Week #3

It is Sunday again, and here is my summary regarding our last week. In general everything improved from last week. I would like to thank everyone for cheering me up. It means so much to me to know that I have so many friends who have faith in me and support me when I’m down. You really helped me get through the rough time.

The main things that changed this week were: I finally had a few good lectures in a row, which improved my self confidence, and, I have a brand new Lenovo laptop. Being the mega-geek that I am (as you well know), a new laptop is a big celebration for me, and I enjoy it very much. It’s a Lenovo T400, with a 14.1 inch display, 3 GB DDR3 memory, 2.26 GHz Intel Core Duo CPU, and the best thing: it runs Windows XP. I don’t know how this happened, because the laptop has a sticker of Windows Vista and the IT guy (see below) promised me he didn’t do anything to downgrade it to Windows XP. So, basically, I got a PC capable of running Windows Vista which runs XP Pro, and it works like a lightning.

Better yet, it didn’t cost me a cent, as it is a perk for a new faculty member, who can select a computer to help him or her with research and teaching. All I had to do was send a System Specification (and that’s something I know well to do) and choose from a list of options that the IT guy in the department sends in reply. The IT guy is a huge enthusiast of Apple and Macs, and a very small fan of Windows (especially Vista, which he described as a pig that eats all system resources and come back for more). So, initially he tried to convince me that all I need is a Mac Book, but he eventually agreed with me that I should use Windows if I want to run applications freely. However, he insisted on getting the Lenovo, which was much more expensive than the other options I suggested, because he likes their service much better than Toshiba’s or Dell’s. The nice thing about this guy is that he really believes in what he preaches. He says that his mother (he is 50-60 years old, so she must be in her 80s) uses a computer running Linux OpenSuse, which he personally installed and tweaked for her. Now, that’s my kind of guy. As you can understand, we had a lot to talk about this stuff in the last week or two.

Continuing on the tech notes, as of today, we have internet connection through Roadrunner broadband connection. The theoretical download speed is 15 Mb/sec, and when connected directly to the modem it even gets these results. When connected through a wireless LAN the results are a bit less, but still impressive: 10 Mbps download and around 700 Kbps upload. Now we can use Hulu web based television, which unfortunately do not work in Israel, in order to see some of our favorite programs: Heroes, Saturday Night Live, and so on. The only problem is that we don’t have too much time to watch TV. Oh, and I found a link that allows to watch Israeli TV. Not that I miss the Israeli reality shows, but I still would like to catch a (real) football match from time to time on channel 10, and channel 10 itself bans IP addresses from out of Israel during the matches. I just finished watching Maccabi Natanya beat Maccabi Tel Aviv.

After all this techie geekiness, I can start describing our lives here, which are, really, quite boring. We have been working very hard since we arrived here. D has some work left from last weekend because of our shopping spree and I am teaching 2 classes three times a week each. As you know, last week I was disappointed about my lecturing skills so I decided that I will work harder on preparing myself. I would even say that now I actually rehearse before each lecture, in an attempt to avoid situations where my lectures get stuck on missing words or terminology. This method has been proving itself, and lack of preparation proves to be problematic, as I realized only in my last controls lecture, so eventually it gets me to work harder than ever. Yes, even harder than the times I was working at Ness. This week there were 3 days of 12 or more hours a day. We also work during the weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) in order to make up for the lost time. By the way, all this work is still voluntary, as I still haven’t got into “the system”. When I was in the army, my (stupid) commander in the IAF flight academy said that “the system” does not exist, and it is the sum of all the doings of people working in the IAF. However, as any person who works (or worked) for an IT company knows, “the system” is what runs our lives. So, I am not yet in the university’s system. This means that I communicate with my students over emails and not the Blackboard application, which is the preferred way, and that I can’t login to anything but my mail (to which I login as a student and not a faculty member). Most importantly, I don’t get paid for the work I’ve been doing in the last two weeks. The department head seems concerned about this issue, and promised to do something about it, but I guess that nothing can move the “system” from its course or speed. That’s what Newton called “inertia”. By the way, the university is so bureaucratic, that it even beat the great American bureaucracy and now I have a Social Security Number before I am officially a worker at the university. My trip to the organization that issues these numbers was actually a relatively nice experience, albeit it being in a security-tight federal building. Of course, there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes.

In an unrelated issue: we saw a Bambi (actually two moving together) yesterday. No, not the movie, the animal, which is by the way the state animal of Ohio. The strangest thing is that we didn’t see the animal in some wildlife expedition; rather, it was in Victoria avenue on the half a mile drive from our home to the mall. They just browsed the yards, as if it was their home and they were the pets of some extravagant owner. Squirrels are abundant here, but these two were a nice surprise. We did what any other good tourist do: stop the car and take a picture. Unfortunately, the only cameras we had with us were the cellular phones, which are equipped by a bizarre operating system Verizon makes the manufacturers install in the name of a unified user experience and branded look & feel, so we didn’t get the cameras to save the photos. We suspect that it is a Comverse product. If you find a way to hack it and remove this awful thing it will be highly appreciated.

Finally, I heard that Daylight Saving Time is over in Israel as part of the annual Shana Tova. So, first of all Shana Tova and Zom Kal to everyone. Here the DST is still on, the sun shines around 7:30 AM, but summer is officially over. After a first week which was blessed with great weather, with highs in the 80s (25-28 Celsius) and lows in the 50s (10-15), last week became much cooler. The coolest night was even in the mid 40s, which is just 5-6 Celsius and it even rained one night. The locals say that they “desperately” need rain, because it’s not getting to the usual average of 80-100 mm of rain each month. Ohio teams also desperately seek a win in the NFL; the only win Cleveland has is over Cincinnati, and the Bengals are probably the worst in the league. At least the Bearcats (university team) are doing well. You can’t imagine how everything in the university revolves around the athletic teams.

Short summary:

• Mood-o-meter in the high 70s.
• New laptop
• 15 Mbps
• Football on internet
• The university is run by bureaucrats
• 2 Bambi not on camera
• Getting cold

Have the best week and keep sending replies,

Elad

Second Week Summary

This week was mainly characterized by work, studies and things to-do. Monday was the first day in which I started to feel like a routine is coming, with me working on the lectures to be given later in the week, listening to last.fm and generally "working". Routine is usually an underestimated concept. People find themselves trying to escape routine, go on vacations, travel to distant parts of the world, and, sometimes, even leave to another country to seek a new life. And what is this "new life" if not yet another "routine"? On the other hand, when your life gets into turmoil as ours have been in the last few months, routine is just the medicine the doctor prescribes. However, this week proved to be as far from routine as possible.

On Tuesday the remnants of the blessed routine were still here. However, on Wednesday school started, and both of us found ourselves trying to keep up with the pace of things. Bear in mind that we had to move to our new apartment, which, aside from the kitchen, was completely empty. We spent most of the evenings this week shopping for the new apartment in (vain) attempt of transforming it from an apartment to a home. We went to Kroger on Tuesday evening, spent most of Thursday evening in Wal-Mart, and around 4 hours at IKEA on Saturday. We also visited our first ever garage sale and purchased a used chest of drawers for $25. Totally we spent around $1000, most of them on IKEA products, and, as you know, IKEA products require assembly. So, we spent most of what was left of Saturday building the things we brought home (up to 25Kgs a piece), and most of Sunday morning building the things we requested delivery for (two pieces at around 40Kgs each). Now at least we have a cupboard in the walk-in closet instead of the two shelves and hangers' rack it came equipped with.

Another notable thing is service in America. We, Israelis, tend to think of America as a place where good service is defined. This is true, but also, surprisingly, untrue, at the same time. We met a few examples of good service, mainly at the bank, the post, and the Original Mattress Factory from which we purchased our bed. All of them promised and delivered on time, and if they made a mistake, they corrected it without giving us any problem, and free of charge. However, service people here are so s-l-o-w. To say that they are slow is even to picture them as being quick to respond and resourceful. They are neither. I already told you about the power outages last week. Here are two examples for their lack of ability: they haven't even registered me into the university systems, and the Roadrunner / Warner Brothers cable company have not installed our cable yet, more than a week after we registered for their service. By the way, these things are not just frustrating; the former also means that I don't have a key to my office, a login for the systems, and most probably I will not be paid at the beginning of next month.

Road Runner service people, in addition, demonstrated the most unbelievable amount of inaptitude: first, they scheduled our installation to Saturday. Then, they called on Wednesday to tell us that they will be coming, "as planned" (so was the message they left in the voicemail), on Thursday. Then, they called on Thursday, after the time slot for their arrival had already started, to say that they are not allowed to dispatch a technician for the installation, because there are still internet outages in the area as a result of the storm and power outages from the week before. They rescheduled to next Saturday! This may mean (I'm not sure as I am not certain that I fully follow their obscure logic) that they are still working on the outages until that time. Therefore, there are probably people who are stuck without internet connection for over two weeks (first the power outage and now the cable outage).

We met another bizarre thing at IKEA. It appears that Americans are unable to say negative things. For example, if they have sold out a product, they will not say: "sorry, we currently don't have this product in stock". The product tag reads: "Sorry, this product is oversold". Meaning, we're selling this product so well that temporarily we have oversold it. We're so good at selling it, that it's not our fault that you – customers – are buying more than we can replenish.

Work was a bit of a rollercoaster as well last week. As I mentioned earlier, this was the first week of school. As a result I lectured my two classes twice this week. The outcome of the four lectures I gave is not as satisfactory as I want it to be. I feel that I have too many problems with my oral English skills. I stutter too much, I use the incorrect terms or tenses, and generally I do not deliver the material as well as I expect myself to. It brings me down. And it stresses me out, which means that by the next time I will make even more mistakes. I can't seem to find a way of breaking this magic circle. If it doesn't get better really soon I'll have to reconsider this job arrangement here. On another note I finally had my talk with Kelly. It seems that he expects me to be his right-hand in founding a new laboratory and raising new projects. If it wasn't clear enough he even mentioned that I should become the lab's "system engineer", and this is exactly what Eli told me would happen. Kudos, Eli. On one hand, this is something that I know; on the other, did I come here to repeat what I have done back home? If so, I think I prefer doing it while working with my friends and having my family nearby. And that's another blue note: I have basically no one to talk to and absolutely no friends here and I can't see how this may improve in the near future. As someone who is a "faculty", but not a doctor, and a Ph.D. student with no time for classes, I have absolutely no peers. None. Zilch. Therefore the chances of transforming a peer into a friend are not slim to none. They are ZERO.

And by the way, for those of you who survived so far, SHANA TOVA!!!

Summary:

· 1 week.

· 3 shops.

· Dozens of products.

· Circa $1000 less.

· 1 apartment yet to become a home.

· 6 days to a new internet connection (until further notice).

· American service people are stupid.

· IKEA cannot admit a failure.

· 4 lectures down, too many to go.

· Self assessment of my performance so far: 50%.

· New friends: 0.

· Chances of making a new friend: 0.0%.

· Gloom-o-meter (AKA mood-o-meter, but with high score when gloomy): 75%.

Signs of routine?

The last months were a crazed rat-race to achieve everything. The pressure was so high that even the transients in our move to the States could not add anything to it. In the past couple of days I can see, though in the very distant horizon, the signs of blessed routine. You know, just going to the office and back, perhaps relaxing at home when not working. Will it be so? I don't know yet. It's too far to tell.

Frustration

The power was still out when we left the hotel this morning. It is claimed to be the worst power outage in the history of Cincinnati and the area. This, however, brings little comfort to our lives. Since most of Cincinnati is out of power, the schools are out, and many people stayed at home with their children. My department secretariat is closed for the day, so I still can't do anything. There is no one answering the phone at the real estate agency, so we still cannot go and do anything about renting a place. D's check in appointment was rescheduled to later this week or even the beginning of the next, so she is REALLY frustrated. Everything is just on a consistent Wait-Wait-Wait loop. URGHHHHHHH

First Weekend

It's Sunday afternoon and we're staying at the hotel, stranded by the strong winds (and future heavy rain) of tropical depression (formerly known as Hurricane) Ike. The strong winds blew down the power circuit and we are left with no power. This leads me to consider how dependent we have become, as a species, on the ubiquity of power. We're just so used to being able to generate everything with a turn of a switch: light, heat, food, entertainment, and so on. Now that electricity is gone we cannot heat water for coffee, we need flashlights to go to the bathroom, we're disconnected from the internet, and once the sun sets we'll have no light. Hopefully the power circuit will be fixed by then.

The day started much better. We went to the Levee on Newport, Kentucky to see the views. The weather was hot, humid, but relatively mild, and we had a good time strolling along the waterfront and watching the Cincinnati Downtown skyline over the Ohio River. I had a nice phone call from the department head, asking if she can help with anything. It's nice having someone looking after you, especially when you're new in town, and have so many things to do. I also head a talk over Skype with my former boss. It's funny to be able to talk for free with people and stay in touch with them when you're half a world apart. I think that I begin to miss my friends and family. I talked to my dad yesterday and he doesn't sound well. He sounds depressed, and I wish I could help him. It's hard to hear a man, who for all my life I have looked up to and considered to be as stable as a rock, becomes so weak. I fear for his health both mentally and physically. Skype is not useful in such situations. Perhaps we need a way of communicating physical gestures just as we're able to communicate sound and vision over the internet.

I also miss life in Israel. The main reason is that it was so much easier for me there, having a nice job, good pay, financial security, credit history (and no need to prove one), and my friends to help me. Now we are starting all over again, like being reborn, but without the parents support. Some small examples: we know that we are able financially to lease (or buy in credit) a car, but we don't have the credit history to do it. We have the money to pay for D's first term tuition in our bank accounts, but we cannot access it readily, nor do we have the means to pay for it electronically, nor will the "domestic partnership" thing be settled soon enough to avoid the need to pay for the tuition at all. Life here seems like a magic circle that we need to penetrate, but we still haven't figured out how. You need a positive credit history to be able to receive credit. It's the perfect Catch 22.

I wish we were two months from now. Hopefully things will be better than and we'll have our lives sorted out.

Cincinnati

We traveled from Newark to Cincinnati in two days and two hours. The trip was efficient both in time and fuel, as we had a hybrid Toyota Prius. We fueled only twice during the 1000+ Kilometers drive from Newark to Cincinnati, roughly a 20 Km/liter fuel consumption. If the Prius was not so expensive to buy perhaps it would be a good idea to buy one. However, it costs $22000+ as a new one, and even more for preowned cars.

The only perks we allowed ourselves to have during the drive is buying D a new laptop and getting a new GPS navigation device for us. D is enjoying her laptop pretty much so far, and the GPS device has been most helpful in the city. We decided to postpone purchasing a laptop to me until we have the money for that.

We arrived in Cincinnati yesterday. Currently we stay at an extended stay motel just outside the city. So far, we haven't achieved much from our to-do list. The only two things we managed so far are getting a cellular phone number and opening a bank account. The coming week is going to be extremely busy, with both urgent tasks and preparing for school. D is having an orientation meeting every day of the coming week, which leaves too little time to do all the stuff we need to accomplish. Undoubtedly, we will have to extend our stay at the motel and our car rental in order to be able to survive past this week.

After the cellular phone and bank account I finally started to feel that this is not a trip. This is the real deal. It is said that "all beginnings are difficult". Hopefully, after the transient period it will be easier for us.