Today I have a job interview via Skype. Sounds easy, right?
Let's see - we have our internet, we have our computer, what could go wrong?
Ha!
First, the electrician came to change our wireless network into a wired network. Seems our wireless router doesn't really work here that well. You see, in Israel most apartments and homes come with a room that is specially designed to wtihstand attack - it's called a Mamad which is an acronym for the Hebrew of "residential secure space." It's got very thick reinforced concrete walls and a special air filtration system, etc. Scary but good to have. Anyway, if that room gets in the way of your wireless router, forget it. Not much gets through that space.
So an elecrtrician was here changing our system from a wireless router to a wired network. They arrived in the morning. At about 11:30 I realized that they had taken my entire network offline and the Skype interview was at noon. Oh.
I quickly saw that this Skype meeting could not happen in my apartment.
My solution was to run downstairs to my daughter's apartment. It is empty, but there were people doing work. My daughter warned me that it might be noisy. OK, I thought, I'll just go into the back bedroom and have the Skype interview.
So I went downstairs and settled myself into one of the rooms, and got ready for the interview.
THEN - the guy comes to fix a window in THAT room. And you can't tell these guys to come back later, you take them whenever they show up. Of all times, it was 5 minutes before the interview.
The person interviewing me logs into Skype and asks if we can push the interview off for 5 minutes. OK, I think maybe this guy will be done in 5 minutes. Five minutes later, he starts banging away making a racket.
OK, my option of using my daughter's apartment is slowly losing ground. I have about one minute to find another place with internet access. I run into their Mamad and close the door. Oh, it's quieter ok, but remember what I told you about internet access in a Mamad? Rotten. So I can't keep the door closed because then I have no internet. So I have to keep the door slighly open which means that the banging is louder.
The woman skypes me and we start talking. She is lovely and very understanding about the noise, and we have what I think was a great conversation.
Just another day in the construction zone that is our building. Today we moved closer to civilization - we got door handles on our kitchen cabinets, we THINK the replacement washing machine MIGHT come this week, and we have had our US lamps rewired so that we can use them here.
This afternoon my piano was calling me so I sat down and played - I don't think I can truly explain how playing piano makes me feel. I'm not very good but I love it so much it almost makes me cry. OK, emotional interlude over.
This afternoon we had a great "real life" experience. My daughter Leezy came by with her kids and we went to the mall for dinner with both girls and their kids. Crazy and hectic, but so normal and so nice. One of my grandsons now knows that he can come in, walk himself to the TV, plop himself down, and have a grand old time.
Lovely, truly lovely.
Let's see - we have our internet, we have our computer, what could go wrong?
Ha!
First, the electrician came to change our wireless network into a wired network. Seems our wireless router doesn't really work here that well. You see, in Israel most apartments and homes come with a room that is specially designed to wtihstand attack - it's called a Mamad which is an acronym for the Hebrew of "residential secure space." It's got very thick reinforced concrete walls and a special air filtration system, etc. Scary but good to have. Anyway, if that room gets in the way of your wireless router, forget it. Not much gets through that space.
So an elecrtrician was here changing our system from a wireless router to a wired network. They arrived in the morning. At about 11:30 I realized that they had taken my entire network offline and the Skype interview was at noon. Oh.
I quickly saw that this Skype meeting could not happen in my apartment.
My solution was to run downstairs to my daughter's apartment. It is empty, but there were people doing work. My daughter warned me that it might be noisy. OK, I thought, I'll just go into the back bedroom and have the Skype interview.
So I went downstairs and settled myself into one of the rooms, and got ready for the interview.
THEN - the guy comes to fix a window in THAT room. And you can't tell these guys to come back later, you take them whenever they show up. Of all times, it was 5 minutes before the interview.
The person interviewing me logs into Skype and asks if we can push the interview off for 5 minutes. OK, I think maybe this guy will be done in 5 minutes. Five minutes later, he starts banging away making a racket.
OK, my option of using my daughter's apartment is slowly losing ground. I have about one minute to find another place with internet access. I run into their Mamad and close the door. Oh, it's quieter ok, but remember what I told you about internet access in a Mamad? Rotten. So I can't keep the door closed because then I have no internet. So I have to keep the door slighly open which means that the banging is louder.
The woman skypes me and we start talking. She is lovely and very understanding about the noise, and we have what I think was a great conversation.
Just another day in the construction zone that is our building. Today we moved closer to civilization - we got door handles on our kitchen cabinets, we THINK the replacement washing machine MIGHT come this week, and we have had our US lamps rewired so that we can use them here.
This afternoon my piano was calling me so I sat down and played - I don't think I can truly explain how playing piano makes me feel. I'm not very good but I love it so much it almost makes me cry. OK, emotional interlude over.
This afternoon we had a great "real life" experience. My daughter Leezy came by with her kids and we went to the mall for dinner with both girls and their kids. Crazy and hectic, but so normal and so nice. One of my grandsons now knows that he can come in, walk himself to the TV, plop himself down, and have a grand old time.
Lovely, truly lovely.
Never a dull moment :)
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