Chapter 78, Work

     “I am going to get a white stake in a pita in Pundak HaYam,” said Moshe from Tel Or. “Does anyone wants anything?”

 “Sure, I’ll have one too,” said Baruch the other installer.
 “Me too,” I added, “are you paying?”
 “I will put it on my brother’s account,” declared Moshe. “You guys worked hard this week”
 “In that case Please get me a bag of chips too and a coke.”

    Pundak HaYam is the second restaurant in town (there were only two) where you can buy pork stake in Netanya. They had to get special license – I am not sure what is the deal. All restaurant in town were Kosher and closed on Shabat. You couldn’t say the same about Pundak HaYam. It was closed on Friday night and Saturday but open on Saturday night like everyone else, but they sold non-kosher meat. The only other restaurant like it where you can find white stake was outside of the downtown center, The Pilots Grill – Stekiyat HaTayasim. They were opened seven days a week. I think it was because they were out of the town center and didn’t need a special permission. The Rabbinical movement were very close to the government and managed to keep a kosher law preventing most businesses from selling pork in Israel or any non-kosher food. Except for town where the citizens were mixed religions like Haifa and Nazareth. You remember, Pundak HaYam is one of my favorite places. I loved their French fries the best.

    As Moshe went to get our late lunch, a woman holding a rectangle box walked toward me.
 “Your mom told me to find you here,” she said. “I have a project for you. I heard you make things; you built your record player and radio and amplifier. On top of it I hear you fix stuff. I would like you to convert this old record player to a stereo player. It belonged to my mom; may she rest in peace. Will you do it?”
 “I need to look at it, and I don’t know what to charge you, I need to check the prices for the parts and labor”
 “I am not worried, this is important for me and I will pay your price.”
I mut say, it felt great. No one ever put such trust in me or asked me for something so important to them. Of course, I agreed and took the project. The woman left the box with me, and I went back installing the last 8 track tape player of the day in a small red volts wagon. 

    It was really an old record player. It had no sound system, a model that was connected to a big radio externally. Lucky for us it was in good condition the motor was turning smoothly. The arm with the pickup were fine. It needed a new stereo pickup and of course, a sound system. I had to figure out how to install two speakers and an amplifier without messing up the box. This was not the “radio” I tried to build when I was five years old. It wasn’t the radio I built from scratch at the science club. This was the real stuff, and it was for a client. The first thing I did was to take the record player apart. I measured the inside of the box and marked the space I had to install the new parts. I had to make one wall for the speaker and to find 2 speakers small enough to fit; one inside the box and one on the cover of the box and make sure that when I close the box it had enough room to close. Netanya had two stores where you can buy parts. One of them was selling mostly big parts Like speakers, headphones, and smothering tools. It was called simply “Electronics”. They also sold small sound systems and did some TV Repairs. I was friendly with the owner, I bought from him since I was eleven. I told the owner what I was looking for. He was happy to supply me with two small, yet powerful speakers and he sent me to the other store for the parts of the amplifier. The other store was owned by Mr. Bernanka. He was more like an engineer than a salesman. He knew the inside and out of every radio, TV or any electrical instrument. He advised me what direction to go and what is the smallest and best for my project. I would visit him once or twice a week to ask questions and he was always ready for me. 

 

Yellow Falafel 

 

These fried balls are a Burmese specialty. Burmese food is a combination between Persian, Iraqi and Indian food. Like most deep-fried food, it is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. Dry Yellow Peas

1 Onion 

3 Garlic Cloves 

1 Bunch Parsley 

1 Bunch Cilantro

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Salt

½ tsp Paprika

2 TBSP Olive Oil

 

Preparation:

  Soak the peas overnight. Crush all ingredients together in a food processor and let it sit for 2 hours.  Make balls (use 2 spoons) and deep fry until light brown.

 

-----