The Lull, part 14

The Goddess of Geek surveys her dominion: I feel great empathy for tech support staff, but sometimes they get so used to dealing with the technologically-challenged that they don't know how to talk someone, well... geeky.

Me: "Look, let me open a telnet window, ping your server, and prove that there are no port errors on my end. Plus your webmail also won't display mail, which further indicates that the problem is at your server!"

Them: Silence. Frantic clicking. "Ah, ah, oh. Oooohhhh. We'll have to call you back."

And, amazingly, they do. It was the third [still nameless ISP] person I had talked to in 24 hours, but he figured it out, admitted that some settings at their end were dafuk l'gamrai (completely screwed up), and fixed things. So I have email again. And all is right with the world...

The Fat Girl update: Nadine has her first spoonful of tuna today in almost a week. Her whole body quivers with excitement. Her eyes bulge out. She eats so fast that she forgets to breath, and finally comes up for air with a tuna-covered face and glazed expression, much like a hyena that has nearly gorged itself into a coma on some half-rotted carcass. I back away slowly and let her return to her kill. For the Fat Girl, tuna is back in her life and all is delicious in the world...

The score card: These days, you need a score card to keep track of who's a friend and who's an enemy. In the ever-shifting sands of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, for example, so-called moderates have used the 9/11 anniversary as an excuse to trot out the old canard that we or the US were behind the attacks. Moderates? They are no less lunatic than fanatics like Abu Muhammad, a senior leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, who "wishes every day was September 11." Meanwhile, police in Germany busted up a ring of neo-Nazis. The wackos are out en mass so all is normal in the world...

Aussie ABC—better late than never: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation finally figures out that terrorists aren't freedom fighters. More journalistic responsibility means that things are looking up in the world...

Congrats, Guy and Masha! We are stunned last night when our favorites, Guy and Masha, win rokdim im kohavim (Dancing with Stars), beating out the judges' favorites, Haim and Anna. Haim Revivo is a local football (soccer) star, and having been partnered with the formidible Anna, we thought he would be unbeatable. But Guy and Masha had great chemistry and always looked like they were having a lot of fun. The season ended with much juicy gossip, so ratings are doing fine in our world...