It's raining Katz, Hallelujah!

I'm a host on shabbat.com with my status set to always available.  This shabbat, I had the chance to participate in a comedy of errors you usually only see in a movie.

Thursday evening, I received a message from shabbat.com that a Joe Katz was requesting to come for Friday or Saturday meal, with his kallah.  Now maybe I had a brain fart, but I decided that kallah could also mean that they've been married for a few months, not just engaged.  I replied that I have room for the Friday meal.

Several hours later, I received a message that a Rivkah Katz was requesting to come for the Friday night meal.  Now I just accepted Joe for Friday and here's a girl, with the same last name, sending request for the same meal.  I've had people who were coming together, send separate requests so I just assumed that this is Joe's kallah and she's sending a separate request because they have separate accounts and is doing it so that shabbat.com shows the correct total guests.  I clicked accept and put the matter out of my mind.

Fast forward to Friday night, all the guests are here and Joe introduces his fiancée as Hanna.  So they're not yet married but girls do like to be cute and change their names on social websites before the marriage.  Wasn't her name something else?  Though I did have people come over who use a different name on shabbat.com so this didn't raise much of a flag either.

It's now the middle of the fish course and there's a knock on the door.  Both grandmas are here, all 3 sets of guests are here, who can this be?  I open the door and there's a girl there who starts apologizing for being late and that the door downstairs was closed and the only thing that's going through my mind at this moment is "Who are you?".  I wonder if I had that deer in the headlights look when I opened the door.  Well, you don't look like a serial killer so do come in.

Turns out these were completely different people, not related to each, not even from the same country, who had the same last name and decided to send a request for the same meal, one after the other.   Food and space were definitely not a problem as I'm not one of those people who cooks for the exact number of guests.  In fact, I tend to expect friends to suddenly call me at any time on Friday and ask if they could come over or even pick up extra guests in shul.

This is definitely the most entertaining set of coincidences that I've had the pleasure to experience.  And as long as I'm the only one who got freaked out, no harm, no foul.  And thank you to all the Katzs and not yet Katzs for coming over and making it a fun meal.

Полис

Станции:

• Александровский Сад
• Арбатская
• Библиотека имени Ленина
• Боровицкая

Достопримечательности:

• Культурная и духованая столица метрополитена.
• Брамины (Хранители книг)
• Кшатрии (Военные)
• Совет Полиса
• Сталкеры
• Место жительства Мельника.
• Место жительства художников, музыкантов и писателей.
• Второе по богатству, после Ганзы, сообщество в метро.

Опасности:

• С Александровского Сада, перегон к станциям Четвёртого Рейха (Фашисты)
• Перегон Боровицкая - Полянка - Добрынская (Ментальная Угроза?)

Chamah Shabbaton

We finally made it to Chamah Shabbaton at Stamford Plaza Hotel in Stamford, CT.  Though we overpaid by $100 because of late registration.  In general, we liked the shabbaton and will go next year too.

First, let's get the bitching out of the way.  The Kensigton/Midwood bus for people without cars leaves from a location not very accessible without a car.  The children's programs are not very organized, start late, and 3 year olds are stuck between babysitting and a 4-7 group.  Shabbat davening is horribly slow, includes long aliyah sale and is in a badly ventilated room.  Food at melav malka was not served until 11pm and this is having in mind that most people are there with kids.

However, there is a children's program, which is great for older children and they even eat separately and are served more kid friendly food.  There is a pool with separate hours and a gym.  Stamford Plaza has complimentary wifi and cable, with a big screen TV.  Within a mile of the hotel, there is a mikvah and 2 minutes away there is a shopping center which has children's clothes, food, beer, and baby needs.

Things to have in mind when registering and packing:

1. Each room has a large bed with a single frame but separate mattresses.  There's also a fold out couch.
2. Each room comes with an iron (no ironing board), a large screen TV with free cable and a small coffee machine with complimentary coffee.
3. You can request a fridge through Chamah at a discount rate of $15/night.
4. There are 4 elevators, 2 of which are switched to shabbos mode on shabbos.
5. 2 minutes away, literally 2 minutes away, is a shopping center.  Exit from main entrance and walk left 1 block.
6. There are 2 children's clothing stores, including Children's Place.
7. There's a CVS.
8. There's a supermarket, Stop & Shop, which has a kosher aisle, baby supplies and beer.  Walk past Staples and use the stairs on the other side of the road to reach it.
9. Use FourSquare and KosherGPS apps to discover places around the hotel.

SSL is for goyim

Following Pomegranate's example, they were smart enough to take the form down, Mountain Fruit now has an online order form, with a credit card section, all being submitted without SSL.
I'm guessing that they decided that SSL is a goyish meshugas and that all you need is faith in Hashem who will personally protect their customers' credit cards.
Now, I'm guessing that besides the lack of SSL, all of the credit card information is either being emailed to someone or stored, unencrypted, in an easily accessible database.
On the other hand, someone stupid enough to submit credit card info online without taking the bother to notice whether the page is secure or not, deserves what they get.

I emailed Mountain Fruit regarding the "oversite" at 11:16am, let's see what happens next.

Содружество ВДНХ

Станции:

• ВДНХ
• Алексеевская
• Рижская

Достопримечательности:

• Лучший грибной чай во всём метро.
• Место жительства Артёма.

Опасности:

• Чёрные (Биологическая Угроза)
• Перегон между Алексеевской и Рижской (Ментальная Угроза)