Life in the Fast Lane

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened, now can I identify when it went away. I am referring to the moment I began thinking in blog posts. My experiences in Israel immediately translated in my mind to blog posts. At some point, that went away. I am not sure if it was sudden or gradual. I was looking over my blog’s stats last night and realized that my posting simply fell off. It is possible that I stopped thinking of stories to share as my time to write them shrunk. I have been particularly occupied lately. For the past few weeks, I have put in nearly 40 hour weeks at the office – which of course does not sound like a lot till I remind you my readers that I am currently only working three days a week. I really wanted to put quotations in the sentence, but I couldn’t figure out where they should go to convey optimal sarcasm and irony.

At any rate, this morning during my commute to work, it dawned on me that there have actually been some very story worthy things going on in Israel that I should share. The two that immediately came to mind this morning were on the Fast Lane and Groopbuy. This post is all about the Fast Lane. Groopbuy is so awesome it deserves its own post, which will be published soon.

Fast Lane:

I have written many a post on my complex commute to work from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, and the brutal traffic entering the Tel Aviv area. For the past year, the highway commission has been working on implementing a plan that would alleviate the congestion. The solution, which just went live a few weeks ago, is the Fast Lane.

The theory goes like this: build an extra lane on the highway for about 17 kilometers outside of Tel Aviv and charge people to drive on it. There will be a pull off on the highway and drivers in the Fast Lane will have their license plate photographed and will be charged a fee for using the lane, which will cut through traffic like an Israeli in a line. But wait, if you are not yet sold on the idea there is more. As more people use the lane, the pricing will change. A large sign will constantly update the pricing to use this lane – as more people enter the lane, the price will increase. “Increase!?! How does that make sense? You are paying more for less – the more cars in the lane the slower it will go!” That was my response at first. It turns out though that the policy is pretty smart – if the point of the lane is to be efficient, people will have to pay more for the convenience as demand rises and eventually market efficiency should reach a demand equilibrium in which drivers will not want to incur the heightened cost to sit in the same traffic and realize no material gain. The pricing starts low – about 6 shekel. I don’t know how high the pricing can get for the Fast lane – I have hears at high as 70 shekel, but that sounds remarkably high.

As you are reading this, you are probably asking how this system will actually improve overall traffic rather than merely create a feudal commuting environment which bifurcates the “Haves” and the “Have Nots”. That is again what I thought when I heard about the lane. There are a few other aspects though that really makes the lane worthwhile. Here they are:

·         If you have more than 4 people in your car, the lane is free. You do have to pull off to a checkpoint where a person confirms that here are four people in the car and signals to the system that you can drive on the lane for free. Although I was a bit disappointed to see that a new high tech lane that takes your car’s picture to charge you was not “smart” enough to figure out how many people are in a car, the stop off takes but a few seconds. This incentive to carpool can become a big one as more people use the lane and the price increases. It is frustrating to see each morning that almost all drivers are in their cars alone. This is frustrating because it causes pollution ,congestion and general waste. Many Israeli companies offer employees a benefit of a subsidized car. As a result a lot of people get gas and car subsidized and do not worry about carpooling. This factor was also a concern for the carpool lane – if people have their car paid for or subsidized, they will not care about the cost of using the road. Nonetheless, the lane has not been overly busy or congested as of yet. Even if the person in front of a bunch of cars drives at 80 kmh (~50 mph), that is considerably faster than the 20 kmh the regular common folk drivers are doing… oh yeah I totally feel like commuter royalty as we zip past the non-Fast Lane suckers.

·         Buses ride the Fast Lane free. A driver may consider taking the bus knowing that for the low cost of a bus ticket they can get expedience built in to the price. This also takes a bunch of buses off the road, and there are a lot of buses heading to TA each morning.

·         The Park and Ride. The Park and Ride is the smartest of all the Fast Lane’s glorious features. About a kilometer after the Fast Lane pull off, there is a large parking lot between the Tel Aviv bound and Jerusalem bound lanes. The Park and Ride offers free parking to drivers and free shuttles that travel to different areas in Tel Aviv every fifteen minutes. These shuttle buses are brand new and efficient. There are several routs that whisk commuters from the parking lot to different areas in the greater Tel Aviv area. Also, cars that park at the Park and Ride are not charged for using the Fast Lane. In essence, the Park and Ride offers the best of so many worlds – the convenience of leaving your home in your car and not needing public transportation, the ability to travel the whole length of the non-congested area quickly, free parking, gas and frustration savings from not sitting in traffic and door to parking lot service. The Park and Ride also makes carpooling a lot more feasible. People who live near each other but work in different places can commute together in the morning and either meet up at the Park and Ride, or the non-drivers can find their own ways back on public transportation in the afternoon/evening, which generally has much less traffic.

Earlier this week, as my carpool and I were heading to our respective shuttle busses, (most of the carpool goes on the Tel Aviv shuttle. I take the Boorsa “market” shuttle – as my office building is in Ramat Gan (on the other side of the highway from Tel Aviv) next to the diamond exchange knows as the Boorsa), we were approached by a television crew looking to interview people about why they were (a) carpooling and (b) using the Park and Ride instead of driving in all the way to Tel Aviv on the Fast Lane – especially since we were more than 4 people (5 that day). So yeah the Fast Lane got me a little news coverage… No big deal – I am not letting my stardom get to my head

Somehow Shimon (in black jacket on the right) found this picture of us from the news. He was also interviewed but that wasn't aired... they missed some quality TV there. As you can see, everyone is headed to one shuttle and off I co to my own Fast Lane chariot to the Boorsa

Paging Dr. House

This post picks up right where the last one left off. The day I got back from Eilat (Sunday the 9th) I began to have stomach aches after I ate. I was not cognizant that they were recurring – especially after peanut butter – until about Thursday. That morning, after having a few cookies at my Hebrew class’ breakfast party my stomach was really bad, so I called Dr. Dad. When I describe my symptoms to him, he said that it sounded like it could be a gallbladder issue – by virtue of the fact that stomach aches were onset by fatty foods. Gallbladder stones or a malfunctioning gallbladder often requires surgery. My sister made me a doctor appointment for later that day. My mother had coincidentally arrived in Israel the night before (Wednesday) for a visit and a family friend’s daughter’s wedding. So together with my mom, sister nad brother-in-law I headed to the doctor’s office.

I had health insurance from Hebrew U and although my policy expired at the end of the semster, I got some good usage in beforehand. I was pleased to find that my health insurance provider, Harel, paid for all of my doctor visits, prescriptions and other medical costs.

I was very impressed with the medical care that I received. I went to the Wolfson Medical Center in Jerusalem and met with Dr. Jonty Maresky, who is also the team doctor for Hapoel Jerusalem, the city’s basketball team and founder of the Wolfson Medical Center. He recommended me for an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and gave me a medication to take in case of very bad stomach pains. All weekend my mother was encouraging me to take the stomach medicine, but I insisted on only taking it if I was in serious pain. Finally on Monday night, I caved – my stomach was hurting and I took the pill. To my chagrin, it did not alleviate the pain.

An interesting aspect of the Israeli medical system is that when a doctor prescribes a treatment or prescription, the insurance company needs to approve it before it is paid for.

On Tuesday morning I went for my ultrasound – since the insurance company generally takes several days to approve treatments such as ultrasounds, I decided to go for the test privately – the doctor told me it would cost ~300 NIS ($80). When I arrived for my appointment, the desk receptionist told me that my insurance had not yet sent approval and asked if I wanted to call my insurance company and see if they’d approve it. Surprisingly, the insurance company approved it on the spot. The ultrasound technician asked me if it was my first (it was). I asked her the same… it wasn't. The ultrasound showed that all signs were clear so I headed back to the doctor (with my mommy of course) to see what the next move was. The doctor recommended that I may have a parasite – apparently a common issue in Israel. He prescribed me a medication for parasite treatment, and told me that if I was not feeling better by Thursday I should get a blood test. I took the medication – four pills that Tuesday night and four to follow the next week if I was feeling all better. The next morning I woke up feeling good and did not eat a lot all day. It was not until I met my mom and family late at a cafe on Wednesday night coming straight from work and arriving for desert that I actually put my parasite diagnosis to the test. In the middle of the night at about 2:30 am, I awoke to the worst stomach pains I had experienced yet. The following day I ate very little and on Thursday morning I headed back to the doctor’s office for the blood test. I was told that the blood test generally takes four to five days for insurance approval. At that point, I had been having stomach aches for a week and I was not about to wait for my insurance to approve my blood test. The blood test lab offered to take my credit card and hold it until the insurance company accepted or denied the charge, which was about 400 shekel. I signed on the line and they took my blood.

That afternoon, the blood tests came back with all clear results, and amazingly enough, the lab called my insurance and the tests we approved on the same day! During this whole treatment process, I had been consulting and conferring with my father on my condition. He spoke to some of his associates and thought it might be an ulcer. I spoke to Dr. Maresky and he agreed with the possibility. So, Thursday afternoon, I got my third prescription for a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) – think strong Zantac. Friday morning I took my first dose and thank G-d since then my stomach pains have been minimal. The doctor said that an ulcer occurrence in a gut in his twenties is usually caused by bacteria that my body should be able to fight away as the PPI keeps it in check.

When we found out it was an ulcer, I was relieved to not need surgery and was kind of excited about being able to say things like “my ulcer’s acting up” and “hearing you say these things is not good for my ulcer.” Of course in both circumstances I say is like an 80 year old Miami man in a track suit – pronounced: “Ulssa” with a heavy New York accent.

In searching for a clip of an old man saying “ulssa,” I came across the following video – I had to put it on after I saw it – this woman had very similar situation to my own, only she unfortunately had her gallbladder removed before they figured out what was wrong with her. All that is discussed in the first minute or so of the clip. At that point, she begins sharing information that I would consider far too personal to be shared on youtube. However, since I am unable to cut out the second half of the clip, here is the whole thing. Listening to it makes me wonder if I ever share just a bit too much. If that is/were ever the case, I hope someone out there will let me know.

Despite my medical misadventures, I had a really nice time with my mother on her visit. She has infinite energy and kept my sister, brother-in-law and I running to keep up. We spent a great day in Tel Aviv. We went to an art fair, walked on the beach and went grocery shopping at an amazing supermarket (it’s all about the little things). I also did not eat a meal at my apartment except for Shabbat. On Shabbat I hosted a large dinner so my mom could meet some friends. The meal had a theme - finger food. Everything had to be eaten by hand our with the toothpick set at everyone's seat. The menu included soup (served in a cup), seasame chicken, chicken wings, Moroccan cigars, mini carrot muffins, stuffed grape leaves, edamame, mini deli wraps, salami in pitas, chocolate balls and brownies and other yummy hand eaten foods. Between not running due to stomach pain and eating out a bunch, marathon training has hit a hump. I now need to get back on the running horse - unfortunately. the Jerusalem Marathon might not be in the cards.

Eilat

For almost three months, my friend Lisa and I wanted to plan a trip to Eilat, the southernmost city in Israel (see last post). Finally last weekend, we got it together. We picked last weekend because Lisa’s roommate, Shira, and our friend Ariel were planning a trip and we thought we’d tag along. We recruited Lisa’s friends Yair and Melissa to join us and were planning on staying with Shira’s group at their hotel Agamim. That plan soon fell apart when we found out the price (about 700 shekel per person for the hotel), which was a bit high for our group. Luckily, I took my sister’s advice and called Itay’s (my brother-in-law) cousin Emmanuel.

Let me just say, Emmanuel is the man. He is the guy you call when you have any questions about anything – he knows where to get the best deals, software, knows everything about cell phones and technology (he is in a special engineering program in the army). In ten minutes after talking, Emmanuel had found us an awesome deal. He found us a “4 Star” all-inclusive hotel with food and alcohol for Thursday and Friday night for 470 shekel (~$130)! We also discovered later that our friend Aliza and her sister Ilana were coincidentally staying at our hotel.

Rachel and Itay lent me their car (my sister and brother are awesome) and we were on our way. The drive down was pretty nuts – we went from the heights of Jerusalem to the Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth – and made a right down to the south through the Negev desert. The drive was all down one lane highways (one lane in each direction) that wind around mountains and go over hills. Whenever we were driving behind a truck, I had to go into the oncoming lane and pass them.

Our 4 Star hotel turned out (unsurprisingly) to not be the nicest of places – the shower just had a soap dispenser on the wall, we may have found an egg shell in a breakfast dish and the wine they served came from a tap – but for the price we paid, it was perfect and what I expected. We dropped off out stuff and hungrily headed to our delicious dinner. After dinner we headed to the hotel girl’s hotel (they booked in one nearby because ours was full-but we worked out with the hotel so they could eat at our hotel), and we went out.

We found our way to the promenade that runs along the beach and went to a popular Eilat nightspot called the Three Monkeys.

The Three Monkeys has an awesome live band and a great atmosphere. As we got in and made our way to a table, the crowd was boogying to Bee Gee’s hits. The music selection combined fun hits of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and today (I know it sounds like a radio station). Here are a few clips from the place – the keyboardist was really talented – she played keyboard, flute and saxophone – during “Tequila,” she walked around the bar playing the sax.

No one sings along to this one like the Jews... Mazal tov

After the Three Monkeys we headed to Paddy’s based on what seemed to be outdated advice. A friend assured me that it was a great spot, but it was a ghost town, a shell of what could have been a great place. If you go to Eilat, skip Paddy’s. We also saw a bar that seemed to market itself to children – thought that was funny.

The next morning I headed out to scuba dive. I have been a certified diver for about 6 years now, but have not had the chance to dive for the last 3. My last dive was in January of 2008. I was really excited to get back in the water.

In Israel, there are certain things that are way over regulated– while other things are completely unwatched. For instance, a child can go to a corner shop, pick up a bottle of vodka and some cigarettes and go light a bonfire pretty much wherever they want; however when a certified diver wants to go for a swim and hasn’t in 6 months, he needs to take a refresher course, prove all of his skills, and buy insurance – all things that are not required anywhere else I have dived. Now on the one hand, I hadn’t dived in 3 years and it was good to get back to it safely with a little refresher – but on the other hand, it was annoying that I could not just hop to it. I now need to dive every 6 months or will be required to re-take another refresher which took a good chunk of time and money – I look at this as an opportunity to dive more often – since I bought a year-long diving insurance policy and paid for the refresher dive, diving next time will be much cheaper.

After the refresher dive which was a fun time filled with a lot of annoying chores – take off your mask and put it back on, take out your regulator (air hose) and find it two different ways, simulate being out of air and practice breathing from the other guys extra regulator... After the skills section was done, we swam around a bit and saw some fish. I then started a course to learn how to use an underwater scooter – think Navy Seals approaching Alcatraz in “The Rock”.

Mine looked more like this (exactly like this)

The course was all of a 15 minute explanation of the risks of using an underwater scooter – they exacerbate some of the dangers of diving. After the short tutorial, it was back in the water to test more skills and go over what we had just spoken about on the surface. The scooter is awesome – it not only lets you save a ton of air by not having to kick through the water, but it really makes you feel like a fish. I moved much faster than any diver could kick and was shooting through the water effortlessly. After we reviewed the skills and safety points, we played around in the water doing loops and corkscrews like scuba acrobats.

Finally after two skills focused dives we were set for the totally fun dedicated dive. We got in the dive shops van with all out gear and drove a few kilometers away to the Israel-Egypt border – we were less than 100 yards away. We put on our gear and headed into the sea. Another awesome thing about the scooter is that you can cover a dignificant distance. We ziged and zaged between reef formations for over a kilometer of shoreline. On the dive we saw schools of fish, clown fish, blues, reds yellows and purples that you only see underwater, swam through a reef overhang, saw eels and a ray. The scooter went so fast that at one point I actually hit a fish – unintentionally of course. I have never been able to come that close to a fish – they are usually good at getting out of the way and avoiding my attempts at touching them… come on who wouldn’t want to pet a fish? This one may have been spacing out and I hit him with the scooter and my hand – don’t worry, he was okay. I quickly apologized and was one my way. The second dive marked the completion of my course and I am now certified to rent an underwater scooter and conquer the water – I definitely plan on scooting again.

I got back to the hotel and Shabbat started. Shabbat was very relaxing – we ate a ton, played board games, and relaxed in the sun next to the pool. Saturday afternoon, we headed over to Ariel and Shira’s hotel and hung out on their poolside patio. We ushered out Shabbat singing Shabbat songs as the sun set. After Shabbat, we headed back to our hotel and drove back to Jerusalem. We made great time on the way back – 3:10. Eilat was a great time and I am looking forward to going back soon.

General Update

It has been quite a while since I last posted. I’d love to report that things have been so crazy and new here that I could not find the time to write, but unfortunately that has not been the case. Things have been busy,  but more in the regular rhythmic routine that develops over time. Here is the latest by activity. I hope this list does not make me appear overly presumptuous that these things are very important. Rather, I this update should serve as support to my prior claim that there has not been much blogworthy activity in my life… or I haven’t been trying hard enough:

·         Ulpan: After a semester of intensive Hebrew studies, I am finally winding down my course at Hebrew University. Tomorrow I will be taking my conversational final and a week from Friday I will sit for the written examination. I’m excited to have some more flexibility in my schedule as two mornings a week are freeing up (likely not for long). Once the course is done, I plan on switching up my teaching schedule from two afternoons a week to one morning and afternoon (same day – Thursdays) per week. This will save me commuting time from going to the school twice and will leave my entire Tuesday open. I have been toying with a few ideas on how I will utilize this time including researching a business idea of mine and seeing if I can start up a little something-something, training for the Jerusalem Marathon and a few other ideas brewing up in my head.

·         Visitors: I have written in past posts about how so many of my friends have been visiting and it has been such a treat. In addition to the afformentioned guests, I have also had the chance to hang out with my friends Elissa, Hadar and Naomi (I didn't mention them in past posts, but they are totally post-worthy). Recently, I got to enjoy a run around town with my friend Penina visiting from NJ (more in “Running” below). And next week I am very excited to welcome Mama Kelman, as she comes for 10 days of wild partying – when my mom vacations nobody sleeps. My sister told me she expects to need a vacation day once my mom leaves her vacation, because my mom always wants to do everything – it promises to be a fun visit. I also have my fingers crossed that my father will be able to get off of work and will be able to join my mom on the trip – a close family friend’s daughter is getting married in two weeks, which is bringing my mom and hopefully my dad into town.

·         Work: I have been really enjoying my time working in Israel – the business environment here is very dynamic and cutting edge and I have been working on really awesome projects with the Israeli team here as I also continue to manage my New York client assignments. I am working on a start-up due diligence project which has been a very cool learning experience in which I have been exposed to many facets of new venture due diligence and the startup market.

·         Running: About a month ago, I ran a half marathon  (I posted on it – see below). I started further toying with the idea of running the Jerusalem Marathon – I set out to run 14 miles – the most I had run since November 2009 (the marathon). After the run I felt exhausted and hungry, but also felt revitalized and excited. I know those may sound contradictory; if you have run long-distances, you probably know what I am talking about.

They say that when you can run 20 miles you can run a marathon – when I was training for New York I thought to myself “how can that be?” Now that I am POSSIBLY training for the Jerusalem marathon I find myself asking “HOW CAN THAT BE????” I first want to explain that I say possibly, because I do not like to make commitments I don’t expect to keep – running the marathon is a big commitment and I am not ready to fully make that commitment. Anyhow, last Friday (New Year’s eve), I set out with my friend Penina who is running the Miami half marathon at the end of January for a leisurely 10 mile run. At the end of our run together, I tacked on another 5. Some may say “oh 15 – you are almost at 20.” Technically, they’ d be right – just 1/3 more of my distance, but there was no way I was doing 5 more miles that day – I can’t imagine it and partly wonder how I ever did it. Then I told myself not to worry. I don’t need to be able to run 26 or 20 miles this week – I have three months – I need to focus on the big goal and keep making progress towards it – the next long run will be 16 or maybe 17 miles – soon enough I’ll be in the 20 and 26 mile territory*. Of course, as always, here are the 14 and 15 mile training runs. I hope these are not getting repetitive – I should try to map out a course where I could spell something out in running around the city – and suggestions?

·         Eilat: I have for a while been trying to plan a trip to Eilat – Israel’s southernmost city – its port/resort city on the Red Sea. If I had to make city analogies between Israel and the US it’d be something like this:

New York : Tel Aviv :: Washington, D.C. : Jerusalem :: Las Vegas : Eilat

Now let me explain. Tel Aviv – Jerusalem has a similar dynamic to New York – DC. Tel Aviv is the professional city – people have big city, industry-finance careers that often involve large companies. In DC and Jerusalem people have government jobs or jobs that relate to the government. Tel Aviv and New York are hustling and bustling with late night hot spots, trendy clubs – where its hip to be. Jerusalem and DC have bars and university students – the night life and trendiness just isn’t there. Obviously these are far-reaching generalizations that are not bullet proof, but I think they do hold up.

Now in America, if you want to go to a city based around partying you go to Vegas – the hotels, casinos, shows, stolen police cars, tigers and floories – there is no place like it (you may have guessed that I have never been to Vegas but am very excited for my upcoming trip – read more in “Coming to America” below). In Israel if you want to visit a tourist heavy city with a fun nightlife and great attractions, you go to Eilat. Eilat has nice hotels, great hiking, tax free shopping, water sports and most importantly – scuba diving. I have not been diving in nearly 2 years – it’s been way too long. I am really excited to dive back in (pun totally intended). On Friday morning I will be doing 3 dives – one refresher dive (required in Israel if you haven’t dived in 6 month) and 2 boat reef dives. I can’t wait.

·         Coming to America: As I mentioned in a past post, I will be visiting the US from February 17^th – March 8^th. I’m really excited. Here is a brief outline of my trip which is now fully booked.

o   February 17: Arrive in Newark, NJ. Hop a train down to Baltimore.

o   February 18: Depart Baltimore, MD for Las Vegas, NV for my friend Jeff’s bachelor party along with several close friends from Baltimore and meeting none other than my dear old friend the “Rabbi Dr.” David.

o   February 22: Early AM flight to New York City. On Friday my cousin Anat is coming to New York as well.

o   February 28: Bus to Baltimore, MD. Hang out with family and friends, and party like crazy at my friend Jaron’s wedding.

o   March 8: Return to Israel to sleep off the journey – arrive 7 AM and go straight to the office J

·         All In All: That’s pretty much the skinny on my life – I must say that I do feel a bit odd having written this all out – who else do you know that posts an updated on their life? I do have a few post ideas brewing and will have some more post-worthy material up soon. Till then – if you read this please don’t give up on me – I love hearing from people (I get some pretty random ones) that they read and enjoy the blog.

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*The previous statements do not represent a commitment to run the Jerusalem Marathon.