Scooter

This is the part of the year that I like best. It's hot, but usually not too hot. It cools off in the evening. I drink iced tea without the ice, and no sugar either, and it's actually sort of refreshing. I don't feel guilty if I move a little slow.

But now I can move a little faster -- with wheels!

My new scooter:

I can coast downhill to the store and walk/scoot back. Or I can walk uphill to another store and coast back down. I can't believe how much time and energy it saves. It'll be even more fun after I build up a little strength.

Walking to the store and back on a hot day deserves an ice cream bar. Scootering doesn't. I haven't tried a cola-flavored popsicle yet. Must be time for a walk.

Survey

If you go through Israel and ask random Israeli's what they believe, you will get a wide variety of answers. Some are religious, and that includes a wide range of religiosity. Some are secular but still keep traditional holidays. Some are Messianic, and that includes a wide range of truth and error, and is likely a mixture of Christianity and Judaism. A few are Christian, which includes Roman Catholic and different degrees of Arminians. Besides that there are JW's and LDS and Adventists. Some say Jesus is Messiah but not divine, or divine but not the Son of David. Then there are Buddhists, atheists, etc. etc. etc.
Why does an atheistic Jew fast on Yom Kippur? "Just in case." Ask people that don't believe in heaven and hell, "If there is a heaven and hell, where will you end up? "Gehinnom." Are we all sinners? Do we need an atonement? "Yes." How will we get this atonement? "I don't know." Do we need God's mercy? "God shows mercy on whom he will. But we can earn mercy by acts of repentance." [Earn mercy?]
It would be interesting to carry out the same sort of survey in the U.S. and see what you get. Many people who call themselves Christians don't go to church, and don't seem any different from non-Christians--they get drunk, they get divorced, they crave more fun and more money, they live for this world alone.
Can we find the answers to these things, or do we just say, "Everything will be right when Messiah comes?" What if he comes in anger and judgment, slaying his enemies with the breath of his mouth? What if we die before he comes? If he is going to slay his enemies, don't we need to make sure we are his friends? How can we be his friends? Keep the commandments? How can we keep the commandments? How well do we have to do? 51%? 90%? Or is the justice of God absolute? Does the Bible--the Torah, Writings, Prophets, New Testament--give us any clues? Would it do any good to read it?

Nice Big Boom

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from food and drink during daylight hours. Religious Muslims take it seriously, and nominal Muslims suddenly become religious. If you are in the center of the city you will hear a loud cannon blast at the end of every day's fast. It's a pretty impressive sound. They have an actual cannon at the site, but  what they fire is actually some sort of sound bomb from a black box with steel tubes.

Murphy

One important fact about Murphy's Law was that it was not actually coined by Murphy, but by another man of the same name.

Seamstress Law
As ye sew, so shall ye rip. (And that's quite a problem now that I've lost both my rippers.)

What happens when Donald Duck flies upside down? He quacks up.

Toddler Laws
If I like it, it is mine;
if I think it is mine, it is;
if I saw it first, it's mine;
if I had it then put it down, it is still mine;
if you had it and then put it down, it is now mine.

A workaholic should have two wives--then he will neglect each one only half as much.

Work smarder, not harder (and watch your speling). -- I have a bottle of cleaner that says on it "More Fider Power!"

If you are not thoroughly confused, you have not been thoroughly informed.

Two wrongs don't make a right

Two wrongs don't make a right; three lefts do.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Hospitality is making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.

Two thirds of Americans can't do fractions. The other half, just don't care.

The sooner you fall behind the more time you'll have to catch up.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder to find one.

Gloomy and Weird

Somewhere between Cheery and Natural and Gloomy and Weird is probably where we'll end up. But there isn't really much time to worry about it. What happens, happens. Cheery and Natural hasn't called back with anything definite.

It was hot today and now that the sun is down I'm looking forward to a walk in the cool air. Then maybe I'll cook some apples.

A sewing project has been staring me in the face for several days. Sometimes I get this sick feeling like it's not going to work. Yet, bit by bit, it's looking better. If nothing goes terribly wrong, it should be acceptable when it's finished. At least the colors are good, and maybe no one will notice that I can't sew a straight line.

Tunnels and Caves

There's no shortage of apartments to look at. But there's a major shortage of all the things I want. Space, beauty, low price, right location, a bathtub, light, not too many stairs.

We looked at a decent-sized place shaped like a tunnel. The walls were covered with very nice wood, and it included furniture and appliances. But I can't live in a tunnel. Maybe a tunnel with a sunny courtyard, but not a pure tunnel.

Another place we looked at had more light, and a stony sort of charm, but would be hard to heat. I might have considered it, but the owner confessed that he lives next door and plays loud guitar late at night. That might be a problem.

Then we went on a long trek to find an apartment on a street called Madregot, or Stairs. Someone told us that it was on the other side of the main drag, but when we got there we saw only unmarked alleys, and someone else told us it was on the other, other side of the main drag.
So we went to the other side and kept going until we apparently passed the street, since it had a different name at that point, so we had to back-track. "Go to the street just past the dumpster." Which dumpster? About the third one. It's called a street, but you can't drive down it or ride a bike either, because it's a steep hill, all stone stairs.

Buildings are roughly numbered in order, so #5 should be somewhere in the vicinity of 3, 4, 6 and 7, shouldn't it? (Numbers changed to protect the guilty.) Actually it's not. First you turn left, go down some stairs, then you turn right, go down some stairs. At the bottom is the number 5 clearly marked on the front of the cave--er, excuse me, apartment. It does have a small courtyard filled with plants and trees, but I doubt if a speck of sunlight ever gets through. And it's a bit small, and by the time we go back up all the stairs I've decided that deep holes, wells, caves and tunnels are just not my style.

Which is fine. We'll just stay where we are. Our present apartment has only one real flaw--it needs more electrical outlets. But even if it had them, that wouldn't solve the wire mess you get with computers.

In the back of my mind has continually been an apartment we looked at some time back that I nicknamed "Cheery and Natural." It wasn't clear to me at the time, but now I realize it had my name written all over it. Too late now. But if it ever comes up for rent again, we should grab it.

Wuh-hunh?..... No, can't be. No way! ... It is! Cheery and Natural is for rent again! Fantastic!

Will it still be there Monday morning? I'll be up at 6:01 a.m. Monday morning hopping on one foot and then the other.