A blog on a Tuesday

Blog entry for
Tuesday, July 28, 2011.

THE FOLLOWING IS NOT FOR SONIA’S EYES TO SEE (then why are I
putting it up me dummy?!!)

We haven’t
yet officially moved into our new apartment, but I’ve already signed and am
moving boxes in while I prepare to switch homes for good.

The
apartment won’t be fully ‘move-in-able’ until tomorrow afternoon, because the
workers are still doing some last touch ups to the place.

So anyways,
while I was schlepping a load of
boxes into the new apartment, I open the front door and take a look, there’s
one of the Mexican workers, with his back to me, urinating inside ‘our’
bathroom… It was so shocking that I almost burst out laughing! Of course if
Sonia were to see this chas vesholom,
she would promptly order a full sanitization of our entire apartment, plus
fumigation and demand home owners insurance for emotional damages… And we don’t
want Sonia to see this do we??

***

SONIA CAN
START READING FROM HERE…

So much to
do, it’s scary.

I am at the
airport picking up some Bochurim who came in to help out for Shabbos… Okay,
they didn’t. But they are hopefully going to help out a bit with my move (if
they’re the ‘nice’ kind of Bochurim… You know, the ones who want to impress me
for their Shidduch!). Their coming here is a long story, but I’m so excited to
be kept company and enjoy some chassidisher
atmosphere with these dudes.

So when I
get back into town, I need to make sure that the Bochurim are taken care of as
far as a place to stay, then I need to prepare for my Shiur tonight, which
begins at 8pm.

Tomorrow, I
don’t have any formal appointments planned, but I do need to move all the big
furniture from my home into the new apartment. All the beds, couches and
bookshelves need to go… It’s hot outside and I know it won’t be easy. I’ll try
to get some help from the Bochurim and from some other guys from the community.

After we
empty out my apartment, I need to pick up all the furniture from our landlord,
which I put away safely (hopefully) in a storage just out of town.

We will
bring the truck to the storage, shlep
all the furniture from the storage back to our old apartment and try to set up
the apartment just the way we found it some 5 months ago, when we were just
moving in.

Thursday… Oy
Thursday!

Finish
moving the storage furniture, clean and close up the old apartment, ready to
hand back the keys to the manager.

Have to do hashgacha in my kitchen for our NEW
restaurant/Kosher store which we are launching every Thursday afternoon from
1-3pm. Julio prepares nice, Israeli style Kosher meals and sells them during
lunch time at the Chabad House. People come, they purchase and eat out on the
terrace. When they finish eating, they can buy bissli, bamba, Israeli pickles…
You know, the usuals. All the Israeli’s are really excited about the new
project and let’s hope that we have success with it.

Have an
appointment with another caterer who is doing a bunch of Kosher meals for a
wedding on Sunday… She asked me to go shopping with her for the foods before
she prepares the meals.

Need to
cancel my phone line with Telmex and open an account with Megacable.

Need to pick
up my dry cleaning for the wedding.

Need to try
and make appointments with people in Mexico City when I go.

…

So you see,
there is much to be done and so little time to actually do it! This is life
living alone in Cabo. Missing family hurts so much and it’s so difficult. I
don’t like it one bit.

One more
reason to want Moshiach NOW!!!

From a previous post saved to my computer...

• Did you know that 98.6 percent of people who wear skintight speedos will vote democrat (liberal)

So I've been thinking again:

People who live in Israel are generally much more cautious than us Western, free loving American, terroristically naiive citizens. Does that mean that they are freer, or more enslaved than us?

Let me explain: One really cool, eye opening memory of my short time spent in Israel was while I was walking through Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

I had been freshly married and this was my first (and only) trip to the holy land. While walking through the lines in the terminal, with my new talis bag tucked neatly under my arm, I heard someone from behind me calling my full name, including my last name.

I turned around to see who it was, but nobody I knew was there. So I continued walking.

Again I heard the voice calling me from behind.

This time, when I turned around, I saw a total stranger smiling at me and coming towards me. He was older, maybe in his 40's and was obviously Israeli, though I had no recollection of seeing him before. Anyways, he comes and shakes my hand and tells me that it's so nice to see me again. I, being all confused, smile back and say hello, but then ask how I know him, or how he knows me.

The Israeli then tells me that I could have easily been a victim of terror. He points down to my talis bag, where my entire name is clearly spelled out so everyone can see. He explains to me that if a terrorist were to read my name and call me, just like he did, I would lose my guard to him and would be an easy victim to target... So he explained that I need to remove my name from the talis bag, just in case.

I never did remove the name from the bag, but that experience left a deep impression on me. I was exposed to the kind of mentality that every Israeli naturally lives with. Everything they do is carefully thought out, making sure to be in the safest situation possible at all times. It's just their way of life. I can't blame them. The environment they live in makes them so cautious and seemingly overly-obsessed to us clueless Westerners.

And here I am, totally oblivious to the possible disaster that can befall me, all because of my bag of recklessness that I carry under my arm wherever I go (even though the tefillin certainly protect me... I'm talking 'bout the bag).

So, which of us is really free? Am I a free man? Does my lack of emotional anticipation for the worst case scenario mean that I have less worry on my conscience and therefore I am freer as a person? Or perhaps is my ignorance of the possible dangers proof that I am so enslaved to a culture of cluelessness and naivete? And what of this Israeli fellow? Is he free? Does the dangerous society that he lives in, where terror is as existent and real and the shining sun cause him to be enslaved to this 'ever-so-careful' mentality? It means that even when he bends down to tie his shoes, his mind is anticipating and worrying about the worst case scenario. Is he a slave? Or is his control and meticulous movements a sign that he truly knows what may be ahead and is ready for anything? Although his life is lived with more care and safety on his mind, perhaps he is the truly free one. He truly rules his life and doesn't allow ignorance and Western stupidity to dictate his every movement.

This was one of the thoughts swirling in my mind over the last few days. Any help?

There are still lonely people!

... Like me!

With Sonia and the kids gone for the next few weeks, I have been blogging slightly more oft.

However life is extremely lonely. Yes, I am keeping extremely busy with moving our home and getting ready for a trip to Mexico City. But it is still lonely. A reality that I have not been used to for the last four years of marriage.

Four years of marriage. Wow!

I try to remember being a bochur again. That feeling of being independence and loneliness in the world. It's hard to remember how I survived those years. I'm literally addicted to marriage in a sense.

Four years of marriage. Wow!

Never would have imagined my life being so blessed from on high. I thank the holy one, blessed be he for all that he gave to me and more.

I'm not one to be mushy anywhere, especially in public or on m'blawg. But marriage has been amazing to me and sometimes I can overwhelmed about it... Especially when I am alone in Cabo, while my wonderful family ka'h poo poo poo is in New York for the summer vacation.

Oh the heart yearns!

My photoshop diet!

Does this count? Is this sufficiently convincing??

It's great! I feel fantastic! I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want and yet I get instant results in a matter of seconds.

All I need is the jpg. stretch feature on any windows program...

The photoshop diet can work for you too!

My 2011 NHL playoff beard edition!

Doesn't every Jewish hockey fan think of Yeshiva bochurim lookalikes while the NHL playoffs are going on?

I know I do.

I had a whole bunch of NHL player lookalikes a few days ago, but I think these are the best ones I can find.

They're all the players in their playoff beards, matched up with famous lubavichers or people I know:

I know Detroit wasn't in the finals this year, but Henrik Zetterberg in the playoffs always reminds me of Ari from camp... I couldn't help it!

This is personally my favorite one. Higgins and Marcus mamosh look like brothers. I wonder if Higgins can sing?

What are your thoughts?

What bugs me...

As an official Shliach, I'm not supposed to get into politics and my own personal opinions on things, as they may offend some congregant or other potential Jew, which will only cause negative feelings to yiddishkeit... A theory that I adhere to and respect.

However, when it comes to my bedroom, this blog - albeit being a room open to any and all guests who encounter this page, still, I feel that I should be granted my own blog to vent in. So here goes my own opinion!

Many Jews are liberals. Why, I do not know.

Some (the conservatives) say that it is a phobia and a reflex that all Jews are plagued with, after thousands of year of being the victim, we have been left with a low self esteem and therefore instinctively tend to justify the anti-semitism and abuse that we are subjected to by our tormenting enemies, "Esav."

Others (the liberals themselves) may associate it with the Jewish nature to be caring, merciful and imbued with very high and sensitive values to other people, EVEN (especially - ed.) if they are not from our faith.

So what bugs me?

Well, liberal Jews (at least the one's that I know about) are usually the ones who are critical about the holocaust, placing a chunk of the blame for the Jewish slaughter of six million Jews on the Jewish nation themselves. "The Jews should have stood up and fought!" Is their claim. We were too timid and soft, which is why we became victims and ended up almost being obliterated!

Well that's a theory, but then consider this:

When Israel, the Jewish homeland stands up proudly and defends itself against terrorist aggressors, who is the first one to stand and defend the helpless Arabs who are suffering terribly under the Israeli occupation?! The liberals!!

During the Naksa day protest the other day, Israel allegedly killed over 30 Syrians... Then it was knocked down to 14 Syrians... (let's wait another few minutes for the next discounted number). But the media was all over the murderous state of Israel for their violent tactics.

Considering the terror ripping through Syria by their own government, I would even suggest that statistically, every Syrian should prefer demonstrating against the Israeli's then against the Syrian barbarians who run the Country. It's much safer, warnings are made via megaphone to the protesters and when it is necessary to fire rounds, the ammunition is pointed at the feet instead of mass butchering of a people, like the Syrian army is doing to their own citizens!

So why do the liberal Jews criticize and trash the Israeli army for defending and sticking up for themselves?! Aren't they doing exactly what 1930's Jews were apparently not doing!!??

Gosh! This Jewish self esteem issue drives me crazy!!