Full Mind Dry Heave

Too much stuff on my mind this morning to write a cohesive post.  Here's a peek at the leading edge of the log-jam:

1.  If Livni is trying to play hard-to-get, she clearly doesn't understand the basic rules of the game. Specifically, to have any hope of winning you have to have something that the other player [thinks he/she] can't do without.  Bibi has expressed a responsible desire to build a broad coalition, but he certainly doesn't need Kadima's 28 mandates to form a stable right wing government.  Strange how Kadima is able to keep their clothes on when negotiating with Jews, but with Arabs across the table they totally put out. 

2.  Lower back pain is right up there with tooth-aches for its raw ability to tear your world apart.  I'm currently trying chiropractic and excercise, and will soon be adding acupuncture.  If that doesn't help I may look into a permanent epidural and find myself a really tricked-out wheelchair.

3.  I am constantly blown away by the ingratitude and short-sightedness of people who complain about the lack of water and then when we finally get a good drenching rain they scowl at the sky and say, "Let it rain in the Kinneret".

4.  Is there some kind of [hopefully temporary] mental illness that keeps teenaged boys from realizing that their parents totally know when they are being conned?  Seriously, it's like bad dinner theater.  Go learn your lines... and make me believe, dammit!

5.  Watching a precious pet come slowly out of remission is only slightly less terrible than watching a human loved-one slowly lose the fight.  Call me selfish or cruel, but I'd almost prefer the 'Old Yeller' ending in this saga.

6.  Some of you may recall that finding an acceptable coffee preperation method and/or vehicle to keep pre-brewed coffee hot on Shabbat has been a bit of a holy grail with me.  Well, in one of the handouts that were on the table outside shul this past Shabbat, there was an 'Ask the Rabbi' section that dealt with the question "Can one use a coffee maker with a timer to brew coffee on Shabbat".  The answer made me exclaim "what?!" loudly enough during the Rabbi's speech that he began speaking louder for the rest of his 'drasha'.

7.  We can go months, or sometimes years, without seeing the inside of a cemetery.  And then in the span of a few days we suddenly find ourselves on the funeral circuit.  Is there a 'death season' that exists on some logarithmic calendar that I'm simply not aware of?