And now for something completely different
See the comments.
posted by Shira Salamone at 7:32 PM
Thursday, August 23, 2012
About Me
- Name: Shira Salamone
Once upon a time, I belonged to a left-wing egalitarian Conservative synagogue, where I was one of a number of women who wore a tallit—and one of the few members who used an Orthodox prayer book (adding the Mothers, of course). Having moved since then, I now belong to a right-wing traditional Conservative synagogue, where I’m almost always the only woman wearing a tallit—and one of the few members who adds the Mothers. I seem destined to be forever . . . on the fringe.
PUBLIC SERVICE POSTS
- Park your ego at the door: Links to my series "On raising a child with disabilities"
- Parenting 101
- Febrile seizures: Life-saving information
Previous Posts
- More Siyum HaShas 2nd thoughts from an Ortho rav
- Parshat Ekev: 5772/2012 thoughts
- Sheh-asani . . .
- An interesting juxtaposition
- Oh, nuts! :(
- Parshat Va-etchanan: 5772/2012 thoughts
- 3 good reasons why Mourner's Kaddish should be *led*
- Parshat D'varim: 5772/2012 thoughts (updated)
- More re "making room" for persons with disabilities
- "Zeh Keli!":The 1st"minyan,"in a manner of,er,singing
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9 Comments:
Please see next comment.
Kindly keep going.
Please be patient, and continue to next comment.
Sorry, please keep going.
Your patience will soon be rewarded.
Last delay.
This is yet another one of my (in)famous "hidden" posts, hidden in the comments so that my colleagues would have to actually both click and scroll to read them. I don't know how much of a secret it is to my office-mates that I blog, but I can't afford to be too obvious, especially when writing about matters of which my office-mates may be aware, since I like my job and want to keep it.
The actual publication date of this post is Sunday, September 23, 2012.
We're getting a sneak preview of my husband's retirement, whether we like it or not--due at least indirectly to changes in government regulations, my husband's workload has been reduced, and his pay will drop proportionately. This pay reduction will probably begin in October and last through roughly February or March. All bets are off regarding whether this change will become permanent or not, but I think that, if it continues through June, my husband's currently-full-time job will probably become part-time--or non-existent--by this time next year. :(
I'm sorry to hear it. I hope his newly acquired free time is spent happily, and that he returns to enjoyable full time employment if he desires to.
Larry, thank you for your good wishes. We’re hoping for the best.
The prospect of dealing with a radical reduction in income after my husband’s retirement has forced me to rethink some earlier ideas and decisions. For one thing, much as we’d love to live in a Jewish neighborhood with at least one daily minyan and kosher shopping and restaurants within walking distance, get home delivery from kosher restaurants, and (continue to) walk to synagogue, an increase of roughly $500 or more in our monthly housing expenses would put a severe crimp on our other plans. My husband’s been looking forward for years to having time for Jewish studies programs that he’s unable to fit into his work schedule. With such an increase in housing expenses, would he be able to afford to enroll in Context and/or classes at the Skirball Center? Would we still be able to go to the annual Limmud conference together, and have a few pennies left to enjoy a short vacation?
And if we end up stuck where we are, will we still be able to sneak out for an occasional meal? Getting on the subway every time we want to eat out is bad enough, but the price is even worse—even “fast food” for two in a kosher restaurant can cost over $20, and a meal in a nice kosher restaurant rarely costs us less than $50. I think I’m going to have to develop a sudden interest in such non-cooked dishes as Greek salad and salade nicoise, just so that we can both eat out in our own neighborhood and not break the bank. Yes, staying in our current apartment would seal the deal, making certain that we remain Conservative Jews for life—we’d have to travel to synagogue on Shabbat/Sabbath and Yom Tov/major holidays once all the local shuls closed, and we wouldn’t be able to afford to worry about kosher cheese or bugs in produce when eating out, either.
Retiring would be nice, but retiring on a tight budget, well . . . Unfortunately, neither I nor my husband may get a choice of retirement date.
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