Just weeks after inauguration, the Trump presidency has already offended most of our allied nations, rolled out a xenophobic travel ban, displayed shady links to Russian intelligence, and unveiled blatantly cronyistic cabinet appointments. Between the fear-mongering rhetoric and alternative facts from the White House, SNL and the media have been struggling to expose the emerging bigotry in our country. These uncertain times recall the fascist state in the recent second season of The Man in The High Castle, which showed better pacing this season and led up to a thrilling finale. I also finally got around to watching the last season of Continuum, which also concluded with a satisfying, yet convoluted ending. Finally, this weekend marked the end of our recent adventures with Lara Croft. Her new game was a good exercise in game play and level design, but ultimately was hampered by the bland storytelling. At home, we began planning for new bathroom renovations with visits to Ferguson and Arizona Tile, while also finding more home decor in Roseville from Z Gallerie and Pier 1. On the way back, we discovered a new upscale Chinese restuarant called Yue Huang along I-80, which was surprisingly authentic and served dim sum on a weekday! The recent torrential rain has managed to get us out of the historic drought, but not before causing significant water damage around our windows. Between meeting assessors and contractors, and being inundated with student requests for research projects, I decided to take a day off with Melody on Valentine’s Day to play hookie, lunch out at Davis Noodle City, and stroll around downtown Davis. We also invited the in-laws for a dim sum party to celebrate Westley’s first birthday this weekend, although he seemed more intent on poking the cake than eating it. It didn’t help that he and his mom are still getting over colds, but we hope that his newest set of vaccines from the pediatrician will take care of all that.