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.
Friday, July 18, 2025
Oz wanted this picture
I picked Oz up at his Tai qwon Doa camp today. On the way out he wanted me to take a picture of him.
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The site is at the exit from the Cabin John Mall.
Oz has been wanting to ride on a firetruck. Apparently all the firetruck museums in Israel are either only open on Saturday or 'not for kids'. So we went to the Fire Museum of Maryland, which is in Lutherville, MD.
Their website is https://www.firemuseummd.org/. It is only a few miles from where Irwin and Cheryl live and Irwin joined us at the museum (Cheryl had to stay with their dog who is very sick). Irwin was a bit late as he had urgent (not quite but almost emergency) dental work done.
The museum had a 'Discover Room' (also called a play room) and the first image is Oz in firefighter gear in the drive seat of a 1938 vintage firetruck. The second image was taken by Tamar in the play room and has Irwin, Oz, Meira and myself. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... In the third image is Oz in not quite full fire fighter gear in front of the fire engine.
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.........They also had an interesting fire alarm room which re created the sights and sounds of fire alarms and fire notifications of the pre telephone era. At one time, Baltimore had about 600 different fire alarm stations and the fire desk captain had an index card for each indicating which fire station was nearby and what equipment they had. On the strange side, they had a lost and found table. on the table was a B. Talmud for Tractage Avoda Zora.
Tamar was able, using Meira's birth certificate and Tamar's USA passport to obtain a USA passport for Meira at the USA consulate in Tel Aviv. However, for some reason (I can only speculate why) it is impossible to obtain a social security number the same day and very difficult to obtain a social security number at any time form the USA consultate (people have done it but complained about the process for several years). So Tamar figured she would get the SSN while visiting us this year. She tried getting an interview on line but the website told her there was no openings until well after she was to leavel the US for Israel in late July. Multiple phone calls later (one by George), Tamar called on 14 July and was told there was an opening on 15 July (I imagine that this was due to someone who had to cancel so they could get a dental appointment when someone canceled that). The SSA office in Rockville, MD is only about 4 miles from our house so I drove here there and she quickly got an interview which was completed successfully in less than 30 minutes. ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
We haven't received the actual SS card with Meira's SSN on it but that is supposed to come in the mail in two weeks (I'll plan to amend this post when it comes).
Oz got a new bike and scooter helmet today (see image). He and I also watched Star Wars Episode 5 'The Empire Strikes Back'. He had a lot of questions during the movie but I think he is gradually getting to understand the difference between fiction and reality (also from watching Road Runner and Coyote - he asked me a few days ago why Wyle E. stays in the air a few moments before he falls after he goes off the cliff): Meira is giving us some very nice smiles these days. I laugh and she smiles or I sing stupid made up lyrics to her and she laughs (and sometimes drools). .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Oz also had a very sweet comment yesterday. I was reading "The Magic Finger" to him. It is a 1960s book about a girl who used her magic finger to turn a family of duck hunters into ducks so they would learn not to hunt ducks. He said, "If I had a magic finger I would make Bubbie well again."
A new day time health aid came today. A nice woman but what surprized me was that she had a Mercedes Benz. We spoke about this. It is a 2011 model which I think she has had for about 10 years. Her husband works construction. She has heard the Janice Joplin song "Mercedes Benz".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFGk8E4AY3Q&t=8s
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... However she doesn't like the perfume sold by Dior that has a backround taken from "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin while Natalie Portman frolics in a Dior floral dress.
My car radio started coming on by itself. I turned it off, took the key out of the ignition, opened the door and got out. I came on just a bit later. So I brought the car late in the day in on 27 June. They took the radio out and let me have the car back on July 1 while the radio is being fixed or if not fixable, a new radio is ready. Will update when the fixed or new radio is here.
We saw a preview of this clip a few days ago from what I think was an stringer for the Ap and sent it to Irwin Schreiner who sent us the URL with an NBC short. It was only 5% as long as the AP stringer's video but had a lot of the interview.
https://www.nbcnews.com/video/israelis-shelter-in-underground-train-station-241814597944
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an article in the Times of Israel about this and had the photo above
https://www.timesofisrael.com/echoes-of-the-blitz-in-ramat-gans-underground-bialik-station-an-unlikely-wartime-refuge/
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The video of the AP Stringer is ............
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=zuY_fNEKLTg
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... She has been in and out of the station now a half dozen times
I was tired of looking at this particular box of Matzah left over from Passover. I decided to make fried matzoah with it because the recipe was on the box. I used the 'soak a lot of matzoah' method rather than the 'fry only three or four at a time' method. Also I used twice the amount of eggs that the recipe called for. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... The image is while it was in the frying pan. We had it on Friday 20 June at night with turkey and sweeet peppers and George came on Sunday 22 June and we had it with burgers. Both times, everyone was positive about it.
In the building where Tamar lives is a family with kids that invite other kids over and they also like both Oz and Meira. The photos are of Meira and the boys playing poker.
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I don't think I played poker until late in high school. Also I don't think I sat at a formal poker table until I was in Nevada in the early 1970s.
Started with a drip - ended with new faucet, sink and counter also
We had a drip from our faucet downstairs. It wasn't a big drip just a few drops per minute. The faucet was old and couldn't be fixed so we bought a new faucet. When the old faucet was removed, it showed a lot of other problems e.g., decaying tubing. Anyway, by the time we were done, we had a new sink counter as well as a new sink and new faucet ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Cost was about $600. But it does look nice and it doesn't drip.
I hadn't had any beef for several days so today I indulged myself with some vodka. I used a tumbler made of caramelized sugar at a dairy late lunch. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Unfortunately, because I have had gout attacks I have to be a bit careful to avoid overeating beef especially if I do it with alcohol (beer being the worst offender in this regard)
A few days ago I was shopping at Harris Teeter. When I got to the bagging/checkout station, I was told that "Harris Teeter does not do plastic bagging anymore" and my goods were placed in paper bags. I was annoyed by this but didn't call the store and complain. However, some people may have done so because today I went to the same Harris Teeter store and they had plastic bags, not only at the regular checkout station but also the self checkout station. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I mentioned to the checkout person that I was happy to see plastic back (we use it to discard cat waste). He said he also preferred the plastic bags because they were easier to use and didn't take up as much space in the bagging station.
I had to go to Montgomery Mall to pick up new glass frames and lenses as mine were about 4 years old. The lenses were getting fade areas and my eyesight had changed (gotten less near sighted). I also wanted to get some gift wrapping for a present I was giving to a couple who were getting married (daughter of Mike and Nadine Postol).
I got to the mall, parked, entered and looked at the directory. To my surprise and pleasure, the Hallmark store was located right next to Lenscrafters.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... The clerk at Hallmark suggested a gift bag instead of wrapping as that is now a frequently used custom and more convenient as it doesn't require the gift receiver creating a mess by opening a big box - a good suggestion.
It is in the low 50s at noon today in our vicinity with rain. Our furnace has been on already this morning. Our normal maximum for 28 May is 80F.
Lowest daily maximum temperature for DC was 57F set in 1858 when the temperature records were taken downtown instead of at airports. That 1858 record will not be broken as DCA recorded a temperature of 58F just after midnight.
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ For nearby recording stations for 28 May, Dulles (IAD) had a record low maximum of 54F back in 1968. BWI had a record low maximum of 58F in 1996
In the mail today was a letter and a redeemable check if Ann gets insurance on a car she never owned.
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We've also gotten junk calls about her 'Ford Fiesta'. I'm not sure how we got this but I think she once was car shopping and may have clicked on 'more information' on a car like this. Coincidentally, today I received a phone call asking me if I wanted to insure my Mazda RX-3 (I did own one of these back in the mid 1970s).
I got there a bit before 10am as I had an optical exam at that time. My eyesight changed a bit but not drastically. I am starting to get cataracks and probably will need surgery in a few years. Fortunately, no astigmatism though.
I ordered new glasses. The exam was only $5 copay. The glasses were over $400. Across from the Lenscrafter store was, I think, a grand opening of a store called UNI QLO. This a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, a Japanese Company. There was a drum quartette (or maybe trio) and a long, long, long line of parents and kids.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Yes, the quartette was loud. Really loud and I found it annoying. I wonder who had the idea to do this.
Our chair lift stopped working. I called the company that installed it in March 2024 (which meant we were outside the warranty period). I actually had to call them twice before they called me back. First they had me look at the electrical outlet and a switch on the chair itself and a few other things. When that didn't show any problem, they made an appointment and showed up on time. They said it was the battery. They replaced it. Here's the kicker .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... The battery was supposed to last 7 years. So the repair guy said there would be no charge.
I donated plasma 13 May. There were three new machines that weren't there the previous time I went there. One was a new partially automated blood pressure machine that also takes your pulse. One was a machine that takes your temperature with a beam on the forehead. Both of these were an improvement but not by much. The third new machine (in the image) took the hemoglobin count via a device fitted on the thumb. This was nice as previously, there was a blood test and some pain (although minimal pain) to get the blood for the test. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
They also seemed to have a new plasma separator which took a while to get ready to work with my blood. Thus I got to the room at about 410pm and didn't finish with the donation until about 615pm. Vitals: BP 115/84, pulse 74, HG = 14.6
I went to Shacharit May 10. The post Haftorah Dvar was given by someone I didn't recognize. He spoke a bit on the subject of Jerusalem Day and the Israeli hevrah that is part of Beth Sholom (who sponsored the Kiddush by the way). But most of his dvar was about a famous sentence in Parshah Kedoshim, "Love Your Neighbor As Yourself" (Lev 19:18). He mentioned the disagreement between Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai noted in the Jerusalem Talmud in Tractate Nedarim 30. Akiva says the 'Love Your..." is the most important pasuk and Ben Azzai says that "This is the book of the generations of Adam..." (which is from Genesis 5) is the most important. Our Dvar presenter gave a passionate defense of Akiva's position with lots of emphatic gestures and oratorical vocalizations. I was amused as it seems like someone passionately claiming that $100 is more than $50. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... But maybe I missed something. Also the image is from the internet, I didn't take a picture at the service.
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I went to a birthday party. One of the people sponsoring the event was Charlie Meyers who was in my graduation class at Northwood High School. The other was a friend of his, Dale Ross, who was born one day later than Charlie. Both of them had parents named Michael and Sylvia. They were neighbors in an apartment when they were young and kept up with each other and were in a dorm together at the University of Md- College Park. The party was at Har Sholom and catered by Moti's (so kosher). Nice cooked meat and middle eastern table and sushi and hot dogs and beer and wine (I had two Stella Artois beers, one of my favorite brands - it is a Belgian beer owned by a subsidiary of Anheuser Busch - this even though I am not supposed to have beers). ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
There was also entertainment. It was a group called Capital Fools. Musical comedy and some impressions. I couldn't understand the lyrics of the songs but there was a pretty good Donald Trump impressionist. Unfortunately I ate something that went down the wrong pipe and I started coughing a lot and decided to go rather than subject the people around me to coughing noise. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
