I've Become Very Lazy!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I've Become Very Lazy!

WMy good friend Virginia has reminded me that it's time for a new blog and I have so many thoughts reverberating in my ancient brain that I really don't know what my fingers are going to write about.

So...here goes!

I take such delight every week hearing and seeing Jeff and Donna's dogs. Now they'll never say their dogs are naughty ... they'll say it's all their fault.

So last Sunday when we were speaking Jeff showed me on the webcam a little gadget that he put together and he taught Bandit 4 tricks with it...and I don't know who was prouder...the dog or its owners.

Their beagle dogs are hunters so they dig lots of ditches in the backyard and Jeff had to go to Home Depot to buy dirt...so Donna could fill up all the holes ...now they can mow the lawn without fear of falling.

Jeff and Donna try to let me into their lives by explaining how everything works.....and I am constantly amazed.

We went to the Kennedy Space Center when they were here....and I imagine in another hundred years, this will all seem primitive to the folks who go to the museum.

In a way going to the moon has taken some of the romance away from this Lunar...because now we know it's just barren rock. However, what they do with their 'findings' is very interesting.

I don't know what the people who use cell phones in their daily lives would do without this handy little gadget....but thanks to space we have it.

But anyway, I don't recall that I heard any new songs about the romance of the moon.....so will they write new songs about Mars...and not the chocolate one.

Squatting!

Re-living our toy store.  Every year many of our customers used our free lay-a-way plan, and most of these people were on welfare under Johnson's watch..

It was easy for them...and financially good for us in knowing how to order.

I had a dream last night..and it was a replica of the way it happened.

We did not know from 'scanners'.  That was modern technique.

When a customer was creating  a hide-a-way, they would make a big pile of what they were ordering.   I would squat for a very long time with our Gordon Toys order sheets and write down every single item, so that when they came to pick up their toys, it would all be there.

A tablet and a pen and me squatting...that was the combination.

While I was in this beautiful position,  Allen was busy waiting on other customers or stock shelves.  Little did I know that 20 years hence I would be unable to perform this feat.

We were a 'mom and pop' store.

How easy, I realize today, my work would have been if I had a scanner.

 barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed barcodes. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones. Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain decodercircuitry analyzing the barcode's image data provided by the sensor and sending the barcode's content to the scanner's output port.

The bar codes were already on the merchandise.   We were very primitive, I realize now.

And this was my dream last night....writing up layaways...and I was soo tired this morning..

Probably if we had stayed in business after the year 1987, we would have become more modernized with a computer too.

Jeff and Paul begged for us to change....but that's the way it was. 

It worked for us!

Oh for a bowl of Lentil Soup..I never used sweet potatoes

A Jewish tradition that goes back to the Bible.

By Tamar Fox

 

In Parashat Toldot we read the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for some delicious lentil stew. One day, Jacob prepares a stew while Esau is out hunting in the fields. Esau returns from his long day of hunting and demands some of what he calls ha-adom ha-adom hazeh or "that red stuff," but Jacob won't give it to his brother unless Esau agrees to give up his birthright. Esau forfeits his birthright, and the text tells us, "Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright." (25:34) More >>> This is an important point in the Torah because it shows Jacob beginning to take some agency over his future, and the future of the Jewish people. The episode also teaches about the importance of food and hunger. When people are as famished as Esau was after his day of work, they will do anything, give up anything, in order to eat. To commemorate this story and its lessons, it is my family's custom to make a big pot of lentil soup on the Shabbat of Parashat Toldot. This recipe is excellent, but don't go selling your birthright to get it--you can make it yourself very easily. Ideally, the soup should be made in a slow cooker that is turned on the morning before you plan to serve the soup. If you're planning to serve the soup for Shabbat lunch, you can turn on the crock pot on Friday before Shabbat starts, and the soup will be delicious (but maybe more like a stew) by lunchtime on Saturday. This recipe can also be prepared in a large soup pot. And don't reserve it only for Shabbat Toldot--this hearty soup is great for any chilly night.<<< Less

Ingredients 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces 1 bunch leeks, green parts discarded, white parts cleaned and chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 bunch celery, chopped 1 16 oz bag brown lentils 1 32 oz container low-sodium tomato juice 1 Tablespoon oregano 1 teaspoon cumin 1 Tablespoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon cayenne 2 carrots, peeled and chopped 1 Tablespoon salt Bouillon to taste Yield: Serves about 10

Story of our banks

\-- from The Founders and Finance by Thomas K. McCraw. At the founding of the United States, there was deep suspicion regarding banks -- and with good reason. In Europe, they had often made loans beyond their means and left depositors destitute. Furthermore, George Washington and his successors were large landholders not dependent on banks and therefore not inclined to view them as economic necessities. And yet, Alexander Hamilton, America's first Treasury Secretary, almost immediately succeeded in engineering the creation of the first national bank. He view this as critical in part because he was an immigrant, and his founding years had been spent overseas as a trader dependent on financing. In fact, both of the chief architects of America's economic systems -- Hamilton and Albert Gallatin -- were immigrants, and four of the first six secretaries of the treasury of the United States were born overseas: "Because of the immense debt left over from the War of Independence, financial affairs [of the new United States] would be among the most critical concerns. The candidates George Washington considered for secretary of the treasury were Robert Morris, who had come from the English port of Liverpool, and Alexander Hamilton, who had emigrated from the Caribbean. "Twelve years later, when Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801 as the first Republican president (no relation to the present-day party of that name), he, too, appointed a foreign-born secretary: Albert Gallatin, who had come from Geneva; and he reappointed him in 1805. Jefferson's successor, James Madison, also appointed Gallatin -- in 1809 and again in 1813. Later, when Gallatin left office to negotiate the end of the war with Britain that had begun in 1812, Madison appointed, in sequence, two more immigrants: George W. Campbell (from Scotland) and Alexander James Dallas (from Jamaica). Thus, four of the first six secretaries of the treasury were born overseas. ... "[That was unusual because] in 1816 the proportion of foreign-born was probably no more than about 4 percent, among the lowest in U.S. history. When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, many of the colonies had experienced at least 125 years of settlement. Almost all of the major founders came from families long resident in North America. John Adams's first American ancestor arrived in 1620 aboard the Mayflower; Benjamin Franklin's, in 1635; James Madison's, in 1653; George Washington's, in 1659; and Thomas Jefferson's, in 1672. By contrast, Alexander Hamilton came in 1772 and Albert Gallatin in 1780. ... "Did it make a difference that the most important architects of the American economy were immigrants? This is like asking whether it made a difference that four of the first five presidents, who served for thirty-two of the first thirty-six years under the Constitution, were slaveholding Virginia planters. Certainly they were iconic figures: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Yet they, like most people everywhere, tended to look at the world through the lens of their native milieu -- in their case, the landed class of colonial Virginia. As adults, each these four presidents came to own very large plantations. Their holdings in Virginia totaled about 23,000 acres -- the equivalent of almost thirty-six square miles. "As Emerson wrote in 1860, 'If a man owns land, the land owns him.' The extent to which land (as opposed to liquid capital) dominated Virginia's culture is reflected in the number of banks chartered during the nation's first decades. In 1781, when Virginia was the largest and most populous state, not a single bank existed anywhere in the country. By 1837, there were 627. Of these, Massachusetts had 123 banks, New York 98, Pennsylvania 49, but Virginia only 6. Each bank increased the money supply in the state where it was chartered -- promoting commerce, manufacturing, and faster economic growth. ... "In many countries, banks were viewed with justifiable suspicion. They often seemed to lend beyond their means and in economic downturns to run out of cash, leaving depositors destitute. 'But all that has been said against them,' Hamilton wrote Morris, 'only tends to prove that like all other good things they are subject to abuse and when abused become pernicious.' ... Hamilton -- still just twenty-four years old -- exhibited a sophisticated understanding of money and its relationship to a nation's 'real' economy of goods and services. Regardless of public prejudice, he was convinced that the United States had to have a banking system in order to promote the nation's credit, both public and private. Public credit 'gives power to the state for the protection of its rights and interests.'

Ryan's Watercolor

Ryan, my great nephew is seeing water colors with a new eye.  He's bringing earth tones into his brushstrokes and I'm betting this is going to be admired by many of Ryan's friends.

Ryan, is my creative nephew, who loves drumming and guitar, skiing, traveling and now painting.

His lovely wife Daniela is studying medicine and will soon be a full-fledged doctor.

Through the years I've watched Ryan become who he is today and I'm very proud of him.  When he was about 8, his father and brother were here in Fl. planning to go golfing.   They didn't want to take Ryan because at that time he was just a little boy and he carried on.   Paul said he couldn't come because they had a dress code.

The next morning when I  found Ryan on the phone asking about their dress code...and there was none...and Ryan went.   I was so amused by this episode.  He checked it out all by himself.

Another time I gave Ryan $100 to buy anything he wanted.   I asked what he used the money for and he said C.D's.   I was so proud of him.   I didn't know at the time that there was anything but certificates of Deposit.   Another funny time.

I'm proud of his brother Eric too.   Eric is busy right now watching his baby son grow.

I love my family.

His babyhood is moving much too fast..... Last week he was crawling!

About 7 months ago Eric phoned me and I asked where he and Becky would be going for their next vacation.

There was a brief pause...and then Eric said he didn't think they would be doing much traveling.

BECKY IS PREGNANT!

No better blessed words were ever spoken.

Well, the 9 months passed and little Shane came into the world...named after Eric's great grandfather Sam.

I was elated to hear that of course since he is my father.

Becky and Eric have not been stingy with baby's efforts.   They Skype me and I see every little movement this darling boy makes...including throwing up.

A few minutes ago I received this picture of  Shane trying to pull himself up to a standing position.

I will see this precious little human being around the beginning of December....and I just can't wait.

This little guy always has a big smile on his face....happy...happy!

I agree with this!

Kathleen Parker

Opinion Writer

Behind every great woman

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By Kathleen Parker, Published: October 22 E-mail the writer

Most Americans of a certain age grew up hearing the adage: “Behind every great man is a great woman,” or some variation thereof.

The meaning is clear, though its origin less so. Whether the expression evolved from the women’s movement or was uttered by a wise man is less important than its truth. Today, as women excel in education and assume positions of power, we might flip the expression — but not too hastily. For even now, it is hard not to notice that the Senate solution to the government shutdown is credited primarily to men, behind whom were a handful of women who got the ball rolling.

Kathleen Parker

Parker writes a twice-weekly column on politics and culture.

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As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid andMinority Leader Mitch McConnellannounced the bipartisan deal, the women hit the talk shows to discuss their collaborative efforts. They included Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Democrats Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

It is natural, of course, that the Senate leaders should plug the victory. Thus Reid and McConnell grabbed the headlines. But the sidebar is really the lead story, asArizona Sen. John McCain noted: “Leadership, I must fully admit, was provided primarily by women in the Senate.”

Before the applause subsides and the status quo grabs the wheel again, we might give this episode greater, sustained attention. We are, after all, trudging toward a repeat early in 2014. The government is funded at current levels only until Jan. 15 and the debt ceiling, which was temporarily suspended, will require fresh attention by Feb. 7.

That women were able to come together and hammer out a workable solution, if only temporarily, is little surprise to women (or to men who pay attention) and speaks to women’s unique abilities to communicate and collaborate without the requisite territorial marksmanship that often interferes with men’s better intentions.

Sounds stereotypical? Welcome to Nature.

We needn’t revisit the cave dwellings of primitive man — or the Garden of Eden, if one finds greater comfort there — to remind ourselves that male and female are physically equipped quite differently but also are endowed with unique skills consistent with their survival tasks. Our cultural evolution may have accelerated in recent history, but our hard-wiring — those little lizard brains buried deep in the subconscious human-mammalian mind — is still busy fighting saber-tooths and nursing the young.

As much as ever, we need both packages even as we move toward less- defined roles. And as much as we try to dismiss these differences — and even fight madly to pretend they are irrelevant to present-day environs and templates — nature has a way of prevailing.

This doesn’t mean we must capitulate. Women needn’t be tethered to birthing chairs nor men expected to always bear the burden of mathematics, but compromise might make some sense. To wit: Women serve very well in the chambers of power created by men, and men benefit from their influence. Those skills women developed while managing their mud huts, gathering nuts and berries while cuddling and nursing babies — the birth of multitasking and collaboration — have modern applications beyond the powder room, where women have been known to gravitate in groups for purposes of sharing secrets that far exceed men’s reasoning powers.

Relax. This is fun.

Once upon a time, we’ll tell our sons and daughters someday, when women first entered the congresses and corporations of men, they dressed and acted like men to blend in. They feared that their ways would be considered “girlie” and not suitable to The Man’s World. In their attempts to excel, many became tougher than men and didn’t value their own best talents.

Then one day, the government shut down and the men were erecting a giant fire hydrant on the Mall and the women said, “Whattha’! This is ridiculous!” So the women sat down at a table they called “The Campfire,” poured many chalices of fabulous wine, munched nuts and created a plan to save the country.

And now you know the origin of Camp Fire Girls.

Thus are parables written. Henceforth, may many more women invade the congresses and white houses of their states and nation to practice and teach the arts of compromise. And let it be said hereafter that behind every great woman is probably a bunch of other great women.

A specially created prayer

the blogs: nosher / rabbis / keshet / scribe / multitudes / southern / canteen

A Blessing for a Surrogate Mother

By Rachel Kobrin | Tagged health, parenting, Prayer, spirituality, surrogacy, torah

9

“Do you know of a prayer for a surrogate?” The question came over Facebook Chat a few nights ago, sent by a young woman in my community named Tara. In the coming days, Tara will begin carrying an embryo for a couple who were not able to conceive on their own.  For Tara, this has been a deep spiritual journey. She has two children of her own, and felt so blessed by easy and healthy pregnancies. And while cherishing her own beautiful sons, she felt overwhelmed by the deep pain and heartache that infertility causes to so many people. Tara knew she wanted to help.

In the Hebrew Bible, we meet many women who struggle with infertility. There’s Rachel, who watches her sister carry baby after baby, struggling herself to conceive her own beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin. There’s Hannah, who is so deeply pained by her inability to bare a child, that when she prays with all of her heart, Eli the Cohen believes that her passion and her devotion is a sign of being drunk. Hannah sways back and forth, opening her mouth, and only releasing a voice that is loud enough for she herself to hear. This kavanah, or deep intention, is the model that we use for personal prayer today.

Possibly the most well known story of infertility is found in this week’s Torah portion—Vayera.  After struggling for years to conceive, Sarah is told that she and Abraham will have a child in their old age – and she laughs, and thus the child is given the name Yitzhak. Our rabbis teach that her laughter carries with it a feeling of surprise and even doubt. And yet, I prefer to focus on the essential truth that exists within big, unbridled laughter—tremendous, heartfelt, contagious joy. Sarah would finally know the extraordinary joy of being a mother.

Today, I know so many women and men who desperately want to experience that very same joy.

In just a few short days, an embryo will be implanted within Tara’s uterus, formed by a loving mother and father who are unable to create a baby without Tara’s help. And so, for Tara, I have written this blessing:

Makor HaChayim, Source of Life,

Inspire me to become a holy vessel, blessed with the opportunity to carry this precious seed, providing nourishment and warmth within the deep embrace of my womb.

Infuse me with patience. Through each hour of each day, may I have the strength to feel the blessing of the moment, knowing that with each breath that we share, life is closer to being renewed.

Rekindle within me courage, for in holding this seed, I am not merely making a child—I am also creating a mother and a father. I am forming a family. And within that family, a whole universe of possibility dwells.

And at this time, especially, instill within me the power and potential of love, that I may remain tender and devoted to all those who are connected to my heart.  As my body changes and grows, so may my capacity to embody love expand and unfold as well.

A Marriage Made In Heaven? - My Jewish Learning

A Marriage Made In Heaven? - My Jewish Learning    The more I read of our ancestors, the more confused I become.

I wonder how age was judged in these biblical times.    Abraham was the first Jewish person...that we're taught.

But I never knew that after Sarah died, he married Hagar, the woman he sent away so many years before.  

More about Shane

Friday, April 26, 2013

Poking into other people's lives

I think sometimes I'm making myself crazy.   I try to crawl out of my little space here at High Point and enter other people's lives.

I picture them on airplanes going all over the world...whether for business or for sheer pleasure on seeing our world.   That's what most people I think would do if they had a lot of money, along with good health, and a partner to go with.   We are not meant to be solitary beings.

I didn't imagine  that my husband would not be alive at 69...I thought we had years to explore our country...but fate had other plans.

I imagine my kids at work...each one pulling their weight and contributing to what they're being reimbursed for.

I picture Jeff taking the  2 dogs out twice a day for their walk...and Donna preparing dinner.  

I particularly think of my little Shane whom I absolutely adore...I see him about once a week on Skype...and he really is very entertaining.   He just learned to crawl and he's into everything.    I saw him show love...he was hugging his daddy and giving him cheek kisses.    This is worth the whole world to me.   

Everybody is sooo busy and that's good too.   Everyday I turn on the news and there's always an alert of some sort that we have to be mindful of.

When I'm in our pool...I forget everything...and just splish and slash....and that's what retirement is all about.

Written by my cousin, Dr. Harvey Gotliffe

Monday, October 7, 2013

It’s About Time

You may (or may not) have wondered what ever happened to The Ho-Ho-Kus Cogitator blog that I irregularly published from 2007 through the fall of 2012 on Google’s blogspot.  Along the way, I became involved and overwhelmed with the writing, photography and publishing my book, The Oy Way, on how to learn Yiddish while exercising. If so inclined, you can find its web site here.

Next came the marketing and selling of the book and although that effort consumed even more time, I wrote and “starred” in four YouTube videos demonstrating exercises. These were shot first in noisy Los Angeles, and then in the serene quiet of Japanese Gardens in San Jose. You can find those videos here.

By the time I returned to writing this blog in the middle of 2013, I had misplaced and forgotten my password to get into my blogspot site. I diligently tried to contact anyone at Google for help, and did so by email and phone, and also tried my many tech expert contacts in the Silicon Valley, but it was to no avail. I had already written several new posts so I was not at a loss for words, but was at a loss as to where I could place them. The complete ghoulish Google tale can be found here on my Huffington Post site.

Since the last blog post appeared on September 24, 2012, much has happened in my world, your world, and other worlds.

In October 2012, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, and the Olympics were held in London. In November, Barak Obama was reelected President, and many Tea Party candidates were elected to Congress. They currently hold the country as a hostage, stomping their feet and turning purple holding their breath, trying to get their way.

On December 14, 2012, innocent children and others were murdered in Newtown, and in January 27, 2013, Spain defeated Denmark to win the 2013 Men’s World Handball Championship. There was no noticeable reaction from my Spanish-born wife.  On February 13, 2013, the San Francisco 49ers lost the Super Bowl, and there was no reaction from me. In March 2013, we went to Esalen in Big Sur for our annual spring Tai Ji weekend, and we also vigorously celebrated Armenian Red Cross Month. I fondly remember my Armenian friends from the early 1970s including former Dean Art Margosian at Fresno State who offered to take me back if I didn’t like Detroit, and Roger Tatarian who was once editor-in-chief of United Press International, and brought the UPI’s man in Moscow to our classes. I also remember, I also remember Kazar Kazarian and Nicholas T. Nicholas.

On April 1, 2013, the first smelling television was unveiled in Japan, and on April 16, the deranged bomber brothers killed three and injured 183 at the Boston Marathon. On May 23, I was punched hard in the chest during a table tennis match, and on May 27, the largest flag ever made, at five tons and forty-four miles of thread, was unveiled in Romania. On June 25, 2013, our Supreme Court struck down section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, helping members of Congress in safe, gerrymandered districts to sleep better and work less between then and the 2014 elections.

In July, the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, and I was in my hometown to celebrate the 60^th anniversary reunion of my high school graduating class.  In August, I was told that many physical activities could be conducive to improving my health, including sex, but I was warned against having such contact with either a much younger woman, or another man’s or another woman’s wife. In September, my wife and I celebrated Rosh Hashanah at our annual retreat at Beth Yosemite, and October began with the shutdown of the U.S. Government. It’s a shame we can’t hold the 2014 elections this November and shut up and shut down those in Congress who believe that America is strictly their country, and doesn’t belong to the American people.

In a last ditch effort, I created a new Ho-Ho-Kus Cogitator blog that you are now reading, and more than fifty earlier posts can be found here. 

In the future, there will be other posts on a variety of profound subjects including a Midwestern Rule of Proper Etiquette; geography lessons for Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief officer; how the medical system works against you (even if you aren’t involved with the Affordable Health Act); and how to trim the branches of a tall Santa Rosa Plum tree, even if you are not very tall.

When in the mood, please visit this site again.