A day of interesting contrasts.. Today was actually Yom Kippur.. The holiest day of the hebrew calendar.. I used my secular secret powers to bend time and space and make my observation yesterday instead… I was still in that meditative and repentive mode today though.. No blinding insights.. .. Interestingly.. Not much regret in the past year.. Some great sadness but no regret.. In fact im in a pretty grateful place now..But i did come up with some good internal suggestions, places to work harder and improve.. Mistakes to better avoid.. I tend not to share those insights.. They're like birthday candle wishes.. If you share them, they don't come through.

Despite the solemnity of the day.. I was in decidedly un-solemn surroundings.. I spent the night t my friends lake house with a group of mutual friends. . It turned out not to be too raucous.. Cigars were the only unusual vice… We were all asleep by 11:30

 

This morning, i woke late.. We did a little work around the cabins to winterize.. Including a boat trip by victor to undo thebuoy for the winter

I got home around 1. Gabe was the hanging out .. So it was nice to hang out with him. It turns out that he managed to crack the screen on his iphone the other day when it fell off his car…(going 60 mph on the interstate) . Amazingly, The thing still worked, though the screen was just shards of glass. I had ordered a replacement screen mid week.. And it came today..

It was a perfect time for the 3 hour adventure to swap out the screen.. Its an amazingly involved process..There are about 30 nearly microscopic screws . About 8 tiny connectors and about 7 sub assemblies. Gabe did a great job of walking through the incredibly detailed youtube instructions and dissembling the phone, removing the shattered screen, swapping in the new one and reassembling.

As each tinypart came out, it went in its own bowl.. He was like a surgeon

And..mwhen the whole thing got back together.. It worked

Im proud to have raised 2 sons who can swap out a phone screen.. Max did his earlier in the year..

 

Ok.. Time for sleep..

All the best for the neww year folks

May you be inscribed in the book of life…

And the book of peace..

 

Nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Greetings from a pizza joint parking lot.. Im writing here in a fast-induced zero blood sugr haze as i finish my yom kippur fast…

Whats that you say.. Yom kippur is tonight and tomorrow.. Well, thanks to the miracle of rationalization,I've been able to reset the hebrew calendar and move my observation to last night and today. Hence from last night I've had no food nor drink…nor.. Have i .. As the torah forbids 'anointed myself with oil'

Aside from all the non-annointing, what I did do was use the time for some personal reflection.. At least between the phone calls i couldn't avoid…

Tomorrow is the day when you atone for the sins of last year.. commit to certain and improvements and sign the deal.. .

The most meaningful thing to me of the observance is the litany of the Al Chet.l the list of sins to consider when making amends and improvements

For the sin which we have committed before You under duress or willingly.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by hard-heartedness.

For the sin which we have committed before You inadvertently.

And for the sin which we have committed before You with an utterance of the lips.

For the sin which we have committed before You with immorality.

And for the sin which we have committed before You openly or secretly.

For the sin which we have committed before You with knowledge and with deceit.

And for the sin which we have committed before You through speech.

For the sin which we have committed before You by deceiving a fellowman.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by improper thoughts.

For the sin which we have committed before You by a gathering of lewdness.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by verbal [insincere] confession.

For the sin which we have committed before You by disrespect for parents and teachers.

And for the sin which we have committed before You intentionally or unintentionally.

For the sin which we have committed before You by using coercion.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by desecrating the Divine Name.

For the sin which we have committed before You by impurity of speech.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by foolish talk.

For the sin which we have committed before You with the evil inclination.

And for the sin which we have committed before You knowingly or unknowingly.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us.

For the sin which we have committed before You by false denial and lying.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a bribe-taking or a bribe-giving hand.

For the sin which we have committed before You by scoffing.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by evil talk [about another].

For the sin which we have committed before You in business dealings.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by eating and drinking.

For the sin which we have committed before You by [taking or giving] interest and by usury.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a haughty demeanor.

For the sin which we have committed before You by the prattle of our lips.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a glance of the eye.

For the sin which we have committed before You with proud looks.

And for the sin which we have committed before You with impudence.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us.

For the sin which we have committed before You by casting off the yoke [of Heaven].

And for the sin which we have committed before You in passing judgment.

For the sin which we have committed before You by scheming against a fellowman.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a begrudging eye.

For the sin which we have committed before You by frivolity.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by obduracy.

For the sin which we have committed before You by running to do evil.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by tale-bearing.

For the sin which we have committed before You by swearing in vain.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by causeless hatred.

For the sin which we have committed before You by embezzlement.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a confused heart.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us.

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a burnt-offering.

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a sin-offering.

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a varying offering [according to one's means].

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a guilt-offering for a certain or doubtful trespass.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of lashing for rebelliousness.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of forty lashes.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of death by the hand of Heaven.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of excision and childlessness.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of the four forms of capital punishment executed by the Court: stoning, burning, decapitation and strangulation.

Im clean on that lastnone, at least

Actually, Despite the liberties I'm taking with the dates.. Its something i take pretty seriously.. I know what I've sucked at and what I need to improve…

Which reminds me: If I've wronged or offended any of you all out there.. I am truly sorry.. Let me know how to make it right.. (Eg. just called to apologize directly to a work friend for my bad handling of a situation)

More tomorrow..

Shana tova

Nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Sleepy Hollow… I don't mean that like I am feeling both sleepy and hollow after leaving my hotel at 3:30 this morning in costa rica., having my flight diverted from newark to dulles., Then waiting there for 5 hours while my flight was delayed again and agin

Instead i mean Sleepy Hollow the incredibly lame and campy and deliciously under produced made-for-Fox-TV movie at that same name that was the only program available for free on both legs of my trip from New York to Columbia and Costa Rica back to New York. Since it was impossible to turn off, I managed to watch it end to end Seven times with only minor lapses of consciousness … And that is no exaggeration.

The movie is replete with the headless horseman,ndecapitations , Revolutionary war costumes andnsmall town Westchester county cop action. All tied together with a bad acting and a goofy script.l still thought it was visually arresting.. Nearly all the good guys get decapitated at one point or the other by the headless Horseman. He's the real star because he's the only one that doesn't talk. It was a riot.

Given the number of times I had to watch it I took different Approaches in each watch. for example one time I watched the movie and listened to a meditation tape as the soundtrack… That almost worked. The Horsemens axe was swinging to the sound of a gong. I also made up dialogue in my head… Though I can't tell if mine was any worse than the original.

You got a make your own fun when you're traveling… dont you ?

Well… Happy to be back in the US after a successful trip.
Night all,night Sam

– Me

Sleepy Hollow… I don't mean that like I am feeling both sleepy and hollow after leaving my hotel at 3:30 this morning in costa rica., having my flight diverted from newark to dulles., Then waiting there for 5 hours while my flight was delayed again and agin

Instead i mean Sleepy Hollow the incredibly lame and campy and deliciously under produced made-for-Fox-TV movie at that same name that was the only program available for free on both legs of my trip from New York to Columbia and Costa Rica back to New York. Since it was impossible to turn off, I managed to watch it end to end Seven times with only minor lapses of consciousness … And that is no exaggeration.

The movie is replete with the headless horseman,ndecapitations , Revolutionary war costumes andnsmall town Westchester county cop action. All tied together with a bad acting and a goofy script.l still thought it was visually arresting.. Nearly all the good guys get decapitated at one point or the other by the headless Horseman. He's the real star because he's the only one that doesn't talk. It was a riot.

Given the number of times I had to watch it I took different Approaches in each watch. for example one time I watched the movie and listened to a meditation tape as the soundtrack… That almost worked. The Horsemens axe was swinging to the sound of a gong. I also made up dialogue in my head… Though I can't tell if mine was any worse than the original.

You got a make your own fun when you're traveling… dont you ?

Well… Happy to be back in the US after a successful trip.
Night all,night Sam

– Me