Looks like my paperwork is almost through the process and we are awaiting our visa's to be applied to our passports. We have confirmed our reservation in the merkaz klita the apartment for imigrants in israel.
We are moving out this week and will be staying with friends, it will be tough as we are still waiting on our lift (shipping container) to ship our stuff, and I have to finish this term of school.
Replacement for my Sharp Zaurus will arrive in six days included in the sale is an infared keyboard which will make this device even more of a laptop replacement. While searching for a replacement Zaurus SL-5500 (the first power linux handheld) I came across the SL-6000 it has wifi, sound, usb host, the qwerty keyboard, CF and SD slots infared, VGA graphics, and still runs linux (one version also has bluetooth) I was drooling over the ruggedized frame that is supposed to take a 1m drop onto concrete at $380US it is out of my price range.
School is going quite badly, I am hoping to pass all of my classes but not much more. An idea I have is to buy several offical transcripts for transfer of credits in case I do so badly I want to just forget this term ever happened.
This is from an Israeli woman, an encouragement for people who are afraid to come to Israel.
I am not the least afraid to go any place, By bus or to a mall.
I didn't change or stop doing anything I used to do before this mess began!
People tend to forget that twice the casualties From terror get killed on the roads! More people still die From heart attack, cancer, And other things, They just don't show them on TV.
Don't misunderstand me, There is a war going on, It's not pleasant, But, lets face it:
WE HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER OFF!!!!
It's only TV and the media that make people think That the end of the world is coming.
Only 60 years ago, they were leading Jews to their death Like sheep to the slaughter!
No Country, No Army. 55 years ago!!
Seven Arab countries declared war On the small Jewish State, Only a few hours old!!
We were then 650,000 Jews! Against the rest of the Arab world!
No IDF [Israel Defense Force]. No mighty Air Force, Just tough people With nowhere to go.
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, attacked all at once.
The country the UN "gave us" Was 65% desert.
The country started from scratch!
50 years ago!! We fought The three strongest armies in the Middle East, And wiped them out in six days.
We fought against Different coalitions of Arab countries, With modern armies, And masses of Soviet Russian weapons, And we still won!!!
We have today A country, An army, A strong Air Force, A Hi-Tech Economy, exporting millions.
Intel - Microsoft - IBM develop their stuff here.
Our doctors win world prizes For medical developments.
We made the desert flourish, Selling oranges and vegetables to the world.
Israel has sent its own satellite into Space!! Three satellites all together!!.
We sit proudly, With the US, with 250 million people, With Russia, with 200 million people, With China, with 1.1 billion people, With the Europeans -- France, England, Germany, with 350 million people, The only countries in the world To shoot something into space!!
Israel is today In the world nuclear power family With the US, Russia, China, India, France, and England. [We don't admit it, but every one knows...]
To think that only 60 years ago, We were led, Shameful, With no hope, To our death!!
We crawled out of the burning ashes of Europe, We won our wars here with less than nothing in our hands, We built an "empire" out of nothing.
Who the hell is Mr. Arafat To make me Scared? To make me be Terrified?
You make me laugh!
Passover was celebrated; Let's not forget what the story is all about. We overcame Pharaoh, We overcame the Greeks, We overcame the Romans, We overcame the Inquisition in Spain, We overcame the Pogroms in Russia, We overcame Hitler, We overcame the Germans, We overcame the Holocaust, We overcame the armies of the seven Arab countries, We overcame Saddam.
Take it easy, folks, We will overcome The present enemies too.
No matter Which part of human history you try!
Think of it, For us, The Jewish people, Our situation has never been better!!!
So, Let's Lift our Heads High, Let's Remember:
Any nation or culture That tried to mess around with us Was destroyed - while we kept going!!!
Egypt? Anyone know where their empire disappeared to?
The Greeks? Alexander of Macedonia?
The Romans? Does anyone today speak Latin?
The Third Reich? Anyone heard any news about it lately?
And look at us, The Nation from the Bible, From Slavery in Egypt, We are still here, Speaking the same language!! Right here, right now.
The Arabs don't know it yet, But, they will learn that there is one God.
As long as we keep our identity, We are eternal.
So, sorry for not worrying,
Not bitching, Not crying, Not being scared.
Things are O.K. here.
They surely could be better,
But still:
Don't fall for the media junk, They won't tell you That there are Festivals going on, That people keep on living, That people are going out, That people are seeing friends.
Yes, our morale is low, So what?
It's only because we weep for our dead While they enjoy the blood.
This is the same reason why, We will win, after all.
You can e-mail this out If you choose. To the whole Jewish community, And to people throughout the world. They are part of our strength. It might help some of them To keep their heads up high.
Tell them That there is nothing to worry about.
Tell them to think BIG, and To see the whole picture.
"See You Next Year in Jerusalem."
Aliyah Paperwork
Did I say I had ALL of my paperwork done? Not by a long shot, it seems like the stream never ends; now I just turned in my visa application and am waiting for it to come back.
Dead Zaurus .......
I fried my beloved Sharp Zaurus 5500. When using a universal power supply as the regular charger for an expensive piece of equipment epoxy the tip on and be sure you know what polarity is right. I am hoping to get a broken zaurus off of ebay and do surgery saving my Z.
My Laptop
I am worried about my laptop. December is the date of our move to Israel and transition to low income for awhile. I hope I can squeeze enough cash to buy a new laptop before we go, I would hate to be without a mobile computer.
The plans to hack into the USB circutry on the laptop and install a flash reader, USB hub, wifi, and bluetooth inside the flopy drive bay are on hold until after the move (and maybe purchase of another laptop) and I can safely consider the gateway laptop a second machine.
One fix I am considering is having a metal back made for my screen to prevent LCD smash like happened on my last trip to Israel.
Sniff for WI-FI
A nice gadget for a digital vagabond to have is the Kensington WI-Finder or Wi-Fi finder it sniffs for open (unencrypted) networks for two minutes with the push of a button. It is the size of a credit card and about 5-6mm thick. I keep mine in a flexible plastic pouch on my bicycle so I can sniff for an open network for a quick jump online. It reports signal strength on a 3 LED display from 1 red LED to 3 green LED's showing signal strength. I have had mine on my bike for about 8 months and it is still running strong.
UPS your bags
I am planning to UPS my international weight bags to New York where we will fly to Israel from. Shipping your bags on a domestic flight reduces your max bag weight from about 80 lbs. to around 50 lbs. I am going to have to live off of my bags for several weeks while in merkaz klitah (absorption center) so I want to max them out.
Today the last of my paperwork for Jewish Agency for ALiyah is in. We have purchased our tickets to New York and set up for our first lift (shipment of furniture and household stuff). I wil start posting about Israel once I am there, my advice now is that you have all your aliyah paperwork ready, you can have an inactive file at your shliach.
have your
*ketuba
*letter from rabbi proving you are Jewish
*current passports for everyone including babies
*birth certificates for everyone with apostilles from the state you were born
*copies of all your professional certifications
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You have read about what I love in the Sharp Zaurus 5500 running OpenZaurus 3.2, It truly has the potential to be a laptop replacement. Perhaqs some of these tools will be included in the next release.
This is the list of linux software and tools on my wish list.
*KGPG - encryption gui tool for use with clipboard
*KPSK - soundcard terminal node controller for passing low speed data onto ham radio
*NSTX - IP over DNS functionality, using ethertap to create a tunnel and passing the data over fake DNS requests (requires some additional kerner modules)
*IRDA Printing- I havent figured out the best way to do this looks like another thing I need to build into a kernel but I am not sure.
*KPPP - PPP dialer for modems, this is included in older versions and should be in the next stable
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I was thinking about some over the medications a traveler should carry. I sugest buying in blister pack rather than in bottles unless the you take the meds with some frequency.
!!CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE USING ANY MED!!
A cotton ball in your pill bottle will keep them from rattling around grinding them into powder.
the list:
*Benadryl/Dyphenhydramine - this is one of the most useful meds made, uses are as follows anti-allergy, sleeping pill, anti-nausea/motion sickness, some anti-diharrea effects.
*Aleve/Naproxin - works for headaches and has a long halflife
*Tylenol/Acetamimophen - Anti inflamitory, this means it reduces fever, this is inportant in children as fever can cause seizure (have both syrup and supositories on hand for children) it also reduces swelling and pain when you have strained joints or muscles.
*No-Doz/Caffeine - wake up, helps when jet lagged, vasoconstricts blood vessels in the brain fighting headaches even migraines.
*Imodium - anti-diharrea
*Charcoal - food poisoning, burn several sheets of clean paper or wood in a metal can mix the mess into water making a slurry, drink it, this absorbs the toxins.
*Oralgel - toothache, can be applied topicly on other parts of the body
*Cavit/Temporary filling - don't be caught with a broken filling (this is zinc oxide powder and oil of cloves)
Perscription Meds
Learn how to use them from your doctor, Carry the perscription!!
If you need these you also need to see a doctor as soon as you can find one.
*Keflex/Cephalosporin - Antibiotic works on a wide range of bacteria
*Flagyl/Metronidzole - Antibiotic that kills gut parasites like Giardia
