The latest

See here.

Health Education needed?

I confess that I was playing Jewish Mother with my doctor's receptionist--I told her that the best thing she could do for her health would be to give up soda:  "It rots your teeth, rots your bones, makes you fat and gives you diabetes."  But I was a bit taken aback by her response--she literally gasped, and looked at me as if I'd just handed her a death sentence.  Seriously, is the general public understanding of such health basics as "sugar (especially in high-fructose-corn-syrup form) is bad for your health" so poor that what I said should even have been surprising?

Say hello to Ms. Porcupine :)

I go to my alternative doctor (an MD, in case you're curious) for a consultation, and mention that one health problem I'm having is what seems to be arthritis in my right hip.  He sends me down the hall to his physician assistant, who is, apparently, the office specialist in pain management.  Not only does the PA tell me that part of my problem is that I've adjusted my walk to accommodate the plantar fasciitis on my left foot (so much for the theory that there's no connection between my symptoms and my plantar fasciitis), he also tells me that I have a lower-grade case on my right foot, and that he should be able to relieve the pain in my right hip with prolozone therapy.  So they shoot me up with lidocaine local anesthetic and start the treatment, politely neglecting to inform me that prolozone therapy requires multiple injections, not just one.  Fortunately, I felt very little pain.  But I gotta tell, I felt like a human pincushion.  :)

Will the therapy work?  Stay tuned.

Vive la France, and Am Yisrael Chai

Next time there's a possible public gathering of the Jewish community in New York City, I'll remember to check the Jewish Community Relations Council website and/or that of its parent organization, UJA-Federation, both of which turned out to be the co-sponsors of tonight's memorial service at Lincoln Square Synagogue.  Security was tight--we passed a number of police officers, every one of whom we thanked, on the way to the table at the entrance at which all bags were being checked.  Once inside, we found a packed sanctuary crammed with television and still cameras, with standing room in the aisles, lobby, and, later, we were told, outdoors in front of the synagogue.  The New York French-American Jewish community was represented mainly by members of the West Side Sephardic Synagogue.  (I heard plenty of French in the lobby after the memorial service.) Speakers also included officials from the French and Israeli governments who are stationed in New York City (such as Israeli Consul General Ido Aharoni), the New York City municipal government (such as Comptroller Scott Stringer), Senator Charles Schumer and Member of Congress Jerrold Nadler.  Mourned were the victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, the victims of the slaughter at a Parisian kosher supermarket, and the French policewoman killed in the line of duty.

There were rallies today in Paris, other French cities, and many other cities around the world against terrorism and in support of France.  Let's hope that, in the future, public gatherings will be more joyous.

Memorial service tonight at Lincoln Sq. Synagogue, 7:30 PM

One of our co-congregants mentioned this in shul yesterday, but the only place on the internet where I found confirmation was here.  It's a good thing I have a BA in French.

New York

. . .

Dimanche 11 janvier, la Lincoln Square Synagogue (180 Amsterdam Ave) dans l’Upper West Side tiendra une prière pour les victimes à 19h30.

Sunday, January 11, Lincoln Square Synagogue (180 Amsterdam Ave) on the Upper West Side will have a prayer for the victims at 7:30 PM."

Four murdered in a kosher supermarket in Paris, in addition to those murdered in Paris at the Charlie Hebdo satire publication, all killed by Muslim terrorists.  Nowadays, even writing and food shopping can be deadly pursuits.  :(

. . . Location

[This post was originally part of this one, but I felt uncomfortable leaving the paragraphs below at the top of my screen.]


A quieter neighborhood isn't the only thing we left behind.  Since our organization was unable to rent enough floors to accommodate the entire staff, some of our crew will remain on the old homestead for another year or two.  Unfortunately, among those not yet moved to our new location is the IT training staff.  There was a time when all my boss had to do was call, and one of the trainers would magically appear to assist him or whomever in our office needed assistance.  I've been a beneficiary of the IT training staff's help, myself--about two years ago, I was re-trained in the art of creating PowerPoint presentations, something that I hadn't done in roughly a decade.  But now, with us in one location and them in another, it's DIY* time.  :(

A few weeks ago, I was asked to create an organization chart, yet another thing that I hadn't done in about a decade.  My boss had taken a crack at it, and had produced a usable, but not particularly professional-looking, chart.  So IT came and installed Visio on both of our computers--but the IT person left without giving either of us so much as a "click here" introduction.  Yes, you can teach this old dog new tricks, but you have to teach her--I'm not one of those fortunate souls who can click here and press keys there and have the whole app/device/whatever figured out in half an hour.  So I tried, and failed, to create an org chart in Word using Insert, SmartArt, and finally ending up doing it the hard way, using Insert, Shapes.  I've since created an org chart with SmartArt, but find that SmartArt doesn't like certain things--I haven't had any luck changing my mind and trying to add a new "box" at the very top of the chart.

Two pieces of advice for those using Shapes to create an org chart:
(a) the boxes can be copied (and the text inside changed afterward), but moving copied lines is more trouble than it's worth;
(b) be sure to click on View, Gridlines to help you line up the boxes properly, but be equally sure to turn off Gridlines afterward, or they'll appear on every single Word file!

Coming up for air

Busy, busy, busy.  See especially the third comment here.  I'd love to stay, 'cause I do have a few things to say, but alas . . .

For current New York City weather report, see here, minus the going-back-into-the-60s part--we probably won't get above 30 degrees Fahrenheit until this Friday.