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sitting on my ikea klippan footstool late this morning, it suddenly collapsed on one of the legs. i flipped it over and saw the large crack running down one end of the chipboard. i knew exactly what happened: my roommate had done this because i often see him sitting on the footstool, leaning forward on one leg. apparently klippans aren't designed to support all that weight on one little leg so it snapped the bottom. i showed him the damage before he left for work, instead of an apology the only thing he said was, "what flimsy design!"

leaving the house, i was surprised by how warm it was and that i was seriously overdressed. the temperature would reach 62°F by the end of the day. my first stop was the cambridge traffic department to apply for my new resident parking sticker and visitor permit. the woman at the counter frowned at her computer screen with a worried look, which in turn made me a little anxious. did i forget to pay a parking ticket? maybe it was something more serious. turns out she was puzzled by what to do with my resident parking sticker. by the way she was holding it in her hand, i knew what was on her mind. "it's crazy, yeah, i know, i actually don't put it on my motorcycle, i just leave the sticker in the house." with that i paid my $8. i also got a visitor permit for my great uncle, with just a photocopy of his utility bill and his senior citizen card. cambridge changed some rules regarding parking for next year. resident parking stickers now have to be placed in the lower left front windshield, and visitor permit are only valid to within a 2 block area of the registered residence.

second stop was the somerville target, where i picked up two quarts of castrol 10W-40 motor oil. next i went to market basket to get some ingredients for the flan i'd be making for the post-thanksgiving pre-holiday dinner we're having sunday night. i also picked up a 2 lbs. bag of mussels ($4.59) and a carton of egg nog ($2.99 - i've decided: store bought better than homemade). i stopped by the cafe to drop off some supplies before heading to belmont. my father had the day off and was cleaning the gutters when i arrived. after he finished, he helped me lubricate my motorcycle chain and then we changed the oil, in preparation for winter storage. back in april we changed the oil twice (1st and 17th) because it was so dirty. even though i didn't ride very much this season (for obvious reason), i was surprised to see black oil draining into the drip pan. afterwards i washed the bike and sprayed some WD40 on a few rusty bolts.

hailey continues to have difficulty coming back inside the house whenever she's let into the backyard. not that there's anything wrong with her being outside, we just don't want her to dig. her war against squirrels is unending, jumping up on her hind legs to look over a fence into a neighbor's yard to spy on a squirrel. cats have long learned to avoid the backyard. the lawn is also littered with tennis balls and twigs in various stages of chewed. whenever she does decide to come back inside, we have to wipe the dirt off of her paws before she can go to the rest of the house.

when my mother came home, we had the same vietnamese noodle soup from last night but this time with chunks of beef. my father also cooked up the bag of mussels, a simple recipe of butter, garlic, and white wine. it was so good in fact we may decide to have it as an appetizer for this weekend's big dinner. it was just as warm when i left for cambridge, temperature still at 60°F. the air was also very humid, and the puddle of water from the motorcycle wash still haven't dried yet.

nobody was home yet when i got back. when my roommate returned from his office, he knocked on my door and told me he had a solution to fixing the broken klippan. maybe he felt guilty, although i never directly accused him of anything. all we had to do was drill a new hole at a slight offset and screw the broken leg back on.