Not the movie, just the feeling that the room is spinning. Vertigo is a rotten thing to have. It started on Friday. Getting up from a prone position, lying down, rolling over in bed, all gives the same icky feeling. While it might be milder today, I'm going to have to make a doctor's appointment to see what can be done. I don't have much hope for any immediate cure. I was probably a little stupid riding my bicycle to work today, but it doesn't seem to kick in when I'm walking so I was probably safe.

Last week I spent some time putting older blog material, from my previous blog site, into this site. There is probably a lot I lost when my previous blog site went under, and I still have to check my home machine for any additional backups, but most of my material is now available on this site.

I also tried to straighten out my Webring connections, since two of them seem to be faulty. It will take some time until the mess is straightened out.

A recent video at home was Sense and Sensibility. R was interested to see "Snape" in a different role.

S's sister sent us a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. She told us it was just so we could see them, as the product wasn't kosher. That disappointed the kids, so I did a little web digging and located the kashrut company that inspected one of the manufacturer's factories. Within 24 hours I received a note saying that they were kosher provided they were in the original packaging. As they were, my kids (and S) tried them this morning (they're not in my diet). The results were hilarious. One of those times when you wished you had brought out the video camera and taped the whole thing. A had the most trouble getting them down, while S ate the nice sounding ones and then had trouble with the less pleasant tasting ones. But what can you do with beans labeled "Vomit" or "Earthworm". R had trouble with black pepper.

Friday evening after the Shabbat meal, E and I had a nice long walk together. (A went to bed and R was with her friends in Scouts for the meal.) We didn't really discuss anything important. E was bitten by mosquitoes and due to the length of the walk E was so tired she went straight to sleep when we returned home.

E's started to think (and talk to S) about her Bat Mitzvah (which takes place, God willing, in just over a year). I hope I'll be included in the discussion.

The synagogue had a meeting of members to talk about various items. S and I attended, but out of 100 families, less than 20 turned up. First we elected a new member of the board, no real problem, only 1 candidate. Then there were 5 topics of discussion. First on the list, violence in the synagogue. Hey I know something about that. See my June 14 listing. But I kept my mouth closed. Amazingly enough the guy who was violent that day did most of the talking, in fact he didn't seem to stop all through the meeting. (Maybe I shouldn't be surprised as he talks all through the Shabbat service as well.) Nothing seemed to be decided.

Next topic, what time is Slichot services (prayer services done as preparation for Rosh haShana). According to the President of the synagogue we don't do them late enough. Solution, lets do it twice, those who want to do it really late can go to the second service.

Third topic, the third Shabbat meal (normally done between the afternoon service and the evening service on Shabbat afternoon. Should we have a meal at the synagogue? Normally we just have a lecture. The meal would cut into the lecture time, therefore no change to the synagogue routine.

Next topic was the Parshat haShavua talks (on the portion from the Torah read that week) during the Shabbat morning services. At first the discussions seemed to be on whether we needed the discussion during the morning service as well as before the previous evening service. Then the discussion moved to what people were saying in the talks, which seemed to be the actual reason for the problem. (I must admit I'm rude enough to read the Parshat haShavua printed pages that are distributed to the synagogues rather than listen to what people are saying.) My talkative "friend" started to talk about a particular person, but that was frowned on, so he decided to say that if women would dance with the Torah on Simhat Torah, he'd leave the synagogue. I was willing to give a Torah to S to dance with that very moment, but the Aron (cupboard where the scrolls are kept) was locked. No real decision taken, except that if a person's talk was so offensive, then maybe he wouldn't be invited to talk again.

The final topic was "silence" in the synagogue. (Doesn't this have something to do with the violence topic earlier?) Several decisions were taken (no radical ones), much to the despair of the "friend." Of course one of the simple solutions would have been if he'd offered to shut up. Lets see if the synagogue is any quieter.

One of the disturbing aspects of the meeting was the tendency toward lack of respect for some speakers. The amount of interruptions, which came from certain people, sometimes within sentences, not just at the end of them, was disgusting. (And I hate that word.) By the end S was shaking (both from air-conditioned cold and anger) from the way the "friend" spoke to her.