Time Keeping

     I own several watches. Because I work full time and am on a tight schedule most of the time my left wrist sports a watch. I wear a watch not because I want to  but because I have to. These days its not quite as bad to forget to put my watch on since I own a cell phone which  has a clock .I should really stop wearing a watch on days I am not at work and just really on my cell phone clock.
     Whenever I wear a watch I feel obsessed with keeping track of time. On days I do not wear a watch I feel much more relaxed. I don't squander time but I am less fixated on the passage of time. Its important to be aware of time but not so much that one is not able to enjoy the moment. I often feel that sporting a watch makes it harder for me to enjoy the moment.

 

Its that time again....

It seems far too early to be posting Rosh Hashannah videos, but here it is. This is a cute one. 

The Uninvited

     Simchas can be joyous. The also can be great windows into seeing who your true friends are as well as how gracious one is .
    Recently I was not invited to a co-worker's wedding. Everyone else at the office  was invited. We worked together for years and were friendly. Even if I had been invited I would not have been able to attend. The wedding was on Shabbos. The best part of not being invited is that I feel zero obligation to buy her a wedding gift. Had I been invited I would have . If she had invited me it would just have been an invitation for a gift since I would not have been able to attend. Even though I know all of this I still feel a pin prick bad about it.
     Once I had  a friend who made a simcha and later told me that she was sorry but she had forgotten to invite me. I  did not forget to not get a gift for it. This of course was months after the simcha. I actually had known about it prior to her telling me because someone had mentioned to me that she had attended it. I think that that person had thought I had been invited but just did not attend. I of course said nothing. If someone does not invite me it says something about the friendship but there is really no need to discuss it . I may think that I should have been invited but apparently they hadn't . End of story. I certainly do not want to force anyone to desire my presence at their simcha.

Blog, Blog, Blog

      I have heard people say that Facebook has blown out a lot of the steam from blogs. Perhaps. But I still like blogs better. Or actually, I think that each has its own purpose. Though I post some of the same things on Facebook as I do on my blog, I don't write anything meaningful on Facebook. I save that for my blog. Most people are just looking to keep up with friends on a topical level on Facebook. If I want to connect to the world at large I post on my blog.  One can connect to more than just ones own social circles on the blogosphere.

Illusions

One of the hardest things to internalize is that everything is not always what it appears to be. I always try to think of this in terms of pictures. These pictures were taken in Times Square. It looks like the american flag is in the window of Starbucks. It is really is a reflection from across the street. One would never know this by just looking at these photos. Of course one clue would be the fact that the stars are on the wrong side of the flag . I guess that's how life often is. Things may really appear to be one way but there is often one little clue that gives you a hint that what you see isn't really straightforward

The Past

      Sometimes its hard to believe that life happened before I was born. I have parents, grandparents and friends who can verify that history is real, but still, its hard to fathom. Its also hard to grapple that those much younger than me do not remember much of what I remember growing up. It makes sense though. They were not born yet. What makes this all the more interesting is that if I have trouble believing the validity of the recent  past and I actually know people who lived in it, what about people of the future? How will they believe that what happened in our times really occurred?

Karma

     Every so often I go for a  medical test and invariably the same technician administers the test. I don't especially like her , but over the years I have gotten used to her. No matter what time of the day I schedule the test, she is the administrator. Last year I lucked out and there was a different technician. I attributed my luck to having switched office locations to have the test done. This year I pushed my luck. I went to the alternate location hoping my usual technician would not be there. Alas, I was not surprised when you know who came to get me in the waiting room. I could change the medical group that I have this test done, but just my luck this woman would end up working there the day I would book my appointment.
     I usually do not pay attention to medical technicians. The only reason I had remembered this one's name is because I so disliked her at so much during our first encounter that I wanted to remember who not to ask for to work  with me the next time. When the next time arrived I figured that enough time had passed and usually I never get the same technician for testing so I didn't specifically request not to work with her.. Boy was I wrong. The second time I worked with her fortunately  was a lot more favorable . The rest is history.