Monday, 31 October 2016

I got up a little late this morning because I was still feeling tired. I went out walking anyway for nearly an hour, though. I took some pictures and a video, all of which are publicly posted on Facebook.

I taught only 3 units of Berlitz lesson today: 9:00-9:45 and 11:30-1:00.

I had a salad, veggie burger and cheese sandwiches, and some breadsticks for lunch.

After lunch, I did a little grocery shopping at the Elimelech Supermarket.

In the late afternoon, I walked over to the Collier Center because I had heard that they were having some kind of happening. However, whatever was happening seemed to be mostly for kids, so I finally just ended up leaving. I wasn't mad, though, because it was a very pleasant walk, and it was interesting to see what it was like there. On the way back, I went a longer route and stopped and bought a few items at Shufersal. I also took today's pic of the day there, which I'm entitling "Get your sufganiot now! Less than 2 months until Hannukah!" (that is NOT what is says in Hebrew, of course!):

I walked a total of 7 kilometers today.

Sunday, 30 October 2016

Since we set our clocks back last night, it was really easy to get up early this morning, and so I did and went for a lovely walk around the big loop. I took a three and a half minute video over on the Nakhal Garuf Promenade, which is posted on Facebook.

After breakfast, I walked into town on several errands. On my walk down, I took some really nice photos of flowers, two of which are today's pics of the day:

The first stop was the iDigital store (in the Mul HaYam Mall). They're the sole official representative of Apple here in Israel. I was hoping they'd have either a Mac OS system disk or a Firewire cable (the latter should allow me to start the non-working computer via the other one's disk). Unfortunately, they had neither.

The second stop was the SuperPharm pharmacy, to get more of my toothpaste (which, naturally, is hard to find -- but they did have it there). Then I walked up to the optometrist's (stopping by the bank for a couple small cups of free water and a little time in the A/C) to try to check on what's happening with my driver's license. All I could get from them was a number to call, but when I called it, I couldn't figure out how to actually talk to someone. I'll try again tomorrow.

From there I intended to check out a couple of computer stores. The first one was (or rather used to be) across from Maccabi. Now, it's completely gone, and the building is gutted. The second one was down the street next to Il Pentolino. They were open but didn't have any Firewire cables. The young worker I talked to, though, was very nice and spoke quite fluent English (even though he was barely dry behind the ears, LOL). I learned that they DO work on Macs there, so they might be able to help me if I bring the computer in. Today, though, they were in a bit of chaos because their roof (like nearly ALL roofs in Eilat, in fact) had leaked during the storm. If I don't find another solution, I'll take the computer in to them next Sunday.

The guy also told me about a couple of other computer stores, both down near SuperPharm, so I headed back down there to check them out. Neither of them had Firewire cables, either. While I was down there, though, I went into a cell phone accessory store because my iPhone has been having more and more problems with getting the recharging cable plugged in so that it recharges. Last night, I almost gave up. I thought maybe I needed a new cable, but it turns out that the problem was that the Lightning port was just gummed up with crud. The guy took a few minutes and cleaned it out. He charged me 30 shekels, but it was well worth it, since it's very important to be able to charge my phone, obviously. If I had just bought a new cable, it wouldn't have done any good at all, and it would have cost more than that, too.

The final stop was the pet store, to get a mouse for Goldfinger. By then, it was noon, so the shade was minimal. Besides, I felt pretty tired, so I waited (sitting in the shade) for a bus and took it back home.

Goldfinger was so excited that I couldn't even get the mouse into the terrarium before he grabbed it. He proceeded to eat him hanging from his cage by his tail down the side of my file cabinet. Here's a pic him after he had gotten most of the mouse inside him:

I had a salad, beans and weenies, and 3 small cookies for lunch. Afterwards, I took a nap sitting in my comfortable IKEA chair.

In the evening, before it got dark. I went out for a very short walk, mostly just in Canada Gardens. In fact, I sat on a bench there and rested, enjoying the perfect weather (I was wearing short pants, a tank top, and flip-flops) and the children and a dog playing in the park together.

When I came back home, I chatted for a while with my next door neighbor, Tony (in the other basement apartment) before just relaxing for the evening.

I walked a total of 13.1 kilometers today.

Shabbat, 29 October 2016

I got up late this morning but went for a full walk around the big loop with even a few extensions. I took quite a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, a view up Nakhal Shakhamon showing where the water had flowed but was all gone:

I had my traditional salad, plus eggs with rice for lunch.

In the late afternoon, I enjoyed another nice talk with David's sister in Ohio.

After that, I went for a very nice, leisurely walk, again around the big loop, but extended a little.

I walked a total of 12.5 kilometers today.

Friday, 28 October 2016

Last night brought quite a bit of excitement here in Eilat. Beginning sometime yesterday afternoon and continuing until sometime this morning, we had lightning, thunder, and rain. This was one time that I was rather glad NOT to have windows; I didn't get disturbed by the flashes of lightning, and the thunder was muffled enough that it didn't prevent me from sleeping well. In fact, I work up quite early, rested and ready to go out for a walk. Unfortunately, though, it was still raining, so I really couldn't. I didn't even go buy challah until after my last class. All told, in the course for about 15-20 hours, we got about 50% MORE rain here than we normally get IN AN ENTIRE YEAR!

I made a big mistake with my main Mac computer this morning. I decided to let it do an update, but while it was working on it, there was a brief power cut which, of course, interrupted it. The problem is that it was left in a state where it cannot finish starting up, and so I can't use it at all. I've lost the system DVD that came with it, so I can't start it that way, either. I'll either have to find a system disk somewhere or take it in for the Apple reps to do it. I'm hoping to avoid the latter since, although they have a store here in Eilat, I'm almost sure they'd have to send it to Tel Aviv for anything, and it would be gone for weeks. I still have my older Mac (which I'm using now), but it's slower and has a smaller hard drive. I don't think I could do my music very well on it at all, and I doubt that I could load the backup of the other computer (which I DO have, thank goodness!) onto the old machine. Anyway, I'm not very happy about the situation, but it is what it is, and it will eventually get solved one way or another.

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lessons today despite quite a few problems all day with internet connectivity: 9:00-9:45, 10:00-11:30, and 11:30-1:00.

After my teaching was finished, I walked up to the bakery to get challah. By then, there were hardly even any clouds left in the sky, it was quite warm out, and even the dirt on the median of our road was barely damp and not muddy at all. Luckily, the bakery still had a few of the challot that I like left.

I had a salad, quesadillas, and some cookies for lunch.

In the afternoon, I managed to make myself do the weekly chores, even though I didn't much feel like it. I'm glad was able to do that!

In the evening, I lit candles, drank a little sweet red wine, and ate a little challah to welcome Shabbat. Then I went out for a nice walk around the big loop. It was still quite warm, and there was very little breeze. Nearly everything was dried out, except for a few puddles here and there. In today's pic of the day, you can see that there was already no water at all running in Nakhal Shakhamon, only about 12 hours after the end of the huge storm:

I walked a total of 6.4 kilometers today.

I'll leave you today with Pascal's musings over the last week or so. Since he uses quite a bit of whitespace in his style, I'll enclose his whole portion in quotes:

"……….                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   7                                                                                                     [1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

15

0

0. 0020000000 000000"

Thursday, 27 October 2016

I think my body's already getting ready for the upcoming time change. It just doesn't want to get out of bed until about an hour later! Anyway, no morning walk today, either. I did go out briefly after my first class, but it was rather too warm and sunny out then to walk much.

I taught 7 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:15-11:30, 3:30-5:00, and 7:00-8:30.

I did a little grocery shopping at the Elimelech Supermarket this morning.

I had two vegetarian "breasts" and a salad for lunch.

After lunch, I got some more work done on my symphony.

I was going to go for a walk after 5:00, but it was raining (?!) out! Yes, rain in Eilat. I had thought I might brave it, just to see it rain here, but as soon as I got outside into it, my inner native Southern Californian kicked in, and I came right back in. You know, I didn't want to melt, or anything.

I walked a total of only 1.2 kilometers today.

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

I was lazy again this morning about getting up, and so, once again, I didn't go out for an early-morning walk.

I was scheduled to teach 7 units of Berlitz lessons today, but the last 2-unit one turned out to be a no-show: 9:15-10:00, 10:00-11:30, 3:30-5:00, and 6:00-7:30.

Before lunch, I decided to go out for a midday walk since the sky was mostly cloudy. I went up and followed bike trails in the nearby hills and really enjoyed it. The clouds, though, began to clear, and then the sun was a bit hot. Still, I had a nice walk for just over an hour. I also took quite a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, a typical little valley between the rugged hills:

I had a yellow bell pepper, a tomato, corn on the cob, and slices of cheese for lunch.

Before my last lesson, I took another short walk for a little less than half an hour.

I walked a total of 4.7 kilometers today.

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

I was lazy about getting up this morning and didn't go out for a walk before breakfast at all.

I did walk to and from the English speakers' meeting at WIZO, though. Mostly, we just had free conversation, but a few of us did get up and tell stories about embarrassing moments. It was also great to have Bassia and David back after there 6-week trip to the U.S. Afterwards, I stopped briefly at the Shufersal near there, but I only bought a couple of small items.

I had a salad and weenies wrapped in tortillas, plus a few cookies, for lunch.

I got some nice work done on my symphony in the afternoon.

In the late afternoon, I went for a walk around the big loop with a few modifications. Some highlights of the walk were road resurfacing on Sheshet HaYamim (between Haggai and Ein Netafim) and apartment construction further south (the latter, of course, has been going on for a LONG time). I took quite a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, a view of some guys and a crane building new apartment buildings along Sheshet HaYamim:

I taught only 2 units of Berlitz lessons today: 7:00-8:30.

I walked a total of 8.7 kilometers today.

Monday, 24 October 2016 (Shmini Atzeret and Simkhat Tora)

I got up rather late this morning but still went for a fairly long walk. I walked up highway 12 and then returned via Nakhal Shakhamon. I took quite a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, a nice view of "Little White Mountain" and White Mountain from quite a distance up Nakhal Shakhamon:

I did a good Hebrew lesson from Hebrew Podcasts today, something I hadn't done in quite some time. There are 5 more new lessons that I haven't done yet, so I'll need to get to those in the coming days and weeks.

I had quite a large lunch today: half a red bell pepper, a tomato, a shnitzel with plenty of Basmati rice on the side, and corn on the cob.

In the afternoon, I got some more work done on the 2nd movement of my symphony.

In the early evening, I took a long walk around the big loop, but extended somewhat. I again took plenty of pictures, including today's bonus pic, a view of Aqaba and the Red Sea at dusk:

I walked a total of 11.1 kilometers today.

Sunday, 23 October 2016

I got up a little late this morning, but I felt very good and went for a nice walk around the big loop, taking quite a few pictures.

Later, after breakfast, I walked into town to buy something at the pharmacy and to get a mouse for Goldfinger. The last couple of weeks, I hadn't been able to get mice, so I was happy today to find that they had one. Then I walked back home and fed it to Goldfinger, who was VERY excited to get it.

On my walk, I took several more pictures, including today's pic of the day, a view of a lovely walkway that is part of one of the shortest walking routes into town (at least when going to Maccabi or their pharmacy):

I did a little grocery shopping at Elimelech Supermarket. Then I had a salad, some slices of cheese, and some baklava and other sweet pastries for lunch at home.

In the afternoon, I got some more work done on my symphony. It's coming along nicely but slowly.

In the evening, I went for another long walk, even longer than around the big loop. Again, I took lots of pictures.

I walked a total of 16.1 kilometers today.

Shabbat, 22 November 2016

I got up late this morning, but I still went out for a medium-length walk, taking a number of pictures. Today's pic of the day is an artsy shot using the recently risen sun, buildings, and trees up my street to make a nice silhouette:

I spent quite a bit of time this morning working on my symphony. The progress is quite slow, but it's actually rather cool to be able to try things and then rip them out if they don't really work.

I had my traditional salad and eggs and rice for lunch.

I talked with David's sister in the late afternoon. She's gradually building her strength back up after her latest hospitalization.

In the evening I took another shorter walk.

I walked a total of 7.1 kilometers today.

Friday, 21 October 2016

I got up a little late this morning and so only went out walking for about 40-45 minutes, including a stop at the bakery on the way back to buy challah. I walked up Nakhal Shakhamon a ways and took some pictures. Today's pic of the day is, I think the best one, looking back down the nakhal towards town:

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-9:45, 10:00-11:30, and 12:00-1:30.

I took the bus into town to join friends for lunch at Il Pentolino. They are here vacationing from Modi'in. Isobel also joined us, and it was very enjoyable. Then I caught a bus back home. Although it's cooled off quite a bit now, it's still a bit hot to be out walking in the middle of the day when the shade is more limited.

After finishing the weekly chores, I napped for a while in my chair and then lit candles, drank a little sweet red wine, and ate a bit of challah to welcome Shabbat.

I went out for a walk in the evening, intending to go around the big loop. But I just continued to feel a bit tired, so I made it a little shorter by going up Dvora HaNvia instead of the Nakhal Garuf Promenade.

I walked a total of 8.4 kilometers today.

Thursday, 20 October 2016

I got up early this morning and walked around the big loop. I took only one picture, but it's a beautiful one of the Red Sea and Aqaba from Harim Road, so it's today's pic of the day:

I taught only 5 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:15-11:30 and 4:30-6:00.

I did a little grocery shopping at the Elimelech Market after my first class.

I had a large salad and quesadillas for lunch.

I did quite a bit of work on my symphony today, and I'm more pleased with how it's going. I also now have a general structure in mind for the whole 2nd movement, which I think will be good.

In the evening, I took another walk around the big loop. At the corner of Ein Yahav and Sheshet HaYamim, I ran into my friend, Liz, and we sat a chatted for a few minutes. I also took a nice selfie of the 2 of us, which is today's bonus pic:

I walked a total of 12 kilometers today.

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

I woke up and got up late this morning, so I didn't go out for a morning walk at all.

I taught 7 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:15-10:00, 10:00-11:30, 3:30-5:00, and 7:00-8:30.

I had a large salad, weenie sandwiches, and cookies for lunch.

Before my last class, I went out walking for about 50 minutes, taking several pictures, including today's pic of the day, a beautiful flower along Haggai Road:

I walked a total of 2.9 kilometers today.

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

I got up a little late this morning, but I still went out for a walk for nearly an hour. I took a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, a particularly stunning early-morning view of the Red Sea, Aqaba, the Jordanian mountains, and a pretty sky:

I walked over to the WIZO meeting and back today since the weather has cooled off quite a bit now. We had some nice fruit and wine to celebrate Sukkot, and it was very enjoyable, as always.

There was quite a bit of fruit left over, and Isobel suggested that I take it home with me. That, together with a vegetarian shnitzel, was my lunch for today.

A woman from the local Maccabi office called me today. She explained that they are trying to help people who may be having any difficulties with the health-care bureaucracy. So I decided to set her to work trying to get a message to my Ichilov urologist to call me so that, hopefully, he can reschedule my appointments with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist to get my surgery done sooner. She readily agreed to try. So, we'll see what happens. In any case, it was a very nice thing for Maccabi to do.

I was scheduled to teach 6 units of Berlitz lesson today, but one 2-unit lesson was a later cancellation: 2:45-3:30, 4:30-6:00, 6:00-7:30 (the late cancellation), and 7:45-8:30.

I took advantage of the unplanned break to take an evening walk for about 45 minutes.

I walked a total of 8.9 kilometers today.

Monday, 17 October 2016 (1st day of Sukkot)

I got up fairly early this morning but didn't go out for a walk. Instead, I ate breakfast early and later walked down the hill to visit a friend and transfer some money using the ATM at the bank.

I had half of a yellow bell pepper and 2 veggie burger, cheese, and tomato sandwiches, plus baklava and cookies for dessert, for lunch.

I got some more work done on the 2nd movement of my symphony today, but I'm not totally happy with it. I think I know what I need to change and what to do, though, so when I get more time, I'll continue with the plans in my head.

In the evening, I took a long walk around the big loop, slightly extended, taking several pictures. Today's pic of the day is of some flowers in someone's yard near the south end of Shakhamon:

I walked a total of 9.9 kilometers today.

Sunday, 16 October 2016 (1st night of Sukkot)

I got up a rather late this morning, after dreaming about trigonometry, solving triangles in particular. Who knows? Anyway, I didn't go out for a walk.

I did walk into town, though, after breakfast. First, I bought a large envelope to mail my U.S. ballot in. It cost ONE shekel (which is cheaper than just about anything I can think of!). Then I walked on to the Zebra pet store, in the industrial area. I was hoping they would have mice, but they didn't. So I then walked over to the pet store where I've been getting live mice (until they didn't have any last week), and they also had none. I just bought a bag of cat litter and took a taxi home (the bag is MUCH to heavy to carry any distance).

I had a salad, beans and weenies, and baklava for lunch.

In the morning, I had sent an e-mail to the makers of the Synful Orchestra telling them about it not loading. I was pleasantly surprised to get a prompt response! It turns out that I needed to upgrade to the new version, which was free. The message also included exactly how to do it, and so I did, without any problems whatsoever. Now THAT is customer service! Of course, I then set to work again on the second movement of my symphony. I didn't actually do very much, but the changes I did make are good, and I've got some ideas now for continuing, which I'll experiment with tomorrow.

In the evening, I went for a long walk around the big loop, somewhat extended, in fact. I took a lot of pictures, but I have chosen one of the Sukkot full moon over Aqaba as today's pic of the day:

I walked a total of 11.3 kilometers today.

I'll close with this verse in honor of Sukkot, which began this evening:

ושמחת בחגך והיית אך שמח

And you will be happy in your holiday, and you will be only happy!

Shabbat, 15 October 2016

I got up a little late this morning but still went out for a nice walk. I took a number of pictures, including today's pic of the day, a selfie by one of the big Nakhal Shakhamon pipes (or tunnels) under Harim Road:

For most of the day, I was quite lazy and just enjoyed relaxing.

I had my usual eggs and rice for lunch, plus a salad, of course.

In the afternoon, I tried to work on my symphony, but Digital Performer is having some kind of problem loading the Synful Orchestra plug-in. I'm a little worried that it might have to do with the fact that I upgraded my Mac to the new OS (MacOS Sierra). I hope not, but I've still got to research it a bit.

In the early evening, I talked with David's sister in Ohio, who's in the hospital again.

In the evening, I took a lovely walk all the way around the big loop, taking more pictures, including this photo of the sunset. If you look closely, you can see an airplane making a trail as it skirts around the southern tip of Israel:

I walked a total of 8.3 kilometers today.

Friday, 14 October 2016

I got up a little late this morning and so went for a somewhat shorter walk, stopping on the way back to buy challah at the bakery, of course. I took a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, a view of Aqaba at just the right time to catch the golden glow of the very early light, long before sunrise:

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-9:45, 10:00-11:30, and 11:30-1:00.

I had a large salad and a vegetarian shnitzel for lunch. I also had some baklava and cookies for dessert.

I was pretty lazy in the afternoon and even took a short nap in my chair, but I still managed to get the weekly chores done.

In the evening, I lit candles, drank a little sweet red wine, and ate some challah to welcome Shabbat.

Afterwards, I took another walk. It was still quite hot out, and there was very little breeze most of the time, so I didn't walk as far as I might have otherwise. I did take a few more nice pictures, though, mostly of the moon, which is nearly full now.

I walked a total of 6.3 kilometers today.

I'll close today with something different. Pascal, my cat, likes to lie on my desk, and sometimes this results in him "typing" on my keyboard. Sometimes, this has caused trouble, like when he changed the name of something on my desktop, like one of the hard drives. Usually, I left Chrome as the foreground application, with a page that basically accepted no input. However, over the last several days, I've left a Google document open in Chrome instead, thereby recording his keystrokes. So, without further ado, here's Pascal's blog entry for this week:

00000000g4

………………

…………………....

Thursday, 13 October 2016

I got up a little later this morning, but I still went out for a fairly long walk, taking a few pictures.

I was scheduled to teach 6 units of Berlitz lessons today, but that last lesson (2 units) actually turned out to be a no-show: 9:15-11:30, 2:45-3:30, and 4:30-6:00.

I had a salad and quesadillas for lunch today.

After my last lesson (I only had to wait until 5:30 until leaving the classroom), I went for a nice walk around the big loop. I took several pictures, including today's pic of the day, a nice view of the Red Sea, Aqaba, and the nearly-full moon from the hill behind the hospital:

I walked a total of 8.9 kilometers today.

Wednesday, 12 October 2016 (Yom Kippur 5777)

I slept well last night and woke up early. I didn't hurry to get up, but I did eventually and went for a slow, leisurely walk around the big loop. I took quite a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, showing a 24/7 convenience store, which is almost ALWAYS open, closed:

A little later in the morning, I went out for another walk and took many MORE pictures, mostly of kids and adults playing, walking, and riding bikes in the streets. What fun!

In the late afternoon, I went for yet another walk, taking even more pictures.

In the evening, after the holiday ended, I decided to break my fast by eating breakfast -- that is, I ate pretty much a standard (for me) breakfast, only adding a little bit to it.

In summary, this was a very interesting Yom Kippur for me -- perhaps the most interesting ever. I really felt the spirit of the day, at least as it is here in Israel.

Perhaps the most surprising thing was something I observed first thing this morning. At 5:30-6:00 a.m., there were groups of young people (teens and maybe 20s) gathered on the kikars (both the one nearest me and the "traffic light" kikar further down Argaman). Some groups were single-gender, but many were mixed. Most if not all the guys were wearing kipot. All the groups were conversing in the usual lively Israeli fashion. I have never before seen anything like that so early in the morning. Here's a pictures of one of the groups:

I had decided at pretty much the last minute to fast this year, but I nevertheless had a very easy fast. I only felt slightly hungry a few times. I did drink LOTS of water, though.

I walked a total of 11.4 kilometers today.

Tuesday, 11 October 2016 (Erev Yom Kippur)

I got up rather late this morning but still went out for a fairly long walk. I took a few pictures, including today's pic of the day, the early morning sun behind a palm tree just up the street from where I live:

The WIZO House was closed today, of course, but Fay graciously invited us to her house, where we met at 11:00. I think all of us who showed up really enjoyed and appreciated the conversation. I walked down there and about half way back home, taking the bus the rest of the way.

In the late afternoon, just before the start of Yom Kippur, I prepared quite a large meal for myself: a salad (with added tomato, bell pepper, seeds, and nuts), a vegetarian shnitzel, beans and vegetarian weenies, and cottage cheese. I decided just this afternoon to fast for Yom Kippur, so we'll see how that works out.

Right at the start of Yom Kippur, I went out for another fairly long walk (though slightly shorter than this morning's). It was really fun, because there were hundreds of kids (and even adults) out with their bicycles. For the whole 25 hours of Yom Kippur, there are only a VERY few cars out on the roads (mostly for emergencies), and so the kids can ride their bicycle, skateboard, roller blades, and assorted other vehicles freely in the streets and play on the kikars (the roundabouts). I walked almost the whole time right out in the street and took lots of pictures. Here are a couple of representative ones:

I walked a total of 11.2 kilometers today.

Monday, 10 October 2016

I had somewhat weird dreams last night, got up late, and didn't go out for a walk at all. I felt okay, though.

I took no pictures today, so today's pic of the day is one from several days ago. See if you can figure out what this says and where it was:

I was scheduled to teach 9 units of Berlitz lessons today, but one 2-unit lesson turned out to actually be a no-show: 9:00-9:45, 10:00-11:30 (the no-show), 11:30-1:00, 4:30-6:00, and 7:00-8:30.

I ate quesadillas, a salad, half a yellow bell pepper, and a few cookies for lunch.

After lunch, I relaxed and even napped a little in my comfortable chair.

I walked only 0.01 kilometers (10 meters!) today.

Sunday, 9 October 2016

I got up very early this morning and went for a nice walk around the big loop, getting back home by around 6:30. I took a couple of photos, including today's pic of the day, a view of the Red Sea, Aqaba, and the mountains behind the latter quite some time before sunrise, as seen from Harim Road near Nakhal Shakhamon:

At about 7:25, I left again and walked down to the Astral Maris Hotel to meet by friend, Joanne, from LA, who had invited me to breakfast there. I knew her from my BCC (Beth Chayim Chadashim) days and hadn't seen her since moving to Israel. This is her first trip here. It was really nice to catch up with her!

Joanne and her wife and another couple from Norway that they've been traveling with were all flying out of Eilat this morning, so I walked them over to the airport after breakfast. Then I walked up to the bank, to the Maccabi pharmacy, and to the pet store. Unfortunately, the latter did NOT have any mice today for Goldfinger. :-(  Then I rode the bus home.

By then, I was pretty tired, so I sat in my comfortable chair and ended up napping for about half an hour. Lunch today consisted of a cucumber, a tomato, a vegetarian shnitzel, and some cookies.

Later in the afternoon, I took the bus down to Ice Mall, where I had some frozen yogurt and hung around for a short time. Then I caught the bus back home again.

I walked a total of 12.2 kilometers today.

Shabbat, 8 October 2016

I got up quite late this morning and so only went out for a very short walk. I still took a couple of pictures, though, one of which is today's pic of the day, the sunrise from Canada Gardens:

I just relaxed during the morning, and then I had my usual eggs and rice for lunch.

After lunch, I got a small start on the second movement of my symphony. It's not a lot, but it's important because it's part of getting past writer's block (yes, composers can get it, too).

In the late afternoon, I talked for a while with David's sister in Ohio. She had a fairly difficult week but is okay.

In the evening, I went out for a very nice walk around the big loop (with some variations). The breeze made it especially pleasant out. I took several more pictures.

I walked a total of 7 kilometers today.

Friday, 7 October 2016

I got up a little late this morning but still went out for a walk for about an hour, stopping to buy challah before returning home. I also took several pictures, including today's pic of the day, a bee going about her business in a flower:

I taught only 2 units of Berlitz today: 11:45-1:15.

I had half a yellow bell pepper, a cucumber, a tomato, weenies wrapped in tortillas, and 4 cookies for lunch.

I generally had quite a bit of trouble getting motivated today, but, in the end, I did manage to get the weekly chores done.

As the day came to a close, I lit candles, drank a little sweet red wine, and ate some challah to welcome Shabbat Shuva, the Shabbat of Return.

Then I went for another walk, stopping several times to rest, think, and enjoy the evening.

I walked a total of 7.4 kilometers.

For Shabbat Shuva, I leave you with this quote from the High Holy Day prayers, noting that it is very near the BEGINNING, before we have really even made our requests for pardon and forgiveness:

ויאמר יי סלחתי כדברך

And the Eternal said, "I have forgiven as you requested."

Thursday, 6 October 2016

I had a little trouble going to sleep last night, but I still got to sleep pretty early. Nevertheless, I slept late and didn't go out for a morning walk at all.

I taught only 4 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:15-11:30 and 2:45-3:30.

I did more work on my symphony today, and the first movement's basically in shape now. It's time to let it rest. I think I'll now start working on the second movement. Getting started will be the hard part, but at least I do have some vague ideas of what I want to do.

I had half a yellow bell pepper, a cucumber, 2 tomato and cheese sandwiches, and some Moroccan-style cookies for lunch.

In the early evening, I went out for a wonderful long walk around the big loop, extended a little. I took 14 photos along the way, including today's pic of the day, a view across Nakhal Garuf to the hills on the other side with the moon up in the left corner, shortly after sunset:

I walked a total of 6.3 kilometers today.

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

I got up very early this morning after sleeping really well, and I went for a walk around the full big loop plus an extension or two. I only took a couple of pictures, but one of them is today's pic of the day, a beautiful red lily by the highway 12 kikar:

I was scheduled to teach 5 units of Berlitz lessons today, but two 2-unit lessons were both no-shows, so I actually only taught 1 unit (I get paid for all 5, though): 9:15-10:00, 3:30-5:00, and 6:00-7:30.

I walked over to the Shufersal on Y'rushalayim HaShlema to do a little shopping (and get a little more exercise) after my morning lesson. They didn't have the pita that I was hoping to find (they often don't have it, even at the big Shufersal), but I bought a few other items.

I got quite a bit of work done on my symphony today. I completely rearranged the orchestra into a rather unconventional seating arrangement, but it definitely improved the separation of the various sounds. I put the woodwinds on the extreme left, the string on the extreme right, and the brass in the center. I'm very pleased with the results. I also continued editing levels of various instruments to improve the balance and make sure that parts are heard the way they should be.

I had a tomato, a cucumber, a vegetarian shnitzel, a some cookies for lunch at home.

I walked a total of 8.8 kilometers today.

Tuesday, 4 October 2016

I got to bed early, slept well, but still got up late this morning. Nevertheless, I still went for a walk around the big loop. I took a lot of pictures, mostly of flowers. I also got a very special treat. When I was nearly back home, there were some people high up on the peak of a hill near Harim Road and the outdoor gym who were blowing a shofar! I could barely see the people, but I could hear the sound, loud and clear.

I spent quite a bit of time today working on my symphony. I adjusted attack speeds and volumes, and and I played around with the locations of the instruments and the size of the room.

For lunch, I had lettuce and tomato salad and weenie sandwiches with ketchup.

In the evening, I went for another walk on a route partly similar to the big loop and of nearly the same length. Again, I took a lot of pictures, including today's pic of the day, a view of an airplane coming in over the Red Sea to land at our airport, taken from a hill behind the hospital:

I walked a total of 10.9 kilometers today.

Monday, 3 October 2016 - Rosh HaShana 5777

I got up late this morning since I didn't get to bed until after midnight last night. So, of course, I didn't go out for a walk.

I was lazy quite a bit today, but I did spend time at several different points editing my symphony. I'm doing it carefully, and the results are worth it.

I had tomato and lettuce sandwiches (with old-style mustard) and beans and weenies for lunch.

In the late afternoon, after the sun had gone behind the mountains, I went out for a short walk. It was still too hot to walk very far, there was NO wind at all, and I didn't feel very energetic. At least I got out for a little bit and took today's pic of the day, a lovely view in Canada Gardens:

In the evening, I had some popcorn, somthing I hadn't eaten for quite some time.

I walked a total of only 1.1 kilometers today.

Sunday, 2 October 2016

I slept well, got up early, and took a nice walk around the big loop this morning. I took a couple of pictures, the first of which is today's pic of the day, a view of Haggai Road, the Red Sea, the pergola at the highway 12 kikar, and Aqaba, all several minutes before sunrise:

After breakfast, I walked down to the pet shop in town to get a mouse for Goldfinger. I rode the bus back home, though.

I did quite a bit of work on my symphony today. I'm going through it very carefully, adjusting attack speeds, volume controls, and other parameters, and even making some changes to the instrumentation. It's beginning to sound nicer, which is motivating me to keep working on it. It's also like a little window into the musical "me" of 40 years ago, different but quite recognizable.

I did a little grocery shopping at the Elimelech Supermarket. Then I had a salad, cheese and tomato sandwiches, and a few cookies for lunch.

I had signed up with an organization called Keep Olim in Israel to be matched for a Rosh HaShana dinner, and so that's how I ended up having a wonderful holiday meal with a BIG Israeli family. I didn't even try to keep track of how they were all related, but they were very nice people, and I had some great conversation with some of them (in English). I sat next to Jerry, another guy from California whom I had met previously but didn't actually know very well. Then, the couple that we were talking with offered both of us a ride home, saving me from having to walk.

I walked a total of 10 kilometers today.

Shabbat, 1 October 2016

I slept well last night, got up early this morning, and went for a nice long week. It wasn't the big loop, but it was another loop of about the same length. I walked down Argaman to Khativat HaNegev, up Ein Yahav to Sheshet HaYamim, up Dvora HaNvia to Harim, and down Zaharon to get back home. I took several pictures along the way, including today's pic of the day, the blossoms of the acacia tree (at least I think that's what it's called):

I had my traditional Shabbat lunch: a salad, and eggs and rice with added garlic powder and seeds.

I was pretty lazy for much of the day, but I did make a little progress editing the first movement of my symphony. In particular, it sounds much better after I added the reverb.

In the late afternoon, I talked with David's sister in Ohio, who is doing quite well now.

In the evening, I went out for another walk for about an hour, taking a couple more pictures.

I walked a total of 9.8 kilometers today.