About Marriage and Coffee

Why is it that when people get married they stop going out and start inviting people over to their place? A couple of my friend invited another couple of friends over for dinner tonight. Another friend of mine was invited to a couple of friends for evening coffee and cake. I think the married people think: We're bored to death and we're to lazy to do anything about it. So come over and amuse us. I don't have anything in particular against meeting in homes (although I prefer the pub or a cafe). But it appears to be consistent that marriage somehow change the entertainment preferences of people. It's an approach like "we're married already. we're no longer children who go out to pubs".

I don't understand it. I don't understand life in general.

What's better

It's better to be woken up by a phone call 3o minutes after you fell asleep than be woken up by a phone call 30 minutes before you were supposed to wake up.

It's better not to forget your mobile phone in the taxi. Not all taxi drivers will answer it when you call to ask them to bring it back.

Who's sexy?

I love Israel. I really do. If not that crap we have to deal with Israel could be a great country. That's why I occasionally go to Europe. Forget about all that shit. Sometimes I feel like enough is enough. And in Europe you don't have those problems. That's the beauty of Europe. As you may have figured out by now, I'm talking about sizes. In Israel the size of shirts begins with XXL, and pants are always for people over 1.80m. In Europe it just doesn't happen. Israel is a racist country that discriminates the short and the thin. So today I bought a shirt. And it wasn't even expensive. I got change from a hundred.

"At least finish the meat!"

Once upon a time the English lived on an island and all they had to eat was potatoes and fish. Then they conquered the world. China, Africa, the Middle East, Asia. The empire where the sun never sets. In England there are at least two cooking shows aired at any given time. So how come that the only food they adopted was the Hamburger? How come the only food you can get today in England is Fish and Chips, Sausage Roll and Hamburger?

I'm in Sheffield again, the city that never wakes up. At seven o'clock in the evening, just before they turn off the lights, I went out to find something to eat. I don't want no Hamburger or Fish and Chips. So I was lucky to find a pub that serves Chilli con Carne. I was glad to find it and ordered one (stressing out the fact that I don't want any sour cream with it, of course). And there came the food. A decent dish with meat, rice and nachos. I wasn't very hungry but I had to eat because there won't be any food later and I'd have no one to blame. Because I was not very hungry I told my self - "forget about the nachos and rice - finish the meat at least". Do you
know that saying? It usually comes out of your Dad's mouth. "Finish the meat, at least". When did meat get the honor? Why is meat better than rice? Or vegetables? "Just finish the patty" of the burger. "So take some meat balls with the potatoe". Hey! It's just meat! And I actually heard meat is murder.

Of Course Israel Lost

It is now clear that we lost the war. I don't know if we lost it in military terms but it doesn't really matter. Because the purporse of the army is to serve the political goals of the state. Politically, we lost big time.

Lebanon was taken 20 years back in infrastructure. It also made a long way back in internal politics. It is now again a very fragile society.

In Israel, public opinion has gone 20 years back. It will take 20 more years until Israeli public will allow pullouts from occupied land. 20 more years of pain and blood are expected here until we understand again that occupation doesn't get us anywhere and contributes nothing to our security. And this is despite the fact that the current war showed that the when we pull out we get the world backup going on a defensive war. This war showed again that rockets and missiles do not pose an existential thread on Israel. Israel cannot be defeted by rockets.

Before the war, Hizballa was in sterss. Lebanon was growing rapidly because it was going west. It was becoming modern and it did it good. Before the war broke, Hizballa was losing the fight against the west. So it provoked Israel. And Israel fell for it. Now again, the Lebanese are afraid of the west, Hizballa is the savior and, any chance of reaching peace with Israel in the Middle East has taken a step back. This is what Hizballa wanted and this is what they got. That's why Hizballa won.

Hotel Showers are Better

Hotel showers are better. Hotel showers are really clean. And snow white. In hotel showers the taps shine. The towels are soft and folded nicely. When you wash in a hotel shower it feels like a first time. It feels like something new. You use more soap in a hotel shower. And hotter water and stronger stream. In hotels you take more baths. The hotel shower is an escape.

Like a Hemingway Novel

I've been in Sheffield, UK in the past two weeks. Business trip. I'll probably be here next week too. Loneliness, work, alcohol, Victorian hotel, bar on the ground floor, high, decorated ceiling, heavy wooden furniture, maroon leather armchairs, dark, thick carpeting, brass chandeliers. Journey. Like a Hemingway novel.

It sounds wonderful. It sucks. In the past, when people told me business trips were no fun, I found it hard to understand.

Come Autumn

Autumn will be better. In autumn the war will end. In autumn work will be less stressful. In autumn I'll have a girlfriend. In autumn everybody's health will be good. In autumn. Come, autumn.

I feel like going to sleep and waking up in the autumn. This summer shouldn't have been.

Thoughts from the UK

I was in the UK last week. In fact, I just landed this morning and I'm flying out again tomorrow afternoon. We're doing business in Sheffield, so I have to be there.

I was surprised to see how much the British media covers the Israel-Lebanon conflict. It's in the headlines all the time. I was even more surprised to find Sky News' coverage very unbalanced. I didn't try BBC because I know that will drive me crazy. The BBC is very pro-Arab in all aspects, not only in the current conflict.

I really wanted to get back to Israel when I was there. Usually I don't mind seeing new places and traveling alone. But with the current war, I felt the need to be close to the ones dear to me. The pain I feel from the war is different in the UK. When I'm there, the pain is more national than personal. I managed to forget for a while about my cousin and friends fighting in the front, about my brother's family taking refuge in central Israel. It's not that I really forgot about them. But from the distance it's less troubling. I still called my friend every day to see how he was. I still talked to my mother and kept suggesting that my brother moves into my flat while I'm away.

But to the relief in stress from the war joined new stress - from work. Being the front end of your company against the customers is always stressful. You need to get used to it. And I am getting used to it. It's still very stressful, but not as bad as the first day when I really felt sick.

I take things too personally. Work, politics. I really need to get over this. Just live my simple life.

I had more thoughts from the UK, but I'll keep some of them for next week. I'll try to report from Sheffield. I really don't feel like going there again tomorrow, but it's a phase in our company's life when I just can't say no.