My Day Today
I love corporate America. Ever notice how all their slogans are designed to make you feel good about them? Cingular-"We believe in the power and value of self-expression." Really? You charge by the minute of talk time, and you say you value self-expression? Huh. If you value it so much, then why don't you give airtime away for free?
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-business. Go for it, and charge whatever you want. I just can't take the fuzziness.
A few days ago, I was driving home from work and I saw a DaimlerChrysler truck. On the side it said, "Expect the extraordinary." I'd call a $2.1 billion loss extraordinary.
/me is cranky.
I'm writing in the journal a lot less than I'd hoped. Maybe I should just tell what happened to me today. That should fill up some space.
This morning I went to shul for the morning minyan. I think we had six. That sucks. After, I went to the kitchen and found that no one had filled the cholent pots with water. It's enough of a pain to have to clean the pots anyway. Usually I fill them up after Shabbos Ma'ariv so they soak overnight, but since I'd spent Shabbos with the Kaufmans it didn't get done. Oh well.
I got a phone call that the study class that I go to on Mondays and Wednesdays has resumed. In the past tense, too--the first class was last Wednesday, but they hadn't notified me because they didn't have my number. That's fine.
I went to Esthers to get a book. Mordy (the guy who sent me to the Kaufmans for Shabbos) started to learn with me, and he suggested Sefer HaToda'ah. In Hebrew. The book sounded interesting, and was in pretty modern Hebrew, so I can cope, so I went to get a copy. I got to Esthers, but they don't have Hebrew books. I can't really believe it. So I hopped back into my car.
Next stop was American Bulk Foods. I used to have a jellybean jar on my desk at work back at Wayne State, and when I went to work at Baseview, I brought it with me. When I ran out of jellybeans, I realized that I really should tovel the jar, so I took it home and proceeded to totally forget about it. So I got to the store and looked at what was available. Last time I got the flavor mix, someone had added jalapeño jelly beans to it. I looked, and some of the beans were that green color. Ugh. So I took a bag, and went down the line, taking one scoop of each color/flavor that I thought I could handle. Four pounds later, I walked out of the store.
I hopped on Northwestern to go to 696. Passing the Shell station at Middlebelt, I realized that I really needed to change the oil in my car. It's been about 7000 miles now. But I wanted to get the book, so I went by, and decided that I would get it later.
So I got to Borensteins, and found they had the book as a 3-book set or as a single book. I took it as a single book, and went. On the way home I dropped by the Shell station, but they had closed up shop. Oh well, it'll have to wait.
Abba decided that today he'd clean out the garage so he could move his '55 DeSoto in there. Ezra and he pulled all the items out, and tonight we have a garbage pile larger than half the cars in the Kia lineup. Unfortunately, there still isn't enough room in the garage to fit the DeSoto in. I think it's time to sell some of my stuff that was in the garage on eBay. There are people there who will buy anything... :-)
Including me. I'm bidding on a laser pointer. Time to give the cats some exercise.
Anyway, I had the jellybeans, but I needed a jar. So I took the jar, four MacHack mugs and a Wayne State Warriors mug to the mikveh for tovelling. The mikveh is next to the Young Israel of Oak Park, but you can't park there because they're doing construction. Major construction. The parking lot is dirt, and there's a whole new face and wing on the building. Wow. It's very impressive. So I dunked the cups and brought them back.
Now I'll have a mug to drink from at work, and jellybeans. What could be better?
I'd known for a while that there was something embedded in the heel of my left shoe. I'd tried to dig it out earlier today, but it was stuck in there pretty well. During The Practice, I took a metal rod from a hanging folder and starting digging after what I thought was a rock. I finally forced it loose, and found it to be a 3/4" razor-sharp shard of glass. "That's what shoes are for, huh, Avi," Talya said.