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THE WEISS CHRONICLES
Chronological Account of the Weiss family with contextual remarks, some weather, sports and other news.
You can write to me at: mhw20854@yahoo.com
The people in the Weiss family are: Martin, Ann, Beth and George. I also sometimes write about other people or our pet.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Baby Sign Language is a Real Thing Now - Apparently
Tamar went to a lecture today on this (and brought Oz).
The theory is that at 8 months babies can frequently learn to sign some significant words (e.g., mommy, nap, diaper).
However, per the theory, it will take until 12-15 months before most babies can master these words verbally. Also the theory is that the signing creates more bonding and actually helps the verbalization.
Well, that's theory but at least some fairly sober people seem to agree on it, e.g., the folks at WebMD
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Some Evening Visits to Rambam Square
Since it is real close and since the evenings aren't too hot (although the humidity lasts all night), we've been going down to the square several times a week.
One evening we made it a point to hang out on the Ha Yeled Blvd (first image) for awhile.
We were attempting to see fruit bats that supposedly feed in the brush trees. We couldn't see any. I think this is because the fruit bats need fruit and there isn't any right now but who knows.
Another evening we went to a Klezmer Concert (second image). There were well over 1000 people (it was free) although not as many as for the Leonard Cohen experience last week.
There was both an all male and an all female Klezmer group. I got bored of the music in about 20 minutes listening to the male group and about the same listening to the female group.
As with all evenings it seems the municipal building was lit up in green (third image).
Is 2 months too early for personalized apparel?
Well it is a towel so not 'apparel' by some definitions but it has his name on it.
btw, Oz now weighs 13.7 lbs.
Also sometimes the name Oz in hebrew doesn't have the vov so I guess whoever gave him that paid extra.
The second image has Oz raising one eyebrow (the towel has slipped a bit) higher than the other eyebrow.
I liked this because it reminded me of Spock's raised eyebrow.
The GIF that is the third image (its actually a collection of images) is from the episode "Mirror, Mirrow".
In that episode an alternate Universe Spock serves an evil Terran Empire (the evil twin of the United Federation of Planets). In the episode a planet which has, apparently, rich deposits of dilithium doesn't want to let the Terran Empire mine it for ethical reasons. In the 'good universe', the Federation is negotiating, peacefully and in good faith, with the same planet for dilithium.
The wikipedia entry for Mirror, Mirror is here.
When I retired from the FHWA and became a consultant I grew the 'evil Spock Beard'. Someone (whom I knew to be a Trekkie) saw me at a meeting subsequently and I said that I was actually 'alternate Universe Weiss'. Ten years later I still have that beard.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Herziliya -- unsuccessfull multiobjective trip
We went to Herziliya. Three objectives.
1. Visiting some of Beth's friends who had not seen Oz and were staying at the Herod Hotel (middle of the image near the outer marina - image from https://econcretetech.com/seawall-units-herzliya-marina/).
2. Enjoy a lunch near the marina.
3. Beth had a dental appointment in the city of Herziliya (top background).
We got a cab on Shilo (the Gett taxi
application). We got to the Herod and visited and so accomplished that objective.
Then we walked around the interior marina to near the further right of the two twin buildings near the center top of the image. It was a hot walk, longer than we wanted and with no shade and no wind. When we got to the restaurant we ended up eating inside because we were overheated. So objective 2 was nullified.
While we were eating, Beth got a call from her dentist that they had to cancel the appointment so objective 3 was not achieved at all.
The reason Beth has a dentist in Herziliya is because the dentists she has seen in Ramat Gan and Bnai Brak had outrageously high fees (e.g., 9000 shekels for a cleaning where her dentist did it for 600 see second image).
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
The Free Henhouse
Beth's friends are giving her baby things. Previously she got two baby rockers.
Today, she got a free playpen.
It was from the guy who runs a local home improvement store. We bought a vacuum cleaner from him (the box in the first image).
He gave her the playpen. It comes with its own case and carrier (also image one).
After assembly, it looks like image two.
The company that makes it is called Easy Baby. Their product is called a Henhouse (Luul in Hebrew) because it looks like a henhouse (apparently).
Image two comes from the company's website. Beth won't assemble it until she comes back to Israel in October.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Another Branding Story and a Piano on Bialik Street
Tamar and I were shopping today.
One stop was at the equivalent of an American Dollar store.
The store is called Max 20 meaning that nothing costs over 20 shekalim (about $6).
We were trying to get some tableware so Tamar could let here airbnb tenants use it instead of her kashered tableware.
As we went to our next stop which was actually the iced coffee place, we passed the municipal building. They had a piano in the landscaped garden entrance. A kid was playing (he didn't have any musical training, just thumping keys at random).
and yesterday Beth was walking by this place as a video was being made and as a result she appears in the Mayor of Ramat Gan's facebook page (about second 38 on the right)
Friday, August 16, 2019
An odd way to Brand a Restaurant
On 15 August, while shopping on Jabotinsky Street we went past a restaurant (at 89 Jabotinsky) which is called, "Almost free Pizza".
I was too busy to eat there that day.
It is actually kosher and a slice (small, no topping) of pizza is, I think 5 NIS.
That reminded me of a place I passed by once in South Carolina.
This place advertised, Hot Beer, Lousy Food and Bad Service.
Almost Free Pizza has a page here.
Duffy's facebook page is here.
Concert in Rambam Square
The evening of 15 August there was a concert in Rambam Square. It coincided with Tu b Av (15th of Av) which once was a happy holiday. It is mentioned in tractate Taanit in the Babylonian Talmud on folio pages 30-31, and also Josephus called it the feast of the wood in chapter 15 of "Wars of the Jews".
It was a Leonard Cohen Experience Concert with all LC songs in English. A big screen showed the words (also in English). The concert was schedule to begin at 700pm. I got there about 745pm figuring they would be late because of the horrible traffic. Actually they didn't start until 815. It was free, However the seats were small and close together so I went to a restaurant just a few
feet from the event. I had two cokes but the chair was nice, had armrests, etc.
At the table with me was a couple. The woman had a dress from circa 1970s hippie era. She told me she was a fan of Leonard Cohen's music. I said, that I thought his themes were a bit too sad for Tu b Av but she said that love transcends (correct English grammar and word usage, but with an Israeli accent). I said that Leonard Cohen's songs were about love but it was always love that was doomed or painful or destructive (the song Hallelujah famously refers to both David and Bathsheba and to Sampson and Delilah). She said, that I was thinking of the shallow literal meaning.
Anyway, there were about 2000 people there (they also played the song 'Suzanne' which refers to Jesus but the audience didn't gasp or react in any way to that).
Apparently, Leonard Cohen had given a number of concerts in Israel and some were in Ramat Gan. The second image is from a 2009 concert in Ramat Gan. The third image is from an article in the 2016 obit in the Times of Israel.
OZ gets a US Passport
About mid day on 15 August, Oz's US passport was delivered by courier.
They called a few days earlier to pin down the day and then a few minutes before the delivery to assure someone was home.
As noted previously, this was a pain to get but now he doesn't need a Visa.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Trip to downdown during insect control
Beth had an insect treatment done today in her place.
The problem, according to the insect control company is the pipes in the apartment (see first image) are old and all the apartments are linked.
It will cost a relatively small amount to treat the whole building, including the plumbing in common and Beth will try to convince people but, this is one of those 'tragedy of the commons ' type situation.
During the insect treatment and after, there was a scheduled visit to the Ministry of Health for Oz (he weighed in at 5.9 kg ~ 13 lbs).
After that there was a trip to the Bialik Mall and Hair cuts for Ann and Beth.
On the way to the mall, we passed the municipal building. The sign "Parking Day" was interesting. Based on the Ramat Gan website, I think it is about finding alternative uses for parking spaces on Bialik Street (an underground lot is planned for the square which would help the 'on street' situation.
At the mall I noticed a new kosher McDonalds is in construction on the third level. There already is a non kosher McDonalds at the mall on the ground level so I'm not sure if this is an augment or replacement.
Anyway, I thought the 'fun graffiti at the mall was worth a picture (third image).
Friday, August 09, 2019
Some oddities in Ramat Gan
The first image has a copy of the 8 August Jerusalem Post and a thick book called, Bezeelbub's Tales to His Grandson (this was for me to read on Tisha b Av).
This paper was purchased on the 8th, the book on the 7th.
The book is about 1200 pages long (published first in the 1920s - it was from a used book store).
The book cost 20 NIS. The newspaper, about 60 pages, cost 22 NIS (about $6).
The second image was taken just outside the Bialik Mall on the 8th. What seems to be a sale of 1970 era LPs is exactly that (there seem to be CDs also). Yes that is an album of Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits (the sign on right says, "New Records" on left it says "Foreign Records".
The third image shows a person who, for some reason, takes a cart filled with bread and feeds the pigeons. I've see this several times.
It is a nuisance to walk through this flock of pigeons and I think it must annoy people but evidently there is no law against it or possibly whatever he is doing wrong isn't considered worth stopping. I learned later that the person is a disabled war vet so maybe people give him some slack. And then I learned there is actually a youtube story on this guy.
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
iced coffee and lED lights+
After dark tonight, Ann and I went to Rambam square and enjoyed the Cofix Iced Coffee while watching the LED lights on Ha Yeled Blvd.
They've been doing this light show since 2015 I think because Beth took a picture of it that year (it is in our blog from that trip). I tried to find a youtube version of this since the lights do change color but I didn't find one.
We borrowed some chairs from a meat restaurant that wasn't very busy (because it is the 9 days)
Monday, August 05, 2019
Bone Density Scan Day
Today, Tamar and I took Oz to an orthopedist to get a bone density scan. For some reason, Israel requires babies to get these.
It took a long time to get there because we took a bus and when we got off the bus and walked a bit we realized that we were on to Hayim Landau Street when we were supposed to go to Yacov Landau Street (both in Bnai Brak but not near each other).
We took a cab to get to the right place and almost got there too late - we were the last client of the day.
Anyway, the first image is the orthopedist and the administrator getting Oz ready for the scan. The scan was via ultrasound and took just a few minutes, including prep time.
In the second image are the scans. Everything is apparently normal.
In the third image, Oz is back at the apartment and in a good mood.
Actually, he seemed to enjoy the cab rides (not so much the bus ride, however).
Sunday, August 04, 2019
Tomatoes, Cukes and Cough Medicine
Like many countries, Israel goes through occasional shortage induced price spikes. The image comes from a 2015 article. At this time, the price of tomatoes in Israel hit 12 NIS per kilo or about $5.50 a pound. This was due to a tomato virus of some sort.
I have been going to the market a few times a week since we've been here. There are about a dozen open air markets and four air conditioned markets within a half mile. It seems to me that there is a weekly tomato price cycle also. On Sunday through Wednesday, the tomatoes have been about 4-6 NIS per kilo. The price goes down a bit on Thursday, then on Friday the price collapses to about 3 NIS per kilo in the morning and to 1-2 NIS in the pm. However, some times in the middle of the week the price goes down to 2 NIS also.
One website says that in parts of Israel they get 300 tons of tomatoes per hectare.
At the market, the lines get really long on Friday pm and I've only shopped twice at this time.
A similar, but less extreme cycle occurs for cucumbers. The markets seem to have only one type of cucumber. It is the small 'Persian' type but the species was, as I understand it, hybridized for Israel's climate beginning in the 1930s (see this article). Finally, the tomatoes don't drip quite as much as they used to (but they still drip some). See the article here.
Cucumbers and Tomatoes are more or less a staple in Israel. They are served for breakfast at hotels. We've been eating them almost every day at both lunch and supper.
I presume the weekly price cycle is due to the closing of markets on Sabbath. I tried to find out what happens to unsold tomatoes but couldn't get a quantitative breakdown although this article explains that some food waste 'rescue' occurs via charitable organizations. This morning when I was on the way to a store I saw someone dumping unsold produce in the trash so, obviously not all food waste is rescued.
Tonight I got some cough and cold medicine for Ann. In Israel, to get this you have to take a number and wait your turn to speak to the pharmacist (and they only had one brand - the one in the image). If you are an Israeli, you have to swipe your health card when you get your number. I think this is because the government wants to know what medicine every insured person is taking partly because the government offsets the cost of most of medicine as part of the National Health Care plan (the details of this are complicated) and maybe to discourage use of pharmaceuticals in general and maybe for lots of other reasons.
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One evening we made it a point to hang out on the Ha Yeled Blvd (first image) for awhile. 
Today, she got a free playpen. 
It was a Leonard Cohen Experience Concert with all LC songs in English. A big screen showed the words (also in English). The concert was schedule to begin at 700pm. I got there about 745pm figuring they would be late because of the horrible traffic. Actually they didn't start until 815. It was free, However the seats were small and close together so I went to a restaurant just a few 
The problem, according to the insect control company is the pipes in the apartment (see first image) are old and all the apartments are linked. 
It will cost a relatively small amount to treat the whole building, including the plumbing in common and Beth will try to convince people but, this is one of those 'tragedy of the commons ' type situation. 
The book is about 1200 pages long (published first in the 1920s - it was from a used book store).
We took a cab to get to the right place and almost got there too late - we were the last client of the day.
