Also This

I think the circled box goes a long way toward describing me:

Here we have a clearer shot of the label in question:

(EE stands for electrical engineering.)

Excuses, Excuses

First, I wasn't blogging because I was assiduously looking for work. (I haven't found yet, and haven't sent out email blast to my contacts yet, either. Sneak preview: I'm looking for a laboratory position in physics or electrical engineering, in or near Rehovot.)

Now I'm not blogging because I'm packing. (Estimated moving date is August 1, and we will not be caught flat-footed as we were when we packed up to make aliyah. We will not procrastinate; we will not be forced to pack haphazardly; we will not be impossibly rushed at the end. We will NOT.)

"Is this not evidence of blogging?" you ask. Well, yes, but it's part of packing. I'm up to books, and before I pack Hound of the Far Side, I need to post this comic that I caught BSM giggling at recently as he flipped though the book. (No, I don't encourage that sort of behavior, but I also don't really censor his book-perusing.)

That's all. Back to packing.

We Signed!

The 12-month rental contract on the house is SIGNED, with an option to renew on the same terms for another 2 years after this. The landlord still seems like a nice, normal guy. I'm having some trouble believing it. That was too easy, right? Please G-d, everything should go this smoothly.

So Jewish

About two weeks ago, we visited Rehovot (again) to look at some houses for rent. Today, we called one of the landlords and told him we were still interested. The house is still available, we confirmed the price, and he said he'd draw up a contract for us to come and sign on Sunday.

As the conversation was wrapping up, the landlord said, "שיהיה בברכה. לכולנו" [It should be with blessing. For all of us.]

At which point I suddenly realized that I have the cultural capital to know exactly what was going on: we were sealing the deal verbally right here, right now. So I gave the (nearly) appropriate answer: "ברכה והצלחה" [Blessing and success.] (I looked it up later; turns out the phrase is actually mazel u'bracha. Whatever.)

Hopefully this is just as binding as it is in the diamond district, and contract-signing will go smoothly. Amen.

Siddur Party!

BSM got his first siddur today... at the Kotel. Which is pretty cool. From his account (and the note that was sent home), it seems that they took a van (or meeneeboos) to the kotel, wore crowns and ties, got their siddurim, davened, said tehillim, got their pictures taken (presumably by tourists), went to the park and ate pizza, played, tattled on each other, got ice pops, and all in all had a pretty great time.

Parents weren't invited, so Husbinator tried to find them on the Kotel Cam. He isn't sure if he saw BSM's group, but he saw many similar groups. Rather than blurring one of the few photos I got sent of the event, here's a similar-looking photo from the internet:

Be jealous :D
(And come visit us.)