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'''January 27th'''

The weather was nice all week, but now it’s cold and stormy. It was also a busy week, as usual, for us.  Esther’s been busy at work, and Sarah has been working evening-shifts all week.  I’ve been working on several projects as well.  And ''mazal-tov'' to Dinah, who announced her engagement and imminent marriage!

Where to begin?  Well, after last ''shabbat'' ended, we found out that Jeremy had been suffering from abdominal pain all ''shabbat''.  Daniela took him to the ER and they determined he had appendicitis.  He was operated on successfully, and has been recuperating this week.  רפואה שלמה!

We also caught up on all the wailing, gnashing of teeth, rending of garments, and obscene headgear which had transpired in the USA during our day of rest.  More on that later.

Here in the Land, we had a quiet and productive week.  Esther knitted a few more yarnly goods, including a second hat for me.  Now I can rob a bank in style. Well, the hat wasn’t actually for me, I just appropriated it.  Misogyny!  She also made a hat for our grand-nephew נצח מתתיהו, and took-off one day to visit Ariele and help her out.  Esther’s not only talented, she’s a very nice person, as well.

I spent the week furiously working on my main client’s project, while simultaneously working on two other small projects, and striving to finish the next release of 8th.  I’m happy to say that [http://8th-dev.com/forum/index.php/topic,1167.msg6279.html version 17.01 of 8th was released].  Over the past year, a lot of progress has been made with 8th — it’s half as big, uses half the memory, is considerably faster, and has much more functionality that it did just a year ago.  Pretty soon it’ll do your dishes, too!

Esther and I have been shaking our heads in wonder at the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVsa8RR9q8 extreme reactions] to the Trump presidency.  I mean, before he even took office, he was being compared to Hitler!  While the glitterati and ignorati spent their time scoffing at the [http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/01/trump_playing_ropeadope_with_the_media_.html relative sizes of crowds] at the inauguration, the new POTUS spent his time [https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog working hard] to fulfill a number of his campaign policies.  Maybe the whiners should pay attention to what Trump is actually doing, rather than to their preconceived notions of what he might do.

Of course, it’s pretty easy to make fun of Trump. He seems to [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-sachs-psyd/unfit-unfocused-or-is-tru_b_11568002.html have ADHD], and be [http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trumps-rambling-90-second-speech-stuns-english-speaking-world_uk_57ab37d7e4b08ab70dc0f646  unable to communicate] clearly.  But on the recommendation of my cousin Mitch, I read Trump’s book “Broken America”.  Among the gems in there is Trump’s statement to the effect that he speaks that way ''on purpose'', as a tactic to confuse and distract.  That fits in with Scott Adam’s theories about Trump as a [http://blog.dilbert.com/post/156399716951/outrage-dilution “master persuader”] who knows how to get his message across.  I think we’re in for a ''very'' interesting four years.

I will say, though, that if you disagree vehemently with Trump’s positions (as I do on certain things), and you want to persuade others of the rectitude of your stance, then wearing [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444201/sjw-blog-vagina-imagery-womens-march-was-offensive-women-without-vaginas genitalia-themed headgear] is really not the way to go if you want to be taken seriously.  Nor is it particularly persuasive to call everyone who disagrees with you, “racist”, “misogynist”, or “fascist”.  Words have actual meanings: spend some time looking them up.

Funny stuff:
* The Dutch [https://www.facebook.com/zondagmetlubach/videos/1255295904562149/ perspective on Trump]. 
* The [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154272283570509&set=a.10150869658730509.410114.688050508&type=3 picture of the month]. For those of you who can’t understand why I posted that: the picture is an Arab worker, which is unremarkable except for his wearing a sweatshirt which says “Kahane was right!”.  If you don’t know why that’s funny, you need to look it up.  If you still don’t think it’s funny, you need to get a sense of humor.
* A guide on [http://www.aish.com/j/fs/Shul-Etiquette-for-Beginners.html ''shul'' etiquette for beginners].

Alas, people are not rational, by and large. Fortunately, computers are; and more fortunately, I spend most of my time talking computer language.  So I often find it jarring when I communicate with people in a logical manner, but fail to convey the message I intend. <sigh>

It does appear that I am at least slightly clairvoyant.  The other day, I commented to Esther that I wonder if I would ever hear again from <strike>name redacted</strike>.  The next day, I got a phone call from that very person!  It’s a Shabbos miracle!

This ''shabbat'' it’s also the new month of “shevat” (only two days left in my [https://www.paypal.me/RonAaron “birthday mo’ed”]), and we’re looking forward to very cold and stormy weather, with possible hail, graupel, or snow.  I think we’ll stay inside!

RivQua is joining us for ''shabbat''.  On the menu:
<br>
homemade ''ḥalla'',
butternut squash soup,
cauliflower couscous,
chicken wings,
meatballs,
beet salad,
veggie stew,
various [http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/collection/recipe-terms-salatim/ ''salatim''],
and oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies.

Until next time,<br>
''shabbat shalom'' and ''ḥodesh tov''!


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