15 kilos lighter

ilanandsandra
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well when I left for my holiday in Germany in January I was overweight. Even though I had been off the cortisone for over a year, the weight had not, as I had been hoping just magically fallen away.

So from the day after I got back I focussed on my diet to get myself to a healthy weight. Now on the 20th April I am 15 kilograms lighter. I am still not yet at my ideal weight but wow what a difference.

I have decided, well Sandra has decided, that I should maintain at my current weight for a while before losing the rest. She thinks this is healthier.

I am quite proud of myself and it feels good for my weight to be approaching what was once normal for me. (I still have approximately 8 kilograms to go to be what was once my normal weight.)

later...

Two amusing links and some thoughts.

The seder in 60 seconds

bouncing Bush

Funny hey!

Tuesday night I was on a panel discussion about the Israeli Elections. It was a community consciousness raising exercise in order for us to think about and discuss the Israeli elections happening at the same time. I had to do some research, and interesting enough after only a few hours of research I had completely shifted my allegiance from Kadima to Avodah. I reckon given another week to research I may have ended up supporting Meretz.Naaaa... maybe not; as it was really Amir Peretz's biography and interviews which attracted my attention.

After the panel discussion a few people came up to me and said they really enjoyed what I had to say. The most delightful compliment was the observation that I brought topical information about Amir Peretz to the table; where the general knowledge about him by the people present was quite rudimentary. Thus I had provided knowledge of educational merit at a topical time when people were interested to learn! So I was quite pleased with myself....

I am also now pleased with the election results, especially now that with the soldiers' votes in the left alliance has 61 seats!

later...

Nothing else matters

I took Sandra to the Metallica concert at the ABSA rugby stadium yesterday; and she loved it.

She closed her eyes, shook her head about and jumped up and down for hours.

As Metallica screamed at us: "Be who you truly are; for that is all that is real. Nothing else matters." Or something like that.

later...

Schwepppppppppps soda water.

Well, I was sitting drinking some Schwepps soda water when I idly looked at the ingredients label. The ingredients were carbonated water and buffer salt.

"Buffer salt?" I thought.

"I wonder what buffer salt is and why its inside the soda water?" I mused aloud.

Sandra was sitting, idly, on the couch.

"Oh..." she said, "...in chemical reactions a buffer is that ingredient you use to control and stabilise the PH."

hmmmmm....

Bad Mazel Good Mazel

Well this morning I had bad mazel. Just low level bad mazel. I woke up went into the toilet and broke the toilet lid of the whatever-you-call-it. Well actually it started the night before when we saw that the toilet had started leaking water constantly - which is not good. I therefore jimmied the thingimajigi-a-ma-bobbie inside the top part of the toilet (you know - where the water and the plastic floating thingimajigi-a-ma-bobbie is ...?...) so that water would not fill the whatever-you-call-it.

Oh... and my alarm went off this morning to wake us up to get to shul; but the volume was turned to zero. Does that count? If an alarm goes off and makes no sound - is it still an alarm? Anyways.... so I woke up late and in a daze wandered into and went to the toilet. And of course the toilet would not now flush. So I had to lift the top of the whatever-you-call-it and then something unmazeldik happened and it fell and broke.

My airconditioner also broke this week. Its hot in Durban.

Well its Purim soon and thats all about mazel... kind of approriate I guess.

later...

oh... and later we realized we could have just turned off the tap that allows water to the whatever-you-call-it and if I had done that I would not have needed to jimmy the thingimajigi-a-ma-bobbie. Blech...

Stock Market Investing

Recently I decided to take more interest (pun intended) in the stock market. I participated in the MAM Game; and although I came no where near winning the game - I took a healthy profit on my initial investment of R1800. (A little over 200 Euros or approximately $300.) I also saw the top 50 in the competition all took profits of over R10000. (A little over 1000 Euros.)

This as all definitely made me want to take even more interest.

So I now attended a course with my brother and father on how to use the basic indicators (trend and cycle indicators) to predict price movement and the applicable entry and exit points. I hope to have the software soon so I can continue to take more interest in the stock market.

later...

Thursday

Well its Thursday again and the wheel keeps on turning. I have finished two UNISA assignment already and have now started on my third. Sandra has settled back into the routine of lectures and daily studying.

We have booked tickets for St Petersberg Ballet peformance of Swan Lake on the 2nd May. We are greatly looking forward to that.

Sandra is studying in the air conditioned bedroom and I am going to go join her now with my text book.

later...

Scrambled Kefir Eggs

For those who do not know; Sandra has become a Kefir culturer. And every day I enjoy the product of her work (normally at breakfast time.)

This evening I was asked to quickly make a supper. So I made scrambled eggs with tomato, bell pepper and onion. But when I beat the eggs before adding them to the pan I added a little of our new "secret" ingredient. I did this without telling Sandra.

I later served supper. Sandra initially was a bit nonplussed about the idea of scrambled eggs for supper. But after she had her first taste, she said to me:-

"How did you make the eggs taste so nice?"

And I replied:-

"Kefir".

later...

My sentiments exactly....

How about this cartoon of Mohammed!

I quite liked that one. For those who have still not seen the cartoons that the Islamic world is making so much violence about; here is a link.

And if you want to know the whole story and context of these events, click here.

And if you want to buy the t-shirt click here.


Oh, if you were wondering what the piglet reference is about click here.

hmmmm.....

Tired and in Durban

TIRED.

In transit...

I am in Dubai Transit and its really weird. Its 2:30 am in the morning and there are thousands of zombie like people wandering aimlessly around, occasionally buying something from the innumerable shops selling anythings that is shiny and glittery.

Its weird.

The flight to this zombie shopping paradise was uneventful. Watched some movies and ate some food. Leg space was great...

We just spent out last dirham we had left over from our visit here not so long ago on two cups of Starbucks coffee. And now I am standing at the Samsung free internet space whilst Sandra stares aimlessly at the strangeness.

Still 20 minutes to check-in. Dum dee dum. Be Boop.

Sandra and I are now going to check in...

See you from the other side of the equator.

Hmmph...

This morning I woke up and saw to my left a bundle of blankets that I decided not to disturb. First I lay for over an hour without moving staring at the ceiling trying to fall back to sleep. Then eventually... very very slowly... I inched my way off the bed... and then in the absolute darkness I searched for my tracksuit pants and my shoes; which was no easy task in the dark. Eventually I then, quiet as a mouse, slipped through a crack in the door - so no light could slip in. The bundle never stirred, never moved and most importantly did not get irritated and angry with me.


Very proud of myself I walked though the kitchen into the eating area and discovered Walter, Martin, Doris and Sandra all eating breakfast.

Hmmmph...

I spent most of the day watching BBC and CNN and listening to their commentary on the dramatic democratic revolution in the territories.

Hmmmph....

Well day is done, and we are packing to go homewards.

Back in Germany again...

The drive was uneventful. Sandra seems adamant that tomorrow will be spent here in this house and then of course on the next day we head homewards...

I am being called for supper...

On the way back to Germany...

We are about to leave for Germany. Walter and Sandra are busy packing the car and we have all just finished breakfast. Five of us (Walter said he was not interested) chose numbers for the Swiss Lotto for 220 million Swiss Francs (give or take a few million); if any of the chosen sets come up we will split the money five ways.

Once back in Germany we will spend the next full day in Germany, I am hoping for chance to to go the Cologne art museum, but it seems we may just spend the day in the house whilst Sandra sorts Sandra stuff out. I am not in charge of this day. But I am still hoping a little...

later...

A bit of a stroll....

Today was taken very leisurely. A slow breakfast and then in the early afternoon a leisurely stroll around the Swiss and French countryside. The Grafs live in Crassier in the countryside on the border between France and Switzerland so as we wandered and looked at the fields, farms, animals, ducks etc we constantly criss crossed between France and Switzerland.

And then we relaxed indoors after a vegetable soup to read and relax. I am reading Coetzee`s new novel "Slow Man".

Nicole and Karine, just back from Cape Town, joined us for supper and we heard the stories of the rest of their holidays in South Africa.

All in all a slow, leisurely and relaxing day.

Tomorrow we return to Germany.

Sleep tight....

About in Geneva

Modern Art 1
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Walter and Doris were not interested in joining Sandra, Rémond and I in visiting museums, so just the three of us set off this morning. Our first port of call was the main museum of Geneva. Wow! Sandra and I wandered around with eyes and hearts wide open. We saw great paintings from all the great artists modern, surrealist, impressionist and classical. There were also Rodin sculptures and an area in which an old castle that was taken down had been "rebuilt" indoors. It was wondrous. This took us to lunch time, and we had coffee and shared some cake between us... We then moved on to the next stop, a stop which was to take my breath away, we went to see what if was not the largest private book collection in the world, was damn close. We went to the the museum of the book of the Foundation Martin Bodmer. There were original Egyptian papyrus scrolls, copies of Virgil and Homer and Homer from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. I saw a Gutenburg Bible. I saw the oldest copies of Shakespeares plays. I saw pieces, poems etc from Satre, Kant, Marquis de Sade, Lord Byron and many more written in their own handwriting.

And the first editions.... Sir Isaac Newton's "Principles", More's "Utopia", Galileo, Copernicus... Even a first edition of Gulliver's travels, Goete, Rousseau and so on and so on and so on... to be able to almost reach out and touch (if it was not for the thin pane of glass separating us) books that changed the way people think and act. The first editions are editions of books as they existed before they changed (in some cases literally) the entire way the world turned; the way governments acted, revolutions turned and people thought. Pages, blocks, papyrus with Greek, Hieroglyphics and even an artifact from the earliest writing ever recorded.

Sandra and I, both being bibliophiles, left stunned.

But our wondrous day had not come close to ending yet. Rémond told us he will be retiring in the next year or so and probably the next time we are in Geneva he will be retired; so if we are interested in how air traffic control works now was the time. And of course we were more than just a little excited to be given such a privledge:- to see into how the air traffic of the world is controlled and kept safe and secure.

We then got a complete tour. We started at the air traffic control center (after going through passport control) and from above we learnt how the control center is divided. Rémond pointed exactly what was happening in each area, who each person was; and, what each person did. From there we went to the training area where there were apprentice air traffic controllers being trained. In this area a copy of the control area is created, and in another area there are trainers playing the roles of pilots communicating with the trainees.

From here we then went into the real air traffic control room. Rémond then gave us a rare privledge! Using the real-time live system he logged in and showed us what it described to the air traffic controller; and how he used it to receive information though the system. This was in the section for planes flying through the air space controlled by Geneva, and we learnt how to read the radar screen. What each blip meant, and what exactly was happening. He also explained what the air traffic controller had to do in order to keep the skies in order, and what he had to pay the utmost close attention to... to prevent tragedies. Once we understood what we were reading on the radar screen it was hypnotic to watch. He then took around the different areas showing us the screens for the different sections (or different altitudes). We started off in the area of high altitudes, ie for directing planes passing above in the skies but not landing or departing from the Geneva airport; to the departure section where the moment a plane takes off, from here the next instructions are given. And of course all the time this was happening in an air traffic control room in which people were working. So once something was described we could see it happening in front of us.. But the privledge did not end here. Once we left the air traffic control center we went through passport control again; and then onto the runway; and then up into the control tower! From here the actual landing and departure instructions are given. Once a plane has taken off it is "given" from here to the air traffic control room; and when a plane is ready for landing it needs to receive final permission to land from the the control tower; for the tower can give it the order to fly over and come back for another pass if this is necessary.

From here we could see the entire airport with every plane. We saw how the control tower works and from such a vantage point Rémond explained every area of the airport, all the different kinds of planes (passenger, private, cargo etc) and how the different parts of the airport work together, and what the air traffic controller in the control tower needs to be aware of, and what he needs to do.

And then we watched it all for ourselves in the busy airport with a plane taking off or plane landing almost every minute. We could see every tiny detail of the airport itself. In the control tower we saw the equipment, we heard the conversations between the pilots and the controllers and we of course we saw the planes contsantly taking off and landing, parking and others immediately getting ready for take off.

Quite a thing. And I felt very privledged and lucky not only to see how these vital arteries of the world work. What beauty and power! ...But also to have been given such a thorough personal guided tour which covered every detail of the process. What I have written here in this stuttering, "scribbled" post is just a thin slice of the information and knowledge and insight provided to us by Rémond.

After this Sandra and I, after such a full day that not for a slightest moment did not contain amazement, came back to the Graf home for a delicious supper.

When I excused myself after coffee to "quickly write on my blog", Doris misheard me and thought I said that I wanted to be excused for "quick run around the block".

What a wonder fulled day...

In Switzerland after a wonderful relaxing week...

We arrived a few hours ago at the Grafs in Switzerland. We then were treated to a delicious meal filled with warmth and love. I have just excused myself from the lively talkative table to quickly write this note for those avid readers of this little place on the internet.

We drove up to Balderschwang in two cars. Martin and Doris in the one; and I and Sandra and Walter in the other. The drive was pleasant and comfortable. Slowly the surrounds got more and more white until we were surrounded by a winter wonderland. We arrived in the evening and went to sleep early (well at least I did.)

The next day was sunny and the sun was bright and hot and reflecting off the white snow everywhere. Sandra and Walter and Martin and Doris went off to ski and I spent the day lounging and reading. Occasionally venturing out onto the balcony to enjoy the sun and the view. There was a cross country snow track that passed quite close to the balcony of the house we were staying in; and I watched the different types. There were obviously experienced skiers that just glide; and there were the others (the majority) that looked a bit unsure of themselves and moved in jumps and starts. There were also a quite a lot of young teenagers. And there was the occasional sod that fell on the one dip I could see and then could not figure out how to stand up again. Sandra was destined to be one of those poor sods in a few days time when she decided to go cross country skiing. Eventually the Kelms returned from skiing and Sandra complained that every muscle in her body was in pain.

The next day the snow came down all day long. Walter and Doris went to Austria to help Andrea who had called saying there was strange smoke coming out of her car could someone come and help. Martin declared that this snow was perfect for snowboarding as the snow was soft due to the current snowing and went out to snowboard. Sandra and I spent the day warm and snug as bugs reading.

The following day was sunny and thus Walter and Doris went skiing again. Sandra and I (after getting very warmly wrapped up) went for a walk in the snow covered surrounds. We walked through the forest to a small restaurant in the mountains (not very up) where we had hot chocalate and shared a piece of home-made cake. We then walked back again. It was approximately a 5 kilometer walk.

That evening I cooked supper. I cooked a potato curry; I had accidenltly declared myself an excellent cook and Doris had said "Good, you will cook supper." Luckily I know how to cook a basic curry; and it was delicious. Walter was at first very suspicious and at the beginning of dinner had said he was not hungry and would probably only have a little salad; but in the end he had two full helpings and declared the meal - "Good."

The next day was a little overcast and we drove up to nearby nature walk along a river through a ravine. I think "ravine" is the right word. We walked under frozen waterfalls and all sorts of beautiful natural wonders. You have to pay entrance and the path is kept gravelled and there are fences and wooden balconies etc to allow one safety and at the same time the opportunity to view wonders of Nature.

The following day (Friday) Martin left with the one car back to Germany and Andrea and Rudiger arrived. I think I may have got some of the days mixed up but this definitely was Friday. Unfortunately although they brought their Wedding DVD and a laptop with them; the DVD would not play on the laptop - and we could only look at the pictures.

The next day, Saturday, I can not remember what I did. Probably read my book as I did a lot of the time. Walter was a bit amazed that I spent so much of the holiday indoors reading when I could be out in the snow. But I found the leisure and comfort to be able to read in such a spot one of the greatest luxuries I have had in the longest time. That evening we had raclette and conversation.

And then it was Sunday. Sandra and I did a short walk whilst the others skiied and then we met up for lunch. Andrea and Rudiger then went home and the rest of us stayed up late talking and chatting and telling stories of the last years.

This morning we left for Switzerland; in quite a crowded car and eventually arrived to the warm welcome I described at the beginning of this note which brings us to now.

We will spend the next two full days in Switzerland. Rémond has said that tomorrow he is not working which is good as that menas we will we doing something interesting with him tomorrow.

All is good...

Off to Balderschwang...

Well last night we took a GPS navigator with us to the find the way to Mark and Susanne and find the way home again.

Amazing. Turn left to 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m. Turn left now!

Impossible to get lost with one of those things and they talk to you and everything. ubercool.

We spent the evening there, chatted, looked at their wedding photographs and then went out to supper with them at a nearby restaurant. It was difficult to find a dish that did not have pork in it somewhere! In the end I had a fillet with onion latkes and the beans (without the bacon sprinkles!)

We all woke up here at the crack of dawn so that we can begin the 8 hour drive as early as is decent. We will be driving in two cars. Walter the one and Martin the other. Which will be very soon. Sandra is calling me so I had better go help finish the packing.

So we are all off to Balderschwang.

later...

Some pictures from Dubai and off to visit Mark and his wife

Self Portrait in Dubai
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

I slept very well last night and woke up after nine in the morning. I had some hard boiled eggs for breakfast. Most of the morning was spent relaxing and reading. I am reading the Time Travellers Wife and it is extremely enjoyable reading. For lunch we had fish and vegetables and potatoes and salad and then I downloaded all our photos off our camera onto a CD so that we can take some more. Digital cameras are a lot easier to deal with than film cameras.

Later today we are going to go and visit a long time friend of Sandra, Mark; and his wife, Susanne. They recently got married and we have a wedding present for the newly weds that we bought at the BAT center in Durban.

I also have a slideshow of a couple of pictures we took whilst in Dubai. (Click here for slideshow)

Enjoy!

Safe, sound and in Germany

(By the way, if you look again at my post called "Daisy... her voice was full of money" you will see I have added some links showing more about our short holiday in Dubai!)

The transfer to the airport from the hotel was smooth and easy. Once there the process went like clockwork. Change all my dirham into Euros, check in luggage, go through passport control, walk through duty free, buy a coffee, sit and drink coffee, go through the boarding gate, board the plane, take my shoes off, sit in chair, watch three movies, watch plane land, exit plane, go through passport control, go to baggage claim, go through customs and hey presto Doris and Walter and a coldish Germany.

Emirates is definitely has the most comfortable planes I have ever flown on in my life.

Germany is not as cold as I had the impression it would be. It feels no colder than the Drakensberg in Winter. Doris says the worst of the Winter is over already. I was tired and nodded off on the drive to the country home. Once here we all had a glass of champagne and then a good solid lunch of vegetables and chicken and rice and potatoes.

Our room is warm and very comfortable. A double bed and a tv!

I then took a nap for a few hours and woke a few minutes ago.

I am now drinking a nice warm cup of tea and feel very relaxed.

I think tomorrow we will go into Cologne to meet up with some of Sandra's friends; and tonight probably some conversation followed by a good night's sleep.

I still can't get over Dubai, in fact, the whole city felt a bit like one of Gatsby's parties (just without the alcohol!).

later...

And we're off...

We woke up a 5am here at the Golden Sands. We have just checked out of the hotel at 5:40am and are waiting for the transfer to the airport.

We both slept well and are rearing to begin our next leg...

later from Germany...

Daisy... her voice was full of money.

Yesterday afternoon, my how time flies, we walked from the hotel to a shopping center (the Burjuman) about ten minutes away. It is by no means the fanciest shopping center in Dubai. I know this because we chatted to an American... and yesterday evening we took a 2 hour evening cruise (which included a buffet dinner) down the Dubai Creek.

... it was stupendously beautiful. The food, the views,the sights... wow!

And then this morning (12th January) we went on a Big Bus tour of Dubai. This included an hour long walking tour of the old city and the variuous souks. The walking tour not only took us through various areas of the old city and the souks, but also a delightful ride on the traditional mode of transport across the Creek - the abra. It also included admission to the Dubai museum and of course a tour of the entire city with commentaries. Because one could jump off and on a different points we also explored a little - and went and looked at the indoor ski area in the Mall of the Emirates shopping center.How weird. It was snowing inside and the temperature is kept at -2 degrees centigrade.

This took the entire day.

Sandra is busy packing our bags for tomorrow morning's flight to Dusseldorf, I had better get back there as I was sent to fetch her jersey she had forgotten at the buffet supper and was meant to return immediately.

Its all good...

In Dubai and ready to explore

We had a pleasant relaxing flight to Dubai and were asleep in bed at our hotel early enough to wake up and have an enjoyable breakfast by the hotel pool.

Tonight we have booked a river cruise that includes dinner, and tomorrow a full day city tour and then of course the next day we will head for Germany.

Now we are off for a stroll to a nearby shopping center.

Having fun!

later...

Dinner At Durban Harbour

DinnerAtDurbanHarbour
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Post now updated with links!

Karine and Nicole got back on Wednesday from Himeville. They were full of stories about their trip up the Sani Pass to Lesotho and clearly had enjoyed themselves.

Yesterday they went to Ushaka and visited the Durban aquarium there and walked on the beach.

In the evening we all went down to the Trans Africa Express bar cum restaurant on the harbour (and above the BAT center) for a dinner and to enjoy the view of the different ships and the harbour activities.

This morning they left for their road trip to Cape Town. They are planning to first go up via Harrismith to Bloemfontein which is the more scenic route.

They will then head towards PE but spend a few days at the Addo Elephant Park. This is the same Nature Reserve Sandra and I visited in July. Once they reach PE they will take the garden route to Cape Town.

They are having a wonderful summer holiday!

later...

New Years Eve

New Years Eve
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well on the afternoon of the 31st December Sandra and I left home to collect Karine and Nicole from the airport, after their long trip from Switzerland.

They arrived tired but very excited about the wonderful Durban weather. We soon got home and they were soon asleep.

That evening we went to the Durban Playhouse to see the show The Sound Of Music. The show ended exactly at midnight and then the cast did a count down and then sang Auld Lang Syne.

Afterwards in the foyer there was champagne and a jazz band and we toasted the old year gone by, and the new year just born.

The next day, when eventually everyone was awake we went down to the Gateway shopping center - and discovered everything closed. And then it began to rain. We ended up at our flat watching the DVD Donnie Darko.

The next day (yesterday) Karine and Nicole took themselves off to the Gateway, followed by the beach and then a few minutes at the casino. They ended their evening by coming over to our flat and drinking green tea with Sandra, Meira and me.

We had spent the afternoon at the Umbilo Bird Park with Meira and then had gone over to Sandra's violin teacher Beatrice for evening snacks and conversation.

After that we met up with Meira again at my flat and were later joined, as I mentioned above, by Karine and Nicole.

Today the two tourists are off to Himeville for a night (or maybe two.)

later...

New Scientist SPACE - Features - 13 things that do not make sense

I never realised how many things just don't make sense.

New Scientist SPACE - Features - 13 things that do not make sense

later...

Happy Holidays

Channukah
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well all over the world every body is celebrating. Tonight Sandra and I lit our Channukiah to celebrate the first night of Channukah.

There is a tradition that no work may be done whilst the candles burn; and I found sitting on the balcony whilst the candles burned and the rain whispered in the cold night strangely peaceful.

I was also thinking, seeing both Christmas and Channukah fall on the same day this year if I could see similarity in the traditions.

On the surface the traditions are clearly different. Channukah being about the redemption and rededication of the Temple after its desecration by the Greeks; and Christianity about the birth of their messiah.

And then I saw the similarity which lies in the seasonal timing of the festivals. Both festivals are celebrated during the winter equinox. During the longest, coldest and darkest nights of the year. And essentially at that moment when the night is darkest we celebrate hope and salvation as these are the longest nights. But they are also the moments when the darkness turns and starts getting lighter and warmer once more.

So season's greetings to all my friends and family and may we all enjoy light and the warmth in the time to come.

Its all good.

Super Sandra

PortSyJohnsPool
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

At the beginning of this year Sandra registered for Homeopathy at the DIT. She had a difficult time registering as she had not studied courses such as physics, chemistry and mathematics at the official requirement levels of the department. Eventually she got accepted as a "mature student" and was exempted from these requirements on that basis.

But the requirements are there for a reason, and many of her courses assumed knowledge she did not already have - and this meant she had to catch up this material.

But this was not the only obstacle she had to face.

English is not her mother tongue and suddenly she was attending a full days of lectures all week long in English.

She had to pass exams in English. She had to deal with oral exams in English. She had to write weekly tests and assignments in English.

In the beginning she would sit in lectures and struggle to understand what was being said, never mind understand the difficult content of subjects such as histology, radiology and anatomy.

Well she worked virtually every night until midnight. She sat with vast huge texts in dense academic English and pored over abstruse diagrams.

Well to her great glory and acclaim Sandra was awarded two distinctions, one second, and two thirds.

She got her distinctions in biology and philosophy. She got a second for Physics. And she got thirds for Chemistry and Anatomy.

Super Sandra!

Woohoo and Weirdddd

Well... WooooooooHoooooooo....

I got back my marks for my UNISA exams and I passed all the exams with two distinctions.
So five more courses completed on my steady march towards a Bsc.

yum yum yum

and now for a link to a web site that shows your something weird about your eye sight.

Sandra's marks should be out any day now! I have a feeling she will have done excellently.

later...

I now have a new computer

I have just bought a new computer. I got it on Friday and have been installing and setting it up.

200G hardrive. 2G RAM. 3.2 Ghz processor. Pentium 4.

Robbie also just got Wireless ADSL Broadband. And to my delight I can connect to his router wirelessly. So I will pay a contribution; and have access to the internet at wonderful speeds.

Tonight I connected good speakers to the computer and its late so I am going to bed.

later...

What a roller coaster

LeeWithAmusingExpression
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Here a nice picture of my cousine lee-anne.

Anyways... let me tell you about my platelet roller coaster.

On Wednesday two weeks ago I went for a blood test because I had a bruise and the test came back in the 40s. Not good. Anyways, continued along as normal and tested again on Friday afternoon.

My count was 18k.

I wanted to beat my head through the wall.

I phoned my haemotologist and she first thought I should go onto cortisone, and asked me if I wanted to go into hospital and get it intravenously.

I said, I only have petichiae on my feet, lets wait until the symptoms get worse. She made me swear that if I had nose bleedings, headache etc I must go straight to Emergency and that I must not pass Begin. I agreed.

Oh. That night there was an already organised birthday party/shabbas dinner; which I went to and tried to not be despondent - but I was soooooooooo tired suddenly.

On Saturday morning I tested again....

19k. It was up

I phoned the doctor and she said OK I don't have to take cortisone yet. But she doubted it would lift and we would have to make some kind of call on Monday as she believes anything below 20k should be treated aggressively.

I spent the day in bed.

Sunday morning I did a count.
19k again.

I studied the Talmud in the evening on illness and sickness. Tracate Brachot page 4 or 5.
I slept and dreamt that night. I dreamt that I looked at my feet and there were no petichiae.

I woke up and immediately checked my ankle and feet, I couldn't see ANY petichiae. I moved into bright light... and... they were still there except a bit fainter.

I tested and my count was 27k

I was ecstatic. This meant I was above 20k and the doctor would not make me treat. I saw the doctor that morning, she said she doubted I would go above 50k and she wrote a letter of motivation to the medical insurance for a treatment of Mabthera (I have been in remission for 1 1/2 years since I took Mabthera.)

I then phoned the medical insurance every day pushing to get the medication authorised. (I will write more on this later as I kept comptemporaneous notes on the conversations with the call center.)

Oh and I also wrote the second year computer science programming exam I am studying through UNISA. I tested after the exam (Wednesday last week) and the count was 65k.

Above 50. Nice.

I tested on Monday this week.

My count was 285k.

How about that!

UNISA exams written.

I wrote my last of my 5 UNISA exams today. It was an iffy exam, the iffiest of the lot. We'll see.

Sandra did her Histology "spotter" practical exam today. Tomorrow she has her Anatomy "spotter" practical exam, and then she only has one left. Physics on the 17th.

Almost out of the woods.

later...

Well Done Sandra!!!

Sandra just got an SMS from her Biology lecture. Actually she got it from an unknown number so she called it and then aplogised profusely for three minutes, aplogising for disturbing her Biology lecture so late at night.

Sandra wrote Biology last week and came home a bit distressed and concerned and asking questions if she got 40% for her test, and 74.8% for her year mark; will they let her through the year. She was complaining constantly about how unfair the exam was; and that the questions were obscure and did not truly test students' knowledge. She was also very frustrated with the number of questions presented in a multiple choice format; which involved subtle differences in the English descriptions of biological processes; which she found frustrating.

Anyways....

She got 75%...

Yes! Thats what the SMS from her Biology teacher was informing her!

So in a foreign language, in difficult acamedic English, involving learning vast tracts of information; involving writing paragraphs in English to describe subtle complicated processes -
Sandra was awarded a distinction.

So Sandra is quite clearly a super super super woman!

Lucky me to have such a star by my side!

later...

(Lets hope the same effect occurs in other courses.)

Blech.....

Blech....

An Office Romance RTF

An Office Romance RTF is worth the read for anyone who has ever worked in an office with Office for months on end. (like me...)

Warning: This story was originally written for Playboy magazine, so it is a bit racy!

later...

Broccoli Toast and Spinach Spread

Sandra has been developing her personal culinary specialities. She was very happy with her Broccoli toast creation the other night. I insisted on eating my boiled broccoli by itself; but, Sandra said I was being silly and the Broccoli toast was delicious.

Today in my lunch box I have spinach spread on the rolls Sandra packed for me this morning. I am not quite sure how she prepares this gourmet food; but I know it involves spinach, cheese and a food processor.

later...

The Engagement Party...

RobbieAndTerri
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well the weekend is almost over and so is the Engagement Party events. It all started at about seven thirty am on Friday morning when my father arrived to fetch me for the airport. We arrived in Capetown at about 11 am and picked up the hired car and made our way down to Claremont and the B&B at which we were staying.

The B&B was very comfortable and relaxing except that I kept sneezing and my ears kept itching. Anyways, I suddenly found out that my shoes were not acceptable (which was true) and that we were going to go shopping for new shoes. But first we went to say hello to Jonx and Steven and to have some lunch at Carlucci's.

After that we went shopping at the Claremont shopping center which I found to be quite an ordeal. Eventually I asked to be taken back to the B&B for forty winks whilst my mother stayed at the center.

Later I had a shower and set off to meet our new in-laws-to-be. We arrived at the President hotel where a suite had been hired out for a cozy warm heimische shabbas dinner.

The evening was a delight and was fill with laughter conversation and smiles. Afterwards we all headed homeward warm and flushed with the enjoyment of the family celebration.

The next morning I was up early and my father dropped me off at Stevie and Jonx's; and whisked Jonx off to purchase his fancy shmancy Canon digital camera with which he hopes to drive his career as a photographer.

[UPDATE]: The new photo of me on my blog; and the beautiful picture of Robbie and Terri were taken by Jonx with his new camera.

I relaxed and playstationed for a while; and then made contact with Arik and went over for a visit and a laugh. A few hours later I was back at the flat and then Jonx and Mom and Dad and Stevie were all in the flat. It was almost 3pm and I was hungry.

Jonx and I went off to Carlucci's for a bite. Howie then contacted me and he joined us at the table. Soon Robbie and Terri were there too and we all ate and chatted. Terri had just had her hair cut and styled in anticipation of the Engagement party at the Grace hotel at the Waterfront.

After lunch I headed back to the B&B with my parents to relax before the evening's fun.

At 6 we arrived at the Grace hotel; and after a bit of confusion finding the bar that had been reserved for the private function; I found a seat and ensconced myself waiting for the people. And people arrived.

Brett Pillemer and Howie Gasmin and Shaun Knox were the people there that I knew the best. It was a fun evening.

The next morning I was up early and spent breakfast chatting with Phil, the son of the owners of the B&B. He had completed an honours in Physics (in astrophysics) a few years ago; and, over the last few years had been studying philosophy. He had just received a scholarship from Oxford to study the philosophy of physics.

After breakfast I joined Jason and Naomi for the morning (whilst my parents and Jonx and Steven went up for a scenic journey around Stellenbosch.) I had and enjoyed breakfast and then wandered Greenpoint market. I bought a second-hand CD of Eddie Brickhill and the New Bohemians, a belt and a flying pig.

[UPDATE]: I was so exicted when I got home to give Sandra the flying pig as a present; that I dropped it on the floor and it broke.

After the morning of reminiscing and chatting and catching up I got dropped off at the flat.

I wanted to playstation but there is something wrong with tv remote so I could not get the station to change to the playstation channel.

So... I decided to be productive and write these memories down before they disappear into the fog of memory.

I think I will return to my current novel that I am reading, the new Umberto Eco novel.

later...

Ancient Persian Custom

Apparently the Persians before they would serve their meals would bring out a silver tray to display to all diners. On the tray would be a whip and a scale. All diners would have some time to meditate on these two items; and then the actual food would be be brought out to enjoy. These two items were meant to lead one to eat with modesty and with forethought; so one would not eat what was not suitable to each individuals constitution and one would not eat out of balance with one's needs.

When I told Sandra about this interesting custom she thought perhaps we should emulate the Persian way and take this ancient tradition up ourselves. But its not possible as we cannot afford to buy a silver tray at the moment.

I have now written two out of five exams and feel saitisifed that I did all right. I have a third tomorrow. Sandra writes her first exam tomorrow - Chemistry. This is the subject she struggled with the most; so I am relieved that it will be out the way quickest so that her tension dissipates a little.

She has just been for a stroll to relax a bit; and has just returned to tell me that according to the fact that I am not studying "my lovely husband has ten minutes for me".

so, until later...

girl in the world

Terri, Robbie's fiance has started blogging. girl in the world.

Phone fixed

Well at last after 5 days without a phone our phone is now working again.

Last week we discovered that our phone was no longer working. I called Telkom and informed them that there was a problem that needed to be fixed. (I called them on the 5th.) I told them that there would only be people at home on the 5th and on the 7th. But that there would be no-one here on the the 6th.

Of course, on the 6th, I got a phone call at 8:30 am from Telkom technician.

"Hello, I am outside your flat."

Anyways, he said he would come back on the 7th.

Of course he did not. I phoned three times on the 7th.

Eventually someone turned up on the 8th. He looked at the line. He did things with his special telkom equipment. He concluded that the problem was not with our line but with the exchange. He said it would be fixed in 1/2 an hour.

Of course it was not.

I phoned Telkom again later on the 8th. I phoned again on the 9th. On the 9th the operator who answered the phone said she would escalate the problem to management.

On the 10th at 8:30am I got a call from Telkom management promising me he would personally make sure the problem was resolved.

1 hour later it was - apparently some piece of equipment somewhere somehow stopped working.

Anyways, I have a working phone again. After almost a week without a phone. Yay.

Tomorrow I write my first of 5 UNISA exams. Structured System Analysis.

later...

Physics

Sandra just phoned me all excited, as she just discovered that for her last Physics test she got an amazing 74% - which means that her year mark for Physics is 68%.
She also got an average of 72% for her anatomy tests!

Not so long ago she was all despondent about Physics and felt that she had no hope in doing well enough to be allowed to sit for the final exams.

Well, it seems that its only Chemistry that is still unknown and a big worry.

She should know by the end of the day.

And on a more frustrated note something has gone wrong with my telephone line at home. It is not working. The technician is going to come tomorrow morning to take a look.

And on a more organised note I have organised a new passport. (my old passport was expiring in December). I now have a South Africa passport valid until 2015.

Sandra's passport has expired; and she has not yet got round to doing something about that.

[UPDATE]: Sandra says that this is not true. She has phoned them and they say she has to wait until someone gets back from holiday somewhere else before she can apply for a new passport etc. She says they also said that a temporary passport should be possible.

Thats a bit of a worry as we were thinking of going to visit Germany in late January to congratulate the newlyweds. Hopefully she will be able to sort something out.

later...

[UPDATE]: Sandra has her DP for chemistry. So she can write all the exams.

Platelet scare on Shabat before New Year!

Well 18 months ago my platelets count were plummeting to zero; I needed absurd amounts of cortisone to be stay above 20k; IVIG stopped working and I was strongly resistant to take the treatments that could make me infertile. And then I took Mabthera and my count soared.

Since then I have been above 150k. Occasionaly 400+k. Once I dropped to 121k but went up again.

Since then (the 121k) I have been very careful to try and only do the count when I feel good and healthy; and when I feel uccky I try not to test unless I have good reason to be concerned!

And then on Tuesday, I had a headache did a platelet count (114k) went onto antibiotics crossed my fingers.

That night just after midnight I experienced rigors. I started shivering uncontrollably and feeling very very very cold. My wife took my temperature and I had no temperature. I was shivering so much I could not talk properly; and my wife rushed me to casualty at the hospital. By the time time I got to the hospital the shaking had stopped. I returned home.

I took a platelet count the next afternoon.
41k.

Not a happy moment. I have never been that low and not kept falling to hit zero.
I phoned my doctor and made an appointment for the next morning.

I did a count Friday morning.
48k.
I was really relieved. (Funny that the way one feels to a count is so relative!) Meanwhile I felt that worst of the virus was over. I was keeping my sinuses clear and sleeping.

I chatted with my doctor. She said that long term statistics were coming in on the Mabthera. That in Belgium patients were staying in remission 36 months, 48 months.

She said my strange rigors was probably because due to all the immuno-suppressants I have taken over the years my body does not react properly to viruses. (As well as being asplenic.)

I said I did not want to touch any cortisone or anything else unless I started presenting. She agreed, she said it was clear that cortisone for me was not a solution from my history. She said she would prepare the medical aid that I appeared to be relapsing and that I must test again on Monday (today) when hopefully the virus would be gone and lets all just cross fingers and press thumbs.

I tested at 6am this morning.
116k.

I immediately grabbed my tefillin and talit and rushed off to shacharit. (The Rav asked what my Mother's Hebrew name was and I was not sure, better find out so he can get the special prayer said for me...)

And I then set off for the 45 minute drive to work.

Looks like I am still in remission! And I had been trying to decide what books to take with me to hospital.

Well hopefully this is a good sign for the new year!

Happy New Year.

Some good pictures from Israel

Flickr: Photos from velvetart

Its already half way through the week. Disengagement in Israel is well under way.

later...

All Assignments done.

I got in my last assignments for the year in last night.

So hopefully I will get DPs for all 5 UNISA courses I have studied for this year. I definitely have 3 and am still awaiting results for the other 2.

It was Sandra's Birthday on Monday, and we went out for supper to celebrate.

later...

Holiday memories: the red wine stain

One evening after coming home from a show at Grahamstown we decided to drink some red wine.

Sandra kept balancing her glass all evening in precarious positions on the bed. It made me feel very nervous, seeing all the bedding was in a very pale cream color.

But, somehow, the glass never actually tipped enough to spill anything. I eventually went to sleep to Sandra's disgruntlement - as she thought I should not be asleep. And so she kept waking me up. And I kept falling asleep. And she kept waking me up.

And then.... I got woken up and I moved my arm; and I felt my arm knock her arm in which she had a full glass of merlot red wine... and it was all over a pillow, and a sheet and a bed.

Well... for the rest of the night we accused each other of being the one who actually spilled the red wine. We did not get much sleep. (In fact to this day there is absolutely no agreement on who was the one to blame. I don't see how it can be my fault as I was asleep, but anyhows Sandra, I am sure, can provide you with a twenty minute monologue on why it could not possibly have been her fault in any way whatsoever.)

The red wine stain looked quite bad. The bedding was clearly new; and it looked like it may have soaked into the new bed as well. We immediately had reacted by putting vast amounts of salt on the marks... but still...

The next morning we showed the char what we had done. She looked very disturbed.

And so were we... How much were we going to have to pay to for the damage? Would it just be one duvet cover and pillow case, or a whole set? Sandra believed we may have to buy a new bed!

We saw a very good play that morning by Berkoff about a poor working class girl in London whose life was pretty sad and self-destructive. Sandra thoroughly enjoyed it.

We then went back to the garden cottage to see how bad the damage was after the char had tried to see if she could salvage the situation.

...and...

the wine stains had been completely removed. OK. There was some tiny discolouration on the bed mattress itself, but very minor (almost to the point of non-existence). And the sheet, pillows, pillowcase, duvet were just like new.

We were shocked.

We were amazed.

The char said she used Preen Vanish.

I gave her a big tip as a thank-you for her amazing act of washing skill.

later...

time goes by

hmm. It feels like I have been back at work for ages. The last week I have been going to sleep after midnight every night as I have been working hard at the last assignment in the one computer programming course I am studying this year. I have been writing funny little programmes in Java. I have been trying to find a way to put them on the internet but have not yet found a suitable server yet.

Sandra has also been up late studying, as she had three difficult tests this week. Its been a very stressful week for her, but she is enjoying the work and the pressure. This semester she starts learning about homeopathic remedies; and if she passes this particular course she will get to have her own homeopathic first-aid kit to take home. She really wants this kit; and is very excited about it.

We went to see Charlie and the Chocalate factory last night. I really enjoyed Johnny Depp. He is from another world.

There is something wrong with out kitchen sink. Something is blocked somewhere in the pipes. I have no idea about how plumbing works - ugggg.

This weekend I will be working on assignments most of the time.

later...

Google Moon - Lunar Landing Sites

Google Moon - Lunar Landing Sites

We come in Peace for all mankind!

...later

Harry is back at Hogwarts

I just got my copy of the new Harry Potter.

... later

holiday memories: the first surprise

Well, as promised some memories from our recent holidays.

I successfully woke up at 4am and managed somehow to get us on the road by just after 5am. I was very pleased with this.

Then, about 30 minutes out of Durban, I turned to Sandra and said.

"You did pack the tickets and booking confirmations and important telephone numbers?"

"No. Did you?"

"No."

"umm.. I guess we had better turn around then."

"Yes."

So, we ended up leaving Durban well after 6am.

Luckily I had padded my intinerary for unforeseen delays and we still reached Grahamstown before nightfall.

later...

We are back from our holiday

PortSyJohnsPool
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

We are now back from our holiday and I am back at work. Sandra still has one week of holidays left. But she says she has some intense studying to do, for the upcoming semester.

We had a great time and here is a slideshow of some photographs from our holiday. (Click here to see the slideshow.)

I will post some little stories in the next few days about highlights of the holiday which will include the "Red Wine Stain" story, the "Tsotsi" story and the "Sleeping in the car" story (amongst others....) I will put on one story a night for the next few days, so something to anticipate for my avid readership.

later...

Sandra has passed both her semesterised courses!

Sandra just phoned me breathless with excitement to tell me that she had passed physiology.

Physiology is a one semester course on complex medical knowledge about the make-up of the human body. It is a required course to have passed to be permitted to continue to second year in Homeopathy. Or in other words, if she had failed this course it would have meant that an extra year would need to be added to her entire course; as certain necessary second year courses require the completion of this course.

I glanced at her text book; and I did not know most words; as it is written in scientific jargon.

So Sandra, not only had to learn academic English in order to understand the material; not only to follow along in lectures in a language that is not her mother tongue; but she had to learn long strange words that to me seem unpronounceable.

She did all of that; against very difficult odds!

Not only this....

In her other semesterised course - philosophy of homeopathay - she got a first!

This means that not only did she excel in understanding philosophical ideas taught in English; but also, that she could successfully express and demonstrate in depth and accurate knowledge about these ideas in English.

Anyway, since she got this information phoned through to her by one of the other students; she says she needs to go down to the technikon this afternoon to see for herself these wonderful marks. She was so excited that her voice was wobbling a little bit.

Quite a nice way to start our holiday.

...later

We're leaving on a Winter holiday!

I am very excited!

Sandra has been packing things slowly all week. There is a special kitchen box in the kitchen corner which she has been carefully loading with kitchen stuff and food.

This week we both went shopping for warm warm comfortable winter clothes...

because,...

We will be waking up at 4am on Saturday morning; and be out of the door and in the car at 5am at the latest and driving to the Grahamstown Arts Festival. I have paid for accomdation in a garden cottage of the a woman who lives in Grahamstown. We will have our own kitchen, bedroom, living area and garden. (And of course secure safe parking.) We will be there four nights (Saturday night, Sunday night, Monday night an d Tuesday night.) I have already booked for four main festival performances. On the night we arrive we will be seeing a big jazz band, On Tuesday afternoon a tap dancing/gumboot dancing extravaganze, on Wednesday night a classical music string quartet with a clarinetist and on Wednesday morning for a modern dance performance in the main theatre. (Unfortunately I could not book for Sleeping Beauty as it is sold out already.) Of course we will be booking for other performances once we get there. But it is 100% certain that the main festival events will be sold out by the time time we get there. The last time I went to Grahamastown (more than 10 years ago) I learnt that lesson the dissappointing way. So I have booked for these 4 main festival shows; and of course we will see many others shows that we will only book there.

And then on Wednesday afternoon we drive an hour to the Addo Elephanant national park were we are booked for two nights. This national park is completely malaria free and has all the big five. We are booked for a sundowner game drive that evening; and a morning beginners horse ride the following day. We will then spend the rest of the day driving around looking at animals and stuff; finally falling asleep exhausted in the cottage in the middle of the wild.

The next moring we will wake up early and drive 6 hours to the iNtali river lodge in Port St Johns. We should arrive there in the afternoon and will settle into our river facing bungalow before going to the a la carte restaurant for dinner. We will spend the next day wandering the beautiful beaches of Port St Johns and of course the beautiful hikes near the river. We will sleep there again that night.

Finally on Sunday morning we will wake up; and after breakfast take the last 4 hour drive back home.

And then the next day I will return back to work. Sandra still will have a week left of her holidays, but she has been given lots of work to do and so will be busy preparing for her next semester.

later...

Simbithi

Fnished Front with Pillemers
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Mom and Dad have invested in property in the Simbithi development up the North Coast of Natal.

Although Sandra and I have often heard stories about the development...

Such as the difficulty of choosing if the floors should be wooden or tiled; and... what colour the fitting in the kitchen should be. And whether a wall should be here,... or there.

Lots of discussions and lots of decisions.

But Sandra and I have only heard these dicussions; for until yesterday we had never seen the development or the progress in the building of the flat my parents have bought.

Well, this Sunday we went up to take a look. Well I had my telephone with me so I took my pictures with my cellphone camera.

We also took a look at the area where a retirement resort is being built within the development. This development looks like it will be a little village with horse riding, boating, fishing, water sports, golf and all sorts of bird life and wild life. It will have retirement suburbs and residential suburbs and holiday suburbs. Its quite exciting to see how much development is happening in Natal and in South Africa at the moment.

Aftwerwards we went to the shopping center right next to the development for a delicious lunch at an excellent Portuguese restaurant.

Throughout the afternoon I took photographs of the flats in all stages of development. I took some photographs of the views. I took some photographs of the plans and adverts for the retirment complex. I also took some photographs of the shopping center nearby where we went for lunch.

Click on the link (Click Me!) to see the slideshow of the photographs.

It could be quite a lovely place for a holiday on the North Coast.

I hope you enjoy the photographs! (Not bad for a phone, hey?)

later...

Why is my fridge like a cell phone?

Fridge3
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Because I keep getting a new one every year and half!

A year and half ago, Sandra called the people who sold us our Fridge and told them that there was something funny with it...

Defy came and took a look; and said that they would give us a new fridge.

Well, that just happened again!

And each time we get a brand new fridge.

How about that!

later...

schuuller and steeevie

schuuller
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well last weekend (wow has a week gone by already?) Schuuler was in town for a photographic assignment. He was contracted to take the still photographs for Standard Bank's next advertising portfolio for magazine and what not. He spent the Saturday in Pietermaritzberg taking photographs.

Sandra and I joined him for dinner at Cafe 99 where we chatted and ate strange avante garde food. (I had chicken steamed in jasmine tea!)

One of the questions he asked, was what is Stevie up to? Schuuler's assistant also was a friends of Stevie's; and also asked what Stevie was up to at the moment.

And I did not know...

Now I do.

He (and his group) were awarded the tender to create a South African television series for the pay channel GO on Dstv!

(Click this link to see what is on GO today. ie if it were possible to click on a relevant day in January you would see Stevie's show on the list! )

Wow. Mom, has said she will want all the family at Durban to watch each episode together at the Cato Road house.

I think it should start broadcasting in January; but I am not sure.

later...

65% for Histology

I just got an sms from Sandra telling me she has got 65% for histology.

So Sandra is continuing to pass difficult exams in courses with complex ideas and in English!

Sehr gud!

later...

Thank you Durban Muncipality.

SaturdayMorningWakeUp
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Early this Saturday morning I was rudely awakened by hooting and shouting and noise and crashing and uninterrupted loud sounds.

The Durban municipality had decided that this morning I should not worry about setting my alarm to wake me up.

later...

NPR : An Odd Hierarchy of License Plates in Gaza

This is so bizarre (and quite hilarious.)

NPR : An Odd Hierarchy of License Plates in Gaza

Good relations with the wookies, I have....

Well we went off on Saturday night (Orli, Denzil, me, Sandra and Robbie) to the Gateway to see Revenge of the Sith. We first went to eat a meal at some place at the center. We were indecisive about which place to eat at, as we did not which of these joints were the least terrible. In the end we went to place none of us had been to before, and so, could not definitively say "No." Well now we can.

The service was shoddy, the waitress pubescent, the manager incompetent and the food mediocre.

Lee, a friend of mine, was wandering outside wearing clown makeup, on stilts, juggling. He told me it was "weekend money." I did not know he could stilt walk - but I did know he can juggle five juggling balls effortlessly. In Jerusalem when I lived at Givat Ram, there used to be a juggling class held in the hall near by where I lived; where two jugglers used to teach basic juggling. They could juggle nine juggling balls each effortlessly; and twelve together. Apparently they used to travel the world doing shows.

Anyways, we then went on to the cinema. I had booked us all tickets in the new fancy leather seat in the back rows of the Gateway cinema. Sandra was higly impressed - apparently in seats like those any movie is bearable. (Robbie said in seats like those any movie is enjoyable.)

So we all sat down in comfort (with huge legspace) and entered in the world set in a galaxy far far away.

My favourite line was Yoda's:-

Good relations with the Wookies I have.

Robbie favourite line was Kenobi's

Only a Sith thinks in absolutes.

Sandra was bored.

Afterwards, we drove back home, the five of us chatting away.

A nice evening.

later...

I am holding myself back...

(unlike this guy....)

I will probably only see the final Star Wars this weekend (or maybe even next week sometime.)

But I am very interested in this movie's meditation on how democracies can collapse into totalatarianism; and this visual exploration into the birth of one of modern western culture's fictional and mythic icons of evil.

Rise Lord Vader.

later...

Chips for lunch?

I wonder...

Did that guy who appeared to the right of my car window eat chips for lunch. There he was, in a white helmet and dark glasses on his police motor cycle looking at me through my window. What was he doing?

.... indicating for me to pull over....

I put my cell phone away; and pulled over.

We had quite a chat after I rolled down the window and gave him my license.

He told me that the fine these days for cell phone use by the driver of a motor vehicle is R1800.

"Wow! Thats quite a lot... Geez..."

"Yup...."

"So do you have any suggestions about what we should do?"

"Well, I don't have R1800 in my wallet."

"hmmm... so.... do you have any suggestions about what we should do?"

"I do have R50 in wallet right now.."

"hmmm... so... do you have any suggestions about what we should do?"

"umm.."

"Well do you want the the R50?"

"Are you offering to buy me lunch?"

"Yes."

"Drive Safely!"

"Yes Officer."

hmmmm....

Red Eye

RedEye_Tank
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

On Saturday night at 6:30pm Robbie jumped into my car and we went off to the middle of town to see the Red Eye art installation. We had to work out before hand the best way to get there because the art installation was happening in the street itself and so Smith street had been closed off to traffic.

We eventually parked in the Royal Hotel's parking lot and made our way into Smith Street. Wow. I was blown away. The art installation was an "intervention". This means that the artists were attempting to intervene with the way the city normally represents itself, in order to intervene with how we normally see the city.

The main street itself, normally filled with cars, had tables and chairs and the Royal hotel was serving food.

And then the statues in the war memorial area in front of the city hall was tranformed. The artists had taken cheap materials (cheap materials found or lost in the city and transformed.) One statue had a blanket wrapping it up. The statue of Jan Smuts had a bright orange flower necklace. The Angel on the WWI memorial had many little notes stuck to it with the names of different geographical areas of Durban, and a bigger banner with the words "RETHINK" written on it.

The water fountain was filled with little boats made out of discarded milk cartons. This was my favourite.

There were thousands of orange gloves hanging from a large tree. The orange and the green provided a strikingly beautiful contrast. There was a variety of different contemporary dances being staged amongst the crowd and there was a stage with live music. It was great fun. I only realised I had a camera on my phone after the show was basically finished, but I took a few snaps. Here is a link.

The DDC followed, which Jaydon's sister won! To reiterate - Roseanne Immerman won the DDC fashion show which is a very presitigious thing; Marc said soon they will have their own Immerman label of clothing.

The Playhouse's theatres were then turned into an after party; which I went to (until Sandra called to tell me to come home NOW.)

I saw quite a few friends and acquaintances that I had not seen in a while. Vernon was there. Brendan Bunyan fom my time in the Natal Symphonic Wind Band was there (he now works for the Natal Playhouse and has two children.) And I ran into Carla to discover she was a recent mother. She has invited us next week for dinner!

All in all, lots of fun!

...later

Congratulations to Andrea and Rudiger

Andrea and Rudiger
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

To our surprise and delight Sandra and I discovered that Andrea and Rudiger got engaged to be married in Himeville in the Drakensberg.

(UPDATE - Not to "be married in Himeville" - they will get married in Germany. But they got "engaged" in Himeville. OK? No more ambiguitiy?)

This was particularly beautiful as we also got engaged to be married in Himeville.

(UPDATE - Not to "be married in Himeville" - we got married in Durban. But we got "engaged" in Himeville. OK? No more ambiguitiy?)

Congratulations!!!

At the time Sandra wanted to get married that very week in Himeville. She got very frustrated and angry with me when I said "No." She tried to make me go into this little town's magistrate's office and ask them if they could marry us that day; or if possible the following day. hmmmm.

Later on she wanted to get married with only us in a hot-air balloon.

But in the end she was very happy to have a beautiful wedding, in a beautiful dress, surrounded by many of her family.

So soon in the Kelm family there is going to be another celebration of joy and simcha.

Its not Avocado's number

Its not. Its Avogadro's number.

Sandra keeps on calling it Avocado's number though. I want to go to sleep. Altough my cold is almost gone I want to get a good night's sleep.

But Sandra is insisting I sit in the study and keep her company while she studies.

...later

still uggy

I spent most of the week end in the bed trying to get rid of this cold.

Sandra made me snort salt water through my nose, as she said this would help. I did what she told me; it felt quite strange. Apparently, according to Sandra, her father snorts plain water through his nose every morning as part of his daily routine.

We just went for a dusk walk around in the neighbourhood; and then visited my parents. I heard that Stevie is very busy with more than one interesting project. But apparently its all hush-hush, and if it comes together there may be a media blitz (...and I do not know more that that... because my father decided that I do not need to know more that that.) Sounds very exciting.

I forgot today was mother's day. (And I only remembered when I saw the Mother's day card Robbie bought. Actually, I would not have noticed yet; so, rather, when Sandra saw the Mother's day card that Robbie bought - and showed it to me.)

Sandra is studying the brain. I now know that its my cerebullum that I use every morning to drive to work.


...later

sniff sniff

I have been sniffing all day. At work everyone is sniffing as well. Looks like the whole of work environment is fluish.

I am settling back into the work work work day. yada yada.

..gone but for the writing in the sand

Andrea and Rudiger left today from Durban to head back to their day-to-day lives.

Last night we went out for a delicious dinner at the Butcher Boys restaurant. (Rudiger, like normal, felt that this steak could have been bigger.)

I had the impression that they had a wonderful holiday and were sorry to leave.

I am back at work now.

I also have a bit of a sniffle.

Sandra wrote an anatomy test this morning.

later....

74.7% for Philosophy of Homeopathy

Well Sandra discovered today that she got 74% for her philosophy of Homeopathy test.

Yesterday Andrea and Rudiger spent the day on the beach. (After discovering that they had left it too late to get reasonable prices for tickets to Cape Town... You need to book 7 days in advance to get cheap tickets!)

This morning they left for Himeville in the Drakensberg. And this afternoon I got a phone call from them to say they had arrived safely; they had met Beauty; and, they had booked their 4x4 tour up the Sani pass to Lesotho.

Jenny (my mother's sister) has been here all week over Pesach; and she has cooked a special pesahdekka cheese cake.

Which is being eaten right now. So I had better go eat!

..later

Elephants and Sandras

Elephant
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

While Rudiger and Andrea were looking at elephants (and monkeys and other things);

Sandra was learning physics. And I was teaching her physics. All day long!

Hopefully Sandra has a memory like an elephant and tomorrow, when she writes her test, will remember all the stuff she learnt today about Newton's laws of motions and force; and how to solve kinetic and force questions.

For example,
If a monkey is sitting on an elephant;s truck; and the elephant sneezes with a force of 100N how far will the monkey fly into the air and where will it land.

Well? Sandra?

huh?...

Doris never got to see a ...

monkey
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

monkey!

But Rudiger and Andrea did!

They are back from their trip to the game reserve and saw much and had fun.

(But they did not see any lions.)

They are planning to go to Cape Town (probably) this coming weekend.

They are very tired....

A bit rainy today

Well, I just dropped Sandra off at the Technikon and have eaten breakfast.

Yesterday evening I got a call from Andrea and Rudiger telling me that they had reached the game reserve successfully and had already seen an animal with one horn. (I told them it was a called a rhinocerous.) This morning they booked a tour that leaves at 4:50 am. I am guessing they should be ending their tour about now.

I wonder what they saw?

Yesterday afternoon and evening I spent hours trying to teach Sandra physics. This is not an easy thing to do at all. Sometimes I get very frustrated when something that seems so simple and obvious to me... seems meaningless and opaque to her. Her test is on Thursday.

I was planning on going to swim in the sea this morning. Buts its a bit rainy.

Its nice to be on holiday.

Oh... Rudiger asked Sandra what barley soup was; and, Sandra told him it was soup from Bali.

..later

Finished with the Shark onto the Elephants

Shark
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Andrea and Rudiger have finished playing with the sharks and this morning they are off to the game reserve to try and see some wild animals.

Last night they were driving the small Chico when the rain became like a monsoon; so bad that it was too scary to stop on the sides of the road because the car looked like it would be washed away. He had to keep driving in the middle of the road.

The rain was so strong that water came in through the air conditioner and wet Andrea's feet.

Yesterday I went swimming with Rudiger in the sea and Andrea enjoyed lying on the beach.

Its a lovely hot day for driving to the game reserve. They will be there from today until Wednesday; and have booked a tour.

Alles ist gut.

Andrea and Rudiger and Ilan and Sandra

Andrea and Rudiger and Ilan and Sandra
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Andrea and Rudiger are in Durban. We fetched them from the airport yesterday and showed them our flat, and the supermarket and fruit and vegetables and shopping malls. And we ate lunch at a restaurant.

Today we spent the day at the Aquarium and the beach. We saw dolphins and sharks.

Alles is gut.

80% for Biology

I just received a SMS from Sandra telling me that she has got 80% for biology.

Pretty good, hey!

The air tasted like salt water.

This afternoon Sandra and I went, as normal, for a Sunday afternoon stroll. Except this time Sandra was walking with a piece of card with notes written on it. When we started walking up a steep hill; she paused, turned towards me and said...

"On friday the sky was filled with see-through clouds and the air tasted like salt water."

Sandra expression

Sandra 3 tiny
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well. The photopgraphs that Meira took when she visted us in Durban (when she came down for Richard's wedding) arrived in my email inbox today.

Here is the one I like the best.

(Click on it to see some of others.)

...later

an Ilan movie...

Sandra and I went to see The Life Aquatic at the cinema last night. After the movie Sandra decided that this movie belongs to the genre of "Ilan Movies". And its true... I think it was a work of genius.

Go and see it!

I am a Complete Idiot.

...as my wife had the pleasure of informing me this morning.

Why?

Well some friends of mine sometimes put on all night parties of trance music. I sometimes DJ at these parties too. Well, anyways, I no longer enjoy to spend the entire night at these parties as I am not as young as I used to be; and, I then end up too tired and grumpy for days.

So, what I do, now, is wake up early early and pop down to the party in the morning.

There I was, this morning, standing at the door, dressed up, quiet as a mouse so as not to disturb Sandra and...

no car keys. I could not find them anywhere....

I now know I left them upstairs at Robbie's flat when I went up there yesterday.

The Two Egypts

Well Sandra is very very stressed about her physiology test next week... (and highly irritable.)

What else... I am reading voraciously at the moment. I just finished Paul Johnson's History of the Jews and now I am reading Life after Death by Alan F. Segal.

Very good book. Very academic too.

I am currently only on the first chapter where he is describing ancient Egypt's funereal cult and the geography, politics and sociology of the era.

I in fact learnt some more about Hebrew this morning which is appropriate to Nisan and Pesach. Which happens at the upcoming full moon.

Anyways...

When Egypt is referred to in the Bible, the Hebrew word is Mitzrayim.

The word Mitzrayim in Hebrew is in a special form of the plural - a form which indicates "Two".

Its the form of a noun I would use if I want to buy two pairs of shoes etc.

So if we were to translate the word literally the Bible would always refer to the two Egypts and not to a singular Egypt. Therefore at the Pesach table I will be recounting the story of how "...We were slaves in the two Egypts but now we are free men...".

That seems strange.... Does it not???

Well, actually - it makes perfect sense.

Because Egypt was actually split into two seperate kingdoms seperated geographically by huge waterfalls. The climate and society of the two kingdoms were different and in fact they spoke such different dialects of Egyptian that people from the two different kingdoms of Egypt could not understand each other. These two kingdoms were united under the pharoah - but nevertheless they were two seperate distinct entities.

There were in fact two Egypts hence the form of the Hebrew word for Egypt - Mitzrayim.

I find that very interesting!

later...

Sickly

I have the flu.

Kabbalah Lara

A friend of mine, Lara, is off to Israel to make a documentary on Kaballah.

She sent me an email containing these words:

Anyway, I'm in London but on my way to Israel again. This time to do some filming in Tsfat. In a nutshell, I want to make a doccie (documentary film!) that dispels some of the myths of Kabbalah and highlights its light. I don't by any means, plan to give a summary on what Kabbalah is as even if this would be possible, its not what this doc about. Its more to raise a bit of awareness and to steer people away from the celebrity, cult bullshit and give them an alternative sight.

... I plan to make Tsfat my base and to interview some of the colourful and sincere characters I met when I lived there but I still need to find someone more authoritative. Someone who can maybe provide the narrative voice in my doc. I don't want it to be a 'voice of G-d' but rather someone who can explain a few basic principles and such stuff. So do you know anyone like that?

I did suggest Sarah Tov; however I do not have her contact details. (Anyone have her details?)

anyways... If anyone out there can make any useful suggestions for her to consider; please leave a comment here for her to read.

later...

Another Assignment and now 6 and not 8....

Assignment 1 INF 206d
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well, I have just completed another assignment. (This one was 11 pages.) Which brings my total of assignments completed to 5.

I also am no longer registered for 8 UNISA subjects; but 6 UNISA subjects.

The reasons for this was that although I have been working hard and consistently there is no way I could do all these courses and be able to maintain quality and attention.

I know I can with 6 courses.

I have learnt my lesson in the past of trying to cope with more that I should - and it only results in me not succeeding at what I could have accomplished with temperance.

Apparently temperance is the key to success in worldly and spiritual endeavours.

later...

Mobile Me

Me
Originally uploaded by ilanpillemer.

Well, at last my blogging reach will attain new levels of blogdom.

I just got a new telephone as part of my two-yearly upgrade with my serive provider. This phone has a little built-in camera.

I was hoping that it would a nice enough camera that if I see something or go somewhere and feel like blogging about it - I can snap.

Well here is snap of me!

It looks good enough, don't it?

later...

Boring Boring: A Directory of Dull Things

For all those who enjoy a bit of laugh on this Friday April Fool's Day.

Link

later...