The Israelis are becoming like the British

The Israelis are becoming like the British - always talking about the weather. Normally the climate is like southern California and hot, hot, hot! every day. But the last few days have been extra-ordinary: yesterday morning at 5:30am, the temperature was 32.5 degrees Celsius outside the house, and by 8am it was over 40 degrees (that's 104 Fahrenheit). Apparently at around 10am, cold winds started to blow, slowly taking the temperature down to a more reasonable 30 degrees at 5pm. This morning, it was about 21 degrees outside - but 27 degrees inside! More power to the air-conditioners! According to the television news, the electricity company was supplying 99.98% of its capacity.

Most people are glued to their televisions at the moment watching the World Cup (or Mondial, as it is known here) but I couldn't care less. I have never been interested in football, even as a child (well, maybe I was slightly interested then), although I was a passionate rugby football fan during my school years. 

I have discovered that an obscure television station broadcasting from Cyprus has begun showing 'Star Trek: The next generation', beginning with the first series. I haven't seen these episodes for years (they were originally broadcast over 20 years ago) and am enjoying the trip down memory lane. The acting and plots are a bit clunky, but as I recall, the series improved greatly by the time of the third season. I wonder whether this station is going to show all the episodes.

During the 1990s, this programme acted as my bible for organisational behaviour, although I didn't know the term at the time. I admired how Captain Picard would assemble his officers in the briefing room in order to hold what would be in business terms a management meeting. There was no flapping about: everybody would bring pertinent information to the table and a decision would be reached quickly. If only real life were like that.... Instead, people talk about things which they know little about and conceal or reveal their ambitions. 

Later I always wondered how come the bridge is always manned by the senior staff. Was the concept of 'watches' or shift duty unknown to them?  Actually, I have a dim memory of one episode which is narrated by Data, which starts by him commanding the night shift. Maybe he doesn't have to sleep but surely the others do. Of course, such realities wouldn't make for a very good television series.