Oh, Seska, I do think your situation is very important. And it really sucks. I've sent out the best ~ma I could muster, to clear a way for you to get the assistance you need in the classroom. If all else fails maybe the hivemind here can help you brainstorm a way to make volunteer help more likely/palatable/practical.

Oatmeal.

Shir, I'm glad that Hollaback Israel is going so well. I'm so proud of you - it makes me feel like I'm cool just because I know you. But I'm sorry to hear your country is moving away from democracy and justice.

Satsuma.

Going for a trifecta.

Sammie slept at the head of the bed last night. She usually sleeps either at the foot of the bed or next to my knees. I also had at least seven hours of sleep last night, unaided by herbal supplements or Benedryl or the Ambien they gave me at the hospital. I can't remember the last time that happened. That kind of confirms the opinion I told the psychiatrist there - that I knew of people who have to take Ambien (or other stuff) pretty much every night, and that I know people who have been instructed to take whatever med for three nights in a row each month to reset their sleep pattern - and the later seemed more like what I need.

Oh good, Andi. I`m glad to hear it.

Andi, that's the way it works for me, too. All I need is a couple of days to get the sleep cycle back into the groove and my body/mind takes over for me. The caveat is that sometimes I have to do that 2-3 times a month when things are bad, but normally can go 6 months or longer without needing to when things are good.

Seska, much, much~ma that your government gets its head out of its ass on the disability issue.

Hey, Andi, I'm glad you are feeling better. I've been there, done that, and it's pretty awful.

I know people who have been instructed to take whatever med for three nights in a row each month to reset their sleep pattern - and the later seemed more like what I need.

This is what I do. When my sleep patterns start going kerfluey, I take zopiclone (same class of drug as Ambien) for three or four days in a row. Sorts me out for a few weeks at least. I'm glad to hear the meds are starting to help, Andi. Wishing you lots of continuing feel-better~ma. Thanks for your support with my situation, too. You is star.

Shir, ongoing good wishes for Hollaback Israel. It's great to hear that it's going well.

I need to join in with Andi in thanking all Buffistae for the support the last few days, even though I don't post as much as I'd like, I do consider all of you as "our community" where we belong.

That being said, I came across an item today for sale with no explanation: "Electric Thumb Warmer."

I Googled it of course, and the answer was practical, but my first reaction was WTH?

A bit of the Hollaback Israel goodness of the past weeks:

First, we had our meeting with Tel Aviv Municipality. I can't tell much other than it lasted two hours, been awesome and much change is gonna come. We hope.

Second, a story which is about 3-4 weeks old:

Have you heard of the PUA (pick-up artist) phenomenon? The scums who claim that "no" doesn't mean "no" (at least, in Israel), and that women are only saying "no" because they are being taught to be ashamed of their sexuality and wanting sex, so you shouldn't listen to them? After a story on our site, a link to a forum where a guy bragged about raping a woman was exposed. One post later at Hila's blog (one of our mods), and the Israeli blogsphere got on fire. From here to there, two lawsuits were served (one against the guy, the other against the "school of seduction"), few groups of feminist activists gathered information and screen shots of bragging on rape and various assaults (with their guides, of course, cheering and encouraging them - which is important, since their line of defense was "this isn't normal, that's not what we're teaching") to sue their asses, and the cherry on top - Tel Aviv city council member sent a complaint to the Attorney General of Israel, asks him to investigate these schools of seduction. As a side dish, there was graduate meetup of the specific school three days after the story was published. A spontaneous demo of 150 women and men marched there, stopped their gathering, and lectured them about feminism.

And last, I just sent an email to the Awesome Manal Shalabi. The reason is that I want to start a Hollaback of War (password: 5553), so to speak - leaving "regular" politics aside, and collecting testimonies of both sides of conflict, on it's affect on us - mostly the lack of personal security - from soldiers and cops in checkpoints and demonstrations to the random man of the "other side" who will harass or threaten you because you're the "enemy's property".

So, Hollaback Israel. We're truly changing shit. So much that numerous times per day I get all stuttery and apologetic with "you know I had no idea I'll get all that response, right?". So much that after 3 months, serious people have suggested me to stop seeing this as volunteering, and start seeing this as work - including salary and all. Umm, yay?

Edit: oh, and also, I finished the papers I had from the second year a week ago. Also a yay. I hope one of them will be good enough to be rewritten as an article.

Oh, Shir! That is so completely, thoroughly amazingly awesome!