i finally went to bed last night at 6am. i was supposed to wake up at 9am (after 3 hours of sleep) but accidently woke up an hour earlier and got myself ready for work. when i realized what happened, i slept for another 40 minutes before heading into the office, struggling to keep myself awake during the commute. i've already been having problems keeping myself awake during work hours, and here i was going to work more tired than i've ever been before. in order to prevent myself from falling asleep, i got a venti mocha frappuchino from starbucks, my caffeinated morning kick in the face. i felt better but coffee always makes me irregular and i became a frequent visitor to the bathroom throughout the day.

i would've gone running in the afternoon if i wasn't so tired. instead, i had my leftover chatsuo pork from yesterday for lunch, then i went out looking for coyote urine, visiting that little out-of-place hardware store in the financial district. "excuse me, this might sound like a weird question, but i'm having some squirrel problems in my garden, and i was wondering if you sell any predator urine?" i asked. an old man replied, "don't bother with that stuff, it doesn't work. get yourself a humane trap, catch the squirrels, and release them somewhere else. i do it in my backyard, i've released 22 squirrels this year." 22 squirrels? i just smiled and thanked him for the information, however useless it was. a bike courier who overhead over conversation said, "just shoot them with a BB gun." "you can't shoot them!" the old man yelled. "they're protected animals." what i'd do with all the dead squirrel bodies would be a problem as well. before i went back to the office, i went to the at&t wireless store to see if they have any new deals regarding cell phone upgrades. for $100 i can get the sony ericsson T616 with my same plan only if i sign a 2 year contract. with a 1 year contract, the phone price would jump to $200. why do i always think these companies are out to screw me over?

when i got back, the bosses were gone for the day, leaving just us the employees to man the company ship. kristine left to go by tickets for fahrenheit 9/11 but returned empty-handed, all shows for friday already sold out at the boston common theatre. i took the opportunity to test out the fire escape, enjoying the small amount of sunshine passing through the alley way. it'd be a good place to grow some plants, and i thought about what kind of things i grow out there.

i went over to julie's place afterwork, so we could go see napoleon dynamite at kendall square. i inspected her plants growing out on the front balcony, they look like they're on plant steroids compared to my vegetables. i realize now how much plants need sunshine in order to grow. without the proper amount of solar energy to run photosynthesis, plants become stunted. i don't know how i can remedy my own situation, i just don't have an unobstructed view of the southern sky from dawn to dusk. if only scientists could genetically engineer shade tolerant tomato plants! since neither of us were very hungry yet, we decided to see the movie first before getting dinner.