i copied a few numbers for electricians off of craig's list last night and started calling. the first guy was on a job and would call me back at 3pm. the second guy i contacted was also on a job (in dorchester), but when i told him i'd be calling a few other people, he quickly told me he could be at my place within an hour ("i don't want anybody else to get a jump on the job," he told me). paul arrived with a helper, and i led them both down to the basement, where the furnace was left with its panel opened and some electrical wires exposed. it took these guys less than 10 minutes to figure out the problem and fix it. when the fan kicked in, i thought i was in the presence of a modern day miracle. "you saved my life," i told these guys from salem, "i was freezing to death." it cost me $55 but i think it was money well spent - i was at the point where i would've done anything to get some heat in the house.
i went across the street to order lunch from zoe's, some of general gao's lovely chicken. it was a 10 minute wait before my food would be ready, so i went to star market to do some shopping. they had some small sweet (pie) pumpkins and i bought one so i could make a pie. coming back i noticed how much debris yesterday's windy rainstorm had caused, the sidewalks and streets were littered with twigs and leaves. i bumped into my neighbor jeff, who invited me over to his place on halloween for a wine and cheese party. i'm also invited to dana's halloween party in boston. all i really want to do on halloween though is to stay at home and give out candy to children. that, or ride around town on my motocycle wearing a plushy rabbit costume and throwing treats at random people.
the weather was surprisingly nice despite the cold - the sun was even spotted, along with a bit of old blue sky. i took the opportunity to visit microcenter to buy some blank cd's. i also stopped by trader joe's, where i found some mascarpone cheese for my tiramisu (thanks for the tip, shannon!). i had on 5 layers so i was warm, but i could still feel the cold air striking my crotch area (i may need to wear five layers of underwear the next time i ride in chilly temperature).
in the evening i took jawei around the corner to r.f. o'sullivan for some old-fashion burgers. he was impressed by the decor, a real american-style bar (as seen in the movies). since he didn't know what to get, we ended up having the same thing: the black & blue burger along with a root beer. the burger was so filling i nearly burst.
when we came back home i cranked up the heat (to a scorching 68 degrees). there was a loud exclamation of happiness when jawei felt the hot forced air being pumped into his bedroom. it got warm enough for me to change into a t-shirt. we parked ourselves in front of the television to watch tonight's main event, game 4 of the world series between the chicago white sox and the houston astros. the white sox ended up taking the game, sweeping the astros, and winning the world series. baseball season is finally over!