Mammele

The other story was with a Sony music system I had purchased an extended warranty on that had to be schlepped to a repair shop three times but was never properly fixed.

The problem is that the manufacturers have contracts with third party companies who don’t care about their reputation. You only use them cause the appliance company is hooking you up, with no choice on your part. These guys get paid per service call and many don’t really care if the customer is satisfied.

He mentioned something about google Yiddish to English translate in another thread (a book for a yid). I don’t think he’s actually using it, but he’s definitely having fun… Just hope he’s not ZK.

Just read a fascinating piece “I was falsely accused” and although the story is not even finished (the author is writing it piecemeal) it’s extremely informative and scary.

And knowing someone who was witness to a murder and that someone strongly believes they convicted the wrong guy bc conviction is all that matters, our justice system is apparently not as perfect as we were led to believe. B”H most of us are outsiders to the criminal justice system hence our naivete.

So all of you saying that the community is in denial, perhaps it’s the other way around.

The idea is overcoming adversity. The stories used to be lost and found children, literally or back to yiddishkeit, but this storyline became too predictable. Happily ever after can’t be the basis of a long saga, and even for an ending we now have stories that don’t really finish – supposedly to engage the reader even after the story is over by forcing them to think. I hate thinking ; ) and love happy endings – I guess I’m in the minority nowadays.

However, I don’t think kids are fooled about real life from these stories. They have friends, family and neighbors to base their perceptions of life on, mostly positive, some sad.

Iced: didn’t MRA close a few years ago?

On a side note does anybody know why the so-called burn story was inadmissible in court? If true, such a scar lasts for years. It is preposterous stories like these that make me doubt her.

Swimming: you are right that this is much worse, but these are unfortunately “rogue” singers/dancers at a wedding you’d be embarrassed to attend for many reasons. At a wedding like this you say b”h there was no mixed dancing. And I’m not trying to lessen the negative aspect of it, but let’s call a spade a spade. Enough said.

Imho you are considered “picky” when there’s a PATTERN of you rejecting boys for things such as height, hair color, yeshiva he’s attending etc. however, if the boy is shorter than you, although still a petty excuse, it’s a pretty common reason to say no.

On the contrary, because so many years have passed (with all the intermarriage in the interim) most Spanish and hispanic probably have some jewish blood. The question is, is it really our job to “fix it”?

What if we all decided to home school our kids (and not exactly competently)? Is there a way for them to handle it? I’m not sure how involved the city/county is with this and what their responsibilities are – if any. Just asking. I’d imagine they won’t appreciate if thousands of students are getting a sub-par education or running wild. Would they arrest thousands of parents for truancy? Again, I’m not familiar with the topic but it would seem like a better idea than public school.

Some schools have on site day care for their staff ( usually not free…). It’s not the same as having your kid with you full time but you do manage to “check in”, maybe share lunch etc. Although there probably aren’t any teaching openings this time of year, you can try to get the word out for “subbing”. If you live in a large jewish community it might be enough to cover your shortfall.

Basically, if I understand correctly, hishtadlus is linked to ones level of bitachon. The higher one is, the less he will want/need to do to fulfill his gashmius’dige requirements. (he will probably also be happy with less, and won’t fret if things don’t work out the way he hoped.)

Easier said than done – hope this helps though.

I had the same thing happen to me, and I took my info. from one of the comments on an article here on ywn. It especially bothered me that she didn’t add an updated comment once the needs changed. On the flip side, we do live in a very populated, warm, frum city, not to mention many more out of towners like you wanting to help. Once the call went out, I can understand how the goods far outnumbered what they could reasonably use as the number of families effected is B”H far less than the rest that wasn’t and is able to donate. They told my husband they needed help sorting and with tags only as it probably is a logistical nightmare. Asking for brand new stuff only doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is picky, it’s a way to limit the supply so they can manage the volume and avoid the junk some people dump. There are also very likely stores, manufacturers etc. that sent brand new stuff which, let’s not kid ourselves, most people prefer.

It still hurts, and I now need to figure out what to do with all those bags of stuff. Hope I managed to somehow “soften the blow” for you. Tizku lemitzvos regardless.

Do you hear water bubbling when it goes down (test by turning on water upstairs full force and allowing it to drain)? If so it’s probably partially clogged. For the smell itself you can pour bleach down said basement drain. Clogs usually get worse, so try to convince a plumber/sewer clearing company to come down as soon as possible. Or maybe a tree or something somehow got into the sewer line outside and is restricting flow, or even moved the pipe so that the pitch is not conducive to proper draining. Because even if you had back-flow from the storm, I don’t think the smell would persist, it would have flushed itself out by now.

I am not a plumber, just trying to help, so don’t rely on my “expertise”. Good luck!

Monsey often has flooding from its streams… And despite being hit less now monsey has severe electrical outages with dangerous live wires from many fallen trees – unlike most areas of Brooklyn where most cables are “safely” underground”. It’s times like this we say “rabos machshovos blev ish…” although we must take necessary precautions, we can’t prevent/protect ourselves from everything.

The winds are still pretty strong regardless of the terminology. it ain’t over til it’s over.

I second Ima, make the tempting stuff less accessible. Living on two floors sure has its benefits, but there are other ways to lessen the snacking temptation, especially when you’re tired and lazy. Put the good stuff on the top shelf (if you MUST have it in the house) in hard to open containers etc.

But I must ask, isn’t the CR a greater cause of sleep disturbance ; ) ?

What people don’t realize is that it’s not just relevant to dating at non-kosher establishments.

A kosher restaurant manager once told me that the daters are the least profitable customers as they sit and schmooze for hours and don’t order that much. But he understandably didn’t institute any cover charge, that’s life.

I don’t know what percentage of river cafe customers are frum daters, but I’m sure there are many other customers that come for the view there which aren’t profitable. They just aren’t as easily identifiable, so they just overcharged the religious couples. I understand the business principle behind it — instituting a min. charge for all will alienate customers, even those that spend more. However it’s still discrimination.

Point is use common sense when dating, but don’t be so quick to chastise daters as if they are doing something terribly wrong. If you ever read a non-jewish paper or even website they usually have ideas for free or cheap dating spots, we’re not the only ones taking advantage of freebies.

Incidentally, this is not the only place such discrimination exists, I’ve heard of a u-pick farm that only charges an entry fee on chol hamoad. Do we really pick so little, is it a form of crowd control or are we easy targets?

I’m not sure that opposites necessarily attract (we’re not talking about magnets…) but too similar is usually NOT good for family stability. Although disagreements and different styles may cause some friction, you wouldn’t for example want both parents to be strict disciplinarians.

The example you mentioned is probably better than the reverse as there needs to be at least one practical spouse, however people do adjust and mature to do what’s necessary so even 2 “studious” partners should be okay. (If you’re just talking about studious while in school/yeshiva it’s a total non-issue.)

So bottom line they needn’t and probably shouldn’t be the same but their personalities should complement each other.

You have a long memory but were not apparently informed of later developments.

This from kashrusmagazine.com ” Snapple Summer Peach Bears Unauthorized OK- June 12, 2009 A limited quantity of Snapple Summer Peach (Snapple Beverage Corp.) was inadvertently labeled OK Pareve. This product is NOT KOSHER. Labels are being corrected. “

I assume this still holds true, so you won’t find it in kosher establishments.

BB: the minimum wage for most of us (federal, NY, NJ) is $7.25. If that were the prevailing wage for cleaning help, maybe I’d actually afford it. In my neighborhood it starts at 10. And off the books equals tax free (not even Fica). I don’t think home attendants make more, and they must go for training and have taxes deducted. Also, usually the employer provides lunch, dinner or both.

It’s definitely hard work, but don’t claim they are being mistreated. Most aren’t, or they simply “fire” their bosses (no resumes or even references to worry about)…

ZK: Don’t you worry your pretty little head over this. Your mammele wouldn’t be laughing when she finds out how much coffee you are drinking — I mean ingesting…

613: please tell me you are kidding. In case you are not, and for anybody else out there in la la land, be aware that generally speaking, more gashmius equals less ruchnius, and vice-versa. I’m not talking about natural good looks here. A sophisticated, muscular yirei shamayim?

The same holds true for many other traits. There is a reason for the yiddish saying “alles ineinem iz nisht du bei keinem”. (can’t translate too well “no one has everything combined”)

The even tougher question is where do you stand that you have such conflicting ideals? Are you covering all bases to meet your needs AND everybody else’s expectations/values?

Again, if you are serious you need to do some serious introspection, if not I’m directing this to others thinking along these lines.

Of course there’s also the elephant in the room of simply having a list that’s too long. Again, prioritize.

GN & MT are both correct… It all depends on how “finished” the basement is. If it’s full of gaps or the walls or floor are “soft” enough for mice to dig through, it’s virtually impossible to mouseproof short of a full renovation. If this is the case the best you can do is try to figure out where they are coming in from and plug those holes (quarter size and up). Concrete is great for sealing boiler rooms, a common point of entry. You can also add mouldings (1/4 rounds or whatever fills the gap) between the floor and wall.

If there’s construction nearby that’s probably the reason for the persistence of the problem as they are being disturbed and finding other accommodations. Once the construction is over and you (and hopefully your neighbors) are placing poison, the problem should ease up. I’ve never tried this before but it’s also possible to inject poison into the walls, assuming they’re not solid. I assume you’d need a commercial exterminator for that. Good luck!

You can’t donate food stamps benefits directly in any case –it’s a debit card that can be used only at authorized vendors. What he/she meant was to donate other money instead.