Never volunteer….

Mishkan Tefilah is the long-awaited new siddur (prayerbook) of the Reform Movement (its current planned publication date is October, 2006). Shir Hadash was one of the congregations which piloted an early draft of the book (early enough that some of the Hebrew was printed in the Dingbat font instead of in Hebrew, which made for some interesting reading), and, as a regular at Shabbat Morning minyan, I had some opinions about its usefulness and worthiness.

So I volunteered (or got volunteered) onto the Adoption Committee — our job is to figure out how to introduce the new siddur to the congregation, and what to do with the previous two versions (we probably don’t want to use three different prayerbooks!). We had our first meeting tonight, and all of us left with homework. We have to attend three different styles of services over the next month or so and “journal” our reactions (good thing we’re Reform, because the only way to do a good job of journalling is to write immediately, even on Shabbat). We also have a few articles to read and some of us (including me) have to summarize an article for the group.

The newest draft of the siddur is substantially better than the one we piloted, but it’s still a big change from the familiar “Gates of Grey” interim prayerbook, and it’s going to be a challenge figuring out how to make the transition.

In other news…

Diane went to the doctor this morning and they confirmed the diagnosis of positional vertigo; the doctor used the Epley Maneuver on her, and she said she’s been somewhat better since. But the doctor also ordered an MRI, just in case — that’s scheduled for a week from now, although if Diane gets better, she doesn’t have to go through with it. She doesn’t expect to go to work tomorrow, though — driving would still be a bad idea.

Well, not quite OK

On Friday, I mentioned Diane’s trip to the ER, and summarized it by saying, “she’s OK!”

I overstated the case, I guess.

She woke up Friday morning feeling fine. Halfway through breakfast, she said that she was dizzy and not feeling good, so I called the doctor. Of course, it was too early for them to be open, but their answering machine pointed us at the SCCIPA Nurse Advice line; once we got to talk to an RN, she directed us to go to the nearest ER, Good Samaritan Hospital.

And that’s where we spent the next few hours; they diagnosed Diane as having “positional vertigo”, gave her a short-term prescription, and sent her home for bedrest and a light diet. So she spent almost all of Friday in bed, and we slept in on Saturday (I needed that part, too!).

Saturday was better, at least from a staying awake standpoint, but she was still far too dizzy to do much. And today has been much the same, though she was able to go out for dinner (but she can’t read or drive). She has been doing some self-help exercises we found on emedicine.com, and they may be helping.

So tomorrow, I’ll be taking her to the doctor for what I hope is a more precise diagnosis, and maybe even some treatment.

Some debts aren’t as easy to cancel

Even though I declared blogging bankruptcy yesterday, I would be derelict in my duty if I didn’t acknowledge the help provided by Carole, Greg, and Tony in our quest for a refill for Diane’s award pen.

It turns out that it’s easy to buy the right refill at your favorite local office supply house (at least it is if your favorite is Staples or Office Depot); what’s needed is the “standard” sized Multi-action Ballpoint Pen Refills from Staedtler (they come in a three-pack — three colors for three bucks). You have to remove the plastic collar from the old refill and put it on the new one, and then it works fine (although not for long — these are small refills). I might follow Tony’s lead and order from Stylus Plus next time, though, since then we can get only the color we want, instead of winding up with a couple of useless refills in colors we don’t like.

Thanks!

Chapter 11

I’m going to take a leaf from Larry Lessig’s recent hint in Wired (found via the essential 43 Folders) and declare “blogging bankruptcy” for the events of the past couple of months.

There go the postings I was going to write on:

  • Kehillah’s first graduation (key word: participatory)
  • Our trip to Tucson (key word: hot!) to visit Diane’s Dad
  • Returning our rental to Phoenix Airport and waiting for the bus (key word: hot hot!)
  • Our initial experiences with a professional organizer (key word: bagsful)
  • My trip to Southbury, Connecticut, to be on IBM’s “Financial Education and Planning” panel (key word: watch out!)
  • The continuing saga of trying to sell Diane’s Dad’s house (key word: delay)
  • Jeff’s trip to ComedySportz improv theatre camp in LA (key word: different restaurants)
  • My hitting 30 years at IBM (key word: vested)
  • My colonoscopy (key word: Versed)
  • The great July heatwave (key word: hot hot hot!)

and even the posting I could have written about Diane’s trip to the ER this morning for vertigo and nausea (key word: she’s ok!).

And I’m sure there were other things I planned to write about or link to which will never resurface, even to this extent.

For all of these things, pardon me, forgive me, grant me atonement.

There. I feel better. See you again, probably sooner!