t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


since nobody could get back to belmont to await the 3:00 arrival of the exterminator, i was entrusted with that duty. actually nobody needed to be there since they were just putting down bait traps outside, but i wanted to see what they were doing and show them some problem areas. also hailey would be barking up a storm if some strangers were out in our backyard.

this gave me a chance to try on my rain pants. i knew they were long, but the snap enclosures over my rain boots made it okay. i didn't think i needed pockets but they're important for waterproof items like keys; fortunately i wore my shorts underneath and they had pockets. for the top i wore a waterproof windbreaker. as advertised, the pants kept my bottom half dry. what i didn't expect was the rain water getting through my collar, soaking my t-shirt in the process. next time i'll wear my rain jacket.

it was fun riding in the rain with rain gear though. i found myself purposely splashing through puddles. i saw a few other cyclists braving the elements and we exchanged knowing smiles. no fair-weather bicyclist am i!

i got to belmont right at 3:00. it didn't surprised me that ultra safe hadn't shown up yet. they were an hour late in arriving 3 weeks ago and i expected more of the same. my mother came home at 4:00. by 4:30 i'd waited long enough and finally called them. i called their office, was transferred to vick, who then transferred me to mark. he told me they were coming, but he was on the other side of route 93.

they finally showed up around 5:30. mark was the exterminator from last time, and he brought along kevin his young assistant. in the back of the truck in a dog crate was a little beagle, the company's trained bed bug sniffer. they didn't do very much, and didn't even set up the bait stations. mark had kevin drive wooden stacks into the ground along the southern side of the house every 5 feet or so. i showed mark the bag of unopened mulch that'd been on the mulch walkway for more than a year. earlier when i flipped it over i saw hundreds of termites. when i flipped it again, most of termites had gone into hiding but there were still some left. mark told me they wouldn't set up the poisonous baits until next time (in about 3 weeks), so the termites can feed on the stakes, even though we already know one place that has them still. the best bet is still a termidor barrier, but with our backyard garden, mark didn't think it'd be safe.

i left for cambridge around 6:00. it was drizzling a bit and i didn't know if it'd turn into heavier rain so i wore my rain gear again. close to home, i ran into sharon who was standing on the curb.

earlier i put a note on a large SUV parked in front of my covered motorcycle. i winced watching the chinese couple pulling into the spot; their parking strategy is back up until they hit something. after they finished parking, i went out to check if the bike was okay. their SUV is so large they wouldn't even see the motorcycle, hence the note. anyway, when i came back home, the note was gone, hopefully they'll be more careful when they leave (tennessee plates).

i'm back to my chicken sausage oatmeal for lunch. for dinner i made myself a turkey sandwich just because i need to finish the turkey and lettuce before they spoil. i also had some scallion bread my father made that i brought back from belmont.