Israel Day 2 (1/6/15)

Our first full day in Israel began with breakfast (see photo for my non-traditional breakfast, although scrambled and hard boiled eggs were available). With my SIL we then took a taxi to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. You start by going through a history of the Holocaust with photos, displays, videos from survivors, and exhibits. Incredibly moving. One thing in particular -- in other writings, exhibits, etc., I have seen or read about the Holocaust, they usually refer to people being killed. Here it always spoke of them being "murdered". One of the most moving areas is the Children's Memorial -- it's pitch black with a railing to hold onto as you move through. There are photos of children and what appear to be endless stars (lights) representing each child lost while in the background a voice lists names and ages. (Photos weren't allowed within the exhibits -- I did buy some postcards which I will either photo or scan when I get home and add to this blog).

From there we took the light rail to the Machne Yehuda Market. It is like a permanent Farmer's Market and flea market, some open air, some covered, with twisty, intersecting streets. My SIL bought us tickets for a self-guided tour that included samples from selected vendors. We actually had several meals -- falafel (I've never had such light, tasty falafel); baked cheese with flecks of spinach "pastry" (it's Georgian), and a combo plate of a bouka ("cigar"), stuffed grape leaf, and kusha plus a bowl of soup. We also stopped at a vendor with a variety of spices and teas, coffees, and things. He gave us many sample to try and we bought bags of things to bring home. Near the beginning I had an etrog (similar to a lemon) mint lemonade. We finished with a relaxing mint tea. (Still have a couple bites to get -- will return later in the week.) We started walking back and then took a taxi back.

Jerusalem is in a state of semi-panic. There is a storm coming tomorrow that may include snow. The mayor has already said he will close major roads ahead of the storm to avoid the stranded vehicles they had last year. They've been trimming trees as it will be very windy and last year there were power outages during the snowstorm due to branches coming down. Our trip to Masada and the Dead Sea planned for tomorrow has been canceled. We were able to move our tour of the Old City from Thursday to tomorrow (the bad weather isn't due until later in the day).

Tonight is the wedding. We'll be getting ready to go in a little while. I'll take photos and post tomorrow.

Day 2 photos

Israel Day 1 (1/05/15)

Kate and I are on a new adventure. Yesterday afternoon we boarded a United flight to Israel, arriving at about 9:30 am this morning. We will fly home a week from today. The main reason we're here is that our cousin's daughter is getting married tomorrow night.

It was a about a 10.5 hour flight -- we watched movies (I saw Walt Disney's original Sleeping Beauty and Grease, two of the selections in the Classic Movie category), read, slept, and ate a little. The flight was almost full with a variety of people (Orthodox, college kids on Birthright tour, a church group tour, Israelis, etc.) Going through immigration took almost no time, then a long wait for the luggage, and through the green line (nothing to declare) at Customs, which meant walking out the door. Then a very long wait for the shuttle van that took us to our hotel. There are a few photos from the airport and van ride. Countryside is interesting and Jerusalem is a fascinating city. Two important things we learned on the van ride -- the most important piece of equipment for a car, truck, or bus is the horn (not sure they can operate without it) and vehicles do not yield to pedestrians.

We're staying at a nice, small hotel in the Rechavia section of Jerusalem -- in easy walking distance to the Old City, a shopping district, other points of interest, and our cousins' house. My sister-in-law Ruthi is also here so after we did some unpacking, we went for a walk with her. There are photos of the edge of the Old City, interesting buildings, shops, etc. Although it was a beautiful sunny day, temps in the 50s, there is a cold front coming in and rain/snow expected Wed. and Thurs. Depending on how bad it is, the city could shut down. We stopped at the grocery store to buy a few things (yogurt, hummus, bread, crackers, oranges) to stock the mini fridge in our room. This way even if the restaurants close, we'll have food. Amazingly we ran into our cousin Ahuva shopping in case of the storm (she has invited us for Shabbat dinner on Friday night).

Kate and I went for a second walk to see things lit up after sunset. We had a light dinner at a small nearby cafe (salads and a mint lemonade smoothie for Nancy).

Here are the photos for day 1.

Are You My Mother?

Tomorrow is Mother's Day -- a day which I celebrate and enjoy. I consider Mother's Day a private holiday. I give a card and gift to my mother and, when she was alive, I did the same for my mother-in-law -- at times we even take/took them out for brunch. I receive a card and gift from my husband (I am the mother of his children). And I receive cards and gifts from my children and, often, from my "furkids" (aka my cats). To me that is plenty and absolutely all I need.

These past few years, however, I've noticed a growing trend. People I'm not related to wish me a happy Mother's Day. Included are friends, salespeople in stores, the teller at the bank, servers at restaurants, etc. Apparently simply being female earns me that greeting. I smile, say thank you, and, if it's another female, respond "Happy Mother's Day to you too." Now my friends do know that I'm a mother and usually I know the same about them. But most of the others are strangers and know nothing about me. My first thought, often, is "But I'm not your mother!" However, what if I were not a mother? What if I had been a mother but lost my child? What if I was desperately trying to have a child but wasn't yet successful? What if my mother had recently died? In those cases, this seemingly innocent greeting could cause pain.

I don't want to be considered the Grinch of Mother's Day, but let's go back to just wishing our own mothers and wives a happy Mother's Day. Really the only people I need to have recognize my motherhood are my husband and children. Like the little bird in Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman, knowing and finding your own mother is very important. Let's keep it at that.

Blogs Are Wonderful -- But NOT as a Homepage

Blogs are great. And a CMS (content management system) website, which allows for relatively easy updating, changing, etc., is also great. One of the most widely used CMS's is WordPress. And this is where I have a problem.

Some WordPress websites don't look any different than any other website -- home page, about us page, services page, etc. Of course what a WordPress website does is allows your blog to be a part of your website. And that is fine. We've all been told that providing fresh content on your website is a good thing -- both for SEO and for keeping your readers happy and returning.

But why do people think that their blog should be their home page? And not just the current entry, but every entry they have ever made. So you can scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll and . . .  Am I ever going to get to the bottom of the page? Do I care? Sorry, but when I visit someone's website, the first thing I want to see is some description of who and what they are. Your home page should be an overview of you, your business, your services. Have a separate page for your blog. And then only highlight the most recent. Have an archives column (just like Blogger provides for my blogs) that saves them by month and year. People can look at them if they want. You can even make your blogs searchable so people can find past issues.

As long as I'm on a rant, I will complain about two other things on people's websites that annoy me. The first is a Twitter feed -- an ever-changing Twitter feed. I find it very distracting. If I want to see your Tweets, I'll click on the Twitter icon on your website and go see them on Twitter. The other annoyance is ads. I know that people are looking for ways to "monetize" their websites and/or blogs. But is filling up your homepage with ads really productive? I've gone to people's blogs or websites and wondered whose page it was -- with all of the ads it was hard to tell.

To me, my website is part of my overall marketing plan -- it's a place for people to learn more about me and my company. The portfolio page provides samples of my work so people can get a sense of what I do. And sometimes, I'm even found in search. The only way I expect my website to make money for me is by helping to build relationships with potential clients.

So think about what people see when they visit your website. You don't just want them to find you, you want them to stay and get to know you.

Death By Marketing

Marketing is an important part of any business. And part of marketing is looking for potential customers and letting them know about your business. Now we've all heard about lawyers who act as ambulance-chasers, but did you know there are also "hearse-chasers"?

As you know from my earlier blog, my MIL died two weeks ago. Since then we've been receiving a steady stream of condolence cards. Mixed in, however, have been two examples of very poor marketing. The day after the obituary appeared on-line (and the day before the funeral), there was an envelope in the mail with a flyer from a realtor who could not only help us sell a home, but had all of the connections for disposing of unwanted furniture, household goods, and any other stuff. Really? He actually thought that was uppermost on our minds, before we'd even had the funeral?

The following week brought a personalized letter from a monument company. The writer at least had the courtesy to recognize that we might not be ready to think about that step, but hoped that when we were, we would think of her and all of the help and support she could provide. If this person had actually done a little research, she would have realized, based on the names of the funeral home and the cemetery, that we are Jewish. By Jewish tradition, the headstone is not put up (or "unveiled") until at least twelve months after the burial. So we won't be ready to take that step until next year.

And then there was the letter from the company that supplied the private duty aide at the nursing home. The letter addressed to xxxxxx client (technically my MIL, although I was the contact person), opened by saying they liked to elicit feedback and recommendations for improvement to their services, so they send a satisfaction survey at the completion of service. And the last line in the letter is "Our thanks and best wishes for your health and happiness in the future." Um, did you happen to notice that the client is dead? (Of course this is the same company that sent me a letter inviting me to give them my e-mail address so I could receive their e-letter. They sent a form to fill out with an unstamped envelope to mail it back -- no sign of their e-mail address.)

So, by all means look for innovative ways to find prospective customers and get your message to them. But don't be as clueless as these companies!