Shabbat Shalom for November 6th, 2026

I'm not sure how to feel about this week.

I've spent a lot of it head down on Rugela development. Next week one of the developers is off for vacation, so I think that will help me slow down a bit.

The progress I'm making on the site is really helping me stave off some of the negativity of the world. Now I think the challenge is getting more users and getting the current users to post more!

Some kvetching...

We've had issues with our faucet, which needs replacing. It's been broken over a month, with various delays. My landlord had someone from Home Depot come a week or two ago who didn't have the right part. This week two guys came with cologne that was so strong that it burned my eyes and made my wife go into an asthma flareup. When I asked one of the men to step outside because of his cologne, they said neither was wearing cologne and that they felt insulted by the question and left. Apparently they told Home Depot that this was "abusive behavior" (asking one man to please step outside?!) and they've banned my poor landlord from Home Depot service... so more delays and frustrations all around.

In a similar vein, today I tried to get my cell phone repaired, but because I have GrapheneOS on it, the repair shop said it wouldn't be covered under warranty (if this was the US, that would be illegal) and that a new screen would cost nearly as much as a new phone. When I agreed to buy a new phone, they then tried to sell me a refurbished phone as if it was new! If I'm going to buy a new phone, I'd like it to actually be new! So that wasted an afternoon.

A mixed bag overall, but I'm so grateful for everyone here on this journey with me that it's hard to feel too down!

Tomorrow's going to be an interesting mixed bag - my first Shabbat at my own synagogue in a few weeks, plus I'll have to run out in the afternoon to get my youngest from a Scouting event about an hour away.

You know things are going 'interestingly' when your spouse goes, "Is there a brewery near there?", as if she's trying to make sure that I actually take some Me Time (well, and to convince me to go do the carpool from the Scouting event, not her).

about time for a Rosh Chodesh then! I had my "discussion" on what could "make emergency changes smoother next time" with my manager yesterday, I was Snippy enough last time that I think he figured out he was micromanaging. Also been leading a work book-club. not too much personal happening, but with the time change we need to start picking Z up from school to make sure she gets home before dark on fridays!