Power Trips

     Often people who are in positions of power abuse their power .They think they can treat their subordinates as shoddily as possible just because they are their superior. This of course makes for lots of trouble when one has a job where people need to work together as a team when someone at the top tries to pit people against each other.
      If one is smart one treats one's subordinates with respect. People work better in a positive environment.
     I always wonder if some managers were always as disrespectful toward others or if they became that way because they were put in a position of power. Perhaps its a combination of the two. It does not have to be so negative. I have supervised others and its been positive. It is possible to be firm with others without being hostile and it is much easier to get people to work together in an environment of respect.
    This is just my two cents.

StandFour - Eight Nights - Hanukkah Mashup

Another cute song by the Maccabeats! Enjoy!

Love is....

     I don't know if its age or just co-incidence , but I have a lot of friends who are in avelus for the loss of a parent. I unfortunately have been in their shoes and I know how tough it is to go through. It is as if a part of you is being ripped from you . It does not matter if one was close with one's parent or not, it just feels that way to have a parent pass away. I am sad for my friends who are now going through this because I know that it really takes at least a year of mourning until things get better. It also reminds me to appreciate my mom and other close relatives and friends. It is so important to let people , especially older relatives know how much you love  and appreciate them while they are around.

Something About Laundry

     Its no secret that although I love clean clothing I despise the trip to the laundry room in my apartment building. Though I have managed to pinpoint the least busy times of the day to do my laundry there are always glitches. Today was no different.
     I got up early this morning to do my laundry as I have the day off. The laundry room was empty. Great. I go back to the laundry room seven minutes before my wash was to finish and there is one woman there who informs me that she is waiting for my machine. There are 6 other machines yet she is waiting for mine. If I hadn't been downstairs before my machine finished she would have taken out my laundry to put hers in even thought there were 6 other machines free. I would have been pissed. The other machines looked "dirty" to her but she felt that if I was using the machine I was using it must have been clean. Whatever. I tell her that I purposely do my laundry at this early hour to avoid having someone waiting for me to quickly remove my clothing from the machine. She didn't flinch. Fortunately she thought that the dryer that takes one quarter at a time for payment instead of the dryers that take 5 quarters no matter what was clean enough for her otherwise she would have been hovering for my dryer as well.
      I am so going to move into a home that allows private washing machines and dryers for my next residence. I am sick of this laundry room drama.

Sameness

     The more time passes the more things stay the same. Things can change in a heartbeat and they can stay the same and the same and the same. The clocks have changed heralding oneg season. The same people are hosting them and the same people are attending. Its like deja vu. Not good, not bad, just the same.
     I feel like I am in endless high school  like  the cast of the movie Grease..... None of the actors in the movie were actually in high school . I really did not like high school either.
     Eventually I will graduate this season of endless summer. Its not without merit, but I will not miss it when it   ends.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful to be living in the country. Its not a perfect place, but its a  good place.

"Color Red" app warns Israelis of attacks

This is really cool. Only in Israel. It shows how dumb war is and that even a 13 year old kid is smart enough to create something to outsmart the enemy.

Hanukkah Forever

     Its official, there is a forever Hanukkah stamp. I am just putting it out there. I don't know if the Hanukkah stamp last year was a forever stamp because they ran out of the Hanukkah stamp before I could buy it, but this year it  is a forever stamp. This is awesome.  I have no clue  how much a domestic stamp costs. I only buy forever stamps for this reason. The only exception to my rule is when I buy Hanukkah stamps. I love the fact that there is a Hanukkah stamp and I always stock up in case I don't manage to buy it the next year. My only problem is that I never remember how much a stamp costs so I have to figure it out before I send my Hanukkah cards . Or at least I HAD to. Now there is a Hanukkah forever stamps so I am covered.

Kiruv Rock

     The kiruv videos that feature popular music are always fun to watch. They are often used to reel people into a life of frumkeit. This doesn't really bother me but I it does make me pause. Often the same types of people that are encouraging kiruv are also advocating folks not to listen to secular music. How do they reconcile the dichotomy? It might be better for them to make an original video with music that is in the genre of popular music but not an actual song. Whenever I watch these kiruv videos it always makes me want to listen to the real song. Sometimes the Jewish version of the song is more fun than the real one (like the maccabeats candlelight) but it does make me curious abut the real one none the less. If they made their own version of a rock song with a frum theme it would be better.
      I actually find it fun to randomly hear the real song that the kiruv song is plagiarized from. It makes me have a double take. I am usually in  a store and I can't figure out where I have heard the song before and then I realize what the song is. I don't think that this is what the kiruv set is banking on, but if they tried to be more original they might be more true to their ideals. They should stop being lazy . You don't have to piggy back on someone else's song's popularity to make someone like your song or gain interest in Judaism.  An original song can be created that would peak someone's interest, and then when they are told secular music might not be the best to listen to they won't be hypocritical.
   

AM New York

     In yesterday's AM New York three New Yorkers were highlighted for their involvement in the post hurricane sandy effort- Jessica Klein, Nick Weissman, and Noah Reisman.  Three Jewish New Yorkers
(or with very Jewish sounding names)  were highlighted. Very cool. New Yorkers of all faiths have been involved in the recovery effort, but only these three were mentioned. Is this a coincidence? If you are ethnocentric as myself you will not think this is a coincidence. You will think that this is a very cool thing that so many members of the tribe are involved in aiding those who have suffered. You will be happy that what is being said about Jewish people in AM New York is positive . You will be happy to see that a daily paper is liberal enough to mention three Jews in a positive light. Even if you think its a coincidence that these three individuals are or sound Jewish you will still be glad that Jews are being mentioned in a positive light. In general its a win-win situation. Its a pleasure to open a newspaper and see news about people doing chesed instead of evil. Hopefully this won't only happen after a hurricane.

A Word To The WIse

     This is a bit of advise that I have to those of you who are approaching thirty, single and still living with your parents. If  you have a job that you can support yourself with you should seriously think about getting an apartment of your own. Get out on your own while your parents are still young. If you don't get married and move out and your parents get older it will become harder to move out on your own.
      Moving out on one's own is so important to personal growth. One must have one's own life. This does not mean one should cut one's self off from one's family or even to move far away from one's family, it just means you are able to cut the cord . Parents do not live forever. They will not be able to take care of you forever. Hopefully you will get married sooner rather than later but if you don't you will still be able to carry one with one's life. If you are able to be independent you will know that you can be a grown up and be an adult when you do find a spouse.
   

Harei At

     On facebook there is an ad saying that there will be an end to the "shidduch crisis". I of course assumed that was because mashiach will be here soon. Silly me. It is because of the debut of the new dating website called Harei At. Not to be pessimistic but I am not sure how different this site could be than any other dating website. What makes a dating website good or bad comes down to the quality of the participants. A lot of dating websites have a lot of the same people .  This is  not bad, but without a more diverse base of participants  what would make this site different?  I wish the website Harei At good fortune, but I don't think that the grandiose campaign promises have convinced me to sign up. Or even look at their site to begin with. Oy.

Shoes

     I spied this sign at Payless Shoestore. I love the fact that Hebrew is one of the languages on the sign. And as the sign says in many languages, I love shoes. As a woman I love shoes because no matter how much or little the number on the scale is, my shoe size stays the same.

Sensitivity

     It is interesting. Some people are just so very sensitive. One can see it when you speak to them. What makes them amazing is that they are so in touch with subtleties. This sensitivity can often be a deficit. They are so self aware that it can make others uncomfortable. How sensitive is "too sensitive"?
     I suppose too sensitive is when one would rather be alone than realize that many others are unintentionally insensitive. I really feel for such individuals. I wish that I could help them, but short of  kind words and  suggesting a good therapist there is not much that I can do for them.

Instructional Voting Video 2012

In with the new, out with the old

     In with the new, out with the old voting booths . Brooklyn is now officially out of the dark ages. The old fashioned voting booths are not being used anymore. We now have the paper ballots which now get scanned by a computer.  I think its about time. It was nostalgic to use the vintage booths, but quite outdated. No more chads and no more curtains. It looks like their may be more opportunity for voter fraud this way, but I will leave it to someone else to figure out....
      I seem to remember receiving an instructional postcard about the new voting protocol. Too bad I didn't read it. I found an instructional video on the new voting method on you tube. I'm posting it. I wish I had seen it before I voted.. I am relieved to see that I really did vote properly even though I had to wing it.

One More Message

     I realize that I have posted some political videos in  the past few days, but I found this on facebook and I had to share it. I grew up in a place where it was not polite to speak about politics or how much money you make in public. Living in Brooklyn these are two things everyone speaks  about. People might get along better if they didn't .

   Every morning I that I wake up after the hurricane I think that this nightmare is over and life will be back to normal. Its a real real allusion. Here in Midwood it just looks like a bad thunderstorm with some downed trees and power lines to be fixed. You don't see any toxic puddles like the ones New Yorkers are supposed to not step in. The ground is dry and has been . It really didn't rain much here in Midwood.  After 9/11 I kind of felt this way as well. I kept thinking that I was going to wake up the next day and the world trade center was going to still be there. 9/11 was worse. I was much more shaken up.
     After that first tsunami hit Thailand in 2004 which was  only 3 years after 9/11, it seems these "natural disasters" or acts of G-d had begun. At the time part of what disturbed me was that it was a catastrophe that was not man made. Somehow with terrorism I tend to blame the terrorists and not G-d. With a "natural" disaster it makes me more likely to feel like it is completely out of the hands of people and that it was caused by G-d. I suppose terrorism is from G-d as well but it is not as direct as a tsunami , hurricane or earthquake.
     Being the pessimist that I am it didn't surprise me that a "natural" disaster would occur in New York. Of course I didn't believe the prediction of hurricane sandy, but now that it has happened it I don't feel surprised, just annoyed with the aftermath.
      I think that all of these disasters are connected. I think that it connects the people of the world. It does make people a little kinder . You hope. Many volunteer, many donate. At the very least one feels pain for those who lost so much .  I think that it makes us see how fragile the world really is. A few hours of a storm  can bring  such havoc. It also makes those of us who escaped virtually unscathed grateful for what we do have. Or at least this is what it should do.
     My heart and prayers  go out to those who have lost their lives or their homes .
     

NYC comptroller John liu speaks about hurricane sandy while volunteering...

 Though I myself have not volunteered there are people volunteering at masbia soup kitchen on Coney Island between J and K to pack up food for those who were affected by the hurricane. People are still volunteering.

Chris Rock - A Special Message For White People (Endores Barack Obama)

 This is not an endorsement , but after posting the Howard Stern video I thought that I would post this one. Its really funny.

Hipster or Hasidic?

 I know that this slightly tacky, but it made me laugh so I shared it.