Something extraordinary happened to me right before the Feast. I decided to make omelettes for breakfast one day, so I pulled out a bowl and started cracking eggs. The first one I cracked open had two yolks. The second one I cracked open had two yolks. The third one I cracked open had two yolks. The fourth one I cracked open had two yolks. At that point I decided to stop cracking eggs because #1 I was completely freaked out and #2 I think that’s enough protein for one day.

The really odd thing is that this happened to me once before about a year ago. I promise I buy normal grocery store eggs, and none of my friends have had a similar experience. Apparently I was born with a super power, and I’m just now learning how to use it. I wish it had been something cooler.

Things here are normal - by day we work at the Embassy, and at night I fiddle around on the computer, play games and watch podcasts while Franklin labors in the basement with his many guitars. He’s been doing a string of repairs lately, which is very cool. Though it has set him back quite a bit in his building plans. He’s got quite a few in the works, but nothing nearing completion yet.

I signed up this morning for NaNoWriMo, which basically means that I’ve committed to writing (or trying to write) a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. The organizers recommend telling as many people as possible that you are doing this, so that the fear of public humiliation will get you through the times you want to quit. It’s really a dumb thing to do as I just decided this week that I’m really no good at fiction, but it will be interesting to try nonetheless.

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We drove the mother to the airport at 4:30 am yesterday and said goodbye in a fog of sleep deprivation. We miss her when she’s not around, but she’ll be back in February so we won’t have to miss her for long.

Franklin and I got the rare opportunity to facilitate an engagement last week. Steve arrived in Israel at 5:00 Wednesday, and was upstairs hiding when people started to arrive to hang out and play games at 8:00. When enough people had gathered, we announced that we had a video to show and everyone dutifully gathered in the living room. Laura Gail wasn’t paying any attention until she realized Steve was on the video, at which point she bee-lined it over to the TV (knocking over several people in her haste) and pressed her nose up against the screen like a little kid. Video Steve sang a song for her, and then instructed her to pick up the phone. I handed over the phone, and Phone Steve told her how he had something to ask her, and how all his co-workers were gathered around listening in. Then the phone “cut off.” Laura Gail went ballistic. “GET HIM BACK ON THE PHONE!” While I was “trying to reconnect,” Steve walked down the stairs. Everyone at this point was screaming and crying, and Laura Gail literally flew across the room to Real Life Steve, who got down on one knee and proposed. Happily she said yes.

Our dog Chloe had a seizure Friday morning, and the vet is trying to help us determine if it was just something she ate, or if she’s got something bad going on in that tiny brain of hers. We’re taking her in this morning for blood work, which will almost certainly tell us nothing.

House-boy Dave is doing well and sends his greetings to the linkernews readership.

You may have noticed that the site looks very different. I’m in the process of revamping, and I think overall that’s a good thing. My next big project is Franklin’s guitar site, so keep an eye out for that.

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We just got back from a wonderful (and needed) vacation with our friends and neighbors the Kings. There’s something about living and working in Jerusalem that necessitates periodical retreats. There’s a heavy atmosphere in the city, and without even being aware of it, you find yourself pressed lower and lower under the weight of it. A quick trip down the mountain can make a huge difference.

Here’s Franklin celebrating Israel’s love affair with modern art:

Anyway, we’re back now and feeling better. Go fight win!

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This is pretty much how the Feast felt to me.

It was wonderful.

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Yesterday on the way home from work, we found our road blocked off by a police van. We could hear the policeman shouting over a bullhorn, but we couldn’t quite hear what he was saying. Being the good Israelis that we are, we decided to see if we could get through by going the back way. We made it all the way to our parking area where we had a great view of what was going on: a “suspicious object” had been left on the road right outside our house.

Suspicious objects are taken very seriously here in Israel. If you see an unattended bag or box in a public place, you let security know immediately. They’ll get everyone away, cordon off the area and contact a special police team. These teams respond quickly, and are on the scene within minutes. They’ll use their experience and training to make a judgment about the severity of the threat, and then they’ll send in someone to rig the object for destruction. Sometimes they’ll send a person in a special suit, sometimes they’ll send a remote-controlled robot. Everyone backs away, and then the object is exploded.

Usually the suspicious object isn’t a bomb - it’s just some guy’s gym bag, and I’m sorry fella, but your shorts are now a tattered mess. In fact, we once had an Embassy employee who absentmindedly left a huge box of fliers outside the post office. Upon remembering them, he ran back to the scene to find that the police were in the act of blowing them up. He was too embarrassed to claim the package, so he just watched as the entire box was turned into confetti.

Yesterday we arrived on the scene too late to see the exploding of the object, but it must not have been anything major. From our parking area I got a picture of the sapper packing away his tools.

In other exciting Israel news, Susanna found a tarantula on the upstairs Embassy balcony. We discussed capturing it, but decided that it was likely that we’d injure the poor guy in the process, so we just let him be. There are people in the office who refuse to go on the balcony, and get really upset if you leave the balcony door open - but most of us just watch our step out there. We didn’t see him at all yesterday, so maybe he’s gone.

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