I took him to day care, when I picked him up, they said he didn't nap all day. So he was pretty exhausted all afternoon. Nats Grandma, aunt and some cousins were supposed to come over in teh evening for some latkes and to visit. The idea was to get Sammy asleep before they came.

Unfortantley that didn't happen, and he was up for their whole visit. and then he cried for many hours, and I think Nat finally got him to sleep after 11:00...We have no idea what to do with him, all he wants is to eat Cheerios and have someone, he prefers Nat, hold him.

May G-d have mercy on our soul

A deep conversation with a 4 year old

2008-12-04T10:23:00.001-08:00

I was reading Jonah a bedtime story, a dinosaur book, and Jonah interrupts me and asks how Hashem remembers to make it night day all the time. I explained to him the the Hashem set the earth to go around the sun. I used a soccer ball to demonstrate. (thank goodness for that orbit book at mom and dads.)

He was happy with my answer and then said, so Hashem is up in space?
Hashem is everywhere I said, and I went through the hashem is here, there song. Next he asked what Hashem looked like. I told him that Hashem doesn't look like anything.
He thought for a second and then said, I know about dinosaurs because i read lots of dinosaur books, are there any books about Hashem?
I told him there is it's called the Torah.

Then he asked if it says how hashem made the world.
I told him that it does, it says that Hashem made the sky and the ground and light and dark.
Then he asked, was Hashem there before then.
I said he was and then he asked how...and I decided it was time close the discussion and I went back to reading the book.

UPDATED

I forgot about part of the discussion.
Jonah asked me why Hashem made the bad king.
I asked which king
He said you know the one that was mean to the Jews.
Paroh, I guessed.
Yea, Paroh, why did hashem make him if he was mean to the Jews.
I explained that just like I have tp put him in timeout when he doesn't listen, Hashem also has to punish the Jews when they don't listen, so he made Paroh to punish the Jews.

He was OK with that, then he asked. Why did Hashem kill all the dinosaurs.
I told him I had no idea.
He thought and then said, maybe it's so we can live here.
I told him that made a lot of sense.

Sand sand everywhere...

2008-12-04T06:22:00.000-08:00

......and not a beach nearby

the playground of both Jonah and Sammy's gan is all sand, what's weird is they also have a sandbox in the yard, so they, mainly Jonah, is always sandy.

On the way home from Gan we pass a bench, I take off Jonah's shoes and shake them out, smack them on the ground, bang them together. It is incredible how much sand comes out of those shoes. It's accumulating on the manhole cover next to the bench. Next I take off his socks and get rid of all the sand that made its way inside and brush off his feet.

Amazingly, when he gets home and takes off his shoes, there is still more sand, that makes it way everywhere, all over the floor, on the couches, on toys, it's really gross and I can't firgure out how to fix it.

One thought is to place a water basin outside the door, like our forefathers did and have him rinse off his feet before entering the apartment. Short of that I can't think of anything else :(

Virtual walking tour of our apartment

2008-11-24T06:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a virtual guided walking tour of our apartment. The porch scene didn't quite come out, it's more of a blinding light

A new chavrusa

2008-11-23T23:55:00.000-08:00

A little bit ago I requested a chavrusa, and someone hooked me up with one..who doesn't speak English.

Today was our first day, we are learning Gemara Shabbat..Here is an example of how our language barrier has effected us so far. We were supposed to meet at 2:15 at the beit mdrash, I have never met this person, just given his name and number. I arrived a few minutes early, peeked into the beit midrash to see if there was anyone who looked like he was waiting to meet with someone. There were a couple guys learning by themselves, none looked up when the new guy walked in, so I called. I told him I was at the beit midrash, and I continued to wait.

After a few mninutes of just standing outside, I ventured back inside, sat down open a sefer and waited for him to come. At 2:30 I decided that I was going to call him - because I had to leave at 3:00. I called him, and I was pretty sure he said that he was just around the corner, to the right of the beit midrash, I went in to wait.This time, someone looked uo from their sefer, and waved me over..their sitting to teh right of the entrace was my chavrusa, he had been sitting there the whole..I told himn that I had been sitting one table over for the last 15 minutes waiting..we had a nice laugh, and then started learning.

I think I understood most of what he said in regarding the learning so that was good

Omega Shipping

2008-11-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

I don't get this company it's as if they are trained that the customer is an annoyance, rather than a customer. For those who don't know Omega Shipping is the horrible company that we used for our lift to Israel. For more background go to Nat's blog and read about their uselessness.

Here is my latest issue.
Some stuff on the lift came broken, so we filled out teh insurance forms, but I needed some additional information. I sent the following E-mail to Liat Yosef, Export coordinator

Hi,

In order to fill out the insurance sheet I need the following information
Departure date of Shipment
Arrival Date
policy number
endt number
Plus where do I send the form, to your or to Atlas Insurance? if its to Atlas how do I send it to them

Thank you
Shauli Zacks

She sent me this reply

Dear Shauli Zacks,

You have the information on the policy.
Please send it directly to atlas you also have their tell # and info on the policy.
Thank you

Liat Yosef
Export Coordinator
Omega Shipping Co, Inc

Obviously, I don't have the information, or I wouldn't have asked her for it. And let's say it is in my policy, which I don't see. Would it have killed her to put in the information. Even if she wants to tell me that I have it and I'm an idiot for not looking hard enough, but here is what you want. Instead she basically says, don't bother me with your problems.

So I called her and she again told me that I have it, I calmly told her that I don't see it anywhere, and if she has it on file can she give it to me. She really didn't want. She insisted I have it in some policy, which I don't have. I asked if I could at least have the phone number for the insurance company so I can submit my claim, and she says, its right there on the policy its a 1-800 and they have a fax. I again,. repeated that I DIDNT HAVE THIS INFORMATION, CAN SHE GIVE ME THE REST OF THE PHONE NUMBER. Perhaps she thought if I dialed 1-800 and wanted to call the insurance the phone would somehow know.

Finally she said she would look at my file and e-mail the information., I'm pretty sure she just wanted to get me off the phone because it's been about 4 hours and I haven't heard from her.

Cute Sammy Video

2008-11-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute video of Sammy

Cookie Experiement

2008-11-13T23:02:00.000-08:00

Last week I started making cookies again, and it isb't the same. I was told by mom and Golda that the margarine here is bad. Last week I took Mom and Golda's advice and I melted the margarine and then poured it in with the other ingredients. The batter looked weird and the cookies didn't come out like they used to in my previous life/.

This week Nat suggested using something like "I can't believe it's not butter" the Mazola brand here. The batter was very sweet, but very gooey. The cookies came out really sweet, good, but not how I want them.

Next week I will try using oil and seeing how that comes out.

The strangest thing is that in both cases the batter has made about 15 cookies less than before.

Jonah the philosopher

2008-11-02T00:27:00.001-07:00

On Shabbat Nat took the boys to our nice view spot, which overlooks an arab village. Then it was prayer time, and they started making noise, so Jonah wanted to know why they had a shul if they aren't Jewish, then he asked, if they arent jewish, why do they live in Israel, they should live in Detroit, and finally, why does hashem make non jewish people

GOOOAAAALLLLLL

2008-10-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sadly, basketball didn't work out again today. There were just three of us, was probably older than my dad. For those Tuesday Night basketball readers think Larry but without the knowledge. Anyway, we played that I'm guessing was supposed to be 21, but at some point got lost in translation. basically each guy got 5 free throws, if he missed the other two played for a shot but the shooter doesn't play defense. It was pretty dumb. I'm glad I got to the court 15 minutes before the other two so I could at least shoot around.

Then came the Soccer game, I scored my first goal, and somehow I was able to act like I've been there before. No excessive celebrations or anything. I actually thought I was a nice play. I stole the ball in my own zone and broke away on net, it should be noted that the old guy in net - but I would've scored on anyone:) anyway I ran straight at the goal looking left I show right and beat the goalie cleanly. I scored again, but that was more lucky, and thanks to the old guy. I just shot the ball on net and he missed it.

Anyway, now the recruiting for basketball players, and possibly a change of venue so there isn't a soccer game to compete with, is on my shoulders. I was told to ensure that the Americans. all 4 of us, come and play next. Wish me luck

Ikea

2008-10-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

The last time I went to Ikea was in the New Jersey, before Nat and I got married and I was pretty that when bad people die they have to spend eternity at an Ikea, of course, I felt like I had just spent an eternity there.

So I was not that excited when Nat really wanted to go to Ikea in Netanya, but I'm a team player so I went. We had heard there was a kosher restaurant there, but I assumed that there was no sukkah. I was pleasantly surprised when we saw a big sukkah right in front of the store.

A few minutes after we got to the top level someone came and asked me if I davened mincha yet, I hadn't so I went to the Ikea shul, it may have been nicer that my shul in Ariel. There were two cabinets of sefarim, probably for the guys who are dragged to the store, but manage to sit and and learn.

I saw a sign in the shul that said there are 4 kosher mehadrim (the best kind of kosher) and the strictest laws of Shmitta. I was excited, I can take a break from all the shopping and eat.

The food was good, we had chicken and fries in the sukkah.

Then we went back to the shopping. The second part of the shopping wasn't enjoyable for me, it was the second level looking through the bins. But all in all, it was a nicer experience than my first Ikea trip

Basketball take 2

2008-10-16T15:27:00.001-07:00

I was right, I had to leave Ariel in order to get in a good basketball game. I just didn't think I had to go all the way up to Ma'alot.

The game was still mostly Israelis, with the exception of my brother and me. We played 3 on 3 and it was pretty similar to my old Tuesday night game. We played 3 on 3, on a court that was similar to an ice skating ring. I didn't know that I was playing ball when I came up, so I didn't bring the right shoes. But I survived, I was just happy to play.

I woudl say the level of play was pretty similar to Tuesday Night Ball, so that was good. It was tough not understanding 90 percent of what was being said. But by the end of the game, I was able to communicate with my teammates, I guess basketball transcends language :0

The basketball game that turned to a soccer game

2008-10-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

I finally played basketball tonight, two-on-two, everything they say about Israeli basketbakll is true. It was nearly impossible to get to the basket because of the grabbing and pushing. It was great to at least play. We played for half hour or so and then things got strange. The court we play is also used as a soccer court, it has nets built in under the hoops.

A bunch of other people showed up and wanted to play soccer, the other three guys, 2 israelis and an American, asked if I wanted to play soccer. I didn't want to be the reason we didn't play so I said sure.

There were 14 people and we played 5 on 5 - first to score two goals wins. My first game I kicked the ball one time, and it slammed off the other guys leg. He winced in pain, and my team congradulated me on the shot and told me that if I keep that up we will have a shot at winning :)

Sadly, that was my shot of teh game, we lost 2-0.

While waiting for my next game I was asked, by the American, if I ever played soccer. The last time I played I think was in 4th or 5th grade. I told our gym teacher that we shouldn't play soccer because it was Eurapean game and we should play American games. That was the last time I played.

Anyway, game two, we lost 2-0 in about 10 seconds.

I learned some important words, like defense and offense and what not.

Game 3, I played in goal. I didn't want to, but I was voted in.
The last time I played goal of any sort was in a roller hockey tournaemnt, I forget how old I was, but I assume I was 13 or 14, anyway I played goal because I hurt my knee and couldn't skate. I had all the equipment, except a cup. And wouldn't you know I took a wrister right in the groin. Since then I've kinda tried to avoid contact with the puck and now a soccer ball. Needless to say I wasn't thrilled to play goal, but I did anyway.

I gave a up a goal pretty quickly, I was out of position and gave up a rebound for a quick goal.
I was pretty solid for teh next few minutes, came out on a guy on a breakaway and stopped him, blocked a few shots. Then came the killer, I weak roller from a bad angle, I felt like Bill Buckner, I went down and cmae up without the ball. It went right between my legs. We lost 2-1

I played one last uneventful game and that was all she wrote,

I have to say I am amazed by the other players, how they can keep the ball on the foot and move is amazing, never seen anything like it. Of course, I don't claim to have ever seen anyone play soccer before, so it's all new me.

The grass is always greener

2008-10-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

In theory Yom Kippur was really nice, as far as yom kippur goes, we started at 8:00 and finished Mussaf a little before 1:30. Mincha started at 3:20 and we were done by 6:05.

But most of the time I was missing my old shul in Detroit. I know, if I was in Detroit, I would be annoyed at how long shul lasted, there was too much singing and who knows what else. In reality, whenever I'm in shul here I long for my shul, where i had my seat, I had my friends and I was comfortable.

I haven't quite hit that level of comfort here, I don't have a seat, i kinda bounce around from seat to seat. Shul here just isn't the same,

Breakfast of champions

2008-10-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

A Malawah, I think, is a puff pastry, blintz-like food, and one fries it in oil. I usually put chocolate spread on it. Someone suggested having peanut butter, making it like a reese peanut butter cup. It was great. Not sure why this isn't a popular treat in the states.

rolled up
Enjoying the delicacy

Ulpan dilemma

2008-10-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

Nat and I started Ulpan tonight, so much fun. but here's the issue.
It's from 5:30 -8:45 Sunday Monday Wednesday and Thursday. This makes it pretty impossible for both Nat and me to go to Ulpan, it would cost us a lot in babysitting fees, and we would probably miss our kids. Avi, our Ariel guru, wants to set up a chug from 5:30 -7:00 for the kids and then one of us would stay the whole time and one of us would go home with the kids. I have a feeling this won't really work to well.
Another thought we had was rotating days and we take nots and share with the other ion their off day.
Personally, I was never a big fan of sitting in a class room and 5-7 months of this will be tough for me to handle, plus when I get a job, it will probably be difficult/impossible to make it to ulpan.

some firsts

2008-10-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

- I went to the early Minyan on Rosh Hashana - started at 6:30 and finished at 9:50
- Jonah introduced himself to someone as Yonah
- I sent a text message in hebrew
- I took the bus from Jerusalem to Ariel - a little over an hour and a half
- I knowingly allowed tomatoes on my shwarma

Dairy on shabbos???

2008-09-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

We were invited out for shabbos lunch and we accepted, what we didn't know at the time of acceptence was that the lunch was going to be dairy.

It's not that they didn't serve meat that was dissapointing, once before I unknowingly stayed by vegetarians and had dairy shabbat. What was bad here was these people WERE NOT vegetarian, they just feel that it's to early for meat. So they have dairy. I should point out that the food was really good, just no animals

I love the smell of vomit in the morning

2008-09-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

Jonah came into my room at about 5:00 and wanted to sleep in my bed, since my bed is barely big enough for me, and I was to tired to fight with him, I went to his bed to sleep.

Shortly after I was awakened by a weird sound, it was like liquid was being splashed, in my sleepy haze I wondered if Sammy had a siuppy cup or a bottle, I look over at him, and saw him lying next to a pool of something..moments later the smell hit me, barf.

I woke up Nat told her of the situation, and then I rolled back over to sleep. or at least that's what I wanted to do. I really cleaned up the mess, while Nat calmed Sammy down and put him back to sleep.

This morning, Sammy has awoken again and is in great spirits, and not feeling sick at all

ironic

2008-09-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

Nat bought some hot dog buns today which were called הלחמניה Ha'lachmania
On Pesach we say הא לחמה עניה- (this is the bread of our affliction) Which sounds the same, Ha'lachmania, as the hot dog buns

I wonder if the people who named the buns knew they sounded the same, it would seem weird to intentialloy named the hot dog buns, the bread of our affliction

Soccer

2008-09-21T14:26:00.001-07:00

I think the seed was planted in Jonah's head before we came here, I believe at camp this past summer.

Jonah and I were walking past a soccer/basketball court and he told me that he likes all sports, but he likes soccer the best. And a little piece of me died inside.

Despite my personal dislike of the game I bought Jonah a soccer ball today and he was so excited. Tomorrow we will go out and play soccer at the park.

Slingbox help

2008-09-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

I've been a little dissapointed and confused by the slingbox, I'll probably contact customer support tomorrow, for some reason the upload speed won't stay consistent. It needs to be around 300 kbps for a good picture. For some reason its ranges from 76, which is impossible to watch, to 370 which is good. It fluctuates by the second, no consistentsy and I can't figure out why. I'm not using a wireless connection, I'm plugged directly into the cable. I would think that the connection would be solid.

I hurt all over

2008-09-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

I went to high school near Pittsburgh, and because of that I spent many a Shabbat in Pittsburgh. I swore that I would never move there because of all the hills. The thought of having to walk up uphill wherever I went was not one I wanted to imagine. And we never to Pittsburgh- We lived in a suburb for a few months, but it's important to note that that is a flat suburb.

So who would have thunk, that one day we decided to up and move to Israel, and we would pick a city, a lovely city, where I have to go uphill all the time. Someone told me that it's better this way, because in the mountains the air is much cooler, but still whenever I walk anywhere it uphill, and I have no car.

I woke yesterday so sore, all over, and then on Friday night due to crazy screaming Sammy I went on two long-very late night-walks, I woke up Shabbat morning even more sore. I hurt in places I didn't know you could fell pain. Every step is like a knife stab, I don't know what a knife stab feels like -I'm just drawing a picture here, every time I have to move my warms I wince a bit. And that is with sucking it up:)

A friend tried to tell me that this is a good pain, but he could say that, because he isn't hurting right now.

GREAT SALE

2008-09-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

I was searching for some furniture on a website and I saw one of the mattresses had a price crossed out and under it the sale price, orginally it was 599.99 and now its only 598.99 !!!!!

Ariel restaraunt review

2008-09-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

So far we've eaten out most meals, mostly because we have no way of cooking food at our apartment yet.

The Pizza shop, this is one of 3 pizza shops I believe, but it's the only one we've been at. I'm not sure of the name, but it's located in the Mercaz (shopping district) in the older section of town. The pizza is really good, One slice is about the size of a Personal pizza at Jerusalem pizza (in Detroit) A large plain cheese cost 55 shekel and the delievry is free.
I almost ordered on the phone, but then once they answered the phone and said something in hebrew, I tossed the phone to a friend and had him make the order.

Then we ate a Shwarma/Falafel place, also in the Mercaz, and like the pizza shop, no idea what the name is. The food was really good, and the guy who runs the place seemed nice. I had a shwarma in a laffa, and Jonah had a piece a of shnitzel that tasted really good. Nat and Sammy had teh falafel, Nat said she thinks it was good. And Sammy was cinfused because he said ball and threw it, but we told him to eat it. He had a few bites and seemed to enjoy it.

Finally, there is the Schnitzelaria (or something like that but in Hebrew) This place reminds me of subway but with schnitzel, you can poick what kind you want, I had Italian, then you pick your salads, dressings and other stuff, and it goes on a freshly baked subway. I would have guessed it's a footlong, but they don't measure stuff in feet here, so maybe it was 30 centimeter sub. They are located next door to our apartment and a sandwich only cost 20 shek. The down side is there isn't an English menu, so I just guessed at the chicken I wanted.

There are still more places that we have to check out, I hear this place called BA-BA- GRILL is really good.

pictures

2008-09-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

..or at least a link to pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/Shauli.zacks/OurAliyah

We are here

2008-09-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

After all the talking we finally did it, we moved to Israel, and so far it's been good. Some tidbits of teh good the bad and the ugly

Today Nat got see just how nice the people in Ariel are, I went to Jerusalem and took both sets of keys and the phone. Nat was on her to take Jonah to gan, and returned to find that I had the keys the phone and the money, and she was pretty stuck. But some new friends helped her survive the ordeal, hopefully one day we will laugh at it, for now I hope she still talks to me :)

I davened shachris at the kotel this morning and mincha in a shul at the supermarket. It was pretty neat, they announced it was time for mincha over the loudspeaker. I learn from this that the women here send the men to the store.

We finally got cell phones today, I'm not sure how people lived without them.

We moved into our apartment last night, it's 3 bedrooms 2 bathroom very nice, now we just need to furninsh it. Our lift won't get here for another few weeks, still hating on our shippping company, so our apartment is pretty bare. We need to buy some beds and closets and other essentials that aren't on our lift next week.

All in all it's been exhausting, the kids are finally on schedule Jonah started Gan a few days ago, although he refused to go today - but promised to go tomorrow. Sammy will hopefully start day care next week. I, hopefully, will find a job soon and life can go on as normal.

Goodbye Detroit, we'll miss you

2008-09-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well Nat and I decided that we couldn't live in an area where Kwame has no control (although he's been out of control for a while) so yesterday we left Detroit. Detroit, really Oak Park and Southfield, is the only place I've ever really called home. I was born there and, with the exception of high school and part of college, lived there my whole life.

Leaving was definitley difficult, I certinaly didn't shed as many tears as Brett Favre did when he thought he was done playing football, but I'd be lying if I said I was dry eyed the whole way. I'll miss my family, friends, house and the comfort level that I felt there.

As Nat said on teh way to airport, It's been a good run, but now we are moving on

Happy Birthday

2008-09-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today was Jonahs 4th birthday and as tradition dictates we had a great shared party with one of his best friends whose birthday is in 2 weeks. Their first party was kind of insane, there's a good chance that it was bigger then his bar mitzvah will be, this year we toned it down a bit.

We had the party at a nearby park, the kids loved it, it was kind of bitter sweet, seeing him running and playing with his friends, But knowing this is probably the last he'll play with many of his friends, pretending to be Buzz Lightyear and calling Sammy, Baby Buzz.

I know he'll make friends fast in Israel, but I still feel bad for taking him from his friends. I think one of the reasons Jonah leaving his friends is one of the hardest aspects of this for, is that most of his friends parents are close friends of mine and Nats, and I remember them being born. At the time I imagined that we would all grow up together, we'd hang out and our kids would hang out. that was one of the reasons I shot down the Aliyah idea a few years ago. For the most part, I know that even if we stayed that wouldn't happen now, because some of our friends are planning or hoping to leave anyway, some to Israel and some just away from here, but I've always like that thought.

Anyway, back to the Birthday day
Then we spent the rest of teh afternoon having fun in the pool with his cousins and ended the day the way every holiday should end, with a great BBQ

So FREAKIN COOL!!

2008-08-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big gadget but I've come across some pretty cool stuff during our moving preperations. First is the magic jack , basically you plug one end into your USB and the other end into a phone and waalaa you have a U.S. phone number and it only cost 20 bucks a year. I haven't plugged mine in, since we are sill in teh U.S. but some of my siblings have it and they don't seem to have any issues.

What really cool is the Slingbox , I've heard commercials for this and never thought it would work like they say. For the uninformed, a Slingbox is a device that one plugs into their cable at home (in my case, a frieds house) and plug the slingbox into the router and somehow I can watch my home TV on my computer. ANYWHERE..So I can come home from work on a sunday afternoon in Ariel, flip on the laptop and watch the Lions game, or whatever else is on Detroit television. I can pause, rewind or record up to an hour, and I have a TV Guide on it as well.

The picture is not crystal clear, still very watchable and will accomplish what I want it for.

So cool

Ultrasound

2008-08-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

I went to the Doctor with Nat today for her ultrasound visit (for those that don't know, she's pregnant) to be honest I wasn't so excited to head to doctors. But, being the good husband that I am, I went.

We sat in the waiting room for almost 40 minutes, then sat in a room and looked at grainy pictures that I had no idea what they were.

As we were leaving Nat asked if I was glad that I came.....

Our apartment

2008-08-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

We made the decision to find an apartment before we get to Israel, since our lift may get to there before we do, and pass up the absorption housing. We are on a E-mail list in Ariel that sends us Emails about different apartments that are available. The plan was that my lovely sister in law would be our agent and she was went to Ariel to look at some places.

We were told about one apartment that was in a nice location, price was perfect and the picture we saw looked OK, but it's tough to tell from pictures. For various reasons that apartment fell through. For the past few weeks Avi, our Ariel contact, has been telling us about a 3 bedroom apartment that is in the neighborhood we want, but the price was a bit high. When the cheaper apartment fell through, amazingly the price of the nice apartment dropped. At the same time a house came onto the market at a great price. but not in the right neighborhood, probably a 20 minute to the community that we want to live in. Not a terrible walk, but still kind of annoying.

Thanks to a lot of work by my sister-in-law and Avi it seems like we have an apartment in the neighborhood we want for a price we can afford.

For those who are wondering we have less then 3 weeks before we leave.

The move

2008-08-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

At around 11:00 the night before the movers were set to come, I left a message for Alon at Omega, the company we used to ship our stuff, I asked to please call me first thing in the morning, we never heard from the movers, who were supposed to call us 24 hours in advance, and we had no idea what the story was with our lift. By 9:00AM I hadn't heard from the movers or from Omega.

Around 10:00 I called and talked with our customer service rep who said we should have talked with the dispatcher yesterday. Since I hadn't she put me through to him. I told him I had no idea when our lift was coming, he told me that they weren't sending the lift. They were bring a truck, they would load the truck, put it in storage for 30 days and then load it into the lift. I asked him what the cost for this would be and he had no idea, said I had to talk to Alon. I informed him that I wasn't happy with Alon, because he has yet to get back to me. I asked the dispatcher when the movers would get to our house, he wasn't sure said he would get back to me. He called 20 minutes later or so and said they should arrive at 2:30.

I finally got in touch with Alon around 1:00, he said that he was able to get 30 days free shipping, but the double packing would cost $675.00. I told him that was unacceptable, we specifically said we wanted to know a price before he put it in storage. He said that Natalie had told them a few times that we wanted to store our stuff, and once it is in the container they can't store it, so this is what they did. I told him that we also asked what the cost would be, and even as late as yesterday they couldn't tell us.

Then Alon told us that they were doing a survey of a guy in Detroit, who we had discussed earlier the possibility of consolidating our lift and hopefully saving money, and if his stuff would fit with ours then they would combine them. I told Alon that the other guys stuff wouldn't fit in with our 20 foot lift, and we spoke with the other guy a few weeks ago and he said he was going to do his own thing. Or, he still had a 20 foot lift reserved and he could have it sent to our house the following day, the movers would box everything then, and put it on the lift the following day. With this option we would still have the issue of our stuff getting to Israel before we do.

Alon said we should call the other guy and see whats going, if he would split the double packing cost then it wouldn't be too bad, and it would be worth it for us to do. I called the other, he had no idea anyone was coming to his house, I think he was out of town, and he told me that he is using a different company.

So I called Alon back and told him that the other guy isn't using his company so that is a non-issue. So we decided that we would have him send us the lift and we would have to give up on the free 1 month apartment, and find a place before we got to Ariel.

Around 4:00 the movers pulled in, and I was talking to the leader of the group and he said they were taking all the stuff back to Indianapolis with them. I told them what we had heard from Omega and he said he would check with his dispatcher.

Around 6:00 they started loading things in the truck, I called Omega left a message for Alon and then talked to the receptionist and told her I need to talk to Alon ASAP - she said he's working on it, she heard him say my name on the phone. By 7;00 the truck was pretty full, I got in touch with Alon, he said that he didn't want the stuff to leave, and he was leaving a message for their bosses, and he would be in touch with me when he found out what was going on.

At 8:00 the movers were finished packing everything up, and they took off for Indianapolis. They told us that it might get driven back to Detroit, or they may meet the lift in the middle somewhere.

At around 8:45 Alon called and told me that the lift is going to Indianapolis and will be packed there. We won't get charged for the double packing, and it should get to Israel after we do, but he didn't tell me when.

Tomorrow I will call him and find out of they packed the lift and if everything fit, since they didn't measure it. And if it doesn't fit exactly how will they decide what to leave in Indianapolis.

Moving Day

2008-08-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the movers are coming and packing up our lift. We are still undecided about the couches, although it looks like the will be moving with us.

So far I am very unimpressed with our moving company, they have been the most frustrating aspect of this whole experience. They are terrible at getting back to us. We called them almost two weeks ago to discuss the issue of the lift getting to Israel before we do, and they still haven't given us an answer. Nat spoke with someone the other day and she said that they may be able to store it for 30 days for free, but she wasn't sure, there may be a cost involved she would get back to us.

Today, we talked to them and they said that to store it wouldn't be free, but they didn't know what it would cost, and if we did store it we would have to pay double the handling fee, since they would have to pack and repack everything, but again, they didn't know what that would cost.

I'm not sure when they will know, but it had better be tomorrow because I'm not going to tell them to take our stuff and let us know what we should pay them.

We also don't know what time the movers will be coming out since they have never called us. Hopefully their moving skills exceed their customer service.

reality

2008-08-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

Last night as I turned out the lights before going to sleep it hit me that this may be the last time I sleep in my house. Tonight is the first night that we have moved in with my parents. (not a great idea to move into a house with a pool during the 9 days). For the next two to three months we will pretty much be homeless. (Although, to be honest, I've always considered this my house also).

It hit me that this is really happening, we aren't just talking about making aliyah, leaving our friends, we are actually going through with it.

Technology is such, that we will have a local number and both Nat and I have computers with webcams, so once we get used to the time changes we will still be able to stay close with the friends we are leaving behind. But as nice it is to still be in touch it won't be the same. My close friends from here I met playing basketball with (I pretty much plan on using this strategy to make friends in Israel) luckily our friendships have gone beyond the court, we played football together:) but I know that no amount of technology can get us back on the court together again, without a long plane trip..or if we play XBOX Live, but the time difference would make that tough.

I told Jonah that he will be able to send video mail to his friends, but that won't be the same as running around playing and growing up together.

I know that this is the right decision for us.... I know that we will stay in touch with our friends, make new friends, our friends will make new friends, life will go one...but that doesn't make it an easy decision

Nostalgia

2008-07-30T20:41:00.001-07:00

Nat and I are busy cleaning the house and going through old stuff. Nat found a card that I gave to her either right before or right after we got married, where I said that we would move to Israel one day (I'm a prophet) and that it would be difficult but we'd manage.

As some of you know Nat and I were good friend long before we ever dated, we found letters and cards that had been sent in those days. It's funny to see some of the things that were said back in those days. There was a letter were Nat said our friendship must be weird for my then girlfriend, not that she (nat) was "a threat to her" I guess she called that one wrong (me a prophet nat not so much:))

Then Nat just went through some old E-mail forward questionnaire that I had filled out about her when asked about my first impression I plead the fifth . and under did I ever have a crush on her - I don't think so but you never know. The final question was what do I ( nat) love - I said Israel..and me

The old bait and switch

2008-07-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

There was an ad in this weeks paper for a laptop at circuit city that, after mail in rebate, cost 399.00. Nat needs a new laptop, or rather I do since mine is a work company laptop and I'm leaving the company and Nat is still working for them, be that as it may we went to the store to buy the computer.

We get their and the sales guy says they don't the computer on display, but they have it in stock. There is one similar we can look at if we like, which we do. Then they bring out the box, and tell us that they added an extra 30.00 to the price because they optimized it. Which meant they set it up and deleted all the junk programs so it starts up faster. They do this with all these laptops because their main customers are college students who just want to leave the store and boot up. Nat asked if they do that at all Circuit City's or just this one, and the guy said they do it everywhere.

I'm sure that's very nice of them, but I don't know why they don't give me the option, especially since the ad didn't mention this.

It seemed pretty shady to me, but the price was still good so we bought it.

Lift Troubles

2008-07-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

Our lift is scheduled to come pick up our stuff on August 6th, which is perfect because our renters are coming in on the 12th.

We just found out today that our stuff will arrive in Israel in the first week of September, and we have 4 days to clear customs or we get charged a lot each day.

There are a few problems here.
1. We don't arrive in Israel till the second week of September
2. We planned on living in a temporary (free for the first month cheap for the second) apartment for the first two months. We had heard from others that it takes forever for the lifts to arrive.

I had some thoughts of rectifying the problem
1. We see if we can move our Aliyah date back to August 12th, then we get in before the lift, have the free months rent and look for an apartment.

2. See if we can rent an apartment starting when we get there. The problem here is that it would have been really nice to not pay a lot in rent for teh first two months, since I'm jobless:(

3. See if we can push back our shipping date, which will mean keeping all our stuff somewhere in our house, for the most part it won't be a problem, except for our couches. I don't know what our renters are doing about furniture, but if theyhave couches, their isn't much room for 2 sets of couches. Unless, we put it in the office.

I think that is the situation in a nutshell, hopefully it will be resolved soon. I'm pretty sure option 1. isn't going to happen.

tragic

2008-07-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

I was making pizza this evening, and I decided to invite my grandparents, get in some nice quality time.

I don't know why, but something evil was going in my oven today, as my grandparents were coming in I noticed tons of smoke billowing out of my oven, I quickly opened up, ignored the burning and tearing going on in my eyes, and grabbed the pizzas. Which still had a few minutes left in teh oven. Sadly the pizzas were done, the bottoms was all black and nasty tasting.

Something must have dripped or caught on fire, I never had that happen to me. We ended up salvaging the night by ordering from Jerusalem pizza,

Crazy coupel of days

2008-07-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

Life has been beyond stressful last week, we went from highs to lows and then back up high, and then reality started to sink in.

About a week and a half ago, someeone from my shul contacted me and asked if we would be interested in renting our house for a couple of years to an Israeli family that will be in Detroit for a fw years. I sai that sounded great, he told me that nothing is certain yet, they are still looking at another house.

Over Shabbos my brother in Israel was talking with the head of the program, who said that if everything checked out, they would rent our house. Their whole objective is to bring people to Israel so of course they would choose ours. I called the moving company set up a date for them to come, this whole thing started to seem real again.

On Sunday we spoke with the Israeli guy and reiterated that to us, as long as the family approved of the pictures we shouldn't have any problems. They wouldn't look elsewhere.

On Wednesday I get an Email that the family liked the house, but the Detroit contact was still looking at a different house. I called the Detroit guy to find out what was going on, and he said that he was talking with the people who contacted before me. He would have an answer for me before Shabbos. On Friday afternoon around 4:30 he called to tell me that they will rent our house.

Now reality has set in, we have about 2 and half weeks to get our stuff in order and get out of the house, the movers are coming in the beginning of August, the renters will be here in the middle around August 13th or 14th. The rent is a little lower then our monthly payments, but seemed like it was take this offer or we wouldn't be going, so we took it. Now we are trying to refinance, take out a 40 year mortgage something that will lower our payments.

Nat started getting ready for an estate sale, that will take place I believe on the first Sunday in August, and then on September 7 we get on a plane and head to Israel to start the next chapter of our lives.

Accomplishing day

2008-07-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

I called the shipping company today that we were planning on using and they said the quote they sent us in late May early June is no longer valid, so they will send us a new, higher one. The guy on the phone said it wouldn't be much higher. Imagine my shock when I saw the price had jumped $1200 dollars!!!

I called the guy to find out what happened, and they blamed thd dollar and said since it's so low, import has been crazy busy and there arent as many lifts available.

I called a different company that sent us a quote around the same time, and their price hadn't chnged, so I booked them. We will be packing up, god willing, on August 6. (boy do I hope the renters don't fall through - that would blow big time, we should know hopefully tomorrow) Then we will move into my parents house untill we leave the good 'ol USA.

That means in theory we could have made the August flight we were originally scheduled on August 12, but there is no way we would have been ready. I just sent in out Visa application this morning.

Decisions decisions decisions

2008-07-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

Now that we finally know what our story is, it's time to make some choices, we are going to bring the kids with us :-)

Over the past few months we've had 4 different moving companies come through, point out what we plan on taking, they somehow tally all that up and give us a quote. All along we have been steadfast in decision to bring our couches. They are the only furniture that we bought new, and they are comfortable.

Here is where the issue is, I was surprised to find out that all the movers said we should bring a 20 foot lift, other than the couches we don't have that much stuff. One of the movers said that the couches are so big that we couldn't take anything smaller and fit it all in. Nat wondered if it would make sense to leave the couches, and then the lift will be much smaller and we can take the money and buy couches in Israel, and hopefully we will save a lot of money. We may end up selling one of the pieces ( we have a 3-2-1 setup) because I've been told that Israeli apt. may be smaller then my house.

I talked to one of the moving companies today and they didn't think it would make that much of a difference, but they will send a new quote.

I'm back

2008-07-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

After a long break, I again have things to say, so I'm back :)

After a summer of not knowing if we are staying or going, it looks like we are really going to make עליה. I will fill you in with the details once they become final.

Anyways after a summer of saying that he wanted to go to ישראל Jonah decided that he loves Aiden more and therefore wants to stay in Detroit :( we told him that Aiden also wants to move, and he will make new friends and go to a new school, and he can still be friends with Aiden and his other Detroit friends.

Tonight, Nat asked him what he wanted to do in Israel, and the first thing he said was to daven at the כותל , then he said meeting new friends, and then he said going to his new school.

I think he'll be OK

R.I.P. XBOX

2008-07-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

This evening I sat down to play some baseball on my beloved XBOX after destroying the San Diego Padres, I heard something like a loud clap. I got up to shut off the XBOX, and I noticed that she shut herself off. Then I saw the smoke billowing out. I don't know what happened, the TV was still working, they were plugged into the same surge protector, and there wasn't any fire.

In the past years I've spent many an hour with the XBOX, I've had multiple versions of Madden, although I did leave the madden franchise for one season to play ESPN football. I won many super bowls and drafted and molded many young players into star players. I had a couple of NBA Live seasons, MLB 2K7, halo 1 and 2, Two Grand theft autos, some war games and random other games.

I know XBOX was looking forward to moving to Israel with us, the challenge of playing on a different continent, but she will be buried here in Detroit, and live on in my memory.

Here's an old favorite post from a few years back

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Jonah vs. XBOX

Yesrday as we moved into a differnt house in White Oak, Natalie noticed that I held teh XBOX with more care then Jonah. I informed her (jokingly ) of ocurse, that we'll probaly have more children, but if teh XBOX broke, I doubted shes go get me another one. She then threatened to toss the game system ouyt teh window. But it got me thinking, about Jonah vs the XBOX.
while Jonah wakes me up in the middle of the night to play games
the XBOX keeps me up late at night playing games
Jonah is much cuter then the XBOX and will find me a nice old age home one day
XBOX will keep me comapny in the home.
Jonah is the product of the love between me and my wife
XBOX is the product of the close friendship between me and a bunch of friends from college
In the end Jonah will win out, and the XBOX will get replaced by ayounger prettier model, but for now, I can handle this twisted triangle

of course it hasn't all been a smooth ride

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Trouble with the XBOX

My XBOX is very important to me, not as important as my wife and child, but its in the top 5. This week she's especially important because without Nat and Jonah, things tend to get lonely, and XBOX gives me hours of enjoyment. Lately I have been playing NBA Live '05, it’s my third season, and I still haven’t won a championship. Last night I was playing a good game, I came back from down 10 points to force OT, and with about a minute left, and my team up a few points, the thing froze up, and relayed a message that there is an error or a scratch on the CD. This isn't the first time it's happened, so I wiped of the game, and went to sleep. This evening, I was playing again, and dominating this game, I was up 20 or so in the 4th quarter and the same thing. It's really frustrating because it doesn’t save the game, so basically everything that I did, both in terms of stats and my life was wasted. I have three options; I can buy another NBA Live '05 or just keep playing and hope it doesn’t happen. My last option is the one I'm going with tonight, I'm switching to ESPN 2K5 football. I tried playing the other day, but I just wasn't into it yet. Maybe once training camps really get started it’ll feel more right, but for now I'm desperate, so I'm gonna give it a shot.

Shushers

2008-05-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

There are few things that annoy me more than people in who talk in shul, then but "shush" others who talk. There is someone in my shul who fits this category and I often want to ask him why it's O.K. for him to talk, and he's older so he talks louder, but I'm not allowed to.

This brings me to a few weeks ago, I was out of town for the second days of Pesach. The Rabbi was giving his speech before Mussaf, he started out by asking why people talk during davening. He came up with three possibilities. The first one he said couldn't be - arrogance - a person is so arrogant that he feels that whatever he has to say is more important than everyone else' prayers. He felt that couldn't be. I forget the second reason. The third reason is laziness, a person is just to lazy to go into the hall and talk.

After Mussaf the Rabbi was walking through the aisle, and he announced it was time for kaddish , right as Kaddish started the rabbi started talking to one of the people in shul. I really wanted to go over to him and ask which it was arrogance or laziness.

Interesting E.R. discussion

2008-05-12T12:12:00.001-07:00

in the E.R. there is a pain chart, so the kids can tell someone how much pain they are in. According this chart a level 10 pain is where it hurts a lot, but you don't need to be crying.

I disagreed with this chart...I believe a level 10 pain is going through a wood chipper while still conscious, and if that happens you should be crying I think the most pain I've been in was when I was having my root canal and the Oral surgeon didn't realize that he was dealing with a live nerve. I decided that was a 6.

My former EMT wife said that on an ambulance a 6 isn't that bad. I think they should change their pain structure.

2008-05-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

Before reading you should know that Sammy woke up Shabbat morning fever free, and was acting better, and almost normal most of the day

Nat took Sammy to the doc on Friday morning, after a few days of high fever, they wanted to see if he had step. He didn't so they took his blood so they can rule out a bacterial infection. They couldn't. His white blood count was very elevated so the doctor called Beaumont and told them she was coming.

Nat got to the hospital a little before noon, hopeful that they were going to do a few tests and send her home..HAHAHAHAHA...

She called me around 1:00 and said she was hungry and bored, could I come. So i dropped Jonah off with the neighbors, grabbed a pizza and got to her by 2. In the first 2 hours she was there, she told a nurse, resident and doctor all the same story of what was going on.

Why she had to tell each of the the story is beyond me. Then they left her alone for a while, and finally right before I got there they took his urine and blood. When I got there the doctor said they will come and get Sam for a chest X-RAY. we waited for a long time, finally the doctor passed our area and I asked about the X-RAY, he told me he should have the results soon. I was amazed, since they never actually took an X-RAY, but the commercials do say that Beaumont doctors are great. Just to be safe I told the doc that he hadn't had a chest X-RAY yet, he was surprised and said he would have it done. Shortly after that they came and brought him back.

Then we sat around for a long time with not much to do. There was a baby crying really loud, it was difficult to hear my little T.V., now I know how people feel on airplanes when kids are crying. (Sammy was angelic most of the time)

We were told that all the tests came back negative, they have no idea why he is sick. Then they called our pediatricians office, not sure why, and talked with a Dr there who didn't see Sammy this morning and probably has no idea who we are. She wanted to talk to Natalie, and then she asked Nat if we wanted Sammy to have an oral anti-biotic or a shot. Natalie wasn't sure why the doctor was asking her, since she doesn't really have any medical experience. She went for the shot, since it was longer lasting. We waited for an hour for the shot, we were told after it was given we could go home!!!

A medical student came in to check on us, and Nat asked where the shot was, he came and said the pharmacy was busy with a trauma patient so we have to wait. Nat asked if we could get the oral instead, but he said that also has to go through pharmacy. Finally they bring the shot, only it's not a shot, they hook it into his IV and it's a 1/2 hour drip. My aunt Aunt came to visit around this time with a huge bag of assorted of chocolate and she hung out with us for the the last hour or so. Finally the drip finished, he seemed better off after getting it.

It was after 7, candle lighting was at 8:20, so I went to pick up our food from various locations and then run to Rite aid to get more anti-biotic. Rite Aid never got the call from the doctors, we found out it was called into Meijers, so we called Meijers, they called it into Rite Aid (this was at like 815) but Rite Aid didn't have it in stock, and wouldn't be able to order it until Monday. So we decided that we would just get it from Meijers.

I saw our regular pedictraican in Shul on Shabbat and told her the story(she didn't see Sammy in the morning, someone else in the practice saw him), the hospital told us that we need to wait 24 hours for the blood culture to come through - we could only get the results from our doctor - and her office was closed on Sunday- So I asked the Dr. if she could call after Shabbat and find out what the story is. She did, what a nice Dr. After shabbat we spoke with her and she said the results all came back negative which was good.

The fact that he had no fever and all the results came back negative, the Dr. didn't recommend getting the antibiotic since we don't even know what he was fighting. We have an appointment with her first thing Monday morning where they draw more blood and count his white blood cells again, hopefully they will have gone down.

Perfect no more

2008-05-03T21:11:00.001-07:00

After decades of being the only Zacks child to not need glasses, my eyes have failed me. I failed an eye test from the esteemed Dr. Zacks Jr. He thought it would be fun to have my eyes also checked by the Senior member of Eye Travel, and see if they come up with the same numbers.

As a child I was often jealous that everyone else wore glasses, and I didn't . I was also under the belief that in order to get nice sunglasses, I needed to get prescription ones. In the years since, I have changed my mind, and realized that life was indeed better without the glasses, and I've never had a nice pair of sunglasses.

My computer

2008-05-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

My computer is annoying me. Over the past few weeks the mouse pad has taken a life of it's own. It enjoys racing up and down and not listening to me. After searching high and low I finally found the recipet, oddly enough it was put away with other reciepts, and discovered that I bought it last June. Plus I had a two year extended warranty. So I went in to Staples to see if they could fix or replace it, and they had me call the warranty people, and get a claim number.

The guy on the phone had me reformat my computer so it was as if it was new. I'm not sure why he thought that would fix my problem, but it did get rid of all the programs and everything else on my computer. When I asked for teh claim number, he told me that it was still under manufactuers warranty so I would have to call them.

For a few hours it worked, but then the mouse started acting up again. So I went back to Staples, my mom had said when she went there with her broken mouse they said they don't fix 'em just replace them.

When I asked about that they told me I have to mail it in to the manufacturer and they'll fix or replace it. That seems like a pain to me, so what I think I'm going to do is use Nat's laptop for the next month or so and then the warranty will be up and I can get a new laptop.

Crazy day

2008-04-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today is the 'deadline" for getting your application into Nefesh B'nefesh. We waited until the last poosible second and then some, we overnighted the application in today. and they will get it tomorrow by noon..WHOOEEEE. Sadly, when I got back from the Post Office I saw that the check was sitting on my desk still :( I called and told them I forgot it, and we'd put in the mail (regular delivery this time)

As I was leaving work, Nat called and told that AP (our Realtor) called and told her that someone was coming to look at the house. I got home and the mad scramble to clean the house, or least give the appearance of cleanliness, began.

The people came, they wandered around the house while my boys ate dinner. They were in our home for 5 minutes or so, said it was very nice and left. Whatever happens it was a nice run through, getting the house to look presentable, also a nice dose of reality into teh dream we are living.

Bobbi

2008-04-07T19:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went to Pittsburgh for a funeral of Yetta (Bobbi) Weiss. She was known as Bobbi (by just about all the guys at the Mesivta. Her house was located in between our dorm and the school, and was the perfect shortcut back and forth.

She was a tough lady, she had her chosen group of guys that she liked and a bunch that she didn’t like for whatever reason, she was always very opinionated on both groups. Luckily I was in the group that she liked.

Her house was always open to us, some days, when the Yeshiva food was bad I would eat all my meals at her house. She was always there as someone to talk to, complain to and get away from school for a bit.

She protected us from the Rabbi’s, one day we were over watching a movie, and the Rabbi knocked on the door and she wouldn’t let him in, then told us to go out the side door and get back to the dorm.

When the Red Wings were in playoffs and playing out in the West Coast I would climb out my window after curfew and run up to her house to watch the game. She didn’t mind if I stayed till 2 in the morning, as long as I locked the door and made it to davening in the morning.

One of my favorite stories happened during my senior year, my friend and I would rent movies and take them to her house. We would charge everyone a dollar to come in and watch the game. Bobbi not only provided snacks, she would stand at the door and make sure that everyone paid, and she would not take a cut. Someone ratted us out, and the Rabbi came to tell everyone to leave (which pissed Bobbi off more than anything, that he would come into her house and tell her what to do) so she told me and my friend to wait 20 minutes and come back and finish the movie.

Over the years I stayed in touch with her, she made a blanket for Jonah when he was born. I would always stop by when visiting Pittsburgh, she loved meeting Nat and the Jonah. During our short stint of living in Pittsburgh, we lived next door to her, and Nat really got to know and she was able to play with Jonah.

She was an amazing person and I will miss her.

Jonah quotables

2008-04-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Jonah was outside playing the other day, he found a shovel and announced that he was going to dig for dinosaur fossils in our backyard. He didn't find any bones, but he did find a worm.

He likes to start stories like this..."A long time ago, but not when there were dinosaur, mommy told me......"sometimes he says "A long time ago, but after the dinosaurs died...."

Jonah "I really want a grownup to play with
Nat - Grown ups aren't as much as kids, because they have lots of responsibilities like cooking for Shabbos, cleaning, and working"
Jonah "yea, but that's boring"

Jonah to Dad- "I'm going to ask mommy because she knows the rules."

Jonah

2008-03-24T18:20:00.001-07:00

For past few weeks Jonah has been asking when Spring will be here because he wants to go outside and play baseball. ( I was shepping such nachas) Yesterday the weather finally cooperated and we went outside, brushed the snow off his favorite bat and I tossed him a ball for 15-20 minutes.

He picked up right where he left off, connecting with most of my pitches, some weakly, and some really hard. Of course if I were coaching against him, I would have my fielders play a strong shift on teh first base line, because most of hits went in the same area. A couple balls came right back me. He hit a couple over the neighbors fence, which was pretty impressive.

After he would get a hit, he would run around until he decided that he was home. When we finished we went to the basement, and I draw a picture of baseball diamond on the white board, and explained where the bases were and other fun stuff.

It should be a fun spring/summer

Sleep issues

2008-03-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

I'm on a 2 day waking up for Minyan in the morning, my alarm goes off at 6:30 and I'm there by 6:45. Here's the problem, it's been a while since I set my alarm, now I wake up several times pre-alarm and check what time it is. This morning, I think I checked at 4:30, 5:30, 6:00 and then I got up a minute before my alarm went off.

I think it's because when I'm falling asleep I have the mindset that I want to get up before the alarm goes off so I can shut it off before it wakes anyone else.

Shliach Aliyah

2008-03-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Nat and I met with our Shliach Aliyah (person who helps us with the moving to Israel process through the Jewish Agency) and things are moving along. In a couple of days we will be able to apply to Nefesh B'nefesh set a date to move (yay) We have to call the movers and start to figure out our lift story.

She is going to enroll us in the Community Aliyah program for Ariel, I'll receive job listings for in English every other week, and then we'll get set up with someone who will help me get my resume in the Israeli style, whatever that is.

As far as our house, that is still the one thing that can derail our plans, it should go on the market next week, hopefully we'll be able to either rent it for a few years until the market turns, or sell it for not to great a loss. We have to do some work, painting and minor fixing, that should start to happen any day. And that is our story

Moving companies

2008-03-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

We went to a chug Aliyah today, they had 2 moving companies there, which was good because we had no clue about any of that aspect of this master plan. No we have a a very little clue. Basically we have someone walk through or house and then he decides how big of a lift we would need.

The whole thing was kind of weird, because there were representatives from two companies, each guy gave a 5 minute spiel on the shipping processes and then took questions. They didn't talk about their specific company, just general info. Afterward, Nat and I talked to one of the guys and he talked about his companies special 60th Israel anniversary deal.

I think the only large items we are planning on bringing is our couches and mattresses, the rest will be small appliances and things from the house. I do like that they come and pack for us, because packing doesn't seem like fun.

Sammy

2008-03-07T08:05:00.001-08:00

Sammy was fixed from top to bottom this morning:)

We had to be at the hospital at 6:15 AM, the surgeries started at 7:30 first they did his ears, and then they fixed up his lil' tushy.I wish I had brought the camera, when we got there, they put him in a backless gown, that was huge on him, and they had huge socks for him to wear - he looked pretty funny. But sad that we didn't give him breakfast.

The whole thing took about 40 minutes, then another 40 minutes of waiting for him to wake up. Once he woke up - we stayed for about a half hour and then we came home. He's behaving like his normal old self. The only aftercare that we have to do is, they couldn't bandage the incision area, so we have to shower off his butt a few times a day to make sure that it doesn't get infected.

Brett Favre

2008-03-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

I had ESPN on a few minutes ago and Brett Favre was giving his retirement press conference and he was crying for a good part of it. Why is he crying? No one is forcing him to retire, he can still play if he wanted to, this is his choice, he should be happier with. Personally, my dream is to retire before I'm 40 with enough money to last several lifetimes, I certainly wouldn't cry through my goodbyes.

As far as my feeling on Favre, and maybe this is the Packer hater in me, I think he was one of the most overrated QBs in history, thanks a lot to John Madden. I saw some articles on different sports sites ranking him, and would he be in your top 5 or 10 QB's in history, and I think that's crap. If my team has the ball with under two minutes, Favre isn't the guy I want with the ball, he's to reckless, and is prone to dumb INT's, for example, the last pass of his career.

I'm not saying he wasn't a good QB, I just think he's overrated because of the media man crush on him, and the fact that he jumps on lineman after tossing a TD. He has many records, TD and yards, but he also has thrown more INT than anyone else in history.