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i went to bed at 3am and didn't wake up until 10am. it's rare that i sleep that long without stirring awake to check the time. i did hear the garbage trucks outside and typically they come pretty early on wednesdays, so it surprised me that it was already mid-morning. they took the garbage, but left the shark vacuum box (maybe they thought it was recyclable). they also never picked up the garden refuse.

it was already raining this morning, which was a surprised, because the forecast said rain wouldn't arrive until noontime at the earliest. i went outside to put the cover on my motorcycle and bring my bike into the basement. when i dropped the bike down the pedal hit me right in the back of my heel, creating a bloody gash wound. i've noticed i have a high pain threshold. i broke my foot, i managed to walk on it for several days not realizing something was wrong. i get stung by bees multiple times, i just shake it off. the only time i was injured so badly i could hardly move was the time i broke my collar bone, but i was back to riding the bike about a week later. anyway, i came back inside, washed the wound, dabbed some neosporin, and put a bandaid over it.

it was a good steady rain, seemed like a lot, but the official rain total in boston was only a quarter of an inch at best. a little bit of rain is better than no rain.

with the wood fill now dried, i went ahead and attached the door strike plate for the guest bedroom. i attached it first using the shorter stainless screws i bought yesterday. it worked - i was able to close and lock the door - but it's not perfect (as the chinese say, chabuduo is good enough). when i replaced the screws with the original longer brass ones, it didn't work because it shifted the plate by less than a millimeter but that was enough to throw the alignment. i ended up just sticking with the stainless screws.

the rest of the day i spent cleaning. i wiped the dust from the guest bedroom bookshelf, vacuumed the cobwebs from the ceiling, and organized the closet. i moved some living room books to either the closet bookcase or my bedroom bookcase. it's also giving me the chance to throw out anything i don't need, like some books. i've got 3 days to clean before cristina's arrival so i can take my time.

while cleaning out the guest bedroom i found an eyeglass case with a USB thumb drive inside. i actually found it weeks ago, but only now got to investigate what was on the device. it was all of mary's documents, nearly 8GB worth of data. i didn't want to pry but read the harvard university letter inviting her to be a visiting scholar for a year. it makes me sad that things didn't work out with her. i blame myself a little bit, maybe she wouldn't have had her nervous breakdown had i not gone to china. at the same time, there was really nothing more i can do. i am not her caretaker, and i tried to provide for all her requests, despite the fact that she never told me her real name. i sort of want to return the USB drive to her, but i'm sure she has copies. it's been so long anyway, and i'm not even sure if she's still in the program, or already returned home to shanghai. mental illness is a hell of a thing.

i went to the american academy of arts and sciences building at 6pm to attend a status report meeting on the beacon street construction. though i was curious about construction going-ons, i was more excited to visit the academy building for the very first time, even though i pass it all the time and it's just a few houses down from where i live. i'm still not sure what exactly they do there, it all seems very secretive and highbrow. the meeting was okay, ended with that one old somerville townie complaining about the dust and the noise and the rats and how people in her house have heart problems and that this was unacceptable. i returned home, crossing the muddy road, wearing the wrong shoes so my feet were wet by the time i got back. it was all very manigange!

i made my penultimate sub, using up all the provolone cheese, and adding some honey mustard for some additional flavor, along with the hot pepper rings.

i ended up turning on my air conditioner. it was a few degrees cooler outside than inside (78° verus 82°) but with the high humidity, using the fans alone wouldn't alleviate the suffering. i'm worried about cristina, she's arriving on the hottest weekend this season, it's going to give her a bad first impression of new england. but at least it looks like there's a chance of some rain every day for at least a week, with all the tropical humidity in the air.

i kept cleaning in small portions the rest of the night. i patched the bathroom door lock damage on the door frame with some wood filler earlier, and sanded it smooth now that it was dry, later painting over it with the white semi-gloss behr acrylic. my one last bit of renovation work is to rechaulk the bathtub, but that will wait until tomorrow morning. i found a tube of barely used white silicone caulk on my caulk gun. i tried to clear up the nozzle with an awl, but i ended up just squeezing caulk out from the back end of the tube. i ended up tossing the old tube, until i saw a video online that said you could slit open the nozzle to dig out the hardened caulk and then tape back up the nozzle. i tried it and it worked, so it looks like i won't have to waste any caulk ($6.24/tube).