Happiest Unemployed Tech Writer
By a technical writer living in Northern Israel who requested to remain anonymous
August 13, 2006
If all goes as agreed, the cease-fire will take affect tomorrow. Whether the hostilities will end or not is hard to say. I live in the Western Galilee and have been running to shelters for over a month - at home, at work, in supermarkets, and in clinics.
My colleague, David Williamson, wrote that he documents advanced agriculture systems - the "plowshares" that swords should be beaten into, as the biblical figure, Isaiah, prophesized. Unfortunately, as the past month of rockets and missiles falling on our civilian centers has shown, Isaiah's prophesy of wolves dwelling with lambs and swords morphing into plowshares has not yet come to past. We still need our swords. I am a technical writer in the sword industry, i.e., the defense sector. The Israeli defense industry has developed sophisticated systems that hit targets with maximal precision and minimal collateral damage. Of course surgical precision cannot be achieved if targets (e.g., rocket
launchers) are located in the midst of civilians: in apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and places of worship.
The term "smart" bomb often comes up when talking about precise defense systems. A true smart bomb would be one that disperses intelligence wherever it lands. Imagine smart bombs like those dropped everywhere and people becoming intelligent enough to realize that differences can be worked out through dialog and without war and destruction. If that would happen, I'd be the happiest unemployed technical writer on earth.
<signature - name withheld at the writer's request>
Experiences of Other Tech Writers in Northern Israel
David Williamson, a technical writer living and working in Metulla at the Northern most point in Israel, shares his reflections on the current hostilities in Reflections from Metulla - from Swords to Plowshares.
Laura Cane is keeping a blog of her experiences during the current hostilities.
Leah Guren, Director of Training at In Other WORDS, relates her experiences of life as a technical writer in Northern Israel with rockets falling all around in Under Fire.
Activities Just Out of Range
Yokneam and the Megiddo communities are Hosting Israel’s Northern “Refugees.
Technical Writing Courses in Israel
You can find a comprehensive list of technical writing course vendors with contact information at the Courses Home.
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I think that when our anonymous writer wrote "has not yet come to past," she probably meant "has not yet come to PASS."
And when she wrote "If that would happen, I'd be the happiest unemployed technical writer on earth," she probably meant to write, "If that happened, . . . ."
Did I guess right? (No insult intended.)
Upon silently reading the words 'disperses intelligence', I gasped aloud in agreement and wished (as a writer) that I had thought of that! So I read it again, aloud this time, to be sure, and again happiness appeared in my thoughts. I feel this author writing with an artistic touch, and I offer a toast:
" May all of your technical manuals be read a second time as technical prose poetry."
Thank you, guest #1, for your corrections. I always welcome constructive criticism. At last check, I'm a he.
Thank you, guest #2, for your kind words.