From the department of “Did I just get Punk’d?”
Decisions, decisions. The aliyah process requires an oleh chadash to make many: Jerusalem or Tel Aviv? Orange or Cellcom? Keep going “yashar yashar…ad hasof” or ask another Israeli for directions? All major decisions (and in the case of the third, potentially frightening.) One decision I was confronted with in the months preceding my aliyah was PC vs. Mac. Which to buy? People warned me about bringing a Mac to Israel where support is limited but in the end, it came down to this: while most people on the planet simply use Windows-based systems, Apple users love their Macs, and swear by them. Have you been to an Apple store? Those sales reps have either drunk the Kool-aid or couldn’t be bigger believers in their computers. After doing a good amount of research, I decided to take a sip as well for a few reasons, not the least of which was the built-in “isight” camera which facilitates video-chatting with the family back at home.
Here it is…
While I’ve been happy with my purchase, I also have come to terms with the fact that many websites designed in Israel are not Mac-friendly. Mac users, has this happened to you? “Ok, let’s start the dreaded apartment search. One roommate (click)…non-smoking (click)…Central Tel Aviv (click)…(pause)…WHERE IN G-D’S NAME IS THE “SEARCH” BUTTON???? AAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!!!” I’ve gotten used to things not working on the web; happens all the time. Sometimes though, what I initially think might be a design issue in this country is simply…well…not.
Fast forward: Nefesh B’Nefesh is offering a business course which I’m interested in taking. Only issue is that it’s in Modiin. I live in Tel Aviv. Fine-so I’ll go to Egged’s site and find a bus.
From: Tel Aviv. CLICK!
To: Modiin. CLICK!
Day: Thursday. CLICK!
Search: CLICK!
Ummm…what?
“There is no direct bus line between the required destinations”??? Hey, I’m not trying to get to Damascus! Modiin calls itself the city of the future! Hey, Egged! The future is now! Get me a freaking bus! What the hell?! No WAY this is a Mac issue.
Check out this road map (and the fancy editing work. Potential clients, you can purchase my crafty web design skills for a small fee of seven shekels an hour.)
What’s this, a 30 minute drive on a single road? EGGED! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOURSELVES!? Does McDonalds tell me they’re out of hamburgers at 2 o’clock on a Thursday??? YOU ARE A TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY!!! START TRANSPORTING!!!!!!! Or even better, fix your website.
Just for the hell of it, I just went to the site of the Dan company to see what they would tell me.
Somewhere, the Minister of Transportation is laughing. Somebody wake me up when this gets fixed. Time to start walking…
Have you tried using firefox as opposed to safari? While I don’t like using firefox as much, it usually clears up some of the issues with hebrew formatted websites.
Does Firefox have buses?
I made the switch a few months ago. It does help some.
Benji,
Try the train. It won’t help your computer problem but you won’t sit in traffic at least.
Neil
Ahhhh…the train. Good idea. I don’t like these good ideas. It gives me less reason to make fun of things. But seriously, how can this kind of goof-up on their site be explained?
there really isn’t an egged or dan line from ta to modiin – its one of those lines that’s been ‘privatized’, ie given out as a local monopoly to some othe company run by the brother in law of the transportation minister . . .
check out the site http://otobusim.co.il
you want a company called connex
http://www.connex.co.il/
There are buses from Tel Aviv to Modi’in – its the margalit bus company that provides service.
http://lulubold.tripod.com/modiin/buses.html has a link where someone translated the pages to english
Or as was said, you can ride the train
Margalit no longer run buses out of Modiin. About a month ago it switched to connex!
Goto: http://www.connex.co.il (click)
Find you info there. Egged were doing a sheroot service to Modiin (unadvertised), – I don’t know if this still runs.
I’d still walk though
Hey there – as for the Mac in Israel thing, if your Mac is new enough (Intel) do what I did and install Parallels Desktop and Win XP…trust me, I die a little inside everytime I boot it up, but there are still a few websites (um, Egged and Dan come to mind, not to mention Bank of Jerusalem, don’t ask), that just aren’t Mac compatible.
As for Firefox, try Camino instead, it feels more Mac-Like and runs just as well…
BTW – totally off topic, do you remember a Bat Yam Year Courser named Devon? That’s my little sister…
Seattle, I worked in Holon. But my buddy probably knows her. Thanks for the feedback, everyone.
When I visit Israel, and stay in the hotels, everyone always comments on how “cute” my MAC ibook is; then try and use the wireless!!! Two years ago, I had to re-do the IP addresses after ten phone calls to the wireless companies in the hotels. This past year- things were better; maybe next year- ti will all be fine. I had real troubles at teh Dead Sea. They said they put me in a room with wireless; it never worked. SO I had to sit in the lobby formatting in Quark and sending the articles back to the US…..Funny what you see in the lobby at midnight at Yam Hamelach (mostly drunk Israelis on chofesh who are stupid enough to go to the Yam Hamelach in June!)…!!!–Still love my MAC and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Also- when in doubt, just ask friends who have PCs to find the info for you!–”LOVE-MY-MAC-SUE”….
OMG don’t use Connex…ask Reyna about all the balagan when Connex took over a few months ago…better yet, just ask Reyna to come pick you up in her car!
Um…I can drop you off at the entrance to Modi’in. I drive by it on my way to and from work everyday. It all depends on when you need to be there…
benji there’s a bus company called “Margalit” 08.665.4201, they run from Arlozerov, Tachana Merkazit, or Azraeli to Modiin. Or you could just hitchhike like the rest of us
~
This is Kinko’s! Do you realize how many copies we have to make? And you want us to make more copies?!
Check out the Yahoo! Group Isramac.
oh my gd write a book. id buy three.