Thank you for the update. Agreed that someone can start a thread for life in Gaza or life in Iran under warfare. It would be nice to read.

Today was the first normal day in Israel in the past couple of weeks. Last night the government announced that all restrictions have been lifted, children are back in schools, many restaurants re-opened and almost every shop that did not go out of business permanently were offering sales.

I took advantage of that to buy a new smart television -- this time for the 13-year-old son of a Filipino family (both parents work, but at minimum wage jobs). The store was sold out of the one I wanted to get for him but expect to get delivery of more tomorrow. I also took Marina to McDonalds (which had been closed for about a month) and she thanked me for that by taking my credit card and loading up at a supermarket in the same shopping center. Apparently, she thought it would be a nice way to save me the trouble of reducing my bank account by myself.

Thank you Dovster - you are being very kind. Great job. Thank you for the update

Sounds like a real time saver! :D

Today was day 2 back at preschool. I was on the parent patrol sitting outside for 3 hours while the kids napped. Theres only room in the shelter/gymboree for 2 classes worth of kids to nap at once, so one class is left out. Parents are there to help out in case that sleeping children need to be woken and transported to the shelter. Nothing happened so the parents kibbitzed and I went home. Found local Lychee on sale for 10 NIS for a large package so I bought 2 boxes to enjoy as imported produce hasn't returned to the grocery.

My wife is at the beach with our daughter and several of her classmates. Life is 90% back to normal. 50 hostages still remain in Gaza and there are constant visual reminders as you walk around town and sometimes run into grieving family members doing their daily protest walks.

I have now gotten 2 good nights sleep and feel 100000% better.

I had an appointment to get a replacement national ID card that was canceled due to the war. I am scared how long I will have to wait to get a replacement appointment. Back to real life.

Thank you for your update. I appreciate reading it. Hope you can get that id card.

I requested mine online several months ago and it arrived two weeks later.

is this like a passport card or drivers license? I’m still not used to the idea of a national id.

It is like a driver's license. There is a page which accompanies it with some personal details, such as how many children you have and their birth dates.

The internet is down in Iran.

It's used as a form of ID when necessary, as in cc use etc. Where in the USA one might use a driver's license, in Israel the national ID card or the drivers license would be.

this is a trip. You’re in Iran? In Tehran or Evin or at the Caspian? Such a trip.

You be careful out there and stay safe! Make sure the children are safe and well fed in the area. In case of any emergency you must go into the shelter and take care of them. Please take care of the kids. Give them a bottle of water and some treats for them. Hope they are doing well and you get some good rest tonight.

That post was made in early October, 2023. As it turned out, my kibbutz was evacuated before Halloween, and remained evacuated in October, 2004. Those 50 bags of toys and candy, stayed in my house and most of the goodies in the bags were chocolate bars and individually-wrapped chocolate cakes (like Kinder). This year, I kept the bags and the toys but threw out the chocolates as I have no desire to poison 50 children by giving them out-dated chocolate to munch on. As in the past, I will get 40 Trick or Treaters between the ages of 6 and 12 from the kibbutz and 10 more who are the children of friends from neighboring Arab towns. However, I learned my lesson and will wait until the last week of October before buying the chocolates -- just in case things re-ignite in the North before Halloween.

Thanks for the update and great to see you posting Dovster