THE WEISS CHRONICLES

At our synagogue yesterday we hosted Rabbi Dov Linzer who is the head of the Chovevei Torah (stars of Torah) Institute in New York.

He had some scholarly comments and some philosophical comments and some practical comments. I enjoyed the tangential stories most of all.

One of his stories was about the search for Chometz. A wide spread tradition is that the searcher presets 10 small pieces of bread to find during the search. He said he doesn't do this because some years ago he put out 10 and only found 8 of them in his search.

He also related a story where three rabbis were in a car driving somewhere on the first day after the two festival days of Passover. They opened the glove compartment to get something and found a piece of pastry, a devil dog (see image). One Rabbi said, "we have to burn it immediately." Another Rabbi said, "We shouldn't do that, we sold our chometz so the devil dog doesn't belong to us". A third said, "Actually since you didn't think this was in your car and you did the Bedika (nullification), this devil dog doesn't actually exist."

posted by Martin Weiss # 12:40 PM

The Mystery of the Unmarked Truck

Last week I was on mashgiach duty when I heard the sous chef (the head chef had left for the day) say, "The Delivery Truck is almost here."

I asked the sous chef what the truck was delivering. He responded, "You don't have to worry about it."

This made me suspicious. I have to worry because if the truck had some non kosher products, it would mean trouble. So I went outside to wait for the truck.

The truck came to the loading dock and I saw that it was completely unmarked. No ownership information at all. It also didn't have a rear license plate. The catering company owner was outside also awaiting the truck. He said to me, "You don't have to worry about this." Now I was really worried. Was the truck delivering non kosher meat?

They opened the back of the truck and I saw the truck was completely empty. Then the truck driver gave the catering company owner a new license plate and I realized that what was being delivered was a new truck.

posted by Martin Weiss # 12:54 AM

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Becoming a Better Cyborg

A Cyborg is a being who is partly human and partly machine (and blogger recognized the word 'cyborg').

I have been using hearing aids for about 6 years. When I wear the hearing aids, I consider myself to be a cyborg.

Earlier this week, I got a new pair of hearing aids. They provide better sound.

After the various discounts and rebates, it will cost me only about $500 a year for the next 3 years. Extending my warranty on the old ones would have been about $400 a year.

In addition, I can now get voice input from my cell phone to go direct to my hearing aids. So I can keep the phone in my pocket and hear the voice on the other end perfectly. I do have to get the phone no more than about 5 feet away to be able to get my voice heard by the person on the other end, however.

posted by Martin Weiss # 10:39 AM

Sunday, March 24, 2019

All 36 Shoppers Food Warehouse Stores to Close

We got word lately that all the Shoppers stores in the area will close.

The Shoppers brand is the 5th largest in the DC area.

According to the rumors, many of the locations will remain grocery stores under another brand, e.g., Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter, Wegmens.

I've found a particular Shoppers store that is nearby and I know many of the check out people by name without their tags. I'll miss that.

Article and broadcast footage here.

Bless the True Judge.

posted by Martin Weiss # 10:44 PM

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Tax Filing Season - George Edition

George had to file his taxes on dead tree medium this year.

There were two problems.

One involved an IRA contribution that was less than the allowable limit (by only a few hundred dollars). The HR Block software wouldn't allow this to be done with an electronic filing.

The other involved Obamacare.

The IRS doesn't allow electronic filing if you are failed to take the advanced tax credit and are doing payment and thus a tax credit when buying the health insurance but are taking it at filing time. So the HR Block software wouldn't let the e file go through but, had it done so, the IRS would have rejected it.

Notwithstanding this, the software does do all the calculations and nicely takes input from the Federal to the State filing.

O

posted by Martin Weiss # 9:59 PM

Friday, March 15, 2019

It's Ironic A T&T

I received a call from A T&T telling me that they were going to do some maintenance and that there might be some interruptions in the next 48 hours.

During the call, our service was interrupted and A T&T had to call back.

Also, the reception was bad with some feedback sounding like fingernails on chalkboard.

posted by Martin Weiss # 5:36 PM

Two Seasons for Supper Centerpiece

We will have two centerpieces on the table tonight.

One the left, a Poinsettia, on the right a Hyacinth. The former is still partly in 'bloom' from December, the latter is just starting to bloom.

I shouldn't really use hyacinths for the dinner table because their fragrance interferes with the fragrance (and taste) of the food but I really like this flower.

After all, you can never be too rich, too good looking or have too many hyacinths.

posted by Martin Weiss # 8:35 AM

Tuesday, March 05, 2019

Just Another Dreamy Meeting

In a dream, I was in a meeting with really important people (as in the image to the left which is from the Administration of President Gerald Ford).

Apparently, I was the head of an agency, maybe the CIA, and had been directed to do something. In my dream I realized I would not be able to carry out the direction. However, I couldn't remember whether this was for ethical reasons or because the job was technically impossible or because the budget wasn't big enough.

I left the meeting and started down a hall to exit whatever building I was in.

I opened a door and there was a mountain view and I was on a porch with some flower boxes (as in the second image).

Then I woke up.

posted by Martin Weiss # 12:57 PM