I returned from the US about a week ago (stops in Colorado and the Northeast), and have been busy with a potential business venture since returning. I need to make another trip at the end of February, but my wife T. is concerned that the war with Iraq may begin while I'm away.

We received a color brochure in the mail about how to prepare a "sealed room". Our flat is on the top floor of our building, and each room has an air conditioner that's connected to the roof. Sometimes water drips from the AC in heavy rain, so I'm not sure if surrounding the whole unit with heavy plastic is sufficient. And the booklet doesn't say anything about this. But I tend to think that if there really is a chemical attack, an improvised sealed room won't help too much. Newer apartments have sealed rooms built in - these are called a "mamad" and resemble a room-sized bank safe.

Ace Hardware in Talpiot has bottled water, thick plastic sheeting, and wide tape stacked up by the checkout.

People who I talk to seem fairly complacent. Jerusalemites went through the war in '91 without being fired at, so there's a bit of a "been there, done that" type attitude.