Photos of flowers, pets , forts and a few other things

You are invited to view Gil Even's photo album: 2012-12-25 israel 2012-12-25 israel Nov 22, 2012 by Gil Even View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=104769303678729727539&target=ALBUM&id=5826023552761868833&authkey=Gv1sRgCI7TqdfNmd2V0AE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

on shoko, krembo and wild flowers

a few days ago after almost a month of unexplained but very welcome month of blue skies , the snow began, with a storm as well, just as I was supposed to fly back home, with some flights cancelled , and major delays in new york i was relived to find my flight via Toronto is fine, I just had too many hours of waiting which I gladly used to finish my 800+ pages book. already ordered the next and last one, schedule for release next month. with the book finished and still hours to kill, i decided to crash for a few hours on the airport floor, 10 minutes later, some airport person wakes me up, not for my noise disturbance but they have to clear this area, since Israel flights have extra security and they need to clear this zone, i wish i knew 10 minutes prior, had to relocate in a half zombie state, few hours later, plane leaves on time and i began to watch movies. Arthur X-mas - well it feats the season, OK cartoon, Magic Mike, not a bad movie, but i could do with less male dancing. expendable 2- nice action and l liked the way the too old cast (Stallone, Schwarzenegger, van dame, chuck Norris, Bruce Willis) laugh about their age and catch phrases, sealed the evening with Paranorman also OK- none of the four was a masterpiece. with movies on a 10+ hours flight with hardly enough sleep the previous night, i landed in an extended zombie state and was very excited to see my brother waiting and a nice hot sun, well hot for me, he was wearing 3 layers, after coldland, this was great. my family was waiting for lots of catch up and tshulnt, i some how managed to stay awake for a few hours, then crashed.

I was told, it took a while to wake me up, it was the after noon, its good to wake up, or mess up the night and remain jet legged. that evening I went to meet with friends and have a shwarma. the simple mall food court shwarma was much better then anything they have around Cleveland, tried both kinds...mmm.  we watched the Hobbit , long movie, not fit for a sleepy person, It was with some difficulty so i kept changing my sitting position (sorry random person sitting behind me), but the movie was good and worth the effort. sleep came soon after...zzzzzz

on Sunday I went with my dad for a field trip, its early in the season for wild flowers but we tried any way, and found some next to giva'at ada, photos will arrive soon after, then enjoyed a yumi falafel. we went to an acclimation farm where exotic species are researched to see how and if they can grow in our climate an to check that they do not spread disease and the like, its a decent size orchard and we sampled some rarely seen fruit (in this area)- fagoya, radiating purple on the inside dragon fruit, seen some huge fruit and heard about blue banana (on the outside) but have not seen it. 

it is really difficult to blog right now , with tom trying to sit on my lap and hides the screen.

we saw the monument for the Carmel fire 2 years ago and went to some other location to find Narkisim, the paper promised they would be in a certain place, right here left there, across the cow gourd and such, we followed the directions to find this flower that should be in any corner, well we didn't see a single one so we  grabbed some ice cream before returning home. later I met with friends in some trendy place in tel aviv, before entering, i entered a parking lot that had no fee listing , so i asked the guard the price, he said "don't worry sir, every thing will be OK" which in Hebrew speak means, "i will screw up later and you will pay the bill". the trendy brewery was good, tried the Dennis fish with a puree of something i hope was sweet potatoes. spent a few hours with my friends , then went to ice cream again... very hard here...

yesterday we attempted to do a part of the Israel trail, the ranger said the part we planned was very muddy and its a connecting trail with not much view, instead we traveled Afek park and the origins of the yarkon river with the adjacent old fort, saw some birds (shrakrak and siksak and some type of duck), then went to migdal tzedek, also a fort and toured he ground and walked around it- 12 k total, i almost got a sun burn, so great in December.

in the evening I went to my sister to catch up + some Michael Douglas movie which was good.

after that i do my usual routine, go in feet the cat, take the dog out, by the time honey finishes, tom finished eating, now its time to kick Tom out, since he wails inside, bring the dog in and go to sleep. the former macho tomcat is now half blind and the dog is mostly deaf, strange odd couple, well they are in their late teens, but it is good to see them too.

not sure why, perhaps the up coming promotion, school break and the good treats (krembo, shoko in a bag, zfatit cheese, milky) I am relaxed here and succeeded in solving some riddles- like sudoku but different, one type is kakuro , another is a hive like riddle , games i didn't solve before.

today we are doing some bank errands , and going to my grandmothers grave then Jerusalem.

expect photos in the evening

cheers from Israel

 

Shredded not stirred

After an exciting weekend in new Orleans, I spent one night at home, with barely time for repacking and headed for a work week in Fitchburg Wisconsin. Wisconsin was cold but with nice blue skies and no wind, cold is fine.

nothing special at work but had a few too many hours afterwards, some spent on studying and other on movies. saw one movie a day for 4 days, way over average. this was almost a month ago, so the movies might be outdated.

James blond was first, and since then, movies just got better, its a good action movie in some parts, but the character has no soul, he is not a charmer, might as well be replaced with scarecrow which has more personality, waste of good effects on a weak plot, I vote to replace this guy.

Wreck it Ralph was a much better movie, funny , just enough partially expected twists and funny side characters from games similar to what i played as a kid.

Twilight, I realise is a movie most will not go see unless you are a teenage girl, her boyfriend, or me but unlike the previous movie, this one was actually very good (most were OK). funny , some action, surprises, I know its trendy to lash out at this series, I personally approve this movie.

the 4th was seven psychopaths , which was not at all what I was expecting, very interesting, mostly talk and very good cast, if you like nontraditional, go see it.

since coming back from my trip we only watched one more- Life of PI- which I predict will win an Oscar for one of the technical aspects- photography, animations, one of these not important ones, and perhaps a nominee for actor or best movie, very interesting story, we both liked it.

 

since then I have been busy with upcoming tests, quizzes, presentations, projects, book reports, all these for only 2 courses. on Monday I finished the last test on one course, finance and I felt i did relay well, and on Wednesday I had the other final, and figured i did well too, after the class i was talking to some other students from previous classes, comparing results, comparing which teacher to avoid in future semester and the like, I stayed and talked longer than i usually do, then the email blips on the phone and i see an email to check the test results from Monday, the email says 98 is the highest in the class. i check my grade and its 91, which is enough for my A but i presumed I did better, a minute later the finance teacher comes out of the next class over, his other class was taking their final there and he asks if we saw the grades, i say I was disappointed and he says that he remembers i did well on the multiple choice part, how does he remember? actually I felt the other section of open question was better for me since he asks similar and identical questions to what he gives for home work. I never go to check my exams after wards, drive 30 minutes just for that, not me, lucky he just came out when I was near by, i check my grade on the test and 98....highest in class, ye! my test score is highest, not sure about over all but cant complain on my A. and an A on the other course made for a good week.

 

things changes Thursday evening, I came home and something happened to my key, it decided to go for a walk to an unknown location. in the last 3 days i searched every trash bin in the house, behind every toilet , over, under and inside the couches, inside the blankets and pillows, under carpet, inside the vacuum, in the refrigerator, inside drawers, behind drawers, every vase or status was thoroughly searches, the laundry, the drier, the oven! the micro wave, it just disappeared, trying to retrace my steps causes to to walk back and forth to the mail box, maybe it fell there. of course my car was locked, i didn't think i left the key inside, but it wasn't every where else. on Friday morning i received a nice email, since we finished a project at work we got a little bonus point to buy from the company store, and i look at the gifts section and the 1st item i see is a key finder, I am so getting this once i find my key, this device has something that connects to a key and a beeper part, but how long to you think will pass before i lose the beeper? AAA came and unlocked the car, they used a blow up pillow to pull the door and use a modified bar to reach the handle, that cant be good for the door but it got the job done, its good they didn't ask me for my ID, good thing to know in case i want to steal a car. i repeated the search in every possible cavity, went over every pocket, lifted the couches. I had to go to therapy, for my annoying shoulder, its impossible to get around in the suburbs without a car, i walked 7k, lucky its nice out side, very unusual for December and perfectly fine by me. then managed to get 2 lifts to further destinations. today i took my bike to go play tennis instead of driving, which is good i guess but i arrived panting. the lock smith was due to arrive soon after, they have some way to recreate a key without the original or spare. I returned home and decided to give the search another go, the 5th time, with a 20 minutes dead line till the lock smith comes. i turn over remaining leaves, perhaps it fell under, check under rugs again try the laundry for the 3rd time, and then notice a gap between the plastic parts where the door grabs and there it is fully washed, cleaned and happy, my key, it is strange but finding this key is a greater achievement then getting both A's.

Alla calls from work later to check

Alla: did the guy come over?

Gil:no

Alla: he didn't come?

Gil No

Alla hangs up before Gil has a chance to tell her that he called the guy to cancel after finding the key.

SO I called her quickly, not to bother the poor locksmith, but she already used her cell to call him (obviously to reprimand him for his no show), lucky for him he didn't pick up, she answered my call and i explained , then heard her apologise to Mr lock on the other line.  happy ending.

 

oh, after AAA unlocked my car in my deep and very detailed key search i found my credit card which was missing for a week. you may spot a trend here if you try real hard.

 

with all this time on my hand, I use it for reading, you may recall that i am reading a long series in which the author decided to die before he wrote the end, well now I am reading one of the last 3 books, completed by his son, and i think the son is better, finally someone gets to the point, you can see which episodes the dad wrote (the super slow ones, where the leaves are falling, and each character is deep in thought about its place in the world, remembering its past, thinking on what to do, the leaves are still falling...etc...) and the ones the son completed in which the plot continues!! , i heard the last book comes in January, i have 500 more pages in this book, another 800 or so in the next and presumably another 800-1000 in the last one, finally, i can end this series which I started reading in 1998!

 

can't wait for upcoming Israel trip from next Saturday till the 31st... see you soon.

 

p.s - we have a top ranked leader on baby name, but my last name is proving to be a difficulty with some possible middle names, final name update is due on April 7th,

 

 

 

 

 

on strange pipes, a chip and a NOLA weekend.

on Thursday, I barely managed to sneak away from work to make an early flight to the other city of sin. on the way i had just enough time to stop for 10 minutes at home to say goodbye to Alla. i was surprised to find a van with strange pig pipes entering the house, tin foil type pipes like they had in E.T, but no aliens here (well, perhaps the workers were aliens) just pipe vacuums, I need to borrow these pipes to suck all the leaves from the grass. after a super quick lunch i rushed to the airport, and for the 1st time, the economy park is full, forcing me to waist time and park else where, forcing me to run to the airport with 2 suitcases, lucky it wasn't raining, but made it breathlessly on time.

 

few hours later I landed in New Orleans and drove away from the city to the other side of the big lake (which is not really a lake, more of a fjord, with a narrow channel) driving over the longest over water highway of 24 miles and right to bed after studying on the plane, having a test on Monday and an out of town weekend together is not a desired combination. the reason for this trip is a Bar Mitzvah of my uncles grandson , Dylan. a kid i met just once before at my own wedding, so you might say we never actually met.

 

next morning began with a good omelet at the hotel followed by a beautiful warm day in the city, the sunshine was so good.

we reached the French quarter and I liked the city right away and started clicking at anything that moves (statues and such), but you cannot capture the ambiance, its a fun place to walk around. you have human statues, cute souvenirs, street dancers, street musicians, flee market, art galleries , a Nutela truck (which gives free bread with nuttela!), Bengt which is a doughnut which is covered with tons of flower sugar, lots of jazz and lots of tourists. the nearby Mississippi hosts large river boats sounding music and cruise ships preparing to depart, Jackson squares stands impressive amongst the many 2 storey house and color full verandas. after a 2 hour tour of the city and the market we headed to Oceana- a sea food place which this city is known for. I can do shrimp, and like seafood chowder (mostly for the cream) but the other stuff which was orders is just nasty, i don't know how fish can eat this stuff all the time and stay silent. but I tried a pasta with chicken which was very tasty and this place is added to the good places list (mental list). we kept walking next to the galleries when a woman approached me saying she can tell me where i got my shoes, exact city and state!. perhaps it was the closeness to sea food, but do I stand out as live bait? i didn't even think twice and said OK. then she said that i "got" these shoes in new Orleans Louisiana, which is right, she explains that she didn't say purchase or bought, but got, then she proceeded to shining my shoes, which were sneakers, but it is a part of the scam, then she asked for 10$ per shoe! well i was only a part time sucker and gave her 5$ total, for which she gave me the (i survived hurricane Katharina while you yank were doing nothing to help kind of insulted) look and walked away to find the next mark. a few days later on an evening visit , we saw this trick applied on other just as lucky victims. we returned to the hotel for an early dinner, one of the many Bar mitzvah event followed by a 2 hour Kabalat shabat, which i didn't attend since,,,perhaps never, the cantor was very happy and sang out loud, and Dylan read and sang on stage. after wards there was dinner (yes, more food) finger food this time with fake candles battery operated.

my aunt is a character, no mouth filter whatsoever; but she liked this candles, so she borrowed them indefinitely from the temple on a Saturday!

after the food ended with speeches and more speeches, we returned for the hotel where i kept studying.

 

the next morning was the bar mitzvah day itself, woke up to another omelet, more studying and purchasing of food. as part of a Barmitzva project, Dylan gathered sports equipment for kids without dads program and also gathered food for a shelter inviting all guest to participate on donate, i don't recall even knowing what social responsibility was at age 13, but times are different and this is a nice deed. unfortunately the supermarket i went to wasn't cheap, could have gotten more food if i knew the area better. next time.

so back to the synagogue and now in my wedding suit for few more hours of prayer and song and a nice haftara reading from Dylan and the cantor. at one point during the ceremony , my aunt shouts out that the rabbi is tired!, out loud, I don't think he was, but told you, a character.

in the traditional candy tossing at the end (you are suppose to throw at the now barmitzva boy, but throw gently) and my nephew Daniel, threw the pitch of his life hitting the cantor in the for head, lucky it wasn't a baseball, she survived.

 

after the service came, well, the food. later back to the hotel for more studying(yes, its a theme now) and in the evening , we returned for the party. in a fancy place- a light display naming Dylan high up on the wall, the theme this evening was hunger games (also related to the food we brought, help with the hunger of the poor), they had cups with hunger games logos. a different kind of cup with the log, water bottles! with Dylan's name, they gave fake bows, fake glasses from the movie, the cake looked like a tree from the movie, the tables had branches on them, the long kids table was completely hunger games decorated. impressive.

 

on the out side they had a kids area with bow and plastic arrow shoot, tattoo artists and Lazar tag. the other outside are for grown up had lots of finger food (weird new Orleans things, not for me, except the chicken) and a Schnappsless bar.

my uncle snatched a couple of tray from a passing waiter , leaving the poor girl shocked bewildered. I never seen this done before, not in a movie.

 

then we entered the big hall, for food... various types of line dancing, including the chicken dance, and well, party. this is age 13 for many guests, Dylan's entire class, and i didn't expect them to be so fancily dressed, in high hills in which some girls could barely walk.

i took home some silly prizes which i will use next Halloween or scavenger hunt.

later back to the hotel for more studying which is what i did the next morning after my omelet. at brunch time we headed for my cousins home where i took some nice photos of the house and the family. I then went with my dad to a 2nd trip to the city.

 

we walked around the colonial garden district, took lots of photos of pretty houses, the former home of Ann rice (author of "interview with a vampire") the home used in the Benjamin button movie and other nice homes. we returned to the french quarter with more photos of curious bar stools (shaped like a horses ass), cute store sign, T-shirts, street art and the great ambiance of the city. then i noticed that the camera chip was missing, which means all my many photos that dare are gone :(. well we kept walking and i enjoyed the views, remembering them without photo taking for once. we walked to the river walk mall and tried the famous Bengt with the tons of sugar powder. we went again to the french quarter for Bourbon street to see it at night. the Saints, local football team just defeated the falcons and many locals and tourists were wearing their team jerseys and celebrating, the street was closed to car traffic and was full of pedestrians.

 

at one point my dad had to go and all places do not allow free bathroom goers, we entered a color full pizza place which doubles as a dance bar. i got a slice of cold not very good pizza and avoided obscene dancing from the locals, i wish i had my camera to show you, then again, i might get beat up. locals were hustling tourist with the shoes scam, but mostly people were having fun, drinking , with lots of jazz and blues playing from the many bars.

 

we returned to the hotel full of excitement and empty of photos and i studied some more, went to sleep early for my flight back over the fake lake, got into the plane on time...and then.

 

heavy fog in Baltimore (my connection) followed by "the plane doesn't start"... i became tense since i had a test that day, about 4.30 hours later a new plane, a working one this time, came and we rushed to Baltimore, the lucky thing is that my connection, due to the fog was delayed and as soon as i de-planed, i boarded to Cleveland. i was scared that my suitcase wouldn't make it, especially since i was wearing short pants (nice and warm in the south) and was welcomed by a freezing Cleveland, but it was there, but no time to waste, wore my jeans over my short pants at baggage claim and rushed to the car and made it 34 minutes before the test, which went well i think.

 

cheers

again, sorry for the lost photos, have no choice but to go back

new orleans photos + brmitzva events photos

Barmitzva

https://picasaweb.google.com/gil.even/201201110BarmitzaDylan?authkey=Gv1sRgCJnd-Z3ZkLW9Bw#

 

new orleans french quarter

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/gil.even/20121110NewOrleans?authkey=Gv1sRgCL7F6-Htwar6oQE#

 

 

will return to the city tonight for more photos and experiances an will share why I am live bait.

on Squirrel Vs Squirrel, snakes and just one more thing

Boy, what a week we had with my mom and moti visiting and last days of waiting for the ultimate answer and with 5 days of obnoxious non stop rain.

 

at work, we finished our 90 days workout program and started a new 60 days program called body beast. this program video guides are 3 very muscular guys, and no, i don't want to be a beast like them, just continue my fat reduction. unlike the previous aerobic type workout, this was weight based and while doing chin ups, i felt something pull under my shoulder blade, i had these before, so i kept going, the next days it began to hurt , and pain increased day by day, till i decided to hurt no more and seek help with Inna, my caretaker. muscle tare :(  , not a severe one but enough to annoy and keep me from working out all week. for the last few days i have been hooked to a device the size of a transistor radio , with 2 wires like earphone that attach to sticky things to my back on both side of that muscle with the sole purpose of electrocuting myself. its a nice buzz, i keep increasing it and after several shocking days I am better, maybe workout tomorrow?

 

well, I needed some pills, anti inflammatory for the muscle and to the store we went. my co-credit card holder lost her card and cancelled both of ours and while we waited for it to arrive we have a backup one and with it we went to the store, too bad this card expired 2 days before, so we decided to write a check , the check how lucky can be found in my car but you need an ID. for back up purposes I keep my passport in the car, for times like this, but my record keeping partner likes everything safe, so i took it out of the car and now when I need it , its not there, so we returned home empty handed and neck sored.

worry not, we returned that day with vengeance and got the pills, which lucky I don't need anymore.

 

this week was a non stop game of SheshBesh (backgammon) and despite severe unlucky dice, I remain undefeated in tournament this year, of course, i have only played this week and I lost games (just no series of games...) but who cares, but on my upcoming Israel trip, my opponent (mom) plans a vengeance game on her home turf...you go

 

Girl, I say, will inform on the results at the time. oh, the very last game ended with a rare Turkish mars, don't recall ever doing that.

 

we also seen for the 1st time , the squirrels getting in (not around) but in to a bird feeder, usually they eat from the out side, now it was in, eating, while another squirrel wanted to munch as well and they fought on the tree, then fought some more on the ground, so cute, and all caught on camera, see link below.

 

with the visitors we had some nice walks in the cold rainless day (finally it stopped), but the strange thing is that there are no puddles. one hour of rain in Israel is enough for a minor flood, here, not a drop on the road, most impressive.

 

one of the nights we went to the new Casino, where we all donated funds to the state of Ohio, which is now the most important state in the world, but we all know that after Wednesday , it will be Ohio where? what? we can enjoy the temporary attention.

 

today it was Halloween, it was actually few days ago, but it was postponed because of Sandy.and this is my first time actually participating in the activities. I purchased a bunch of candy, put them in a bag, wrapped my self in a cloak, with a ski/bank robber mask and scared the kids when they came in the door, then offered them candy. it was 2 hours of fun. some kids were scared, few RAN away!, some were totally indifferent. i asked them to open a small box (that held fake snakes) this caused kids to be weary and some refused to did it very slowly, one kids was indifferent- i can hear his mind saying, come on, stop this nonsense, just give me the candy!. one girl was really scared but we overheard comments, saying the experience was cool, and fun and not sure what they server at other houses, the kids liked what i got which is what they sell at Wall mart, again not sure what is the candy competition, we need to send a spy to the neighbours. Alla was laughing her A** of the whole time . some kids came with customs, some not, a 3-4 year old with a dragon custom was so cute. one group came with 10-12 and 3-4 year old at the same time, and i Did my scare thing, and the young girl got scared, but when i showed the fake snake, she said in her Minni mouse outfit that she is OK, not scared, she was 4 years old, i think, adorable.

we both had a blast and the candy bowl is not empty, these kids (well most of them) take only one unless they are told they can), pictures in link below.

 

My mom thought Alla how to cook tshulnt, it was so good. love it and now that the knowledge is here, id expect to have some more in the upcoming winter. in the meal we had with the family, they wanted to light shabat candles and for me to say the blessings, after a confusion on who aid what blessings in which order, I was proclaimed a gentile. well, we never do blessings at home, no wonder I am clueless.

 

and this brings me to the last and most important item of the day.

and the answer is- yes there is a chupchik...its a boy :)

 

 

You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: 2012-11-04 Squirrel vs squirrel and haloween

2012-11-04 Squirrel vs squirrel and haloween Nov 4, 2012 by gil.even View Album Play slideshow

on gone with the wind and other stolen items

try the following riddle

A car travelling at a speed just enough not to get caught is leaving Cleveland at around 4PM. At the same time, taxi is leaving Chicago heading east driven by a suspected Somali pirate is traveling as 3$ a minute (actually 2, the extra one is because the passenger is tired and not paying attention)

the question is, when will they meet and how much will it cost.

out of the many damages inflicted by Sandy, a minor incident accrued. with my mom visiting , arriving in Chicago the day of the storm and having the next flight to Cleveland cancelled. quick check found that all trains are booked for the next two days, and next bus in 4 pm the next day, no flights of course, so I drove to Chicago for the best air port pickup ever (George would be proud) , my mom took a cab and we met in south bend Indiana just after 8.30PM, we arrived at the same minute which was strange. so i took my mom's bags from the taxi and also a book "what to expect when you're expecting" which i was sure was for us. apparently not, what the driver didn't expect is to have his what to expect when you're expecting book to be stolen. If you hear about the Somalian government blaming Israel, know that its my fault.  the guy left a list with names, like a wedding list, we tried to track him down, but no luck , since no receipt was taken we don't know which company, note to passenger, take receipts.

 

well that is it, the storm didn't affect this area much other then non stop 5 days of rain.

p.s

enjoy a tiny album of Halloween photos

 

p.s2

a very interesting thing occurs if you google image for my mom 'libi moore' image attached

 

p.s3 - if you take a taxi from Chicago with a Somalian driver, let me know

 

cheers

You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: 2012-10-27 haloween 2012-10-27 haloween Oct 27, 2012 by gil.even View Album Play slideshow

Obama speech photos

You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: 2012-10-25 Obama 2012-10-25 Obama Oct 25, 2012 by gil.even View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gil.even&target=ALBUM&id=5803769494046973889&authkey=Gv1sRgCNr3qKzMxLmgkwE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

on why Obama is to blame and other candidates

Yesterday was an unusual amazing fall day, no clouds, no rain, no plans for the afternoon.

this week , my more face book active spouse stumbled on another Obama speech to be held in Cleveland and we signed up. I cannot vote as you may know but Alla can, though she is leaning for the other guy, but we both wanted to see and sense a speech atmosphere.

doors opening at 5:30 the invite said, you would assume that the event would begin around 6:30. No. but before that we needed to fuel ourselves, unfortunately the road we took does not go through normal areas, we had a choice of mystery pizza and a Chinese place.

we deiced to eat Chinese before the speech that will badmouth them. a mistake (not Chinese in general, but this place). Mongolians would not eat this Mongolian beef and Alla's chicken was worse, they even messed up the rice!, shame, the place looked normal. well slightly less hungry but not satisfied we parked at the museum and join the long line. this line was long but fast moving and on the way we see button pushers, you know the people that want to sell you Obama buttons, hats, shirts and such. one of the guys on the side asks me if I decided who to vote, i say I cant, but my spouse who i was on the phone at that moment, can, I took his card, and he said he was running for president! this was in the line to see Obama. I checked later, the guy is legit, he received 3902 votes nation wide in the previous elections, lucky I took a photo with him (his highlight of the day? ). i should have asked why he is running, since he obviously has no chance, but the line was moving fast, missed it. we were told to keep our phones open, Alla went to check her phone, but i told her it is always open, even when we go to the cinema!!

we had to wear our warmer clothes (not carry anything for security),  but then, no one checked the tickets (why did we sign up, now we get more junk mail). we got in and Obama wasn't there, and we learned that he would not come till 8 +, almost 2 hours wait. you couldn't enter food or drinks or umbrellas , weapons and other necessities, but they did give us water bottle, but they took the cap away. we didn't feel like waiting and we walked back towards down town. we started to feel hungry (from the less then half finished Chinese) and found a new place, and quickly devoured some chicken sandwich, which i would not have eaten had Obama came earlier!!! this is why he is to blame. we walked back to the venue, now there was no line, but we couldn't get close to the show.

and then it started, the plain landed, air force one, this was at the airport, the plan approached and the crowd got a buzz from excitement, the plane stopped right next to us, its very impressive to see it, probably the only famous plane, a real movie star. few moments later, Obama got off the plane while hundreds of cameras are clicking, ours included. the speech was nice, nothing real new which was expected, but we still focused on getting the optimal photo since we were not close enough (or tall enough). people started leaving during the speech to avoid traffic, this is strange to me, you wait 3 hours, then leave during, makes no sense, but this allowed us to come closer and closer and we managed to get real close after the speech and reached the front after he passed this specific point for hand shaking. i saw him from 10 meters away, but the only hand i shook was that other candidate. we lingered for a while , trading photos with some other people and hoping he would make a 2nd pass for hand shakes , he didn't and by the time we headed home, the majority of people already left so we had little traffic.

 

so, don't forget to vote, for whom, your call

 

cheers

on nail polish and cell loss

the following occurred recently but not to me

 

certain person goes to the BMV (Bureau of Motor vehicles) to register a car. this person does not find the ID and other needed paper work and drives back home , 20 minutes away to get them, once they get home they find out that they had the papers all along and rush back 20 minutes more to the BMV only to find that they left their bag at home! back home again. on the next day and another ride to the BMV and waiting 30 minutes in line- only to find out that the car was registered all along, there was no need to do anything.

 

this story just proves that I found my match, I had similar funny stories

but my more pregnant half has told me about this event in a precursor to the following fact. according to researchers (no doubt world renown) woman carrying girls lose more brain cells then woman carrying boys and the above story is undeniable proof that we have a girl.

folk stories (which I hold in the same regard as said previous scientist) believe that a woman who's belly doesn't grow much is a sign of boys. indeed a mystery wrapped in a uterus

 

in 13 days we will know (yes,I am counting down daily lately). btw so far week 16 all is well :)

 

I purchased a new shampoo called 'cells and shoulders' which stops this cell loss at the root.

 

 

2 weeks a go I was dragged against my will to a scavenger hunt, not sure why i didn't feel like going, this is definitely my kind of event- post test exhaustion perhaps, but my dragging partner didn't give up and we went. It was a group with the kids (nephews) and you had to do various tasks in 10 photos, meaning choose how many things you can cram in only 10 photos, so you have to work fast, smart, and creative. lucky the performers are kids- they can do any thing, you can put them with one leg on a chair, the other on a swing while sitting on bicycles, or holding a broccoli , feeding each other muffins, while holding an apple on their heads and other such strange combinations. i received the tasks list before we met with the kids and i didn't know at the time that only the kids perform, thus with one task to put nail polish , i didn't hesitate and slapped the pink on my toes. not a work of art, far from it, but a 1st for me. this thing is difficult to remove... lucky acetone is available. i will send you photos soon. one task required a street musician, and we have no time to drive down town, so I took a shofar and posed as a street musician- lucky we didn't have to play, i cant play that thing.

we met with the other groups at the end and after counting our points twice, we came in 2nd - if we only found a fireman ...we might have won.I was disappointed by this loss and my feeling always show, worse poker player ever) and I was wearing my Israeli rugby jacket and one of the judges approached me asking me what it said (this was hosted in a Jewish school), I explained and when i turned around - everyone in my group was not there (Alla and both her sisters). apparently they decided that i was so upset that i was appealing the ruling (so i can win the mega prise of my name appearing on some cup that will remain in the school), so they decided to abandon me, less they be seen with the likes of mayhem (me). all 3 sisters at the same time!!!- i think this cell loss is a general phenomenon regardless of pregnancy (though 2 of them are pregnant at the moment), perhaps its contagious.

 

cheers and count your brain cells...

p.s happy birthday Netta

 

the man without a name

teTa , teTam, imagine jaws music just before the shark bites, that is the sound of my heart beating extremely loud, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, open them slowly and see a please wait.... heart beats faster if that is even possible, close my eyes again, another deep breath, open them and ...please wait, no.... i will die soon, close again take 2 breath, open and, please answer this survery, what!!! come on give me my grade, yes i do like this testing center, yes the facilities are fine, no i didnt like the scheduling process, who cares... ok, i am slightly more composed now and even give some writen feedback, like- give the grade first, then do the survey. click End, at, heart rate is accelerating once again, close my eyes, deep breath, open my eyes, and Congretulations, oh the sensation of relief, you are now a certified project manager professional, PMP.

 

I have been on this PMP track for over a year, last year i took some courses to allow have the training prerequisites and recently i submitted my application which is a process by itself.

this is how it went down. you have to get information of your projects management past with exact content and divided by sub areas, who knows exactly how long things took 5 years ago, so I estimated and as such dreaded a possible audit (one in five or four is audited), so i filled the info which took me half a day to do and submitted, they say it takes up to five days to get a reply, i submitted on a Monday and checked my mail 3 to 17 times a day, finally the answer came in on a Saturday saying i was accepted and eligible to take the test, but audit, answer will come after you may. fudge fudge fudge. so i go through a similar process to the 1st paragraph to a lesser scale, pay the membership fee and the expensive test fee and this time the answer is quick, and I am happy to not be audited (that's all i need now while studding hard, to be interrupted and to go to some managers I didn't really like and have them confirm some info).

 

that was about 2 weeks ago and since then I was studying like a maniac, with not enough sleep and nerves approaching the breaking point with each passing day, on top of that, i am dieting and working out which actually helped control my anxiety i think. what didn't help was home work and another test in my regular MBA course, i could do without studying for those at the same time (grade is still not in).

 

the one relaxing activity was a scarecrow building at work, it was a day after a prep test for this PMP, i was studying lots and needed a mental break. since my head felt like rotten straw, a scarecrow was appropriate. the Idea was to use the 3 Philips internal attributes , eager to win (we had a medal on the scarecrow), team up to excel (we placed our diverse team map, with employees from 4 continents, and take owner ship (we had a sheet of tasks to do on a chart, as in taking owner ship of a project. we also had a cage with captured angry birds (to scare off would be birds), and since this is the gym group which i go to every day (at work) we gave the crow abs and muscled and made her a bad ass. well we didn't win, but it was fun. the Oktoberfest had some other activities like throw a pie in the face of your boss. i missed my 1st throw (i am bad at basketball) , so the next throw, I almost cheated, i took a step forward and before landing threw it and wham, bulls eye.

 

I started at Philips about 10 months ago, and for unknown reason, I didn't get a name plate, some have it, some have a printed page, but everyone in the near by work area have a name, but me (not sure about other parts). even my new neighbour of 2 months has a printed page. this week people came and swapped the pages with real name plaque, even to my new neighbour, but not for me, strange, but they asked for my name and the other day I also received a name to place of my cube.

 

Today, it is time to relax , go out and enjoy the magnificent fall colors

 

cheers

Gil Even, PMP

 

how to build a scare crow- or how to pie your boss in the face, or both...

https://picasaweb.google.com/gil.even/20120928ScareCrowCompetition?authkey=Gv1sRgCIK_5de5n_mYcA#

 

detailes in a week, happy sukot

the Invention of PlaStick

one of my surprisingly lasting activities is feeding the birds out side, or more accurately, putting food in the feeders, they can eat by them selves. so when one of the feeders i set on the window with those clear suction thingies fell down, I rushed to fix it about 3-4 weeks later and found that the little vacuum thingies are gone! the plastic container was there, bu which evil chip monk has taken my vacuum thingies, where do you get vacuum thingies? (they came with the device). I also got all the way from Baltimore, a kind of stick that you can put in the grass and hang stuff from it, such as a bird feeder, but these cheap things brake by clever squirrels, so i went looking for the last broken one and it is not there, are the rodent working in parallel with amazon to get me to buy more cheap feeders? its a conspiracy, while roaming the yard i did find a huge branch that lucky didn't fall on any thing of value and a big pointy plant that we didn't plant, most bizarre.

so with a stick that nothing hangs from and a plastic container with not vacuum thingies, came a new invention of plaStick , the container is proudly hanging from the stick, i give it three days at best, less if the squirrels are feeling more destructive then usual.

 

even less if the bear gets it, well, apparently there is a bear in my town, a real one roaming out side somewhere in the woods, a black bear (not that it matters which one) , it must have come from the Appalachians, they get to this area rarely and now there is one out there. i have not seen it, but maybe i should drive around and get lucky (or eaten which is lucky for the bear). there is a hunt for it, i hope they move it and not kill it, bear beware!

 

on a lighter note, we found a way to transform a sonata to a six - after long debates with car people trying to replace Alla's AC less vehicle with something more current, we went back and forth trying to get the best deal, and then deciding not to decide, till we finally decided on a Hyundai sonata, the dealer ship didn't have the car in the lot and we waited for it and then another dealer emailed me and I gave a wild offer of taking a Mazda 6 (costs more) for the same price, and lucky (or not) they said yes. in my searches we looked at smaller cars and didn't research the bigger class at all , so miss assumed, with the last day of buying before the rates change(monthly thing) we fell in to the 2nd oldest trick in the book and bought under pressure. after long time of planning ,we through it aside and got a Mazda 6. not a bad car or a bad price but later we noticed it didn't have the 5 star safety rating. we don't have luck with cars, or at least with buying them, but done is done, the important things is that Alla has a working AC and a CD player (i think her last car had a record player)

 

well that is what's new for us

 

happy 65th dad, happy 38th shay

 

cheers

and see ya in late December in an Israel near you

 

 

last days of trip with photos

After the hike, we reached boulder montana a spa kind of place with thermal hot pools, but before rest, we needed some health food. the problem, this small town at night, even on a friday night , the only open places are a pizza place and a bar. so we went to this bikers bar. we sat down expecting service, and after a few minutes, tha bar guy calls us to him, says he is busy, never seen this before in the US, but that is why you travel, to experiance new things. our healthy burger meak was very tasty, this bar had some cowboys playing pool and shuffleboard under a ceiling of many beers/girls photos, after refuling our stomach, we returned to the hotel for an extreme scrubbing shower.

 

next morning we tried our scrumptious breakfast which was good and we dipped in the natural hot spring pool. we headed out to explore montana, state number 43. butte is a mining town with closed mines today, beyond its glory days, but the signs of mines are everywhere with memorials, huge exavators, mining towers, and colorfull hils. the mineral museum showed all kinds of gems and minerals, including glow in the dark florescence gems, the derbi place server good steak and without noticing the day was half over.in the evening we went to helena, the capitol city, but went to late and barely got to see the state capitol building before it was too dark. later we went to see 'the campaign', i was on the flor from laughing so much, go see it.

next morning after the same scrumptious breakfast we went to see a ghost town, several empty building later we left this town disappointed after not seeing a single ghost and not impressed by these buildings. we then headed for a stalagmite cave for a 2 hour tour, nice cave but not a must, we reached bosemand and did a little tour of the city, these post hike days for meant for relaxation, we explored a bit , didnt do much and rested.

 

the below links contain photos from the last few days and more hiking photos

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gil.even&target=ALBUM&id=5780708249738887585&authkey=Gv1sRgCLyPpO2Atcbx2wE&feat=email

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gil.even&target=ALBUM&id=5780703763273598177&authkey=Gv1sRgCLXbw83qw83JHw&feat=email

the 4 days before or suitcase tales

the first and last days of the trip, before and after the 4 day hike.

while we were traveling incident free (an incident by itself) from Cleveland, our travel companions Libbi (a.k.a mom) and Moti traveled from Dallas and st. Louis respectively to meet us. Dallas has 2 airport, a mega huge one and a tiny monitor less airport, mom flew from there. a short connection and a very late plane made her nervous. they were supposed to meet in Denver for the next flight to .Bozeman. the Dallas plane left very late and was not scheduled to land before the Denver one would take off, lucky, the Denver flight was late as well and in the airport they still talk about the strange husband who distracted the stewardess, misplaced the pilot's keys, loosened some air in the plane tires and begged them all to make the flight delay just a bit longer so that my mom would make this flight, amazingly she did, how ever, moti's suitcase (from st. Louis, remember) decided not to fly to Denver, boring place for a suit case, but decided to go to Chicago instead, how come, no one knows, perhaps there was a reunion.

 

the next morning, we all met in bozeman, minus the suit case. we got a full size car after instructing everyone to pack less then usual. we met for lunch in a place that had matzo ball soup! i couldn't resist, but I wish I had resisted, no flavor, after gathering every one's belonging including the overdue case that arrived unescorted from Chicago (moti made a complaint about the missing case, and after he picked it up the next day, the airline didn't even bother to check if he got his stuff... you can always trust the airlines), we realised that we need a bigger car, since no one (my self included obeyed the instructions of packing light). so we got something bigger that eats too much gas and even in that , things were tight. at this point, moti realised he forgot his glasses at the hotel, and called, after many attempt to reach house cleaning, nothing was found, this was not his day.

 

well it was a trip after all and we headed towards our 1st hike, not far from Bozeman, it took us time to find this trail, and surprisingly, there was no gas station or any store at this exit, a problem for us without water, lucky there was a house by the trail, and we walked in. the owners were not there but workers did whatever they did and let us use the hose to fill up. shortly after we begun hiking few miles straight with some tiny creek crossing over bridges or rocks then the trail went up and up. not all of us are in shape and at some point we decided to head back shamefully without reaching the top. the way down was much easier and we passed a biker riding this hill to the top, insane people. we kept going east and passed a bear sanctuary, rescued bear that were seriously abused for years in private homes can be found here, these people should be shot! the bear are cute in their enclosure, but it did not mean we get to say we have seen a bear in nature.

 

after an avocado and  recharge (+cappuccino) at sub way for some (and non avocado bagel for me) we headed south to Gardiner, the entrance to yellow stone.

dinner was at the lighthouse, this place was filled with photos of ships, lighthouses and mariner things, strange since Montana has no ocean, after asking the very enthusiastic waiter, we found that it is name after a similar business in this area...ahh, why that business was named the lighthouse we don't know. good food though.

next morning we entered the park and found a group of 6 elk , females and young, sleeping right outside the gates, this discovery was a promise to an animal full week.

 

we reached the information center\hotel and loaded up with maps and the must essentials such as cappuccino and ice cream and headed for beaver ponds trail. the trail goes up right away and after 190 meters!! world record distance, there was a request for rest and a break!, 190 meters... after the break we kept going and saw a big fox or a small coyote, we are not positive, either way this foyote ran back and forth and we were excited. this trail goes by several beaver ponds, 8k of trail with lots of not too steep ups and downs. we saw a few chip monks, squirrel, butterflies, very noisy grasshopper, which look like butterflies when they jump and make a very unique sound. and one snake, well I didn't see the Snake though I stood 2 paces behind the seer, who swore it was a snake. on the way back we passed a mother and cub elk walking in the forest and a woodpecker. we reached the end point, Mammoth falls which are geyser falls, and after leaving the cappuccino drinkers for a grazing session on the grass, we headed to see the interesting geyser pools and colorful bacteria that surrounds it. after this short hike we all went (after getting more cappuccino ) to a place where a boiling river meets a cool creek and creating a warm soaking area. we soaked for a while enjoying the warmth of the water, then passed by the visitor center once again, no cappuccino this time, and headed for a mile long trail to some falls, the trail and falls were not impressive, but we did see our 1st posing Marmot, sitting on a log, then eating and running around, very nice. after another stop at an impressive falls (with photos but no need for a hike ) we passed the visitor center once again, no drinks and headed south for West Yellowstone for the night. on the way we passed more geysers of various sizes. the MC lounge provided us with decent bison nachos (though we have not seen bison yet) and other good food.

 

Next morning, after good breakfast + cappuccino, (yes they are addicted) we returned to the park for faerie falls trail, the road goes by geyser pools of various shapes and geyser clouds can be seen where ever you look. the flat hike passed a growing forest and we actually missed a sitting bull elk at the side of the road, we headed back and saw it after someone told us, the brute was sitting and regurgitating its food without a care in the world, the falls were tall but not much water, but a chipmunk wanting food played with us and posed (got no food from us, it is a nature preserve, but did from others) , we also saw a few more Marmots. we decided then to not go directly back but make a detour, not a great move, it made the trail too long and w ran out of water in a very hot day without seeing any animals. we got to the car a few hours later thirsty but satisfied (not too thirsty), we walked to another geyser area, some places have boardwalks and you can get close to the mist and bubbling mud and clear blue pools of death.

 

dinner was bad, bison steak, lean they say, is just chewy mess. i wish they had lined a cow next to this lean steak for some flavor.

our last day started with a bald eagle, ducks and 2 bison standing and grazing. we reached old faithful for a map, and heard that a rare geyser, is about to erupt, we hurried there and watched beehive geyser (150% larger then old faithful) and one of the largest geysers in the world erupt , impressive and very lucky for us. we didn't stick around the see its more famous but shorter brother and went to a trail to a Small lake, on the way Moti saw a snake! I was a meter behind and didn't see it, the conspiracy continues. we had a picnic by the lake and watched a guy catch and release fish, cruel hobby.

 

we reached Jackson hole later that day and after a de-dusting shower, we walked in the pretty ski town and went to an organic place, all the stuff is organic and has lots of abnormal vegetables like zucchini, this is a treat for the rest of the gang but horrible for me, i ended up with kids meal pasta (in this place it is rice noodle with earth right butter...nothing is simple here) and a pity look from the waitress. but the rest enjoyed it, we kept walking in the city's many galleries and didn't get anything, we reached coco love- a gourmet chocolate place- one of the only 2 chocolate artist in the states according to the sign and enjoyed some treats (including cappuccino for those who drink the stuff) and went to bed after doing laundry.the next morning we would separate and the suitcase with mom and moti would return to Israel and we would begin our 4 day hike , which I already talked about.

 

p.s not sure where, but Alla also saw a snake without me seeing and in the 4 day hike, a kid named Jonathan also saw one- that is 4 snakes without me seeing wither one, conspiracy!!!

 

 cheers... i will do the last days at  later time

 

p.s mazal tov michal on your 6th 29 birthday

on an ermine , sky boxes, oatmeal and other abnormalities

we didn't pack fast enough last Tuesday morning, but decided to quickly go to the Bunnery, a great breakfast place we were told, I got some biscuit and gravy , my usual when i am in the west, and Alla got some yogurt, not a complicated meal, and to go, yet it took them 35 minutes which had me in a state I don't like of being late and having nothing to do but stare at the kitchen not making my stuff. we hurried up the mountain from Jackson Hole into Idaho and reached our starting point only 25 minutes late.. lucky, others came later still. we checked our stuff, said hello to our guides, then we all drove to the actual starting point (the 1st was their ranch, a gathering place). we reached the ranger station and soon after we started our 4 day walk in Yellowstone. the 1st day was 6 miles to camp passing in pine forest and wide open grassland meadows. flowers were rare, and the mountains were looming in the horizon. we had a river crossing, you take your shoes off, wear sandals and cross hoping the water will not pass high thigh height. the water is old and refreshing and we stop for lunch right after the crossing with some pastrami, cheese, bread, spicy hot mustered and avocado (this fruit is huge now over here, you see it everywhere, but it doesn't mean I have to like it, I don't). we keep going in the meadows avoiding horse poop and not spotting wildlife. Dian, the naturalist guide tells me that this is not prime grazing land, shame, this area begs for a herd of elk and wolves to follow them. we pass a 2nd crossing, pass some trees chowed by beavers (with no beaver sighting) and reach the 1st night camp only to be attacked by mosquitoes, them I wish I had not seen.  we leave the bags and had for a soaking point. the trail goes slightly upward and passes on areas with wild flowers which I like to see and the camera is working overtime. we walk by a creek and soon reach a high waterfall and next to it enters a small creek of boiling water. this phenomenon of boiling creeks is common in this park, but when a regular cold creek and a boiling creek meet, you get an area of hot but not too hot water, great for soaking. we enjoy a hot , but sulfurous bath while the waterfall spray hits our faces, then we had back to camp. As I reach the camp, I  wear, long pants, short, and wear a head net to leave no space for the mosquitoes to have their way with me, they still manage to bite a bit. we walk only with day packs, the rest of the gear arrives on horse back with the tents and cooking gear. Deb, the master wilderness chef makes good chilly and I don't recall what else but I remember liking it. this is bear country, and tough we see no bears we take precautions, with bear bells and bear spray close at hand. we went to sleep early, not much to do after night fall, and the food and anything that smells like tooth paste is tucked away up high where the bears cant reach. waking up early before the sun actually warms the area is nice, you can warm your self with a hot cup of coco (or coffee if you prefer) and use the sky box. the sky box is a wooded box with a big hole for your natural business and you can sit and enjoy the view of the forest and the sky. 

after breakfast of bacon and some other things, my memory doesn't work anymore, we broke camp and headed for the Bechler river canyon, this day would be 10 miles (16k) of ups and downs with 4 river crossing, one of them with water rising above the areas you don't want them to go. lucky we have quick dry everything and it is dry here, so everything dries quickly. the path along the river is filled with pretty waterfalls, chipmunks, squirrels, more horse poop and lots and lots of berries of all kinds, we have some raspberry, service berry, thimble berry and huckleberry with some other berries and currents we are not suppose to eat. we pick lots of them and try out, tasty! the long day ends in a pretty meadow in which horses from another group camped , and when horses graze , the poop, so finding a poop free zone for our tent is a challenge. this camp is at over 7000 ft elevation and close to the edge of the hill, it gets dark soon because of the closeness to the western wall of the canyon. dinner is pasta and some good desert. before dinner we went to the creek for a creek shower, the water is cold but not too cold and shower is needed after over 7 hours of walking. at one of the crossing this day, the horses just caught up with us (they walk faster but it takes more time to break camp and load them so they begin walking an hour or two after we hikers leave). and Deb lets Jonathan, age nine to ride the horse over the creek, 1st ride of his life and a great memory for him. our group has 5 hikers, 2 hiking guise, 2 guest riders and 2 riding guides/ camp leaders, 11 total and seven horses. Ruth an is a crazy person who runs 100 mile races! (160K) and finishes in 22 hours, insane, Jonathan is her son. the husband (not present at the hike) did only 50 mile race, "only" she says! 50 miles is 2 marathons back to back, the kid should be some athlete. they came with Sidney, the niece. the other two are Alla and myself walking slowly in the rear. the horses decide to graze next to our tent at night and keep us awake half of it, I am asked by the other awakee to get the horses away, but I don't know how to handle them and prefer being awake then getting a horse hoof in my face.

day three is the shortest day, only 5-6 miles but the most elevation change, after a breakfast of blueberry pancakes we leave the canyon and passing small geysers and thermal rivers filled with red bacteria and reach Mr bubbles. this is another soaking point, creating a small pool with a hot bubbly source in the center, you have to pick your point, each step you take leads you to a new mix of hot and cold, some are too hot, some too cold, we move around from spot to spot and soak for 45 minutes in this divine pool. as we go on, Diane tells us about each of the abundant flowers found by the streams, this is a monkey flower, this is an elephant head and the rest I don't recall since they have boring Latin names but they are still pretty.  the hike ends with a marsh, lucky we have sandals or we would have wet shoes.  in the evening we go again to soak in a small cold creek, this one is colder so we more splash ourselves than actual soak, next to this creek is a small fortune of wild flowers, the loveliest point on the trail.

usually mountain views would be my favorite but the sky is hazy most days and you cant see far, and this pine forest and open meadow though pretty are not breath taking for me, well, this is still a very interesting place but is not on my top 5 or even top ten (don't worry, i wont list them). just before dinner, we spot an ermine, which is a type of a weasel, un fortunately it walks fast and no photo of this uncommon predator, the ermine would be the only interesting animal on this 4 day trail.

oh, earlier that day , Alla stepped off the trail and stepped on a field mouse hidden under the grass, the poor thing was suffering, there are no vets here, we left it there with looming prospects of survival, perhaps an ermine will have an easy meal. dinner was mash potatoes and something, need to by some memory powder!  at night we got out of the tent and the less hazy skies were filled with stars, the milky was was very visible and beautiful. day four started with oatmeal ( I only remember since I don't recall ever eating it)  it did not look appealing , but it was OK, with some sugar, brown sugar, milk and granola, I even came for seconds and the banana bread was good too. this will be a hot 12 mile day (17k), the longest of the trip but with the added incentive of finishing and reaching the promise land... ice cream. the trail starts up till we reach grants pass at around 8600 ft or about the height of mt Hermon. the elevation is getting to me a bit, or perhaps I carry to much weight under my skin. and mouse-killer walks slowly in her own pace worrying about baby dusty, approximately one month old fetus today, after the pass the trail descends more then ascends for the 1st time in the trail. a butterfly (lots and lots of them are about) flies in front of us running away from our shadows we followed it for a while and didn't pay attention to the road and all of a sudden I am on the ground with another sprain. the butterfly did it! (this is what Bart Simpson dreams of being after he burns the school down in his dreams and principle Skinner is to blame! why butterfly he says? because no body suspects the butterfly! ) well I was there, it was it, and moments later Diane puts sticky tape on my ankle and then a bandage and some pain medicine. the pain is sharp for the first couple of minutes, then becomes dull. the ibuprofen helps and I am quickly on my feet for the last 6 miles (10k) of the day, never walked this long on a sprained foot, and I think it actually helps it, now a day later, it is sensitive but without pain. we eat wraps with salmon for our last lunch and hike the rest of the way till the trail head next to old faithful. we missed the eruption of lone star geyser (erupts every 3 hours). at the trail head, the jittery horses are nervous and one of them , chained to a very large sign post, yanks the sign away! and drags it to the nearby road almost causing an accident. we say our goodbye as we are driven to old faithful parking lot. after getting to our car, we go to the store and get...yummy ice cream, then drive 3 hours to our hotel, on the way we spot elks crossing a river and a bison playing around in the dirt, the roads are better then walking for wild life viewing! we reach our hot spring hotel close to dusk, and after healthy burger dinner at a nice bar, we return to the hotel only to see several deer, then after a long shower to remove lots and lots of dust from every nook and cranny , we crash to sleep

Bechler creek 4 day hike photos

here are the hike photos, detailed blog will arrive this weekend

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3 snakes and no photos photos

too tired too blog, but for now, accept way too many photos of yellowstone

You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: 2012-08-12 yellowstone 2012-08-12 yellowstone Aug 10, 2012 by gil.even View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gil.even&target=ALBUM&id=5776367962402752625&authkey=Gv1sRgCK-Fosbnz4H-9AE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

on happy together and creation

Last week we went to Cain park for another concert, this would be the 2nd time we see these legends of the 60s. the average age there was retired and I was definitely out of place, but who cares, I love some of those songs. the Buckingham went up first, don't care for them, but OK sounds. from this point every artist sang at list one of my favorites. The grass roots with 'live for today' , Puget and forgot what his band name was- he sings "young girl, get out of my mind" , the monkeys came later , or one monkey with "I am a believer" and "day dream believer" he has faith apparently, and the finale with the turtles and the happy together song which was our pre-walk the isle song. 13 hits combined to be a great evening. we sat on the grass, but for the final song, all the performers from all bands came together on stage and did a Melody of their hits, at that point i got close to the stage (adult crowd, stays in their seats, no need to push to get through) , the turtle guy threw guitar picks at the crowed, one landed under a seat not far from me, but these guys move slow...i crawled fast under 2 chairs and got it before they even knew I was there.... now my show pick collection has 2 items (previous one from air supply).

 

being very happy together we left for Chicago to meet some of Alla's family which I have never met. no need for the family tree, lets say they are some sort of cousins. we left early relatively and managed to get there in time for dinner and after Alla finding an 'uncle julios' there, we couldn't resist and salivated over these fajitas. I printed some walking tours, but instead we went to the museum of science and industry which is found in a huge and impressive building from the out side, but just like any other museum from within. this is a hands on museum for adults as well, with areas for experimentation. one device measures brain waves and its a competition for the one who is more relaxed. if you do, a ball goes away from you to your competitor. so of course we had to try this thing, and we were both not surprise to see who won.

later, my un relaxed wife and I played with shadows (see link to photos below), planes, trains, genetics, seen a pig born (yuk) and a cow birth (also yuk), chicks hatching (well we saw the after hatch, so cute) and other things for the most of the day as well as an Imax movie about Orangutans and elephants in ranches that save them and release to the wild and decided to add these ranches to our never ending list of things and places to do and go. we went to the beach right after but did not go in, no bathing suite, shame nice looking beach , then dinner followed at , you guessed it, uncle Julio's, you have to try it! tell Julio's , that I sent you.

 

on the next day after omelet breakfast we went to a local water park, nothing fancy, but water slides are still fun and the kids (Michael age 6, Arielle age 9, Maya age 10 and I ) went from slide to slide, the repeated... some with tubes some without and one that lets you roll around and kind of surf, lots of photos and videos on that one in the link below.

 

in the evening we left later due to severe thunder storms and drove back kind of chasing the storm and seeing some amazing lighting bolts. nature is awesome.

 

and we have met the cousins and got a long well, many photos...

 

for a while I wasn't sure what the heading of this blog entry should be, i was debating between alternatives such as Additions, junior, what's new, 9 months and every time i thought about it i came up with different name, well if you didn't get my hint.... I am ecstatic to announce the we are expecting.... so what to expect while you are expecting? I guess I will have to find out.

 

in this, we differ, I cannot keep a secret, and Alla would rather wait till the baby is 18 to tell you he/she was born... still early.. but I am kind of smug and happy, together.

 

p.s congratulations Ronit on your engagement.

 

the Chicago trip,  photos are not in order, camera problems

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biking and finches.

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nothing will stop me reaching the piroshke

This school less summer gives me lots of free time for work out. and now with the Olympics I am enjoying sports I rarely see (probably haven't since the last Olympics) such as ping pong and  water polo) but I still stick with soccer, watched 2 games on the elliptical. since long distance running is out of the question :( , and i like to break my own records, lame as they may be, biking is the thing. I arrived at about 6 to the main square down town and stood next to the tower building trying no to get soaked from the rain, a short drenching of 20 minutes ended and I began the ride along with about a thousand others, this was the Critical Mass ride, my first, but this kind of ride occurs on the last Friday of the month in lots of cities, I asked someone what it stood for, and they told me for no reason, strange to me, but if there is a reason I don't know it. 22k ride on the bad areas of Cleveland where i wouldn't go on my own, but with such a big group, no issues and the people honk their horns, clap, shout and cheer,  this was on the same day as the opening ceremonies and I think they felt like we were like the Olympics. the fun event ended in the Velodrome. I didn't know Cleveland had one of these, never seen one before and was amazed by the angle, It doesn't look this curvy on TV.

 

Next day I went on a 59k bike ride, my longest to date, this was on a mostly paved mostly flat path, with the other bikers used to this distance and I was working hard all the time just to keep up, the pace which was faster than what i ma used to actually got faster on the road back! I got an unexpected rest in the middle when one of them crashed his knee next to a divider on the road, fell forward, and after a few minutes kept riding, this guy would later that day go on another 50k ride and the next morning on another 50Miles race with lots of hills. I am way out of my league here. the biggest hill (they call a speed bump, I call it mountain) was at the very end, made it , barely and was really exhausted), now I have to break this personal best again...

 

My volley ball was cancelled on Sunday :( so instead I climbed on the treadmill and watched the Great Brittan soccer match with my favorite United player Ryan Gigs playing well and Brittan winning, because of him, I am supporting Great wales this tournament.

 

In the evening I went with Alla's parents to pick up Alla from work and go to the Russian festival. this event was held next to a medium size church with several priests roaming around in robes. they served some decent Russian food and had some dancing Georgians, the debate whether they are from Georgia or not still goes on. as the show began, Dina fell on a small step, we rushed to help. nothing serious, she banged her finger on the ground and bled from underneath the nail, no damage but painful and another scrape on the palm. a nurse came to assist, washed it off, with alcohol (not from the vodka that stood nearby) and Alla bandaged her, and after a few minutes after all the commotion ended and as soon as the last nurse left, she went right to the pirushke. this was after 7PM on the last day of the festival and fearing that this dish would end she rushed, didn't see the step and would have kept going if these annoying people would stop treating her and preventing her from reaching the dish. everything ended well and we all enjoyed pirushke (usually it has onions, so not for me, this one didn't)

I liked the mashed potatoes, Alla devoured Pelemini and we sampled some other stuff i cant recall the name.

as festival goes, this is a tiny one. 2 hours is more than enough to sample everything , see the Georgian band playing and bandage a finger

 

not sure what this week will bring... more on that next week

 

on designer mutts and transitional homes

our fun summer continued with a short weekend trip to Baltimore, only 6 + hours away in a never ending rain and tolls that take way to much, Pennsylvania thieves. Alla's school roommate lives there with her husband Eugine and their dog Dexter which was named after the serial killer in the show with the same name.

we left Friday and drove through the rain with only one Starbucks break and enjoying Humus we brought from home. we arrived kind of tired from our current unusually boring audio book. we had 2-3 hours till dinner that i should have used for napping but instead, Alla was catching up with Tanya and i was catching up with 2 episodes of Veronica Mars. somewhere near by (40 minutes away) is one of our favorites uncles, uncle Julio, which is a Mexican restaurant chain, but our hosts tell us that Mi Casa is much better and only 5 minutes away, so we go there and try the fajita which was good, as good? i need both side by side to compare since with didn't eat at Julio for a while (no such place in Cleveland). but no complaints it was good food. we met their friend and all decided independently (even me with my broken gaydar) that one of the guys was gay, he was there with his date ( a woman).  when we talked about it in the car after wards (without the guy) everyone laughed , we all thought alike. after this place we went for deserts at a soft serve place (which is more of a custard) which results in a very good ice cream.

we returned to our host's home with one of the couples (not the gay one) and went to sleep a bit after pretty tired.

 

after  late breakfast of eggs and toast we headed for down town Baltimore for Art Scape. a very big art fare. lots of booths displaying all manner of art, sculptures, jewelry, painting and more types of pretty and useless crap. it was raining still, but warm, so we had T-Shirts and umbrellas and walked between the various displays. this was a slow progress, it took us over 3 hours and we didn't even finish the stands. some displays were packed and some empty with artist looking like wet dogs (the look in their eyes, but i think they were dry). unfortunately we had lunch in the carnival food stands. I was hungry, but that was crap food, but filling. now we have a pet dragon hanging of a lamp, this is a cute outside thing but we hanged it inside, we also got some gifts for those with upcoming birthdays and a necklace for my butterfly.

Tania got a statue of Athena made of wire, very interesting. but the question was for what style of home this statue belongs? this type of conversation i have no clue about, and wished the closet gay guy would come in and give advice. Tania thinks she doesn't have a modern home, nor a traditional home, which makes it transitional, a term I didn't know existed. transitional or otherwise, a status of a goddess with a spear, shield and helmet is OK by me. oh, for the dragon piece, I actually negotiated, I guess the Thai looking saleswoman reminded me of previous abilities. we still over paid, but over paid less.

 

we returned to the transitional home and placed the transitional statue , next to the big flower pot, or perhaps on the other side, it should be in the center, no the other side,, in the end in was on the side with a knife in the middle , 2 sea shells and a big vase (all other items pre-existed).

and we played with the tiny serial killer Dexter, which is a mix of Cavalier something and poodle, a small dog, like to chase a ball around, lick you legs, and bite strings and loose items, but not hard, still a pup 6 months. i called this dog a mut, since, for me any non pure breed dog is a mutt, how ever, Alla knows that this dog was made by design, both parents known to create this specific creature. we discussed it and came to the conclusion that this was a designer mutt.   when America got talent act showed a woman dancing with a dog, our dexter barked and jumped at the screen, it was so cute, link to video here.

 

oh i forgot, on the way from art scape we drove back thorough the bad part of town also known as baltiless, continued and later stopped at the same ice cream place....mmmm..

 

later, after a much needed afternoon nap, we headed back to downtown baltimore for seven west- it says its American cuisine with a Mediterranean twist- but it is actually a Russian place, we rarely go to such places, not that it is bad, just not our style. the food was very good, we ordered several things and shared and I had my quarterly drink with a pineapple schnapps, since this is a Russian club, dances quickly followed, but the dance music was not to my liking, i need lyrics... this was junk to me, but i was in the minority. so guys with better dance skills (also known as black guys) danced real impressive, with fancy break dance type moves, going on 2 hands, i got a video of that as well. in comparison, i was doing the white man shuffle, and wasn't really into it, need 80s music.

 

we returned late not stopping at any ice cream place (closed!) , woke up late and went for a near by diner for eggs Benedict breakfast and since this place is a walking distance from yes, that ice cream place...mmm..

we headed next for old eliccotte city, a cute street of cute shoppes, the reason was a fairy factory store, my kind of store, but this small street has three toy stores, 3 in the same block? well i cant complain, i got something in each one- a dragon , a gift and another dragon (the gift is not a dragon btw).

 

full from toys and ice cream we left this very cute street and drove home, 7 hours later we got home.

 

good night and have happy Ice Cream dreams

 

p.s- photos and videos are in the link below

https://picasaweb.google.com/gil.even/20120720BaltimoreTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCJiClc666uaJzgE#