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I know I promised to write. And I want to do that more often.
But it is hard to get started. Especially now, since I started working in TrialPay.
I spend about and hour and 10 minutes to get to work and then again to get back. It's almost 2.5 hours each day on the road. What can one do during such a long time in the car?
So I listen to NPR, music and audio books. If I see someone online in the Skype (I now have it installed on my cell) I sometimes talk with them. On the way back I usually talk with Tal. I guess it is not as bad as it could be but still it is a long drive.
But still, having a regular job and a salary is a refreshing change to our US lives.
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It was too long ago when I last wrote a post.
Since than I got to be in Israel, get the worst compatition for my startup, almost became homeless.....
Too much to tell and I'm not going to start writing about it now.
However, I think that I will try to keep posting on at least weekly basis.
Hopefully I'll keep doing that.
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Well, you might think that renting a musical instrument is not that hard: simply find a place that rents them out and pay the monthly fee. Maybe a deposit is required or a photo copy of an identification card.
But no. Life for us - the relatively new nonimmigrant - are not that easy.
We came to this store, the girl at the desk was really nice, showed us everything we asked for, let me try the Saxophones and when I finally decided which one I want to take, she immediately sent it to the repair shop in their basement - just to make sure that there is no unknown problem with it. She even added a cleaning kit to it.
But then, giving the credit card was not enough: 'I need a Californian driver's license in order to run a credit history check.' she said. Since we don't have one, she checked with the manager who said 'In this case we can use the Social Security number.'. I don't have one, but Tal does, so we filled in the form and waited for them to return with the Saxophone.
Alas, she appeared only with the form, saying that it is not that we have a bad record. It's just that we have none. We (they talked about Tal but they could at least check her status...) are simply not familiar in the market...
As you understand, we had to leave without the Saxophone.
I wonder if I should work something out so that investors won't give me the same response....
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I have too much to do. My plate is topped. I have to reorganize everything. Let’s see: I have to establish my network in order to get to angels and investors. I need to implement Hibernate. I should start making the soup. I must find a reliable software expert to join me on my project. I want to implement EC2. Marinate the chicken. Water the plants. Rent a Saxophone. Upload the project to the website. Send the modem to 012. Rewrite the business plan. Change the presentation. Bake the bread. Create two more tools. Redesign website. Get DMV papers. Apply for a Californian driver’s license. Take out the garbage.
I know what’s more important and what can wait. But considering the fact that I’m officially not working…. I really have lots to do.
At least making this list helps :)
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I'm now in Crixa, waiting for Tal to arrive.
I had a nice morning at home, got to talk to some friends and did the laundry.
I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I can make Seniye or Kebabs. Still don't know. I got the meat out of the freezer anyway.
Tal got here and I took a break from writing this post in order to choose the pastry, order the coffee and talk a bit with Tal.
Anyways.
I came here with my bike. The weather is spring-like and it is really nice to ride through the main street, seeing everybody and feel the cool wind on my face.
Well, I have to finish this post. I have lots of stuff to do.
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We went back from Jupiter on Shattuck ave. and entered the Naia ice cream shop for window shopping.
When we went out, a bum was sitting on the sidewalk. It is quite common to see bums here. Even in NY we were told that SF and Berkeley are infamous for their bums.
Anyway, the bum asked "Do you have some change?"
"No" I answered passing by him.
"And a razor?" He asked "Do you have a razor?"
Not really listening I answered "No" and continued walking.
"Well" he said "get one. You ought to shave..."
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I have much to tell you about.
We had a fantastic week in New York about which I told you nothing.
But before all that I wanted to send 'Happy Birthday ' wishes to Yuval - Yael and Ariel's newborn daughter.
MAZAL TOV!!
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A few weeks ago Tal saw a nice set of Chanukah candles in BBB. Since it was a long time ago, I figured that we should see whether we'll find a nicer set somewhere else.
Days passed and Chanukah was not on our minds.
Today, we decided to go and buy the candle set. Although the traffic seemed untypically horrible we decided to go to el-cerrito shopping center.
Many consumers strolled the stores and the parking lot was fuller than ever.
We came into BBB and went straight to the Chanukah shelves. We saw several Chanukiyot, a singing Rabbi puppet and wine glass tags with dreidels but there were no candles. Not the set Tal saw and not any other set.
Never mind, we thought, we can go to Trader Joe's. But they didn't have candles as well. Long's neither.
Tal remembered that Elephant published that they have a set in sale.
When we got there, the guy in the store said that one manufacturer stopped making them. The only set they had was honey-candles that cost $20. Too expensive for our taste.
Still, we wanted to find candles. So we tried in Andronicos. They said that the Chanukah candles sold out, but they offered some birthday candles instead. Apparently, the main difference is that these candles are narrower.
Well, who cares? Now we can sing 'Ner Li Dakik' and actually mean it 
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I changed the website icon and enlarged the font size for the blog.
I talked to our neighbor to see where to take the food for the cat and for the fish.
I picked up my ironed shirts.
Now I'm in Crixa, eating a zaffron bun and drinking macchiato.
I should start working.
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Tal is sitting on the green sofa with the computer and laughing. Sometime she giggles or at least smiles to herself.
I'm looking at her, trying to see the source of those bursts.
"Did you see my post about the craigslist ads" she asks "Isn't it funny that I picked JAWS?"
And she laughs...... :)
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It took too much time to do this. But eventually we came up with this new website.
We noticed that on the old one, the fact that no one could responed to the posts was a bit annoying. The website design was not great either (Tal thought that the picture on the homepage was too 'American').
I looked for some time for a new host, and when I found it, it took ages for them to transfer the domain name on the DNS. Nevermind.
So we moved to another host, where we have better site templates and where we have a Tomcat platform, so I can use it for the Startup.
Here is another reason for the delay. I'm working on that Startup idea and it requires lots of effort. I'll write about this in another post.
In order to get it ready, I sat few hours copying all of the posts from the previous pages. That was tidious! One by one: cope text, remove formatting, paste text, add formatting, attach the category.....
And then, when everything seemed to be in place, both Tal and I tried to update something on the same time from two different computers. Huge mistake. It looked as if it all went down the drain and I'd have to start it all over again. Lucky for us, the host technician were able to recover it. Thank you tech support.
There you go, welcome and keep in touch!
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I haven't written post for a long time and it even took me too much time to publish Tal's posts. It is all because I am too busy.
I know what you're all thinking. It is most probably something like "Yeah right, he has no job, sitting in Berkeley, seeing films and visiting Jazz clubs and even having time to start painting..."
But I really am. I'm spending a lot of time sitting with the computer and writing a document summarizing the idea. I even started implementing parts of it.
No. I cannot tell you what it is. But whenever you think of me, sitting in the middle of San Francisco, in a coffee shop, where everybody is having fun, where the street view is interesting and the decoration is charming, where the music is lovely and the chatting noises are pleasent, where the food is tasty and the drinks are flavorful, please know that I'm probably busy trying to figure out where there is an XML tag in my file which I forgot to close properly or a misplaced semicolon.
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I am writing as to alert to the fact that we have a fantastically creative idea.
W - e.
I'm aware of the subject of the post but as Tal and I talked lately about the importance of generosity I'm willing to leave the header as is.
Anyway, just for the record, today we bought paint, brushes and canvas. We'll try to keep you posted about it :)
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Walking to my Saxophone lesson I saw painters repainting the lamppost on University avenue and I realized that it has been too long since the last time I wrote.
So many things have happened. Things I really wanted to write about, but I just didn't seem to find the time to do so and now I don't know where to start. I feel like I usually feel when I come back from abroad. Some of the stuff I already told on the phone or wrote in a mail, and the rest is a bit too blurry for recount. Still, there is too much going on and I don't want to miss the opportunity to write about it. I guess that if I won't do it now then I won't do that at all.
So, now I have to decide what to tell and in what order. Should I start with the the 'Battleship Potemkin' which we saw a couple of days ago? I can tell about Yom Kippur and the fact that we saw 'Bonnie and Clyde'. Maybe I should talk about the jazz singer and Contra-Bass player we saw last night in Yoshi's after spending almost the whole day in San Francisco as Tal met a TAU faculty member. No. I should talk about the airshow in San Francisco which we suddenly noticed but couldn't see properly as Little Italy was full of people celebrating Italian heritage.
When I think about it, telling about these occasions will give the impression that we are having too much fun. So I should let you know about the hard work I'm putting in taking care of the plants on our deck or about my continuous Saxophone practice between my almost-private-lessons.
Who am i kidding. We are having too much fun. :)
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"Is it going to rain on the weekend?" we wondered on Tuesday evening as we checked the weather websites. It said there that there is a 30% chance that it will rain on Friday evening and up to 90% that it will rain on Saturday morning. We checked it as we wanted to decide whether to go to the Blue Grass festival in San Francisco. While checking it Tal got a mail from the Sigur Rós' producers stating that the show will be on Friday - rainy or not. Fioosh at least now we were sure not to forget this one.
Friday. The day was quite chilly and we kept wondering whether it will rain on the show. Since no umbrellas were allowed into the concert area, we dug up two caps - one blue cap for Tal and one Irish gray tweed cap for me. Then we started marching toward the Greek Theater. As always, Tal figured that we should have left earlier than we actually did. We made our way through the university where we saw quite a few people doing their way up.
Doing their way up - Berkeley is mostly flat but the more you advance to the east, it gets higher. Somewhere around Oxford street (the west end of UCB) it starts to be more steep and when passing Piedmont ave. (the east end of the UCB) - Berkeley Hills start.
So as I said, we were in the university going up toward the Greek Theater on Piedmont street. When we reached the street we saw a few groups of people gathering outside. A couple sitting on the side curve held a sign saying: "Please donate tickets for broke fans". We waited in the security line (where for the first time they checked Tal and skipped me!) and went into the theater area. No. Before we got there we passed a booth where they sold beer, soda and hot potatoes. Then we came into the roofless amphitheater. A great mass of people were already there, spread out across all of the sitting and standing sections. Tal whimpered "I told you we had to leave earlier" as we were trying to find seats. Eventually we found them: behind us sat a couple in their 30's, to our right sat a young couple spreading on five seats since the guy's leg was broken and in front sat a group of people in their 50's.
At 8:00pm the crowd started clapping anticipating the show to start. At 8:01pm the lights were turned off and a Trombone player came onto the stage. While he played, the rest of the band members came up and started to play. It was nice. We Agreed that it was lyric rock and I claimed that their sound is too muffled for my taste, as if they were playing behind glass. After 35 minutes, the sky started dripping. Not a heavy rain but enough to get the crowd into their coats and raincoats. Five minutes later the band bowed and left the stage. A recess we thought as we saw streams of people flooding the booth in the entrance. At this point I felt that my pants were wet on the side. I thought that it was the rain but then I noticed that only I got wet. After few minutes of looking around the girl who sat behind me said that her water bottle accidently fell. Hmmm...
People were back in their seats and the lights went off again. The band went on the stage and the crowd cheered. They started playing and then I noticed: This is not the same band that was playing before! Note to self: Next time check a bit about the band I'm going to hear!
Sigur Rós were great! They have a great sound and their music is different. Jónsi played the guitar with a bow for a few tunes and called to the crowd to sing with him although, as he said "You'd have to sing on a lower ochtav than me" (I know it should be octave but that's what he said). On the back, they projected some unconventional angles of real-time video which was taken on the stage and distorted. Yet, the greatest piece was when they came for encore. I cannot describe the music in words but while they were playing it, rain started. They played and the rain became heavier. It felt as if their music brought the rain. The crowd was ecstatic. Several people stood up and danced and most of the crowd did not care for the rain. The light in the theater, changing direction and color as in any rock show, gave different colors to the rain. A great end to a great show.
We made our way back home, again through the campus. This time we went downhill. There were more people around us but it seemed that they took their time and did not care much about the continuous rain. We, on the other hand, wanted to get to a dryer place and remove our soaked clothes. We passed the university, the streets became emptier and the water created deep floods all over. The evenly spread rain drops made the impression of falling sky.
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The first thing we notice is that it is a quiet sunny morning. The sky are clear blue and the sun rays wash the trees and the houses. It is not early - the sun is quite high up in the sky. We can assume that it is around 10am. Birds are singing quietly and only occasionally a car passing by is being heard from afar.
We are looking at a room, moderate in its size, painted in light colors. The room is built of two sections - a kitchen and a living room. The kitchen is empty. Two empty glasses are in the sink and the counter is clear. In the living room a green sofa is located next to a white table. Across the room a flat screen television is standing on a rack. On the side, furthest from the kitchen, of the white table there is an open book lying on its pages with the cover up. Two remote controls and two sets of keys are located next to it and another empty glass. On the middle of the table there is an open laptop. A young woman sitting on the sofa is using it. She is probably studying although from time to time she is typing a fast sequence of sentences. She is probably chatting with someone.
Suddenly we hear noises from above. There are few steps, a drawer is being opened, few other steps. Then we hear someone climbing down the stairs. A door is being closed and some running water can be heard and then a door is being opened.
Into the room comes a young bearded man. He yawns, murmurs "good morning" to the young woman who offers him some coffee. He looks as if he is going to accept the offer but then he replies "no, thanks" and continues to the kitchen.
The woman continues to read as the man takes a bowl and pour some milk into it. Then he reaches for a box of cereals. The box is closed and therefore he pulls the ribbon on the box which makes a 'carton ripping' sound and pulls out the plastic bag from inside. Trying to open the bag, it generates continues wrinkling noise. He puts the cereal in the bowl and sits.
"As you know" the woman opens "I'm a student in a PhD program which is one of the best in the country. Now, apparently this morning at around 10:15am, something attempting to be a breakfast was heard in the kitchen. I must state that this auditory assault is NOT OK."
"I'm sorry about that." replies the man "I see that the noise disturbed you and I hope that we'll be able to settle on a solution which will allow me to eat cereal and would not cause such inconvenience."
"Very well. After I'll submit my seminar next Wednesday, we'll discuss it during lunch."
The man takes a spoonful of milk and cereal and starts chewing. Cracking sounds can be heard.
The woman looks at the man "I am sorry, but if you are going to continue to eat this, sound proofing would definitely be required."
The man swallows. He looks at the woman and says "But honey, I'm recycling."
"Oh." says the woman "Ok then."
We leave the room and look at the neighborhood. A garbage truck is passing at a distance.
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Well, it is not a new issue but I never wrote about it and as they say - better late than the alternative (what was it?)
So it was in the middle of the night. The air was standing in the bedroom on the top floor and as the day was "hot" (about 27 celsius - it does not get much higher than this) we decided to open the bedroom window before we went to sleep, only a slot. Then, a BANG woke me up. Although I did not know what it was, I was sure i heard something. I got out of bed (mistakenly waking Tal up) and started looking around. On top of the handrail sat a white cat. Knowing that Tal is not such a cat lover, I assumed that it was not hers and I really could not remember I took it in. It took me a few seconds to understand who that Mitsi is - it was 'Miss Muffin' the neighbor's cat. Looking around I understood that our bedroom window is the only open window in the apartment. It took me a while to drive her away to our deck.
Few nights later, again we felt we really need to open a window. "Maybe it was by chance - one night that she strolled outside" we hoped and decided to leave a smaller slot in the window - just in case. I woke up hearing Tal calling someone on the bottom floor. I came down to see that she is trying to convince the cat to go out. I guess the cat was a bit tired from my previous game with her as she went out the minute I came to the living room.
Now we sleep only with a closed window... 
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It is not that I want to write only when I'm sick or does not feel good but somehow it came to be this way.
These days are a bit busy as we have friends over (!). Tovi is in San Francisco area for business and Eyal had a week in Oakland and is now staying with us for a couple of days. It's really nice, being able to share our place with people from bcvk home.
So just for the briefing:
- Sep 12th - Tovi arrived and we spent some time in San Francisco
- Sep 13th - Chez Panis (Meital and Zeev - Thanks!)
- Sep 14th - Mostly at home
- Sep 15th - Eyal got some time to hang around with me, I bought a micro and he bought (for us) a grill.
- Sep 16th - We cooked some meat on the grill (yammi!)
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I wanted to write that I'm all okay and that I have a great time. I wanted to inform my fever has completely vanished so we were able go to Yoshi's Jazz Club last night. I wanted you to know that today Tal sent her request for a social security number and that we had a great lunch with spiced chicken and three(!) types of puree (white potato which was coked with the chicken, purple potato and a pumpkin mash). But then today, right before sitting to eat our lunch, I felt this sharp pain in my jaw and felt that I cannot close my mouth properly. That was scary. Very scary. I sat on the counter, holding my head. Tal rushed to put in all of the food from the porch table so that we'll be able to go to a hospital. But then, sitting there and pressing on my jaw, it felt slightly better. And I was famished. That's an important bit of information because although I was terrified and hurt, I ask Tal that we'll first eat and then see what to do. So we ate, and I got calmer.
Now, it still feels a bit awkward, but it is much better now. I'm going to give it some more time to dim.
Oh... Since I felt better, we were able to go to a great play in the Aurora theater (Gore Vidal's The best man). This town is full of candied treasures.
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It's three days now and it doesn't go away. I'm doing anything I can but nothing helps. Maybe not everything - I did not consult experts - but I have a good sense as to what they'd have to say: "Give it few more days and then we'll see".
So I wait. Have nothing better to do. Drinking tea and taking Acamol. Hopefuly that would beat this fever.
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