Happy Birthday Mom

See above. My mom is great. I love her very much.

In Town When The Sox Win

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's true. I was in town when the Sox won the world series. Of course the town was Chicago and the Sox were white. Not exactly last year in Boston but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Anyways, my time in Chicago was great, although the Sox winning really didn't make much of an impact. Just like if I had been in Boston last year. Not.

Bus Ride From Hell

Today I ended the Wisconsin portion of my trip when Michelle and I took a shuttle from Milwaukee to O'Hare airport in Chicago. Michelle was to fly back to Israel and I was being picked up by my aunt. Everything was going fine until the bus started leaning to one side. The bus driver pulled over to the side of the road and re-inflated the bus (think hydraulics here people). After continuing for a few bouncy miles the bus driver pulled over again. The bus would go no further. We sat on the side of the road for the next 45 minutes as everyone wondered if they would make their flights or not (except me). Finally, after transferring busses and sitting in traffic we arrive at the airport an hour and a half late. Michelle didn't miss her flight. She is still in the air. That's why I get to blog about our crappy bus ride and she doesn't.

It's Carving Time

Being in America, and it being almost Halloween, and being that Michelle's father asked us to carve a pumpkin, Michelle and I took it upon ourselves to carve a pumpkin. Michelangelo once said, that the statue was already within the block of stone he was carving, and that he just had to let it out. I said: "Michelle, print out a pattern from the internet." Michelle outlined the pattern and I sawed the sucker out and what you see above is the result.

If anyone is interested other pictures taken in Wisconsin (including me holding a butterfly and Michelle putting together a grill) can be viewed on Michelle's blog.

Up-Dated Dates

Lots of people have been asking about my schedule for the next month so I thought I would lay it out for everyone:

Now-Oct. 26 - Wisconsin
Oct. 26-28 - Chicago
Oct. 28-Nov. 4 - Boston
Nov. 4-7 - Florida
Nov. 7-13 - Boston

Current Status

Instead of trying to write some all-encompassing summation of my current status I present you with a checklist of the basic life decisions that were put into flux by my release from the army.

Current Geographic Location – I’m back in the states for a month-long visit to Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, and possibly Florida. If you want to try to work out a visit of some sort shoot me an e-mail.

Future Geographic Location – Right now the plan is to be in Israel for at least the next two and a half years. After that, we'll see depending on work/study plans.

Residence – Being out of the army means that I can’t really live on Kibbutz anymore. They aren’t kicking me out immediately, and I’m sure that I could crash in other people’s rooms or with my Kibbutz family, but basically there is little industry around the Kibbutz and it’s far from Michelle. While I look for a job I’ll probably split time between Kibbutz (until they oust me) and Haifa. If I find a job in Jerusalem then I’ll live there. If I find work in the Tel Aviv area I’ll try to rent in Modi’in (between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv).

Work – I don’t really know what I want to do at this point. I’m considering looking to paralegal for a patent attorney to decide if I want to enter that field but would also be happy with a biotech startup or a job in finance. And I would love a chance to manage. I don’t think I’ll wind up in academia at this point but it’s always a possibility.

Loose Army Ends – I was able to attain the rank of corporal before I was discharged. I’ll visit the base when I get back to Israel to have a slightly more relaxed goodbye with my coworkers.

This Blog Needs a New Name

Yep, it’s true. As of last Tuesday I am no longer in the Israeli army. As you may know, last month I formally requested to shorten my service and receive a November release date. November 10th to be specific. Last Sunday I received an e-mail informing me that my request had been approved and that I would be released on 11/10. This might seem like exactly what I asked for to those of you unfamiliar with Israeli/European date-flipping-around, but what the e-mail meant was that I would be released on October 11th. This meant I had roughly 2 days notice that a large part of my life was about to change very suddenly. While I had planned on having a month to say goodbye to friends, look for a job, and find an apartment I now had 48 hours. To top it all off, being out of the army meant that I could fly back to the states to visit with Michelle and meet her family on their home turf. Of course I only had a day or two to find a flight back to the states at a not exorbitant price. Needless to say things were a bit hectic. In addition to the aforementioned minor details, I had to confirm that the release date wasn’t simply a typo and then decide if I preferred the release date that I had initially requested. (If I wasn’t able to fly back to the states the November release would have been better.) And I had to request expediting my advancement of rank to corporal and have an exit interview with my officer – who was flipping out because she was now suddenly down a soldier.

Want to know how everything worked out? Than you better come back tomorrow and see. I’m getting good at this teaser thing.

New Years Surprise

First off, I want to wish everyone a happy Jewish new year. Next, I want to let everybody know about a few things that happened in the last three days. I am now out of the army. I am flying to the states tonight. I will be in Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, and maybe Florida. And I will be returning to Israel on November 13th. It's been a crazy few days.

Stay tuned for full explanation of all of this in the next few days.