Me, A Beer Mavin?

Could it be the influence of my old friend Doug and his wonderful beer blog,  Israel Brews and Views? Last Wednesday I did a very unprofessional beer-tasting between three beers. Two of them have been featured on Doug's blog.

Most of the food and even drink at the American Consulate's Independence Day gathering weren't kosher. Most rabbinic authorities consider all beers, especially the non-flavored, to be kosher, so I decided to try the first beer I found. It was davka the Arab beer, Taybeh.

To  be honest, I'm not a real beer maven, but I do have my personal opinions. The Taybeh beer could be best described as ordinary, nothing special.

The next beer I found was the Israeli boutique beer Dancing Camel. Just like with Taybeh, I requested only half a glass. This beer was more to my taste. There was definitively something special about it. If given a choice between the two, I'd go for Dancing Camel any time.

After leaving the Consulate, I picked up my bag at my son's apartment. When he heard of my beer-tasting adventure he decided to top it off with a third beer, Turborg Red. To my unpolished palette it tasted a bit like the Taybeh beer, nothing special.

Both my sons added their opinions. One agreed with me, and the other didn't. As I tell my customers at Yafiz.

"Taste is totally subjective. There's no right and wrong."

But I'd like your opinions in the comments, please, thanks.

Not All Ice Cream is The Same

Many people were really happy that Ben & Jerrry's was served at the American Independence Day reception at the United States Consulate. I wasn't. Years ago, when we first started going/were invited, they served Häagen-Dazs. I love Häagen-Dazs, always did, and even though the original owners are no longer on the scene, I'll never forget that they were strong Zionists and donated even to Shiloh.

There was never even a flavor I didn't like.  I am addicted to their mint ice cream, but that's another story.

I was relieved that Ben & Jerry's was at the consulate, because it's kosher. So I had some. I don't remember the name of one of the flavors; the other was the passionflower. They had no flavor even though there should have been a real contrast between them. I've never had that experience with Häagen-Dazs and even other cheaper ice creams.

Only after we had the meat meal from the Waldorf Astoria stand did I discover that there was kosher sushi, which would have made a better first course. I was stuffed. Next time, if there's a next time, I'll try to check out the offerings first.

Praying for The Safe Return of Eyal, Naftali and Gil-Ad, Chodesh Tammuz Tov Havel Havelim

Cross-posted on Shiloh Musings

Unfortunately, we're now in week #3 praying for the safe return of the three teenagers kidnapped by Arab terrorists.

Jewish Press

Many of the posts in this week's Havel Havelim will be on this topic and the terrorism and violence by the Arabs.

Havel Havelim is the weekly blog carnival by Jewish bloggers from all over the world. It has been going on for more than a dozen years. First started and coordinated by Soccer Dad, who no longer blogs, we now use facebook to keep in touch and organize. If you'd like to participate as blogger, host or just reader of HH, then click and join.

As is my norm, I'm just listing the titles of the posts, not the authors or blogs. Click to read, comment and share, thanks.

A Mitzvah Not to Ignore–Health Wrap Up
She Spent Her Wedding Night With Two Hundred and Twenty One Men: A True Love Story

Did The Arab Terrorists Expect the Kidnapping to Escalate to War?
What does Quneitra have in common with UNRWA camps?
Gentle Strength
The two saddest things and why
4th of July, A Bit Early
Yes, I am Still Tremping, aka Hitchhiking!
The Innocence that Is Still Theirs
Three Yellow Ribbons Round Tree Illustration
28-Jun-14: Escalating terrorist rocket attacks on southern Israel over the Sabbath
Gafni request Knesset Beit Knesset to be expanded
IslamoNazi Child Abuse
Beyond Putting Out Fires
Life Out Loud
But The Status Quo Is Being Altered
Lessons From the Titanic
Redeem Rivky Weiss! (née Stein)

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Technorati tags: jewish-israel blog carnival aka havel ha, blog carnival. 

Just a reminder to share this edition and the various posts. Thanks and G-d willing, we will hear good news very soon.

Ballooning Wishes

BRING BACK OUR BOYS! 

Wherever you go people are talking about how they feel, wishing each other for good news. May the boys,  Eyal Yirfah, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel, be home soon, G-d willing.

4th of July, A Bit Early

Yesterday was the Jerusalem American Consulate's Annual Independence Day Bash, ok maybe "Bash" should be "bash."

We were there along with hundred and hundreds of other invited guests who included Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Some of you may be quickly checking the calendar and saying: It's a full week plus before July 4th. Yes, you're right. Since the celebration is a great food fest with food of all "stripes," the Muslims would be offended if it would take place during the month of Ramadan when they fast during the day and feast after nightfall. This is an afternoon party.

Various restaurants, hotels and food/drink businesses donate food, including kosher ones. More on that in later posts. Let it suffice by now that I ate and drank much too much.

Pain and Painting a la 52Frames

Here are my latest two week's 52 Frames photos:

Pain

 I couldn't think of anything else, but "pills in still life."

 Painting 

I know that we were really supposed to reproduce some famous painting. I was going to splash catsup and other such stuff on the floor like Jackson Pollack.

G-d Willing on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz We Will Celebrate...

G-d Willing on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh,  We Will Celebrate the release of Gilad, Naftali and Eyal, and if G-d forbid they are still held captive by the Arab terrorists, we will pray together for their release!

Next month's Rosh Chodesh, Tammuz, will be Sunday June 29, 2014. Please save the date.

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh Rosh Chodesh Tamuz
Sunday, June, 29, 2014
1st of Tamuz 5774, 8:30am
Tour of Tel Shiloh & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson
Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשיםראש חודש תמוז בתל שילה

יום א' 29-6 א' תמוז תשע"ד 8:30

יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל

 כדאי לבוא ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

Mark your calendar, and join us. For more information, please contact me, thanks.

Praying at Tel Shiloh Batya Medad

For quite a number of years, I've been organizing women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers at Tel Shiloh. It's a very special experience to pray where the Biblical Chana successfully prayed for a son to lead the Jewish People.

Jewish Bloggers Concentrate of Kidnapped Boys, The Latest Havel Havelim

Esser Agaroth is host of this latest Havel Havelim, the long-running round-up Jewish blog posts from all over the world. A large proportion of the blog posts discuss various aspects of the kidnapping of the three Jewish teenagers from the Gush Etzion bus stop. We blog about what has been on our minds and there is no doubt that the terribly kidnapping is central to what we've been thinking about for a week and a half already. Please read, comment and share the posts and the Havel Havelim. We all appreciate feedback, even if you don't agree with everything we write.

Gilad Michael Ben Bat Galim, Yaccov Naftali Ben Rachel Devora and Eyal ben Iris Teshura

Blogging enables us all to be journalists and run our own papers and magazines online. At least that is what blogging is for me. When my blogs appear on various other internet news sites it's like syndication, without my getting any financial compensation. But since I blog in order to get my personal message out to the world, I've made a sort of peace with the idea that I'm not going to earn a living from writing, although I wish I could.

Havel Havelim is a weekly blog carnival and includes blog posts on Jewish interests, and most of those do center on Israel. Also the vast majority, at least of late, of the bloggers do live in Israel. We keep in touch and organize who's hosting and when on our facebook page. You're invited to join us in our community via fb to send in your links, host and at least share the weekly editions of Havel Havelim. If you have any questions, please email me with "HH Questions" as subject, shilohmuse at gmail dot com.

There are a few other Jewish blog carnivals including Jewish Book Reviews, JPIX and my Kosher Cooking Carnival. It appears every Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the Jewish Month. The next host is  Challah Maidel and you can send her your links by/before this Shabbat; click our Facebook page for more information.

These Jewish blog carnivals are certainly reasons to be glad that G-d gave us the intelligence to invent the internet. Please read, comment, participate and share, thanks.

Coffee, French Press, Israeli Ground

I was given a bag of ground coffee for my French Press. This was done at a very well-known coffeebean place in Jerusalem's Machane Yehuda, Bashkovits, 32 Etz Chaim Street. The coffee is very fine, and the filter of the French Press had no problems, hit no resistance when pushed down. I don't know the type of bean/flavor, but it's smooth and pleasant.

I drink my coffee with milk and sugar in a giant mug. Actually I have two mugfulls most mornings. And when I'm in an American coffee place I treat myself to cream or half 'nd half.

Thanks to the one who gave me this delicious coffee!

Unbelievably Easy Stuffed Vegetables

I'm going to let you in on a secret. I didn't bother making "holes," "nests" for the chopped meat in the squash. I just placed some chopped meat on the squash, and it cooked just fine in the oven. The mini-pumpkins here have a little indented spot, like a nest, which I filled with chopped meat.

Yes, it was that simple. And all I mixed with the chopped meat were:

• 1 lb. chopped meat
• 2 eggs
• 1 diced medium or small onion
• 1 medium tomato
• a generous sprinkling of garlic

Just mix it up and use to stuff vegetables, or make a meatloaf or moussaka. 

Enjoy!

Memories...

Someone I knew from the time I was just a couple of years old has written a book about memory, or the lack of it. She also blogs. Lisa Hirsch was my neighbor in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, NY and then in Great Neck, NY. Her parents and mine were very close, and I remember the family well.

Lisa and Ruth

Alzheimer's - My Mom My Hero

Her blog and book are about her mother's Alzheimer's and growing lack of memory, coping with it for both of them.

There are so many different types of dementia. And it progress differently in each sufferer. I knew my mother had it and knew that it was getting very bad when she forgot that my son was engaged. The last truly aware thing I heard her say was "beautiful" when looking at a photo of my eldest granddaughter, her eldest great-granddaughter.

So few people who've survived to the ages of Lisa's mother and my father have both physical and mental sharpness and health. Usually at least one, if not both, of those are faulty. How sad.

Would You Believe...?

This lovely vegetable "kugle," crust-less quiche, can even be made with leftovers.

Or you can cook up, I saute only, carrots, onions, squash, cauliflower etc specially for the vegetable kugle. Add just an egg or two a bit of oil, some more seasoning and bake. I made this with vegetables I had cooked up a few days earlier.

This vegetable dish looks fancy and is low carbohydrate and good for dieting and good for serving guests. Trust me, that this healthy vegetable dish is so easy to make that I won't even format it as a recipe. You can also saute a bag of frozen vegetables in a bit of oil, and then mix it with egg and pop it in the oven, moderate heat, like for a cake. Sprinkle some cheese, nuts or seeds on top or mix in for more variety.

Enjoy!

Why Do People Think I Swim Laps?

Shiloh Swimming Pool

When people hear that I go to the pool for fitness, they take for granted that I swim laps.They are inevitably shocked to hear that I don't swim laps. Actually, I don't even swim, at least not anything that resembles one of the strokes I had been taught well over half a century ago.

And, no, I'm not afraid of the water, not even deep water. I've never had any problems floating and paddling around a pool or lake or whatever for as long as I can remember.

And I certainly had proper swimming lessons, at a Y one year and at all sorts of camps. I was also taught in school. In Great Neck North the junior high school had a pool, and swimming was on the required curriculum.

My head could do the "Crawl" the basic swimming, racing and lap stroke, but somehow, I was so painfully slow and de-energized I could never swim enough lengths or laps or swim quickly enough to graduate from Advanced Beginner. I never, ever passed a "Deep Water Test," the requirement to be permitted into the deeper end of the pool or lake. It didn't matter that I could do the Side Stroke or Elementary Back Stroke for long periods of time. They are both slow relaxing strokes, which I found suited my "swimming style." Of course I did them more slowly than anyone else.

In Junior High we were required to do twenty-five pool lengths of each stroke to pass that part of the required curriculum. I started with the Elementary Back Stroke, and it took me the entire lesson, a lot longer than anyone else. I was so exhausted afterwards that it was decided to exempt me from the requirement.

Here I am over fifty years later, and I probably spend more time in the pool than many who passed Swimming. Nowadays I don't even do the strokes I once loved, because they are bad for my knees. Instead, I dance in the water. I do all sorts of exercises; some I learned and others I've made up.

As a dancer who trained for almost two decades and former dance and sports teacher, I firmly believe that exercise requirements must be flexible. Any activity you do in the water which is more than standing still or floating on some sort of raft is good. The same goes for most any exercise. Fifteen minutes or a few minutes of stretching here and there is better than nothing. It may not be the same as a good workout, but it's definitely worth keeping up!

Enjoy!

Jewish Books, A Book Review Carnival, and Some Book Reflections

Tzivia, who has more blogs than even I do, has done a great job putting together the latest edition of the Jewish Book Carnival. I definitely recommend your reading it, checking out the books and also sharing the links of course.

Here my granddaughter
is reading a book thatTzivia wrote.

We Jews are known as "the people of the Book," aren't we? I get such a kick out of seeing my grandchildren reading and showing interest in books. One is never too young to start. I started reading to my second daughter as soon as she was born, because I'd have my older daughter on my lap when nursing the baby, and I'd read to both of them. Nowadays mothers are told to start exposing the baby to "culture" even while still in utero.

I've always loved to read. A big benefit to my blogging are the books I get to review. Yes, of course, I have a review in the carnival.

Enjoy!

There Can Never be Too Many Vegetables

I cook according to what I have in my house. And when I cut and arrange the vegetables before baking them, it's like I'm doing a sculpture, a piece of art.

Don't you think so? Just dribble some oil and bake. It's just what you see, eggplant, onion, zucchini, sweet potato and pumpkin. Only the garlic hidden in the eggplant isn't easy to see.

Working With Arabs Now

I don't have time to blog something else there, so please read my Shiloh Musings post, thanks.

Yes, in case you've been wondering how it is to be working with Arabs during such tense times...
Please read, comment and share, thanks.

Feeling Rather Schizophrenic at Work

Beneath the Still Waters

It was rather surreal this morning at the pool. On one hand, it was "business as usual." The pool was as gorgeous and refreshing as ever. The usual crowd of mothers, grandmothers and some younger single women took advantage of the "18 and over time." The only exception was a nursing baby cared for by her aunt so her mother could swim, too.

You'd think it such an ordinary, lovely early summer day. The water surrounding us was so still. But beneath that, under the still waters we were all worried. Praying to the depths of our souls for the kidnapped, the teenage boys who had been captured by Arab terrorists. May the IDF succeed in rescuing them safe and sound. May some Arabs discover a conscience, maybe one of those halachik Jews* living as Arabs find his pintele yid and make the rescue possible, rescuing him/herself, too, in the process.

Don't you dare think that our moments in the pool mean that we are not in the pain and worry that Paula describes in her well-written post.

Gilad Michael Ben Bat Galim, Yaccov Naftali Ben Rachel Devora and Eyal ben Iris Teshura

*Since before the establishment of the State of Israel and until today, there are Jewish women who marry Arab men, live with them in Arab towns, and have children who are Jewish by Jewish Law. Every once in a while amazing stories are revealed about Arabs who are repelled by the world they have grown up in and are attracted to Judaism. And then they discover that they are descended from Jewish women. Unfortunately these stories are rare, and even more unfortunately Jewish women are still going off with Arab men.

The Praying Havel Havelim

Cross-posted on Shiloh Musings

Normally I name the weekly Havel Havelim on the Parshat Shavua, the weekly Torah Portion, but this week I feel that must must make it a prayer for the safe return, rescue of the three Jewish youngsters who have been kidnapped by Arab terrorists:

Gilad Michael Ben Bat GalimYaccov Naftali Ben Rachel DevoraEyal ben Iris Teshura

The three missing students Courtesy of the families

May they be speedily returned, safe and sound to to their families.

And now back to Havel Havelim which is the long-running international Jewish blog carnival. It was started by Soccer Day who no longer blogs. Today it's coordinated on our facebook page. We also use blog carnival, but it seems to be down, and I don't know if it'll be back.

Havel Havelim generally floats from blog to blog. I pick up a lot of the slack. You can send in your links to the host; information can be found on our facebook page. And if you'd like to host one either fill in the file, again on our facebook page, or contact me at shilohmuse at gmail dot com. This week was supposed to be hosted by Tzivia, but "life" or should I say death got in the way. She is sitting shiva for her brother Eli; read the eulogy she wrote.

Following, in no particular order and without identifying the blogs, various posts submitted by others or chosen by me. To make it clear, the posts included may include opinions I don't agree with. Enjoy!

Q&A: Sh’lah and Modern-Day Spies
5-Month Old Parah Aduma Candidate in USA
Congratulations Israeli President Rivlin on your Election. May we now hear the real news?
Keep Hillary Clinton Out of The White House, Another Jimmy Carter and Worse
Photos and Video of the Jerusalem Festival of Light
Franciscans Institute Catholic Worship Above King David’s Tomb
Arab Terrorists Kidnap Jewish Youth, and The Media Blame the Victims
The Spring Thaw and The Cookie Monster

After A Year's Mourning, Finally Some New Clothes
A Walk North of Hertzlia
And Talia Wanted a Piranha
When a Picture Brings a Tear
Unmoored
Let's Settle the Whole "LGBTQ Thing" Once and for All, Shall We?
Parashat Shelah: A failure of nerve
It's a Shaky World
Bibi Must Unilaterally Separate From His "Peace" Negotiations for Two State Policy
A Walking Miracle
The Most Outlandish Shavuot Holiday Experience
2014 Israel beer festivals -- Update
Israel’s President
Joshua Sings for His Bride and to His Mother's Heart
Gay Scandal in the Israeli Knesset?!
Well! How Rude!
One of the Worst Meals Ever in an Israeli Restaurant
On The March To Sodom!

Again I'd like to invite you to join our community. You don't have to be a blogger to read and share Havel Havelim. So please read, comment and share the various links here and of course the entire blog carnival.

Will Our Grapes Ripen this Summer?

So far, although the stores are full of delicious grapes, and most people who grow them are able to pick from their very own vineyard, ours looks rather retarded and pathetic. Grape season seems far away, and the pool is already open.

It's not like there's no sign of grapes, it's just that I wonder if they'll ripen before winter returns. Can we turn this into a very symbolic story? I guess there's no end at this point. This is some sort of great test for me. Don't you think so?

At leas there are obvious signs that the grapes are growing. Summer should last as long as needed.

After A Year's Mourning, Finally Some New Clothes

During the year of mourning for my mother I was pretty strict about not wearing any new clothes. That is the halacha, Jewish Law. There were very few exceptions these past twelve months, and when I did end up wearing something new, it wasn't new technically, since it had been worn by another. Even my work uniform shirts and a couple of scarves were worn for me by fellow employees.

The hat I wore to my son's wedding was worn first by my daughter, she also wore and then gave me a couple of sweaters I had gotten for her when I had been in the states to see my elderly father last winter. I even have some new clothes sitting unworn in my closets that I had bought before my mother passed away.

Just before the twelve months were over I bought a couple of things I needed, including this scarf. Considering our finances not buying new clothes wasn't much of a sacrifice. Even though I work in Yafiz, which is a clothing store, I'm pretty frugal. I do like to buy new scarves to update old outfits. I've gotten compliments on this glittery blue one, so it was worth it. It matches quite a few things.

But to be honest, I must say that did miss getting myself something new, especially when I finally found those sweaters after years of searching. I do try to rework old clothes to make myself new outfits, and I have many things which are quite old. Some things, like a lot of my skirts were given to me second hand. The big miracle is that they fit as if made for me, and a couple that didn't fit me last year now do, thank G-d. Actually I've been wearing them for years. My other daughter recently gave me a few tops she never wears, and they fit.

It'll be nice to finally wear those new things that have been waiting for me. And I should also look for the radio/CD player since I can now have music on in the house....

First in!!!

Yesterday the Shiloh Pool opened for its short three month season. 

And I was the first official "swimmer*" to jump in. Two of us lined up at the same time, but the young one climbed down. I watched and shivered. She agreed that it was cold. Then I jumped. Yes, cold it was, but I only had fifteen yes 15 minutes, since I had to get out quickly and get ready for work.

*I don't really swim. I exercise and dance and do lazy strokes in the water. I was never much of a swimmer. I love going to the pool for fitness and socializing, though yesterday wasn't a very social day.

My Favorite Types of Photos

This train must have had been scrubbed just before I snapped the picture.

I don't know exactly when, but sometime after first getting my digital camera I discovered reflection photos. In the days of film, it seemed too risky, and if I could have gotten a dollar for every time someone would tell me to stop, because the picture wouldn't come out...

With digital photography, the photos cost nothing, and it's rare to print them. So of course we can experiment.

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago in Jerusalem. I think it was on Jerusalem Day.

I've loved photography ever since I was a little girl. Of course that was in the day of film, which made it a very expensive hobby. Now it cost less, but since we rarely print photos, they sort of disappear in the wind. It's all an illusion. They are more like memories than real.

Lots of Great Posts in Havel Havelim

Esser Agaroth is the host of this week's Havel Havelim, the veteran round up of blog posts about Israel and Judaism. Give it a click, read, comment and share.  You're bound to find interesting and thought-provoking reading material.

Nowadays when more and more news sites are charging for the privilege of reading the news it's nice to know that there's something like Havel Havelim available for free. I floats from blog to blog coordinated on our facebook page.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of jewish-israel blog carnival aka havel havelim using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

It's not the only regularly running Jewish blog carnival. There is the monthly, on Rosh Chodesh, first day of the Jewish month which is lunar, Kosher Cooking Carnival.

You can participate by sending your links via blog carnival. We coordinate and volunteer to host on our facebook page. And if you have any questions you can email me at shilohmuse at gmail dot com.

Enjoy!

One of the Worst Meals Ever in an Israeli Restaurant

I took this picture from where I was sitting.

It was in an Aroma in Hasharon Shopping Mall, Netanya.

It was rather strange. My friend and I were sitting near the serving counter. We ordered one after another. Actually I ordered first. Her food came immediately. Mine didn't. I kept asking and didn't get an answer. I had ordered the "Anti-pasti salad," so I naively thought that they were busy cooking it.

Eventually brought me my food. I was starving so I ate. It wasn't freshly cooked. It was barely warm. It seemed like it had been assembled on the moon. Those white things had the taste and texture of soft plastic. Since I wasn't planning on having bread I didn't look at it at first. I only looked at the basket at the end of the meal. My friend had received some nice matching slices.

As you can see, this bread serving obviously came from the leftovers of other people's bread bowl. If I had noticed it earlier, I would have taken back the food and demanded my money.

Afterwards I did complain, but the staff didn't care. So, I said I'd blog about it, and I am.

We chose to eat there, because the price seemed right, and we've never had a bad meal at an Aroma. That changed. My friend's Halomi salad was the worst she had ever eaten. The Halomi didn't taste like halomi. It also tasted like plastic.

For proof that this is from an Aroma, here's my "order receipt."

I ordered the antipasti, and if they gave me mozzarella, it sure didn't taste like it.

My Jerusalem Day Picture in the Jerusalem Post!

Another of my photos has made the Jerusalem Post Magazine.

Will this help me get a better paying job*?  I doubt it, but it's nice to be published. I used to write letters to the editor, but I stopped around when I started blogging.

*It's no secret that I'm looking for a better paying job. The hunt is going no place fast. I've never received a single reply to any of the CV's I've sent out. And yes, people have helped me fix up my CV's. I have a few. Honestly I actually like my job. I think it's a good job for me at this time in life. The only thing I don't like is the salary.  But I'm not quitting until or if I get a job that will be better.

Soon, Soon, Soon, Soon, Yes, Soooon...

Yes, finally!

They're getting the Shiloh Swimming Pool ready for its grand opening!

G-d willing I'll enjoy this pool season and get myself back into shape!!

When a Smartphone is Too Smart for its Own Good, Saga of the 21st Century

selfie, showing off my
multifocals

I feel pretty dumb being a relatively new smartphone owner, just half a year. I have a Galaxy II, which is pretty primitive as smartphones go, but in some ways it does more than it needs to.

Those synchronizing apps have terrible appetites. Recently for the second time I had to bring it back to Bug where I had bought it. And I'm really happy I got it in Israel, otherwise I would have had to annoy my sons like I do when I have to get the tv's remote repaired.

The first time I just went back to the store (the branch) where I had bought it, well armed with the receipts of course, and yes they did ask to see them. I guess it's pretty common for people to try to get free repairs on phones, cameras etc which were bought abroad. The guy cleaned out the memory, and the camera worked again for a few weeks. Then again it stopped. I noticed that I had hundreds, maybe thousands of photos in the phone including all of my facebook albums. That made no sense, I didn't need them in the phone.

I got one of those "ahh hah" moments. It must be the syncing or whatever it's called. If I could only cancel the facebook photo synchronization and then delete the photos... Great in theory, but I haven't a clue how to do it. So I went to the first Bug store I could find, and the guy who tried to help only knew marginally more than me. He failed. So then I returned to my usual one of Rechov Hillel, Jerusalem. He cleaned up the mess that the CBS branch made and then cleaned up the memory after stopping the syncing.

He discovered something strange.

• The phone said that it was using 20 whatever-bytes of memory.
• The phone only has 8 whatever-bytes of memory.
• There was still spare memory left n the phone.

All we could figure out was that one of the companies, facebook or google are using a "cloud" for the data. Does anybody have a definitive answer about that?

G-d willing, I'll have smooth sailing, easy time with this phone for a couple of years. I really can't afford to even think of ever having to buy a new one so soon.