Coronavirus, My Opinion

Neighbor's coronavirus themed
  Mishloach Manot, Purim gifts

I'll start with the bottom line. I think that the world has gone berserk.

Maybe I've seen too many deaths and injuries from war, Arab terror, car accidents, innumerable illnesses of all kinds, funerals etcetera.

International economies, trade, and more are crashing.

Now even though an epidemic/pandemic whatever is predicted, at present  the number of people actually ill from coronavirus is infinitesimal considering the world's population. Even in the countries most affected, it's less than other causes of death.

But the "precautions" are endangering people. The precautions are causing economic damage, both on a personal level and national, international. Staying home isn't healthy. It's depressing. It causes overeating or starvation. It's sedentary. That causes major health problem, especially in the same age population that is considered most endangered by the virus.

Children stuck at home get bored and get into trouble. Accidents, too.

Of course, I'll never be able to prove the numbers, but the costs in every sense of the word will be humongous.

Precautions should be in general hygiene, use of more soap and water and clean towels. The disposable gloves you probably see on cashiers and food workers are generally filthier than their hands would be if they washed them properly and frequently.

Studies show that soap and water are more effective against germs than the modern chemical cleansers.

When will this end?

I feel like we're improv actors in a science fiction horror movie.

very recent funeral in Shiloh

Book Review: Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies by Jonathan Rosen

I must let you know in advance that Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies by Jonathan Rosen isn't a Jewish book, though the author certainly is. It was written for the general young English reading public. It is set during the Christmas season, but there is nothing religious in the story. It is culturally American, and the story would be much more difficult to tell without the American winter holiday customs. Remember that many of the classic English Literature is set during Christmas season.

Now, if you're still reading this review, I'm going to tell you that the book is totally fantastic. I really had fun reading it and would offer it to my grandchildren, who are totally Israeli, to read.

As I was reading Jonathan Rosen's debut fantasy for children, Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies, I kept envisioning it as an animated movie. Or maybe that's too 20th century; today they have movies that realistically combine animated and human actors.

Twelve-year-old Devin Dexter has problems. His sister, Abby, is annoying. His cousin, Tommy, sees conspiracies everywhere. And his new neighbor, Herb, might be a warlock. When strange things start happening, like the hot new Christmas toy, the Cuddle-Bunny, coming to life and turning evil, Devin and Tommy set out to stop them and prove Herb is a warlock. Will they have enough time before the town of Gravesend is overrun by the cutest little murderers ever?

Even though this is a totally, or I should hope so,  make believe adventure story, the characters were amazingly well-written and realistictic. Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies should be found enjoyable by both boys and girls. There were lots of surprises in the plot, even for me who reads lots of suspense and detective novels. I understand that Rosen has more books in the works. I hope that he'll send me all of them when they are published.

• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 2 - 7
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sky Pony Press (August 29, 2017)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1510715231
• ISBN-13: 978-1510715233
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Internet Repair, New Router for Me and "Baile Rochel"

Everything here is exactly as it happened. But as I began writing I knew that some of you would insist that it could only happen to Baile Rochel. So, we're sharing credit.

I can't quite say when it started... For at least the past few months at least, we've had intermittent stoppages of our internet service in the house. There wasn't a real "pattern" except for Murphy's Law.
Finally, late last week, I couldn't take it anymore and bit the bullet. I called the complaint line aka "tech support" for Bezeq. The girl, probably young enough to be my granddaughter, was very sweet. By pressing a few magic buttons where she sat, she told me that she can see that I've had periods of time without proper internet service. This sort of thing is like science fiction for someone of my generation. I told her that the last time the Bezeq guy came he had to replace all sorts of cables. That was after I had to argue with the "tech support" who wanted to send me a new router, which I'd have to install!?!

The sweet young thing on the phone didn't make such unrealistic demands. She typed a few more commands into her "magic ball" and told me that the repairman would arrive Monday morning between nine and eleven, 9-11.  So, I set my phone planner to remind me to be suitably dressed on time. He shouldn't knock on the door when I'm in the shower...

No, he didn't come when scheduled... he came earlier! But he called first to say he was driving to a nearby community to pick up his security guard. Yes, that's pretty funny. The local Bezeq technician lives a short walk from my house and had to drive unescorted to get the guard... Yes, I was fully dressed and all when he arrived.

The technician checked out a few things, more science fiction stuff, and announced that we have been paying for 100 whatevers, but our router can only handle 15, or something like that. And that's why our internet keeps taking breaks. So then he coached my husband through a "chat" with one of the Bezeq sales people to change our package and pay less. When it got too complicated for us, he took the phone and spoke. The salesperson asked:

"Who are you?"
"Their grandson."

And now we'll be paying a bit less each month. And we also go a brand new router which can handle the supposedly faster internet. So far so good, bli eyin haraa.

It's so strange to think that we now live in a world that has technology we never even dreamt of growing up and even as young parents. In all honesty, I haven't a clue how this technology works, and I don't have to know. It's all here for my use and enjoyment.

Shanah Tovah, Metukah Ubri'ah

Have a Good, Sweet and Healthy New Year

The Saga of The Missing Bus Rides

Can this only happen to a Baile Rochel?

For someone who of my generation, knows nothing of computer/internet technology besides how to turn the various newfangled machines on and off, I still haven't a clue how a little card like this is the same as money when I travel here in Israel. I don't know how it usually at least pulls out/credits the right sort of fare and knows how long since I first got on the train or bus.

To me it's still science fiction in action when if you lose one, you can go to an office which has a computer program which can reproduce your account, so you don't lose money. You do have to pay a bit for a new card, though. And a couple of years ago, I discovered that the "paying machine kiosk" by the lightrail can show you how many rides and "packages" of rides the card is "storing."

When I first started using the Rav-Kav, רב-קו, I was always very nervous about being on the lightrail and discovering that it was empty. There's no place to pay on the train, and if an inspector comes on to check before you manage to get off to pay, you're fined a lot of money.

That's why I kept refilling the card with packages of twenty 20 rides long before I had finished a package. The card isn't all that smart. It doesn't finish a package before starting a new one. When I began to check I'd find three or four packages being billed. It would say something like:

6 rides
8 rides
3 rides
20 rides

I quickly got into the habit of checking, and then from one day to the next I was horrified to discover that the full package of "20 rides" had disappeared!!! Nobody had an answer for me as to where they had gone. I figured that some computer geek had hacked my account and stolen them.

A few months after that I began to get suspicious about the fact that rides seemed to get used up too quickly. Then I discovered that sometimes instead of getting the free within 90 minute transfer, the bus or train had billed another "package." After that I made a point of getting to absolute zero before buying a new ride package of 10 or 20 depending on how much cash I had to pay the driver. Yes, I had stopped trusting the machine by the train.

Last week I knew that I had reached zero on my previous bus ride, so when I got on a bus I was ready to pay. The driver was nasty and told me to put my card on one of the machines in the bus, since he didn't want to waste time. But I insisted that there was a good chance that I'd have to give him cash for a new "package." I put my card on the magic surface expecting a red light to flash indicating "empty."

Imagine my great surprise when it was green, and a receipt popped out saying I had 19 trips left. Yes, that package of twenty 20 had been there in my account all this time. Whew... I hadn't been robbed!!!

Reflecting on a Strange Self-Portrait

This morning, when I was about to pour my second mug of coffee, I noticed my face staring at myself from the top of the French Press. So, being the coffee-crazed, overtired, amateur photographer I am, I tucked my hair in a bit better and went running for my camera.

Am I nuts?

Today we live in a world of selfies, twitter, Facebook, video-talking/calls etc. I'm in touch with a whole bunch of people via Facebook about my coffee drinking. Some of them I really know in real life and are even relatives, or relatives of relatives whom I've known f2f my entire life. But there are others who live in different parts of the world whom I've met through blogging and Facebook. And there are those I could pass in the street and haven't a clue that we are great buddies in the world of Facebook or they know me "well" because of my blogs.

Over the years, and I've been blogging for well over a decade, more like a decade and a half, people have stopped me at various venues asking if I'm that blogger they read.

I'm old enough to remember the days when phone calls were a luxury. Each call was billed, and if you called out of your immediate district, you were charged even more. Today I have a phone deal (Golan) on my cellphone which allows me to call all over the world, and it's covered by my monthly fee. I don't take advantage of it all that much, but since it also has an option that allows people to call me as if I'm in either the USA or England, (the choices I made from the many foreign countries on the list) family and friends can call me as if I'm in New York or London. To me this is like Science Fiction. I haven't a clue as to how these things work. I'm still trying to figure out how a "photocopy" turns up in a different location aka a fax.

Also, I was raised when we used film for photography, and I was constantly threatened by my parents that they'd take away my camera if I wasted film on bad pictures. The developing and printing was so expensive then.

I guess I'm a bit insane as I try to keep up with the 21st century and all of the changes from my childhood, adolescence, early adulthood and even middle-age. Am I that old?