woke up at 8:30am to get ready for my 10am doctor's appointment at MGH. i left the house by 9:15am, riding with a convoy of other cyclists.

the appointment was just a 6-month followup, but i was there to ask my doctor about the pain in my left index finger that i've had for the past 6 weeks. i was hoping it'd go away on its own but it's stuck around.

my doctor was running late but snuck into my exam room to chat briefly while waiting for another patient to get changed. he was happy to hear i now run 3 times a week. he suggested i go slowest on my first mile, then steadily ramp up the speed on successive miles. i told him about the finger. he couldn't make sense of the symptoms, but they sounded like early onset arthritis. i told him the finger got crushed in the garage door many years ago, he said arthritis usually starts with parts of the body that'd be previously damaged. he put in an order for me to get a hand x-ray. i asked him about my very mild sleep apnea. he said short of wearing a mask or getting a mouthguard from my dentist, my simplest recourse is to learn to sleep on my side, where i don't have any breathing problems. finally i revealed to my doctor how back in april i went to the mt.auburn emergency room for chest pains and numbness on my left arm and leg. he read the notes the doctor and nurse put into my file, one of them said i had face paralysis. no, that's just how my face looks normally! he said they could do a test to measure the calcium level in the different compartments of my heart and cardiovascular system, and figure out if i need to go on statins. but my doctor forgot that he put me on atorvastatin since 2023. the optimal level of LDL is less than 100 mg/dL; my LDL is down to 89 mg/dL after upping my statin dosage to 20mg. i casually asked if it's even possible for LDL to be down to zero if it's so bad for you. he told me european society of cardiology has recently recommended LDL of less than 55 mg/DL for high-risk groups. that number also happens to be the LDL level of newborn babies. it's impossible to achieve such low numbers without drugs. drug companies must be making so much money if more people take statins in order to achieve "unnatural" longevity by reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. my doctor even told me that all the residents he teaches - these are young twentysomethings in the prime of their lives - they all take statins even though none of them have high cholesterol. the thinking is why wait until you have plaque in your arteries when you can take drugs to prevent it from ever happening. true, they end up having to take statins for the rest of their lives (otherwise their LDL goes up) but it's no different than taking a daily multivitamin or fish oil supplement. plus medical school health insurance covers the cost of statins even without preexisting condition.

i didn't leave until after 11am. i didn't have time for the hand x-ray, i'll come back next week and do it. i quickly pedaled back to cambridge, got to the cafe by 11:30am.

it didn't feel like it, but it was surprisingly busy at the cafe today. the weather was overcast and cool for a change, temperature in the lower 70's. it would've been a nice day to sit out yet we had no takers even though it got pretty crowded around lunchtime. i went to trader joe's again in the afternoon, this time in search of ripe bananas and frozen mango. they had neither, the trip was a bust.

i helped my father update the order console for the square register. he wanted to add more variations to the bento box item, and to have a special note item with zero value variations like "eat here" or "takeout."

after work i went to the community garden to water my plants. i won't be back until saturday, so they will not get any watering for the next 2 days. the temperature had dropped down into the upper 60's with a weird fog that i couldn't see but could see faint water droplets as i was riding.

no leftovers today, i heated up a stouffer's frozen lasagna in the microwave for dinner. this used to be my favorite frozen meal, but they jacked up the price during the pandemic. i was excited to revisit a classic, but they changed the recipe. it used to be all ground beef, but now there's small cubes of sausages which makes for a weird mouth feel.

i plan on waking up tomorrow morning at 4:30am so i can grab a free MBTA red line shuttle to take me to kendall square, where i'll then transfer onto the subway to get to south station. my bus isn't until 7am but i'm leaving nearly 2 hours early because i can't trust the MBTA to get me there on time so better safe than sorry. i have 5 hours to sleep on the bus before arriving in manhattan chinatown by noontime, according to schedule. frances and lars are doing something at that time, so i probably won't see them until an hour later.

it was supposed to rain this morning but once again it was dry. as disappointing as that was, it did mean i could ride the bike to the cafe without getting soaked. i stopped by star market first to pick up some more drumsticks. i rode my fuji road bike, spent a few minutes inflating the tires and then finding the lock key.

today was a gentle work day to start off the week. i'm only working today and wednesday, before leaving for new york city thursday and friday, coming back early saturday morning to work again. i also have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so a lot of running around this week. plus my former roommate drew is visiting for a week next weekend, and i need to clean up the house before he arrives.

i didn't need to make any tea eggs today, as we still had a backup batch i made on saturday. i did make 8 boxes of ice. my father was the busiest, making new batches of zhajiang and minced pork sauces, flaying an assortment of chicken, all in between coughing fits. it got busy around lunchtime as well as after 5pm.

the cantilever umbrella straps i ordered last week finally arrived today. they were a lot smaller and flimsier that expected. i realized they wouldn't work with our setup as the straps would block customers from accessing the patio deck.

i went to trader joe's in the afternoon because we ran out of baby cucumbers. i kept myself busy by either cleaning or refilling sauce bottles. i also brought outside two small jasmine plants after my father noticed mealybugs; i sprayed them with 70% alcohol before bringing them back inside.

esmei flitted in and out of the cafe today. my sister took her to the vet to get allergy shots which cost $400. i never heard of a dog with allergies before. dogs are pretty dirty by nature, i figured all that wallowing in the mud makes them somehow allergy resistant. esmei was wearing a new purple harness that belonged to hailey. the combination of purple with her white collar reminded me of a priest. on their way back from the vet, my sister found two milk crates.

my mother packed me some leftover dinner before we closed for the day. i strapped it to the back of my bicycle as i rode home. i ate as soon as i got back, taking a shower afterwards.

being that today is probably the only day this week that i have time to go for a run, i woke up at 8am and left the house by 8:30am. temperature was in the 70's. i tried to hustle as i also wanted to go water my garden plot and get to belmont around 10am for a supply run. not a lot of people running on a monday morning, compared to saturday. after the run i headed to the garden. my buttercup squash is finished, i never got a chance to inject it with Btk, multiple vine borer holes on the bottom stem, the plant is basically dead. there's still a good month left in the summer growing season, i may try transplanting some leftover hyacinth beans in its place. i harvested half a dozen red tomatoes.

i got back home by 9:35am, took a shower, and left by 9:55am.

no sooner did i arrive at my parents' place did we set out for a waltham supply run, costco followed by market basket.

there's always something new at costco. they were selling giant trilobite kites (189 inches long), crystal taro cakes, and korean ramen toppers (basically dehydrated vegetable sprinkles).

we tried to return some glass bottles at market basket but once again their glass deposit machine was broken. i found raw briskets on sale, i was tempted to get one so i could make homemade corned beef.

we left waltham by noontime, arriving at the cafe by 12:20pm. i immediately went into the backyard to inject our squash plants with freshly purchased Btk solution. two plants i actually managed to see the vine borer worm inside and dig it out. both were dead, which made me think the previous bottle of Btk still works even though its 4 years old. will the squashes survive? not sure but worth a try.

i went inside to eat some leftover barbecue from yesterday, one sausage roll, one chicken drumstick.

i spent the rest of the day outside, even though the temperature got up into the 80's and i was wearing my jeans. i was digging up crabgrass from the lawn, mostly from the front, a few from the back. i used the japanese hori hori knife which made quick work of digging up the weed. i tossed out two diseased tomatoes (blight). i refilled a planter with fresh soil so my father can plant some cilantro seeds. i rehydrated my pennyworts. i helped my mother harvest some long horn peppers. finally i watered the garden with town water (we exhausted our rain barrels). i finally went inside around 5:30pm.

dinner was more leftover barbecue. i headed back to cambridge by 7pm.

my bottle of dove men+care body wash in eucalyptus and cedar ($5.69) arrived yesterday. i'm not a body wash guy but was intrigued by the scents (i'm a soap guy). i used it last night with an old exfoliating bath sponge left behind by a former roommate. just a tiny amount created enough foam for a single wash. it smelled pretty good too (they have another version that's sandalwood & cardamon). is this going to turn me into a body wash guy?

i had a rare opportunity to sleep late until 9:30am this morning. after a shower, i went to star market to pick up some polar soda and drumsticks on sale. i headed to the cafe around 11am, putting away the tea eggs and watering the plants. i made it to belmont by 11:30am. my mother made pan-fried korean beef raviolis for lunch along with mung bean soup. my sister showed up. it wasn't exactly a social visit, as she was trying to find people to go with her on an early evening picnic. nobody was interested so she basically forced my mother to go, told her she'd be back by 5:30pm to pick her up.

i brought the monkey light to test with our power supply. using wires, we feed 4.5V of electricity into the connector, mimicking the power of 3 AA batteries. the monkey light started flashing which meant it wasn't broken - just missing the battery holder and screw-on cap. the RGB LED's were really bright. would love to make this work, i just need to search for a compatible 3AA battery canister. another solution is to remove one of the two proprietary wire connectors and solder it onto a preexisting bike hub battery.

it was my first time in the backyard since last monday. that one luffa near the dragon fruit cactus has grown, but in a weird way like a partially inflated long balloon. hoping it will even out over time. another smaller luffa above the sunroom rain barrels has started to get bigger more uniformly.

in the afternoon my father and i went to home depot to get some supplies. we bought 3 2x10-8ft pressure treated boards ($15.38/each) for a future raised bed repair but in the meantime we'll use two of the boards as a backyard sawhorse legs plant table. i was also there looking for parts to attach the bottom bracket remover. i bought a M8-1.0 50mm hex bolt ($1.25, i only needed 40mm but that they didn't have that length) and 5 flat 5/16" zinc washers ($1.10). with the two right passenger side seats folded flat, there's just enough room to fit an 8ft long board. i ended up sitting in the seat behind my father as we drove back home.

as soon as we got back we set up the sawhorse plant table. we like these because they're elevated so we don't need to bent over to tend to the plants. they're high enough that rabbits could never get to them (not that it was a problem with our potted flowering plants). these stands sit high enough above the lawn so it doesn't kill any grass. that means we may retire our triple-staircase-style plant stand. that old stand will have to be moved anyway when we expand RB0 to its full 8x4ft long rectangular side.

back inside the house i casually browed the CNN website and saw the news: president biden had exited the race, endorsing vice president harris to run in his place instead. i turned on the tv and most of the networks (CBS, ABC) were broadcasting this news. biden posted the news on social media around 1:45pm, so it'd already been 3 hours since the news broke. it was a shock but also seemed inevitable given the 3+ weeks of democratic drumbeat pressuring biden to drop out. i personally hoped he'd stay in the race. there wasn't much anyone could do if he didn't want to leave. but the constant attacks took a toll (from supposedly friendly political allies no less), and recuperating at home from another bout with covid, biden finally decided he had enough. has this ever happened in american presidential history? the presumptive presidential nominee of a major party leaving the race with about 100 days left before the november election? now we'll see if the mainstream media's ageist agenda will go after trump next, or was it all a ploy to get more clicks and eyeballs by going after biden because he's old. i don't know how to feel but if it means a better chance of beating trump in november, i'm for it.

my mother told us to grill early so she could take some food with her to this supposed picnic. by the time my sister arrived at 5:30pm (on time for a change), my father and i were still grilling the drumsticks and italian sausages. my mother had already left before we finally finished grilling by 6pm. i had two sausage rolls and two drumsticks before i left by 7:15pm. my mother still wasn't back yet, and probably wouldn't get home until 8pm.

i tried out the M8-1.0 50mm hex bolt and washer hack when i got home. it was too long for the non-drive side (left). when i put on the 1" socket it barely fit on half. so this was a no go. i lowered the bicycle so i could get more leverage, and then turned the bottom bracket remover and socket wrench by hand (counterclockwise). it didn't take much effort before i felt the threaded cap start to move. i stopped then tried it on the drive side (right). just for kicks i put in the M8-1.0 50mm hex bolt and discovered it threaded into the spindle much farther than the non-drive side. i put on the 5 washers and it seemed like a perfect fit. the socket didn't go in all the way, but looked to be 2/3 of the way, which was enough. i tried stepping on the socket wrench clockwise, but it wouldn't budge. i then took the bike into the backyard so i could get better leverage. i tried with all my might but the drive side bottom bracket still wouldn't budge. i need to either find a 2ft pipe or a breaker bar and try again. loosening the non-drive side gave me hope that i can do the same on the drive side. so hopeful i ended up ordering a new bottom bracket (shimano UN300 68x122.5mm $16.59).

i used the bathroom and took a shower. i'm ashamed to admit that my hemorrhoids have flared up again. just what i need before my NYC trip on thursday-friday. rest of the evening was spent trying to get to bed early so i can go out for a run before heading to my parents' place for a waltham supply run.

i woke up at 8:30am and rode the motorcycle to market basket to get some lime. i got back to the house and left around 9am to go for a run. i listened to the what went wrong podcast about the making of blade runner (1982). coming back i stopped by the community garden by 10am to water my plants. i came home, showered, then went to the cafe. i saw my sister walking esmei. i shouted at her dog, who looked at me not really with recognition, but rather just curious who was talking to her from the motorcycle.

we were just about to open, but my mother forgot to pick some mint for the mojito she wanted me to make, so i motorcycled to belmont to pick some mint then hurried back to the cafe by 11:15am. there were already customers as often the case on saturdays.

it was pretty busy, with the weather finally mild enough that some customers sat in the back patio. we nearly depleted our tea egg supply from yesterday, so i made a new batch. a lot of bento sales today (13) as well as noodles. we had to cook two batches of black noodles at the same time because we were completely out.

i collected a case of expired drinks from the basement. nobody seems to be in charge of the beverages, i seem to be the closest drink supervisor. we will drink these expired drinks ourselves. my 2nd aunt was rummaging in the basement and brought up a box of vegetarian spring rolls that my mother heated in the oven.

20 minutes before we closed my father was already applying a layer of finish on the cafe tables. long story, but a while back my sister insisted on painting them for some reason. the paint once dried had a sticky consistency, so the tables always felt dirty no matter how much we wipe them clean. my father finally had enough and went ahead and applied a layer of water-based finish. he already tried a small test patch earlier this week that seemed to be good: no more sticky feel, dried quickly, and no smell.

while that was happening, i went ahead and made mojito for the second weekend:

this time i added a full cup of syrup instead of just 1/2 cup. the extra sugar makes it more delicious. i added some suanmei powder which gave it a new flavor, but more like a suanmei drink, less like a mojito.

back in belmont some packages arrived for me: my bike fixing rank and a new bottom bracket. the bracket seemed a little short, i was afraid i might've gotten the wrong size. we didn't even bother going out into the backyard, so disgusted with the current condition of the garden. what was once a darling is now an eyesore, as plants beging to die from the combination of heat and pests. we'll do some maintenance tomorrow.

my father was drinking his mojito when he reached for a some beef jerky and knocked over the jar. mojito spilled across the dining table and onto the carpet. if it was tea or water it wouldn't be a big deal, but there was a lot of sugar in that mojito, and if we just left it to dry, it'd create a sticky mess. we used up half a role of paper towels soaking everything up then rewetting everything back down to dissolve the sugar before drying everything up again.

my mother reluctantly made dinner: garlic chive with eggs (which seems to be the default dish whenever my mother doesn't know what to make) and a ham & pepper stirfry.

after dinner my father went outside to water the front lawn while i returned home with my bike rack strapped to the back of my motorcycle. i had to be careful not to ride too close to parked cars otherwise i'd sideswipe them with the bike rack.

i assembled the rack as soon as i got home. it wasn't difficult, though there a lot of japanese writing everywhere. i know this rack is made in china, but seeing all the japanese writing gave me a sense of quality if they're also sold in japan. after the stand was assembled, it was a bit of hassle lifting up my 33 lbs. bicycle ont the stand. i couldn't grab the top tube because i was going to do some cabling work and needed that area free (though in hindsight, i think there are grooves on the rubber clamp designed for passing through cables). instead i extended my seat post and grabbed onto that. i also installed the handlebar bar clamp which keeps the handlebar from spinning.

it was cool seeing my bicycle elevated like that. it makes working and inspecting the bicycle so much easier. the stand seems pretty stable, although i wouldn't do any work on the bike that required high amount of torque because the stand might wobble too much. it's rated for 60 lbs. so i'm only half of the limit. one problem is i don't have enough room in my kitchen area for the bike and the stand. i might end up working on the back porch, in which case that won't be until 2 weeks later as i'm all booked up for next week.

settling in the living room, i could see magenta clouds through the venetian blinds. i went out to take photos, calling my mother to let her know. returning home, i saw a girl carrying a large book case. she stopped to rest, i should've asked if she needed help carrying it.

throughout the night i was researching bottom brackets. the new one i got with a 110mm spindle, it actually seems like it'd be a good fit, no exposed spindle like what i have now. the spindle length i had before was 118mm i believe. however i did some more reading, and discovered that for my shimano tourney FC-TY301 crankset, the recommended spindle length is actually 122.5mm, even longer. so i'll be returning the 110mm bottom bracket. should i even replace the bottom bracket? the one that i have now seems fine. am i just finding more things to fix the more i fix? another thing is bottom brackets are notoriously hard to remove, since moisture getting inside and seize up the threads. i tried removing the lockring on the non-drive side and it wouldn't budge. granted, the bike was on the stand, and i didn't want to torque it too much. the one thing that makes me want to replace the bottom bracket is the old bracket makes a slight grinding sound when i turn the spindle. the new 110mm bottom bracket is virtual silent. so if i want to keep on riding this trek 800, i might want to look into replacing the bottom bracket.

that lead me down a rabbit hole of how to remove a seized bottom bracket. i watched a bunch of youtube videos and read articles online. apparently i need to get my hands on a 40-50mm M8x1.0 bolt with some washers, so i can secure the bottom bracket removal tool as i crank on it with the 1" socket wrench. i'll also need to get a length of pipe to increase my leverage.

i went to market basket this morning at 9am to get a few things for the cafe. if you don't like crowds, i recommend shopping early, as there was hardly anyone there (usually it's pretty crowded). after packing everything into my saddlebags, i rode to the cafe, getting there around 9:30am.

my sister stopped by, leaving esmei in her car. i went to go see her dog, who wanted to get out the moment i opened the door. i found a green paisley bandana yesterday and put it on esmei as as scarf. i brought her out of the car so she could greet my parents before my sister took her.

today a part of the global digital infrastructure crashed. it wasn't hackers or cyberattacks, but rather a bad software update for microsoft security causing the international chaos. airlines, banks, 911 system, hospitals, websites, even starbucks - anyone using the windows platform. i thought i saw it here locally because there were private charter buses marked with "red line MBTA" seemingly shuttling passengers from porter to harvard. turns out that was something else (part of the red line is shut down until the end of next weekend). regardless, it felt like an episode mr.robot.

today was busy but a lot of simple orders with stock we already had on hand. we did nearly run out of salt & pepper chicken and my father had to fry a new batch in the deep fryer. we sold at least 17 bento boxes, felt like every order that came in was a bento order. my mother cooked 7 cups of rice in the morning but that wasn't enough and we needed to cook 4 more cups, plus reheat all our emergency reserve rice from the freezer.

this is the state of my life: getting excited about a brand new dishwashing brush. we've been using the dawn-brand compact head brush. it's pretty good, but has a hard time washing the corners of containers. that's why i got the new "fan" brush. it pretty much resembles a toilet bowl scrubber that's cut in half. despite it's funny appearance, it works miracles on corners and crevasses. it does however had a tendency to spray back if you angle the bristles the wrong way. but i like it and it makes dishwashing fun again, if that's even possible.

my aunt stopped by in the early afternoon after we went through our busy lunchtime period. she had the sausage bento and my parents saved her some frozen mojito from last weekend. my father reconstituted the drink in the vitamix blender, adding more syrup and sugar. the final result taste even better when fully sweetened. my mother said my 2nd aunt added some li hing mui powder which made it taste even better. i tried some to test, it added a saltiness/sourness to the mojito that wasn't bad.

later in the afternoon during a lull, we had lunch. my parents made a new batch of chicken curry. i wasn't going to have any, but decided to fix myself a bowl after all, mixed with some pickled mustard green, some pickled crunchy bitter melon my 2nd aunt made, and some hot sauce. it tasted pretty good. never thought i'd be a fan of bitter melons but i like their crunchiness and don't mind the bitter flavor.

it got busy again around 5pm. customers kept coming in as late as 6:20pm when we were about to close up for the day. fortunately they only wanted drinks and a few takeout items. as soon as they left we turned off the lights.

i made some quick noodles for dinner, mixed with a spicy sauce packet, some pickled mustard, and chopped scallions. nothing fancy, probably similar to ramen but maybe a smidge healthier.

i can barely keep it together, having gone to sleep last night (or morning) at 5am (the sun had already come up) and woke up at 8am to go to work. i was so paranoid about getting bit by mosquitoes while i slept that anytime anywhere on my body itched i'd slap at it, thinking it might be a mosquito feeding.

once more i rode the motorcycle to work, as my trek utility bike is still out of operation. if i wait long enough, the bike stand and bottom bracket will both show up on saturday, and i can finish working on my bike over the weekend.

temperature today only reached the upper 80's with a dry dare-i-say comfortable heat. i was prepared to make a new batch of tea eggs - figuring they'd used up most of it yesterday - but my mother told me they hardly sold any. i made a new batch anyway, to serve as the backup. that would all change by late morning when somebody came in and ordered 20 tea eggs. that forced me to make a second batch, once we started using the backup batch i made earlier.

today we made as much as the prior two days. not as much as last week though, and we're still waiting to see what happens friday and saturday, where business dropped by more than half. i was pretty busy and didn't stop working until the afternoon. besides making two batches of tea eggs, i also made a new batch of boba, cooked some dumplings, cooked two batches of black soy noodles, roasted some charsiu pork, and made nearly half a dozen boxes of ice cubes.

in the afternoon my mother made some rice noodle soup with leftover chicken broth that looked a bit suspicious. we ate it anyway, neither of us got sick. i felt really tired today and i thought it was because i was overworking, but then i remembered i only slept for 3 hours last night. it was a struggle staying awake, especially later in the afternoon when we weren't so busy anymore. boredom brings on the sleepiness.

my mother packed me a leftover dinner at closing time, some butter garlic mushrooms and flat bean chicken stirfry my father had made. i strapped it to the back of my motorcycle with bungie netting.

once i got home, i went to star market to pick up some snacks.

back at home i ate the leftover my mother packed for me. afterwards i took a shower.

trying to get some early sleep tonight to make up for yesterday.

i went out for a run around 10am this morning. i was listening to a podcast about the making of big trouble in little china. it was hot (temperature in the 80's) and my heart rate shot up to 176 bpm at one point (after crossing the first bridge) but i survived another summertime heatwave run. coming back i picked up two rear bicycle wheels somebody had tossed out. it was just the spokes, no tires. i wouldn't have given it a second look except one of the wheels had a monkeyelectric wheel light installed on it. i thought i lucked out because i've always wanted one of these things, but after examining it i realized why the original owner tossed it out: it was missing the battery cartridge. i took the wheels anyway, figured i could around with them, especially the monkey light.

i stopped by the community garden to water. originally i also planned ond doing some yard work in the common area (i'm signed up for work duty this week), but it was so hot i just wanted to water my plants and go home. lynn was there, the first time this year i've seen her. we chatted before i went to go tend to my garden. my squash isn't doing so well, and there are several spots on the lower stem that looks to be possible vine borer damage. i said good bye to lynn and continued home.

after a shower i microwaved a frozen burrito for lunch. i threw a load of dirty clothes (half of which were running clothes) into the washer. i watched the news, followed by some youtube videos. around 1pm i went to work on my bicycle overhaul.

originally i was going to do it indoors, but there was hardly any room, so i moved everything outside onto the back porch. it was warm but it wasn't too bad, kind of a like dry heat, pleasant, i didn't mind. mosquitoes also seemed to have kept away for the most part, maybe they didn't like the heat from the sunshine.

i inspected the found monkey light first. it's a monkey light M210 R4 with 10 multi-colored LED's (5 on each side) for a total of 80 lumens (original sold for $40). i've never seen a monkey light up close before, and it seems to be surprisingly well-made (USA made too), unlike the cheaper chinese versions i keep coming across. the circuit board is entirely sealed in a rubber/resin coating, making it waterproof. the way it mounts onto the spoke is also pretty ingenious. the battery assembly itself has two wires for apparently powering two separate lights.

the bike overhaul started with replacing the freewheel (cogs assembly) on the rear wheel. i loosened it up before last week so i knew i could get it off again using the 1/2" socket wrench. with the old freewheel off, it was the perfect opportunity to give the rear wheel a thorough washing. that involved spraying with degreasing foam and rinsing off with a hose. the moment i set foot off the porch and onto the backyard, i was immediately swarmed by mosquitoes. they covered my legs and i couldn't swat them fast enough.

i ran back inside the house to put on some bug spray. unfortunately i didn't check myself before entering and i saw at least one mosquito hitching a ride on the back of my leg before disappearing into the house. that one is going to give me problems tonight. i rummaged through my undersink cabinet, looking for bug repellent. of the ones i had, most of them were empty from evaporation after years of unuse. i found a container of cutter advanced outdoorsman with a tiny amount of picaridin solution left in the bottom. i sprayed my arms and legs as well as my fee and the back of my neck and my face. after that the mosquitoes left me alone but the damage was already done as i had several itchy welts on my legs.

i left the rear wheel to dry as i worked on the next part to remove: the crankset aka the middle sprockets and crank pedals. using an 8mm hex wrench i removed the dust cap bolt. that was what got me last time, i forgot there was a dust cap bolt and ended up destroying my crank puller tool. at first the crank wouldn't come off, and i wasn't sure i was supposed to go clockwise or counterclockwise. but i kept trying and eventually felt it coming loose. i did it to the other side as well - the left side - with just the crank pedal. removing the crankset revealed the threading for the bottom bracket (BB). i don't think i've ever replaced the BB on this bike (i have done it on my old 24" wheel italian bike). it's not hard to do (and a bottom bracket doesn't cost that much, $10 including square taper spindle and dust caps), i just need to have the correct BB remover, which i'm not sure if i have. anyway, the crankset didn't look too bad. there was some loose paint and slight corrosion, but most of the teeth on the sprockets were still in good condition. not surprisingly, since i just had the crankset replaced back in october 2021.

crankset removed, i took off the front wheel so i could more easily wash the frame. i took off the bike seat as well so it wouldn't get wet. the mosquitoes left me alone, except i got a bit on my foot where i didn't spray enough. so after smashing that mosquito to a bloody smear, i applied more bug spray.

it came time to assemble some replacement parts. i applied some grease on the thread of the rear wheel and screwed on the new freewheel. that old freewheel was overdue for a replacement. no wonder i was chain skipping so badly, a lot of teeth on the sprockets were worn away.

next i attached the new crankset. the new set came with dust caps but no crankarm fixing bolts. i just simply reused the old ones. i did manage to remove the pedals from the old crankarms. they're still in usable shape, i'll save them for parts. for my new crankset i bought a pair of brand new pedals. these pedals came with adapters for either 1/2" or 9/16" spindles (i used the 9/16"). attaching them was easy, just had to remember the pedal on the left side screws in the opposite direction (lefty tighty).

i removed the old derailleurs, front and back. the sprockets on the rear derailleur were almost completely gone, just two round wheels. the front derailleur had completely seized up from corrosion due to lack of use. the new sets installed effortlessly. i didn't attach the shifter cables since i'd be replacing those (along with the shifters themselves).

next i replaced the chain. earlier i'd already removed the old chain before removing the crankset. i had to go inside and watch a youtube video on how to size the proper length of bike chain. the trick is you put the new chain on the biggest cog on the front and the biggest cog on the back. you then add two more links and then cut. i followed the instructions except instead of adding two more links, i removed two more links. so when i tried to attach the chain together, it was too short. i reattached the chain and added the proper two length link before cutting again. this time i was able to loop the chain together, but not after struggling to get it through the two derailleurs.

i needed to remove the handlebar grips in order to take off the old shifters. grips are a pain to remove. after a few unsuccessful attempts, i figured out a way: first i tilted the bike so it was standing up, handlebar grips facing down; i then used an awl and a flathead screw driver to open up the grip before i drip some alcohol into the gap; the alcohol eats away any adhesive holding onto the grips, and after a minute or two, i can start sliding the grips before pulling them off the handlebars.

by then it was 5pm. i started to clean up, the porch a mess of tools and parts. i pushed the bike inside the kitchen as i didn't want it to be outside exposed to the weather before i finished working on it. i put on the new shifters to see how they looked. by that point it was 5:30pm. all the other errands i wanted to run today, i had no time to do. seems like bike overhaul would require another day to properly complete.

i took a shower to wash off the bug spray and sweat from working outside for 4+ hours. i then finally turned on the AC for the first time today.

this being the last day of amazon prime day, i bought a bike repair stand (CXWXC RS100 in black for $74). i may not be able to use it for this current overhaul, but it'll definitely come in handy for the future. yes, i've managed thus far without a bike stand, but having to turn the bicycle upside down or right side up to work on it can be a real pain. i've always wanted a stand and this one normally sells for $93.

for dinner i baked a frozen pizza in the oven. while that was going on, i finally had time to fold the laundry that i finished doing early this afternoon.

it actually rained for a change! after midnight, with some thundering as well. i don't think enough to refill our rain barrels, but any amount of rain is good rain at this point, as we currently seem to be in a drought.

with amazon prime day soon to expire, i bought one last thing: a replacement bottom bracket (on sale) for my bike. besides the bracket, it also comes with a square tapered spindle. i realized the spindle i currently have seems to be the wrong size because the spindle sticks out from the by about 2cm. i wonder if that might explain why i've always had problems shifting the bike, improperly sized spindle. i couldn't figure out what length i needed, so i removed the left crankarm so i could measure half the spindle (about 55mm) and then got the next size down. unfortunately the smallest length seems to be 110cm, which appears to be what i currently have. no matter, i'll take a proper measurement before installation, and if it's too short, i'll just return the bottom bracket. luckily i already have the necessary bottom bracket tool (BBT-22).

frances texted me in the middle of the night. i didn't answer but a quick glance at my fitness tracker told me she wanted my help to buy something for her. i finally checked my messages when i woke up at 8:30am. a pair of adidas sneakers she wanted, apparently their website wouldn't allow international orders. after a quick shower, i dashed off the order before heading to the cafe.

i took the motorcycle today, mostly because my trek utility bike is out of commission for the time being. i can probably ride flats no problems, but i wouldn't be able to climb any hills.

today was busy, on the account of a large grubhub delivery order (to watertown) that came in at 11:30am. this group had ordered before, and it's a joke if grubhub thinks we can fulfill such a large order in just 15 minutes. thankfully they allowed us the option of extending the preparation time. we choose 50 minutes. we didn't even have enough rice at the time and had to cook a new batch in the 2nd rice cooker. the order came at a bad time, right when we were hitting our usual busy lunchtime hour. so not only did we have to fulfill this large order, but we also had to make all the orders that came in from walk-in and online customers.

i sent my sister a text with a photo of the long order ticket. thankfully she wasn't far - just the dog park - and came back just in time to help out. all and all, the order wasn't that bad - 9 bentos, a few noodles - but this group was especially annoying with their various customizations. some wanted chopsticks, others wants forks, while a few didn't want any. worse, they wanted us to write the names on each order, which took even more time. unfortunately grubhub didn't let the driver know we were extending the preparation time, so he can 5 minutes after the order was made. he ended up waiting 40 minutes for the order to be made, mad at us for the delay even though it wasn't our fault.

approaching 1pm there was a lull, which gave me time to ride to trader joe's to get a few things, like baby cucumbers and spinach.

in the late afternoon my father cooked up the frozen boxed pompano rice noodle kit kathy gifted us from costco.

business was slow in the final few hours, which made it especially boring. not like i wanted it to be busy, but at least that would give me something to do. in the final hour however we did get a few customers. an asian couple with a kid came in and ordered two beef noodle soup. when they spoke chinese we thought they were taiwanese from their accent, but turns out they're from fujian. we should've known they weren't taiwanese because they weren't sure what a bento was. the son asked us for our spiciest hot sauce. i have a homemade hot sauce that i made with habanero and ghost peppers, but that's like a joke sauce, a normal person could never actually eat and enjoy that, especially not a child. so i gave him our chili oil hot sauce, which is still spicy, but not crazy. he ended up finishing everything, which is what we like to see.

soon after they left it was closing time. motorcycling home i got stuck in traffic. had i been on my bike, i would've been home minutes ago. i even passed a speed trap, something i never have to worry about on a bicycle, but have to be careful when riding a motorcycle.

i made dinner by 8pm (early for me), some cheddar shell pasta with spinach, and a leftover salad of chopped up old iceberg lettuce with some expired japanese sesame dressing. i finished the pasta but only ate parts of the salad.

there was severe storm warnings starting in the early evening, but alas, as soon as the storms came close to boston, they disappeared, only to strengthen again once they were out on the ocean. i've seen this before: greater boston seems to have a rain force field that prevents rain from falling when we need it the most. maybe boston is just too dry, and when rain clouds come near the city, there's not enough moisture to sustain any rainfall. this heat, this drought, is starting to take a toll on the lawn and possibly our garden as well. i looked at the webcam today, a lot of droopy squash leaves.

my upstairs neighbor sheri told me she's taking a 3 week vacation back to the west coast at the end of the month. while she's gone, her sister might visit one weekend, but otherwise i'll have the whole house to myself. that feels like a good time to do some backyard barbecues, if i can bear the mosquitoes (hopefully the smoke will keep them away).

today was the first the two days amazon prime day event. i kept browsing amazon the whole day, looking for things i wanted to buy, which wasn't a lot. i bought a pair of little donkey andy waterproof rain pants. they have them in men sizes but i got the M women because 1) it had a better style and 2) according to the size chart it'd fit me perfectly. the rain pants i currently have are these oversized monstrosity that go over my regular pants that i only wear if i'm forced to travel in the rain and then take them off immediately afterwards. what i really need is a proper rain jacket. those rain pants normally go for $40 but they were on sale for $30. i also bought a beard trimmer. how i maintain my beard is i don't shave for a month or two, then i'll shave it all off one day, only to let it grow back again. it's kind of a mess depending on how long i've been growing it. i have an old rimmer that i bought more than 2 decades ago that's not waterproof, too small and the battery is no good. i got a braun 8-in-1 ($54).