i checked on my seedling this morning, made sure they had enough water, especially the ones outside that would have to brave the heat today. it was already 76 degrees by the then i left for the cafe.

my father made a batch of ramen noodle soup stock today, simmering a broth of beef bones, pork bones, and chicken feet. after the flavors had been extracted, my father took the leftover chicken feet and marinated them in some sichuan hot sauce. it was okay, the feet were very tender to the point of falling apart, and the flavor didn't full absorb yet.

in the morning i made a batch of boba pearls and a batch of black soy noodles. i then went down to trader joe's to get some supplies. there was some drama at the checkout lane, a customer just left his cart behind after checking out. the cashier was like, "aren't you going to put this back?" and the customer replied no, that he didn't need it anymore. the cashier became angry, but i diffused the situation by telling her i would push the cart out and put it with the other carts.

jeana finally came by to pick up her hydrangeas. she wasn't mad that one of the plants had all its flowers shrivel up, she said those plants were in bad shape to begin with.

we weren't sure if it'd be busy with the weather so hot. but it actually got pretty busy between 11-1pm. we sold a few bentos, but cold sesame noodles seemed to be the most popular item, which makes sense on a hot day like today. i ended up having to make 2 more batches of black soy noodles. i imagine it'd the same tomorrow.

how hot did it get? 96 degrees the official temperature in boston, breaking the record for today. for the first time we turned on the AC in the cafe. unfortunately there's no AC in the kitchen area, so my father wanted to turn on the window fan, but i said it wasn't necessary, i didn't mind the heat.

we also ran the ice machine for most of the day. cold drinks - whether that's coffee or boba tea - were also very popular. because of the heat, it took longer to make the ice. by day's end my father brought up 6 containers of ice while i made 5 more for the basement freezer.

the noontime weather forecast said there'd be severe thunderstorms in the early evening. i knew today would be hot, but i didn't expect rain until tomorrow. but the heat combined with the humidity can spontaneously generate storm clouds, and that's exactly what happened. i went to close the deck umbrella and put away all the furniture, as well as put a rain cover on my bike seat and close the car windows. no sooner did i finish did it start to rain. my sister was coming back with walking esmei around the neighborhood.

it was some serious downpour. a couple came into the cafe to ask for directions and to dodge the rain. when they opened the door, the wind whipped it wide open, like a hurricane. they were kind of obnoxious, because the alcove area is small, they stood there with the door open, letting all the AC escape. i wanted to tell them to wait somewhere else (don't block the door!) but it was raining so heavily, we decided to just let them wait.

there was also a car crash at the intersection. so many accidents happen there, i ought to put a webcam facing the street to capture all the drama. i didn't hear the crash, but when i looked out the window, there was a car with it's entire driver side corner ripped off. the collision was so damaging even the front bumper came off. plus for some reason the left rear tail light was also cracked. i kept trying to see where he crashed into but couldn't tell. i did see him exchanging papers with another woman. to add insult to injury, it was also pouring rain, so he just sort of stood on the sidewalk getting totally drenched, trying to figure out what to do next. at least nobody can see you crying in the rain.

my parents stayed behind to have some fish for dinner. two kids knocked on the door right after we closed. my mother recognized them and let them in. they got some dumplings and boba tea to go. thankfully the rain had stopped by the time we closed. i had a leisurely dry ride back home.

first thing i did when i got back was to check on my seedlings. they were fine, but there was about an inch of rain water in the trays. i took out all the pots and poured out the water. if it's going to rain like this again tomorrow, i'll need to bring the seedlings inside temporarily, to prevent them from drowning and getting pummeled by the storm.

for some reason i saw some girls wearing bathing suits around the neighborhood. i thought it was just summer fashion, but then i realized today was the perfect day to go to the beach. if i wasn't working, maybe i would've done the same!

i warmed up the leftover pizza from saturday night for dinner. i ate while watching the cavs-knicks game. cavs dominated the game in the second half, knicks had no answer. but midway in the 4th a new york miracle happened and the knicks clawed their way back to force an overtime. the second overtime game in the conference championship! maybe cleveland was gassed, but they had little answer for the knicks, who went up by a 2-digit lead and won a game that looked like they were going to lose. final score 104-115.

it was a little warm in the house but not too bad, just 78 degrees. it usually takes a few days of a heat wave before the indoor temperature surpasses the outdoor temperature. one advantage of living alone is i can just hang out in my underwear and not offend anyone, so that's basically my strategy for staying cool. the heat wave is only temporary though, another day tomorrow, then the temperature drops down to a more seasonable 50-60's.

going to go to bed early, got another busy day tomorrow despite it being my one day off.

andrew texted me this morning, said he could come to my place at noontime so we could go see the IMAX at the museum of science today (nicer weather) instead of wednesday (hot and strong thunderstorm chances). i spent some time cleaning the house before taking the last hour doing some bike maintenance. i installed a bell on the trek hybrid FX and oiled the chains on both bikes with wax lubricant.

andrew showed up at 12pm with his bike helmet even though i had spare ones for him to wear. after he used the bathroom, we went out back to retrieve the bicycles we were taking to get to the museum of science. andrew had to raise the saddle height, i just happened to have a 5mm hex wrench. later the front brakes on the trek FX came loose. the noodle holder on the v brake was damaged, which allowed the noodle to pop free. we put it back but it'd periodically pop out still.

we got to the museum of science by 12:30pm, locked the bikes to the bike stand right next to the entrance. we went inside to get tickets for the 1pm IMAX presentation of the heart of new england. that's when they told us the bad news: the IMAX theater was closed due to overheating. so all that planning, finally getting here, and the IMAX is out of service. so instead we decided to get some lunch. one of the ticket sellers overheard our conversation and recommended a mexican torta place just nearby. we decided to take him up on the recommendation.

before we could go though, we had to do more repair on andrew's bike. the front brake pads were now sticking to the rim. the v brake just needed to be replaced. to temporarily fix the problem, i released some of the brake line.

tenoch mexican was kind of hidden, just beyond a daycare on museum way, easy to miss. it wasn't at all crowded. we ordered through a kiosk, andrew treated me to lunch. a lot of stuff on the menu i had no idea what they were and needed a spanish translator to figure out. i ended up getting the torta chicharron and a bottle of sidral mundet (mexican apple soda).

we picked up our order and took over a table with 6 seats. i went to wash my hands in the unisex bathroom. somebody told me once that a torta is like a mexican hamburger. wasn't sure what i was eating, but it was good. there was a lot of stuff inside, things like pulled pork, oaxaca cheese, and avocado. later i discovered that tenoch mexican is a local chain, including stores in somerville (davis square) and harvard square (inside the garage no less). i wouldn't have to travel far to get my mexican torta fix.

andrew told me about his work with reinsurance, and explained the whole industry, which was eye-opening. apparently insurance companies need insurance of their own, in the event they need to make a big payout and don't go bankrupt. earlier he told me about bumping into amy F at the watertown fish ladder event, who still remember coming to my 10th birthday party back at the old unity avenue apartment. he also told me about david, who sold his maple avenue house near gilman square 4 years ago and moved into a cambridge senior home actually very close to where i live. i was wearing my hearing aid but i don't think andrew noticed, or too polite to say anything.

we finished a little bit after 2pm, probably the same time the IMAX movie would've let us out. instead of heading back via cambridge street, i took andrew on the somerville community path, cutting through cambridge crossing, all new places he'd never been before. we came out by mcgrath highway on washington street, cutting through union square and the market basket parking lot. i showed andrew the paulownia tree on morgan avenue, thought he'd appreciate it. we got back to my place by 2:20pm.

after andrew left, i grabbed my things and rode the motorcycle to belmont, getting there around 3pm. my original plan before andrew contacted me to go to the science museum was to go on a walk with my mother in search of turkish pomegranate tea and to go with my father to home depot to buy some EMT conduits. my mother was happy to say indoors watching her chinese AI dramas on youtube. i found my father in the backyard pruning dead branches from our rabbit-fed quince bush. i saw he'd already been to home depot and brought back 5 conduits.

with the grass already grown after just a week, i went ahead and mowed the lawn. i tried to clean the inside of the lawnmower because dead grass accumulate in the deck prevents clippings to fully collect in the bag but instead fall back down onto the lawn. i did the best i could with a wooden paint stirrer, need something with better scraping capability.

after i finished mowing the lawn and my father finished pruning the quince bush, we went about piecing together a trellis with the EMT conduit. my father was impressed with the quality of the 10ft 3/4" conduit, said they'd make a sturdy trellis. we were trying to figure out what dimension of trellis we wanted. it would be 6ft, since we can use the trimmed off 4ft conduit for the width. what about the depth? originally we were thinking 5ft, but that isn't very much. i suggested we don't cut the conduits at all and leave the depth at 10ft, giving us plenty of runway to grow our trellis plants. unfortunately a 10ft deep trellis needed one more conduit and we only had 5. but we could still make a partial trellis to see what it'd look like.

my father found 2 pipe cutting tools and used it to cut the conduits. we staked the 2ft 3/4" rebar into the ground, which the 3/4" conduit fit perfectly on top of. the t-connectors work well with the provided plastic shims; without the shims, the connectors can't clamp properly onto the 3/4" conduit. we also used the t-connectors to fit the 4ft front-back braces, which made the trellis even sturdier. at 6ft tall it was the perfect height for us, but might be a little shorter for taller people.

i still needed to water our grow room plants but it was already close to 6pm. either i come back and do it wednesday (if it isn't rainy) or wait until next weekend to water.

for dinner we had a garlic chive omelette, spicy mushroom stirfry, and a spicy tofu stirfry.

i went home after dinner. because of street cleaning, i had to park my motorcycle on one of the private ways. i also swept all the oak tree catkins from the sidewalk out onto the street for cleaning, as well as the catkins in the backyard (which i put in the garden refuse bin). another warm night, my seedlings can continue to live outside for the time being.

i didn't think there was any basketball tonight, so i was surprised to see game 1 of the western conference was happening. what an amazing game. the spurs led for much of the game, but only by single digits, always without striking distance for the thunder. OKC made their push in the final minutes of the 4th quarter to tie the game and send it into overtime. not just once, but twice. both teams were making impressive shots. victor wembanyama is a force. spurs win 122-115.

i managed to sleep to about 9am this morning, for 8 hours of sleep in the guest bedroom. i started the day by moving more plants out of the grow closet. i even brought out the light metal shelving unit a found a few years back. originally i was going to set up a stand in the middle of the backyard, but decided to move it up to the middle deck, a no-man's-land not really owned by my upstairs neighbors or myself. i put out the luffas and the okras. the bittermelons and squash have been outside since yesterday. the hyacinth beans and tomatoes have been intermittently outside since wednesday.

i had some time to work on the bikes with the aliexpress parts that came yesterday. i immediately realized the M8-35mm stainless steel hex cap screws i got were not the right diameter. i thought i measured, and it even said online that M8 is the typical size for a center-mounted kickstand, but i actually needed M10 screws. the black stainless steel washers though were the correct size, and i replaced the washer on my rear fender screw.

i headed out by 11am. today was a warm day - temperature in the 80's. it wasn't too bad, warm but dry, unlike the weather next week. i wore a t-shirt and jeans. i had 18% charge left on my ebike battery but the charger was in belmont. typically a ride to belmont would use up 16% charge traveling on ECO mode set to level 5 and hitting the throttle on occasion. i had enough juice but it'd be close. so i rode in the lower levels, even turning off the assist completely when i was traveling downhill. i stopped by the cafe to put away the tea eggs before finally making it to my parents' place. riding conservatively, i still had 11% charge left in the battery. i popped the battery and charged it up with solar power from the house.

my mother said my sister was coming to pick up us to go for a walk with esmei around fresh pond. i wasn't interested as i had a lot of yard work to do. so while they left for their walk, i was in the backyard pulling up creeping bellflowers. i also watered the plants, which seemed to be wilting in the unexpected heat. when they came back about an hour later, esmei ran into the backyard searching for rabbits.

after my sister left with esmei, my mother made me some lunch: hunter sausage with poached fried eggs.

afterwards i helped my father sink 3 more leftover wooden posts in our western yard to make a more secure bitter melon trellis. that's when we saw our next door neighbor had a new gadget: a robot mower! their yard is ideal for automated mowing since it's pretty uniform. unfortunately a robot mower can't bag the grass clippings, so it can only mulch mow. we use our grass clippings to feed our compost bin, with a combination of dead norwegian maple leaves in the fall. it was 4pm by the time we finished the western trellis with the 3 more fence posts. we even strung up some solar lights. one of the lights had a corroded socket so it wouldn't light, we'll need to clean it up at some point. these lights have been pretty dependable, despite living outside all year round. they're also surprisingly bright.

my newly purchased EMT conduit t-clamps finally arrived today (20 sets for $24). they look very similar to the ones sold by maker pipes, but these are designed for 1" conduits (actually 25mm metric) and they came with thin plastic shims to properly fit 3/4" conduits. my father tested them out with 3/4" PVC pipes (which are slightly wider than 3/4" EMT conduits) and they're plenty tight once properly screwed in place. we're going to get some 3/4" EMT conduits tomorrow. my father just realized that we can start making trellises immediately without waiting for 90-degrees 3-way-clamps (arriving may 20-23, 12 sets for $22) since just the t-clamps will work as well.

i fell asleep on the zero gravity chair watching NCAA women's softball on ABC while waiting for the local news to start. my parents were making dinner: my mother made some xinjiang-style lamb pilaf while my father cut up the haymarket swiss chard i bought yesterday and gave them a stirfry with garlic. swiss chard is one of those highly nutritious superfoods. i like eating them but their earthy taste takes getting used to. once you realize they belong in the same family as beets it makes sense, since they do taste like beets.

i went home after dinner, put the fulling charged battery back onto the ebike. coming back, i noticed a pile of discarded items on oxford street. i saw a two-tier shelf that might make a great plant stand, and was going to come back on foot and check it out, but i did a quick u-turn to take a closer look. the shelf turned out to be a little flimsy, wasn't worth taking. however there were two orphaned potted plants. one that had a bunch of dark green leaves that didn't look interesting, but the other was an orchid in a pot. not one but two orchids actually, their flower spikes bent to form arches. there were no more flowers, but the orchids themselves were perfectly healthy, much healthier than the orchids currently living in the belmont grow room. so i decided to take it, along with a metal cup with a handle that looked like a turkish coffee maker. so the trash picking season has started! every year around this time i find all sorts of treasures left behind by people moving out.

i put my ebike in the basement, won't use it again tomorrow, because i have another ride, which is my motorcycle. i need to move the motorcycle anyway because of street cleaning. i checked the velotric app to see my odometer: 501.5 miles. also there was still 94% charge on the battery. i think the battery works better in warm temperature versus the cold temperature of the winter.

there was an NBA game 7 tonight between the cavs and pistons. cleveland dominated despite playing in detroit. their biggest lead was 35 points, and the game ended with a score of 125-94. pundits think the knicks will easily defeat the cavs based on how new york swept philly, but these cavs are battle-tested. sometimes when a team has too much rest (like new york), they come out rusty. this has turned out to be a very exciting playoff: cavs vs. knicks, and spurs vs. thunder.

there was no late sleep this saturday morning as i woke up at 8am to get ready for a jaunt to haymarket. before i left, i moved out a bunch of seedlings to the backyard deck, get them used to outdoor conditions.

i left around 9:05am, got there by 9:25am via ebike down cambridge street. with summer just a month away, there seems to be more produce compared to my last visit. my haul: bag of mandarin oranges ($2), 1 lbs of longhorn peppers ($2, but i saw them for $1 elsewhere), 9 gold nugget oranges ($6), bunch of swiss chard ($1), 3 bags of cherries ($5), 1 lbs of ginger ($2), 2 carambola ($2), 2 packages of baby cucumbers ($3). i could've bought more, but was afraid i couldn't carry everything back.

i left haymarket by 9:50am, went straight to the cafe and got there by 10:20am. my parents were already there, my mother said they got there at 9am this morning. outside the handyman was assembling the parking lot deck ($500). i tried to pack my produce to the least amount of damage, but a lot of the cherries got bashed sitting in my rear bike basket.

my father brought an used aquarium timer that arrived for me in an amazon package. i was confused at first, but it must be the used conduit connectors i bought. how it could get mixed up with another used merchandise i have no idea, but amazon will give me a refund no problem, i just have to send the wrong item back to them first.

i took a quick trip home before we opened, to grab my camera equipment since we might go to arnold arboretum after we close at 4pm today. both my sister's godmother and my 2nd aunt went last week, and my mother wanted to go herself. not so much to see the lilacs, but rather to see the paulownia and maybe some wisteria.

my father went home after the handyman finished assembling the deck. he brought up all the deck furniture and opened up the patio umbrella. temperature today actually hit 80 degrees, although it was still cool inside the cafe due to residual cooling (we haven't turned on the AC yet). we got busy in the first two hours, but after it was all over, we didn't make all that much. fortunately we still had a few hours left, and managed to make our daily average at the very least. we had a few customers come in close to closing time, after i'd already packed up most of our foods.

at the end of the day we did decide to go to arnold arboretum in jamaica plain after all. i was a little tired, having biked to boston and back, working in the cafe, and not having eaten or drank anything all day.

my parents had never been to the arboretum before. even the roads were unfamiliar, although my father had been to longwoods before in the past. google maps was our guide. even when we got there, there was no parking spot to be found. i'd never been here on the weekend, especially when the weather's so nice, so the place was crowded with people. we had to drive the length of arborway, almost leaving the arboretum (close to the forest hill MBTA station), before we found parking. even then it was kind of iffy, the sign said tow zone, even though there were plenty of other cars parked there. that ended up being a stroke of luck, because it was a lot closer to the lilacs on bussey hill.

there was a lot of people, including folks camping out like they were having a picnic. this also coincided with some college graduations, so there were people in graduation gowns getting their photos taken next to pretty flowers. there was even a wedding up on lilac hill, and later the bride and groom were being hustled around by the wedding photographer to get some photos.

the last time i was at the arnold arboretum was back in april 2019, when i went there to check out the cherry blossoms. i got there by bicycle, which is the best way to come, since it allows you to cover more arboretum grounds versus just walking.

we saw the lilacs but my mother wanted to see the paulownia. i found them up on the hill above the lilacs. the paulownia looked dead, but they simply hadn't flowered yet. we saw plenty of flower buds. in another week or two they should be in bloom.

we climbed up to the summit of bussey hill, then down the other side to check out the explorers garden AKA the asian garden. here we saw a bunch of flowering tree peonies, azaleas underneath the shady of canopy trees, and flowering dove trees. most importantly, i found the wintersweet, much larger than the sapling i saw on my last visit 7 years ago. it had already leafed out, not sure if it flowered this season. it's proof that wintersweet can survive new england weather, and gives us hope we can raise one ourselves in our own backyard one day.

fron the explorers garden we followed beech path down to the small pond we saw earlier near the lilacs. we finally left by 6:30pm. traffic on the arborway was crazy, and took us a while just to pull out into the oncoming traffic. to get back we needed to make a precarious u-turn, but we decided to turn down south street, cut through the arboretum property (get a sense just how large it is), then connect to center street via flora way.

we didn't get back to the cafe until 7:10pm. my sister called my mother, asked her why my ebike was still parked outside the cafe. my parents grab some supplies and we each headed to our respective homes.

i was too tired to make dinner just eat, at some malt vinegar potato chips before finally convincing myself to go into the kitchen to throw a frozen pizza in the oven. i ate while watching the final episodes of mrs.davis on television (i've been doing a rewatch). the pizza felt a little gross. after eating salads for three straight days, the pizza was a bit much. i couldn't even eat the crusts, too much carbs. later i took a shower.

i switched the wires in the cafe nest thermostat to summertime cooling mode. today might be seem like it - with temperature in the 50's and overcast - but by next week we'll definitely need with temperature in the 90's.

i went down to trader joe's midmorning to get some bananas and a few other ingredients for the cafe. when i got back, i finished cleaning the remaining two wire shelves in the sliding door fridge. the two topmost shelves are the dirtiest, since there's more moisture on the very top. we tossed out a few more jars, including some ancient kimchi and some yellow ghost pepper hot sauce i made but too afraid to try.

my parents made another scallion bread. i ate three pieces but could've easily eaten the whole thing, especially when right out of the electric baking pan and still hot.

it was busy today, a lot of bento sales, a lot of noodles, and most of all bubble tea. a group of noisy kids took over the cafe in the late afternoon, ordering bubble tea. not just children, but adults enjoy the bubble tea as well. we ended up making as much today as two days combined. we didn't set any records, but easily the most profitable day in 2 weeks. whatever we make tomorrow saturday will just be bonus.

my aunt showed up in the late afternoon. she had some stewed pork on rice before taking home the rest of the scallion bread.

returning home after work, i stopped by observatory hill to admire a tree with white flowers that look like tiny bells. i did some research, it's a carolina silverbell (Halesia carolina), native to the smoky mountains, but hardy to zone 4. the flowers have no fragrance, but tree produces an abundance of blossoms in late spring.

i had one final night of chicken caesar salad for dinner. the romain must be old because it tasted a little bitter. i didn't have any croutons so went across the street to the supermarket to get some.

pistons equalize their series against the cavs, forcing a game 7 in detroit on sunday. spurs and timberwolves play a game 6 tonight, still not over yet, san antonio currently leads by 16 points in the 3rd quarter. i hope that series go to 7 games as well.

i didn't hear jeff upstairs tonight, i'm guessing he went home to california after his weeklong mandatory office visit at his biotech job. i probably won't see him until next month.

it wasn't going to start raining today until after 11am, so i stayed dry this morning when i went to the cafe. i did wear my rain jacket and bring my rain pants.

i made a new batch of boba pearls and a new batch of tea eggs. my mother made some scallion bread with the large package of scallions she got from costco over the weekend. she salted the chopped scallions which gave the bread more flavor. we proofed the dough in the breville oven. the bread came out perfect, we even gave a piece to a curious customer. my mother found a new thing to watch: AI generated chinese dramas. i devoted some time today cleaning the moldy wire shelves of the sliding door fridge. it gave us a chance to toss out some expired foods. jeana's hydrangeas survived their wilting, but one of them was too far gone and all the flowers are shriveled. she was supposed to come by and pick them up but never did.

today ended up being a slow day because of the rain, we made less than our daily average, but not too bad considering the bad weather. i'm actually surprised we got any business at all once the rain started.

the rain had lessened by the time i headed home, but there was still a drizzle. i put on my rain gear, which felt like going underwater. when i got home i had to move the motorcycle because eversource was coming by to do more utility work. i then went to star market to stock up on some polar seltzer on sale.

a fourth butterfly pea had sprouted. i fished out the second seed i planted and put it in its own pot. i also dug through the pot of the last bitter melon seeds that i napkin-germinated. it never sprouted but digging through the soil i found the seedling, still growing underground. i helped it out by partially exposing the seedling.

for dinner i made another chicken caesar salad. it was easier this time around because i'd already cooked the chicken breasts yesterday. i made a massive serving of salad using my largest pyrex bowl. a rare night where there was no basketball. instead i watched some movies on pluto.tv.

on a day where i could afford to sleep late, i still ended up waking around 7:30am. i tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. it was surprisingly dark outside, like maybe it might rain. it did rain a little bit. i went outside to wipe dry my motorcycle before putting on the new cover. i moved out some plants: my three umbrella plants and a plastic tray filled with hyacinth bean and tomato seedlings. after today, night time temperature will hold steady at 50 degrees and above, which means seedlings can begin moving outside.

i also checked my ziploc seeds. no activity on the hot peppers, but another luffa seed sprouted. you can tell when a luffa seed is viable because it first begins to swell, before growing a root. i planted it with the root pointing down. the root will continue to grow downwards, before pushing the seed head out of the soil.

in the late morning i decided to go out and get my mother's prescription before getting some groceries at market basket. it was still raining so i was going to delay the trip, but the doppler radar showed the storm clouds leaving the area, so i went out after all. there was a long wait at the harvard vanguard pharmacy line. i was standing behind a young woman in yoga pants with bad ache who had palpable frustration as people kept cutting in front of her in line, for various reasons.

i made a quick stop at walgreens before heading to market basket. i was getting frozen shrimps and drinks for the cafe. i decided i was going to make chicken caesar salad for dinner, and grabbed some chicken breast and romaine lettuce.

i came home, threw a chicken cordon bleu in the oven, and waited 35 minutes for it to finish baking. earlier i also did a load of laundry, the clothes were finished in the dryer by the time i got back, so i spend some time folding them.

there was no noontime news: every single local channel was broadcasting the catholic funeral of the state trooper who got killed in the wrong way driver crash. after i finished lunch, i pulled the cover off of the motorcycle and rode to the cafe with the supplies.

from the cafe i went directly to greater boston motorsports in arlington heights to get my motorcycle inspected. the rain had finally stopped, the roads were already dry from the rolling traffic. unlike cars, motorcycles need to be inspected every year. because i'd already replaced the front tire last year, there was nothing wrong with the bike. the store owner actually came out to do the inspection, checked the tires for cracks, made sure the lights and horn worked, and that was it. i paid $15 for the inspection sticker.

i went to belmont. the motorcycle tires seemed flat because i had a hard time rolling them. i couldn't find the digital tire pressure gauge so could only use the manual gauge on the air compressor which said 30 psi for my front tire and 40 psi for the rear tire. i ended up not inflating either of them, will wait until i can get a more accurate reading with the digital gauge. i also looked underneath the motorcycle to see what kind of oil filter i had. the honda shadow uses a spin-on filter, but sometimes it has a built-in wrench off nut. the filter on the bike did not have his nut, which meant it needed a special tool to remove it. i don't remember installing a nutless filter, so i wonder if this was installed about 3 years ago when i had my motorcycle totally services when i had the rear tire replaced. anyway, i searched the garage for the special oil filter tool but couldn't find it. i did find another replacement air filter, but when i looked inside i saw it was used. eventually i did find the tool, so i can probably change the oil this weekend.

i had big plans of going to home depot to buy some EMT conduits, but it was already almost 3pm, not enough time. instead i stayed at my parents' place and did some yard work. i did some light weeding in RB0, before moving onto RB2 and redistributing the swiss chard seedlings 6" apart from one another. afterwards i watered the backyard using rain barrel water.

while watering the eastern perennial bed (lily of the valley field), i came across 2 mourning dove chicks huddled on the ground. these may be fledglings as they look pretty mature. hopefully they'll leave soon. i also saw a dead robin by the grape trellis. it doesn't seem to be a window strike. i'm hoping maybe a scavenger will take it otherwise i'll need to bury it. finally, i didn't see any mature rabbits, but i saw at least one bunny running around the backyard. rabbits have already eaten a patch of violets, as well as the milkweed seedlings i saw between RB1 and RB2 a few weeks ago.

i left belmont by 4pm, headed straight home. a moving van has reserved three parking spots in front of my house, so i wanted to get home early enough that i could still find a good parking for my motorcycle. i put the cover on it as soon as i got back since it's going to rain all of tomorrow and most of friday as well.

i decided to do some work in my own garden plot. i wanted to bring all my milk crates but i could only carry 3 on the back of my bicycle. i did some weeding, pulled up some grass, but the plot needs more work. looks like i'll be here saturday after work. i was about to leave when i bumped into ginny. she started talking and i got caught up in her conversational web for the next half hour. she didn't something weird though: she ask to borrow my digging spade, but after she was done, instead of putting the tool back, she just handed it to me, instead of putting it back herself.

i didn't get back home until 5:30pm.

i played some cyberpunk, looking for the iconic tech sniper rifle breakthrough. it was hiding in one of the few places in night city where i haven't visited yet, close to the piez diner. this weapon is special in its ability to strike at targets through walls.

i started making dinner around 8pm. i've made chicken caesar salad many times in the past (last time was this past february), but needed a refresher, particularly how to cook the chicken. i found some useful tips from sam the cooking guy, who has a chicken caesar salad of his own where he makes his own croutons and dressing. i wasn't as ambitious, instead using readymade croutons and dressing. but i did learn to beat/tenderize the large chicken breasts inside of a ziploc bag tossed with some olive oil. this recipe also allowed me to use my foreman smokeless grill ("smokeless" since it still smokes), a kitchen appliance i was keen to buy but later regretted my decision and now it sits in my kitchen unused. the only time i've ever used it was to cook bacon, and i did it outside on my backyard deck, so bacon grease smoke won't fill the inside of my house.

i cooked the two chicken breasts one at a time at 450 degrees for 8 minutes, after sprinkling both sides with some sea salt and fresh ground pepper. using a digital meat thermometer, the inside temperature was close to 200 degrees when it just needed to be 165 degrees, so for the second piece i only grilled it for 6 minutes. i opened the window and used a fan to blow out the smoke, fortunately it wasn't too cold outside (close to 60 degrees) so i wasn't freezing.

for the salad, besides chopped romaine, i also added some onion for some spicy sweetness. into the bowl were the croutons, parmesan cheese, and the dressing.

the salad was good, although the leafy parts of the romaine was harder to chew. the chicken was cooked to perfection, tender, juicy, with just the right amount of seasoning. maybe i should look into more recipes that call for the smokeless grill.

i watched the cavaliers-pistons game. detroit should've won, but the cavs made a successful push in the 4th inning to regain the lead, only for the pistons to come back. it wasn't enough however and the game ended in a tie, so we went into overtime. the cavs essentially stole the game from the pistons, winning 117-113. now the series go back to cleveland on friday, if cavs win they advance to face off against the knicks. the way new york is playing, neither the cavs or the pistons can defeat them.

i took the motorcycle to work this morning because i planned on going to belmont later in the evening to help my father move out all the garden refuse including a dozen bundles of pruned branches.

our neighbor jeana dropped off three potted hydrangea last week, told my father to take care of them while she went on vacation. i watered them over the weekend but i didn't realize just how dehydrated they were in their tiny pots. so when i checked on them today, all three plants had wilted. we left them soaking in buckets of water outside all day. 2 plants came back to life, but the third plant still looks wilted and might be dead.

in the mid-morning i went to trader joe's to get a few things (cucumbers, edamame, milk). riding the motorcycle meant i didn't mind going the longer way. i packed the items securely in my saddlebags.

my father made a new batch of beef noodle soup. seems like every other week we need to make a new batch, one of our most popular items. he actually stewed the broth over the weekend at home, a mixture of various bones (beef, pork, chicken).

it was starting to look like a slow day. but we got a spike in customers less than 30 minutes before closing. i was already cleaning up, preparing to leave, when customers started showing up and making orders. one group was a noisy asian family with young children who left a mess after they finished eating. i could do with less of these type of customers. there was another group that came in late, ordered, and ate while we waited for them to leave. so a slow tuesday ended up being not so bad.

after work i followed my parents back to belmont. my father and i moved all the garden refuse out onto the curb. i think i pulled a muscle in my chest hauling some of the large bundles of branches. after we finished, i returned to cambridge.

my father found a bike lock key. turns out it's the key for my old onguard u-lock. i lost the key for it last year, it fell off my keychain. i still have another backup key, but i was afraid if i ever lost that key as well, there'd be no way for me to unlock the u-lock. so i retired that lock. he found it in the car, it must've snapped off my keychain.

i came home with some leftover beef noodle soup for dinner, which i ate after i took a shower. i watched the timberwolves-spurs game, san antonio won 97-126, now lead the series 3-2, while the thunder - who swept the lakers yesterday - await the winners of this series.

andrew called me tonight. we were supposed to meet up tomorrow, but he had to reschedule for next wednesday. that'll give me time tomorrow to pick up a prescription for my mother, do some grocery shopping, maybe go for a run, get the motorcycle inspected, and do some gardening both in my community garden plot and in belmont, before it rains on thursday. heck, i might even go to home depot and get some 3/4" EMT conduits. so a busy day regardless.

a quick check of my grow closet this morning revealed that okras are starting to form their first real leaf. kind of exciting, i'm entirely unfamiliar with growing okra, so everything's new to me. the leaves are surprisingly hairy for some reason.

my parents came to pick me up around 10am. i could see on the gps they had to make a detour on linnaean because of road construction then took an illegal left turn on mass ave because the city got of the raised islands and replaced them with painted lines.

today's supply run would take us to everett, first to costco, then to restaurant depot, before going to broadway plaza in malden for some lunch buffet at flaming grill before doing some final shopping at the 99 asian supermarket.

we saw the tipico truck at costco. they had a much of world cup merchandise geared towards kids. are american children really into euro soccer players? costco didn't have the 30-tray of eggs, only the 24 in plastic containers. we ended up getting 8 packages (almost 200 eggs!) which we'll use up in about 2 weeks.

my father brought our 12v fridge/freezer for the very first time. we originally got it for supply runs, but waited all this time before we finally used it in an outdoor excursion. it performed well, kept some of our food cold at 32 degrees exactly. we ran it off of the little aolithium LiFePO4 29Ah portable battery station.

originally we were going to go to total wine & beer next door to look for the turkish beer my father had in istanbul. but it was already 11:15am and we were running late so we skipped that stop. instead we went to restaurant depot to get some straws. thankfully it wasn't too busy, we didn't have to wait long in the checkout line.

next we crisscrossed everett and went to broadway plaza in malden. it was already close to noontime, so we decided to hit the flaming grill buffet. monday through thursday between 11am to 3:30pm, lunchtime buffet is only $14, which is a pretty good deal. just ask for water when they ask you if you want anything to drink, because drinks cost extra (even tea). any other time, the buffet is $20-21/person, which is still a good deal. we were here back in early march, so we knew what to expect. what's good to eat, what's bad, and what will fill you up quickly that you can't eat another bite.

in my first outing, i came back with two plates: a few pieces of sushi (they're so pretty and irresistible, but the rice is pretty filling), a piece of fried chicken, some french fries, coconut shrimp, general tso chicken, fried white fish (with tartar sauce), lychees, mango jello cubes, and a cup of hot & sour soup. it was good, but i could already feel myself slowing down from all that food, all that starch, all that fried oil, all that protein. all i want to do after eating a buffet is to lie down and go into a food coma.

in my second outing, i only came back with a single plate: salted fried fish, another piece of fried chicken, fried shrimp, one mussel, more general tso chicken, stirfry beef, a chocolate cake that tasted sort of like tiramisu, and an egg tart. for my third and final outing, i just grabbed an orange cream popsicle. actually, it was just an orange popsicle, sugar free no less. flaming grill has a large selection of frozen treats, but none of them are that good.

we finished eating by 12:45pm. my mother left early to go check out the dollar store next door. we found her inside, there wasn't anything she wanted, so we left empty-handed.

our last stop was the 99 asian supermarket. not to be confused with ranch 99 asian supermarket in quincy, which is part of a supermarket chain. this particular asian supermarket doesn't have the best prices, but does have a large selection. i was surprised by how many southeast asian brands it carries, including a bunch of filipino ingredients i'd never seen anywhere else. my asian supermarket of choice is still ming's market, only because they're inexpensive, but their selection is terrible.

we left close to 1:30pm. we returned to cambridge via route 99. it was the most direct route, but not the fastest. google maps recommended some other routes, but my father wanted to go the most direct way, no chance of getting lost, didn't have to rely on google maps to help us navigate.

we skirted by tufts university (tents on the sports field for graduation), cut through davis square to get to the cafe. my mother was very quiet on the ride back, because she wanted to use the bathroom. while she did that, my father and i unloaded supplies from the car. we saw my sister taking esmei out for an adventure.

we returned to belmont around 2:30pm. there was still 81% charge on the portable power supply powering the 12v freezer set to 32 degrees. the freezer works but it'd be better if it was even bigger. the one that we have (euhomy, purchased july 2023 for $220) is 55L (59qt). it'd also be nice if it can refrigerate and freeze at the same time. right now it's one or the other, though one part of the unit is slightly warmer (the part that sits above the compressor), so you could get away with a split combo in a pinch (for short duration).

my father helped me lower the motorcycle off the jack and pull it out of the garage. it didn't start at first, but after a half dozen failed starts, it finally roared to life. i parked it out on the curb. the kickstand feels a little tight, but it's much straighter than the old kickstand, so when i park the motorcycle doesn't look like it's leaning so much it's about to topple over. the straight kickstand also doesn't hit the back of my left leg when i ride.

we turned off the gas valve on our 2-stroke snowblower and ran the carburetor until it ran dry and the engine sputtered to a stop. this is the same step i make store my motorcycle for the winter. we're just doing the reverse with the snowblower. there's still some gasoline in the fuel tank, i'm getting a siphon pump so i can extract the fuel and either save it or throw it out.

my father started mowing the lawn. he got midway through the backyard before he got tired and i told him he could go back inside to rest. i finished mowing the lawn, dumping the grass clippings in our compost bin mixed with shredded leaves we saved from last autumn. earlier i shoveled out all the remaining finished compost so we can eventually use them in the garden. it's crazy how fast the grassing is growing the past few weeks. we've been mowing every single weekend, and the grass keeps on growing back like nothing happened. the cool weather and the bit of rain is the ideal condition for grass growing.

i mixed a half gallon solution of fungicide: 1/2 tbsp immunox with 0.75 tbsp of captan powder. this was for the grapevines, to help prevent several diseases. has this actually worked? who knows, the grapes continue to rot before they ripen. last season we basically neglected our grapes despite investing in bird netting to keep critters from stealing our grapes. i'll keep on spraying this season, but if it still doesn't work, i'll look into investing in something more effective. the grapevines are also amazing in how vigorous they regrow. my father pruned a lot of branches this season, but all the remaining branches are resprouting. i think next season we might even try an even more drastic pruning, leave just a few main branches, and then let them grow back. this how professional vineyards do it, and i also believe drastic pruning gets rid of diseased branches from last season.

finally i watered the plants in the grow room. i only watered the orchids and pennyworts. i didn't see fungus gnats the past two weekends, and didn't see any this weekend as well. so i feel like i've finally eradicated the fungus gnats. unfortunately the weather is turning warmer now, and soon the grow room will be emptied. all that work to get rid of fungus gnats for naught!

we saw on the news about the shooter on memorial drive near river street. feels like the doings of a crazy person. if he really wanted to kill people, there are several close targets with a lot more potential victims. we watched the reddit video where the police actually shot the shooter in the leg before he fell over and surrendered, throwing away his gun.

my mother told us she wasn't making dinner, and instructed us to finish the leftover barbecue from yesterday. i enjoy the wings and some lefover pineapple, but found the lamb chops too bland.

i went home around 7pm. it was my first motorcycle ride of the season. i was afraid i'd forget and accidentally ride in the bike lane, or worse, forget to obey traffic rules. but i never get confused what i'm riding on. a motorcycle feels different than an ebike than a bicycle. for speed, for raw power, you can't beat a motorcycle, an ebike can never compare. each ride has its pros and cons. i get a lot more respect on a motorcycle (or is it fear?) than i do riding an ebike.

jeff finally showed up around 10pm. he thanked me for the beer i left him on his backyard deck. he was so quiet arriving, i actually didn't hear him until i heard some soft footsteps from upstairs. this is his 4th season renting from my upstairs neighbors.

i went to star market across the street to get some corn ($2.99/5 ears) and asparagus ($2.99/lbs) on sale. since today was going to a warm day (70's), i put out my umbrella plants and a bunch of hyacinth bean seedlings that don't fit in the grow closet anymore. i dropped off jeff's IPA beers on the upstairs deck before leaving around 11am.

i was almost at the cafe when my mother called and said she wanted to go see the lilacs at the arnold arboretum. i know today's mother's day, and that there's a big mother's day arboretum lilac event, that's why today is probably the worst day to go, since it's going to be mobbed with people. we can go another time, when it's not crazy crowded. anyway, i stopped by the cafe to put away the tea eggs before continuing to belmont.

when i got to my parents' place, my mother already decided she didn't want to go to the arboretum anymore, even though both my 2nd aunt and my sister's godmother were going today (independently, through different groups). instead my mother vacuumed the house and mopped the kitchen floor, before heating up some jiucai hezi for lunch.

my father and i moved all the foxgloves to a sawhorse table in between the maple tree and japanese maple, where it got enough dappled sunlight to keep the plants having. we used the newly found wheelbarrow to move some of the plants. after not seeing any rabbits for a few weeks, we suddenly saw a bunch of rabbits. two adults and at least one bunny. bunny makes me think there's a nest somewhere in the yard. one adult jumped onto the raspberry planter then hopped over the fence. another rabbit roamed around the yard hiding. i found the hole where it dug into our yard from a neighboring yard. our backyard lilac had blossomed, it now fills the entire backyard with its scent. a good year for lilacs, but after they finish flowering, we plan on cutting the bush lower to the ground because the flowers are too high to fully admire.

after lunch, we all took a walk down to the newly rebuilt belmont public library. along the way we admired various flowering plants and trees, including lilacs (didn't even need to go to the arboretum to see our fair share) and pink flowering dogwood. seems like every other house we saw had a dogwood, made my mother wonder why we didn't have one. we saw a huge gingko tree on the corner of school and oak street, must be 100 years old at least.

i loved the old belmont public library. in the days before the internet, this was where i hung out the most. i knew the place so well, i could recreate it entirely in my mind. the card catalog, the mimeograph machines, the magazine stacks, the copy machine, the phone booth, the upstairs collection of fiction novels. this new library? it's entirely different. i can understand why they needed to rebuild, but i still miss that old library. although to be honest, i probably hadn't set foot inside the belmont library in probably over 20+ years. the last i was there, i think i was still living at home with my parents, and i went to renew my library card. which was a long time ago.

this new library is spacious, and built in that modern open floor plan style that's so popular with libraries these days (very similar to the cambridge public library). yes they still have books, but they also have plenty of movies and television shows on dvd's and blu-ray. there's also audio books, and you can check out e-books online. you can also borrow board games, including puzzles, and even records. there are also large conference rooms you can rent, small study rooms, and rooms where they can classes for adults and children. there's a separate section for children, and another separate section for teens. there are even books in different languages, from chinese to japanese to korean to hebrew. upstairs on the second floor is a balcony where you can read outside while looking out onto underwood pool. outside the library, they reworked the little forested area which a stream that feeds into claypit pond.

the library was budgeted for $35 million but the final cost was $40 million, with the difference made up by private donations. everywhere are little plaques with names of people who donated money, including a wall with hundreds of names when you come in from the parking lot. the library only just opened in january, so it's only been 5 months.

my father signed up for a new library card with his driver license. my mother didn't bring hers so she wasn't able to get a card. i live in cambridge, so i don't know if i can get a belmont library card anymore. my parents ended up checking out 3 chinese language books. we also found a snack vending machine on the first floor. my mother selected a coffee for $1. it vended out an empty cup with a sugar packet and a creamer inside. when then used the coffee machine to brew a coffee. what we got was just hot water. that's when we realized you're supposed to buy the coffee/tea separately, for $2 more. so we did that and my mother was able to get her coffee.

when then sat outside for my mother to finish her drink before walking back home. this whole excursion took us over 2 hours.

i went to the garage to attach the kickstand to the motorcycle now that i brought some grease for the screw bolt. i couldn't get the screw to fit in place, because i'd already attached the spring to the kickstand. i had to get my father to help me, he'd pull out the kickstand until the holes aligned, while i tried to quickly attach the screw. it finally worked, i tightened everything down with a socket and a flat wrench. afterwards i sprayed the chain with wax lubricant.

my parents made chinese dumplings in the late afternoon, even though we were going to have a barbecue later. dumplings by themselves would've been enough for dinner.

we started the barbecue around 6pm. we first grilled some corn and chicken wings. wings were cooked at 350 degrees 6 minutes per side, coating with sweet thai chili sauce after each turn, continuing cooking until the desired crispiness reached. that was followed by some pineapples on skewers and asparagus shoots. we took the asparagus off the grill when they looked cooked, and put the corn back onto the grill after removing the husks. we then coated the corn in korean barbecue sauce. with everything off the grill, my father gave it a quick cleaning before turning up the heat to 500-550 degrees. we cooked the lamb loin chops - which i'd salted earlier this morning along with the wings and kept them in the fridge - after i coated both sides with cumin powder. 3 minutes per side, checking at the midway point to make sure any flare ups aren't burning the lamb to char. we continued grilling until the internal temperature reach 130 degrees, which in our case required an additional 3 minutes of high temperature grilling.

the asparagus wasn't properly cooked, so my mother threw it into the air fryer for additional minutes. they came out a little dry, i think next time they just need more time on the grill. the pineapples were a surprise. andrew left them at my house, so they're 3 weeks old, but they tasted sweet enough when i cut them into cubes. grilling them made them even sweeter, almost like candy. the only thing missing was the smokey taste which you can only get with charcoal, but definitely cooking skewered pineapples again for our next barbecue. the wings were cooked perfect, maybe a little charred. i ate them with nashville hot sauce, which is my go-to wings sauce these days. the lamb was cooked perfectly, but once again, it found it kind of bland, wasn't salty enough, even though i thought i over-salted. i think it's because they're much thicker pieces, harder for the salt to fully penetrate. next time, even more salt! i ate while drinking some of our homemade makgeolli with unknown alcohol content, but my guess is 20%. glad i wasn't riding the motorcycle because i'd probably get into an accident.

i'd earlier locked the ebike outside with a u-lock tethered to a security cable, with another chain lock looped to the back wheel. it was already 8pm by the time i left, so i also turned on my wheel lights, the ones i replaced a few weeks ago. no sign of jeff when i got back home.

the knicks sweep the sixers, 144-114. the evening game was between the spurs and timberwolves. wembanyama got ejected early in the second half after purposely elbowing naz reid in the throat. i wouldn't be surprised if he gets suspended the next game. even with him out, the spurs were still leading. it wasn't until midway in the 4th quarter that the momentum changed and minnesota took the lead and never game it up, final score 109-114. seies tied 2-2. i still think the spurs are the only team that can defeat the thunder. but i'd like to see san antonio go to 7 games in their current series, really earn their stripes. the eventual spurs-thunders western conference finals will probably be the actual finals, since i don't see any eastern teams beating either of those teams.