when i woke up this morning i didn't know what time it was because my cell phone was recharging on the desk. i jumped out of bed to grab the phone and saw it was 11am. i noticed the weather change right away because it was cold in the house. going into the bathroom, i was happy to see that the heat was kicking in, which meant the furnace in the basement didn't go out during the past week of unseasonably warm temperature. i got dressed and went out. it was cold but i wasn't going far, just to the brighton petco to buy some suction pads. i came home and worked on my carbon dioxide project. an inverted half of a plastic water bottle served as my gas collector. there still isn't enough carbon dioxide being produced in the soda bottle to start trickling gas into the aquarium though. there could be two reasons: i could have a leak in my setup (which i doubt, because it is sucking in water, just the opposite of what i want, but proof that its a closed system) or there's something not right with my yeast mixture. maybe it works better if it's heated. if it still doesn't work by tomorrow i might have to try something else. in the meantime the plants seem to be hanging in there, but i feel like they're not really growing because they lack carbon dioxide.

weed is one of my favorite new shows, but today i discovered another one, also from showtime: dexter, a series about a serial killer who preys on other serial killers. not since hannibal lecter has there been a more compelling psychopathic antihero. i only watched the first episode but already i was hooked and went online to find more.

i finally finished the vodka sauce penne for dinner. even under the covers in the living i still felt cold so i had to turn up the heat. i watched the ted koppel special on iran, and some sunday night football (and yes, i watched the patriots vs. packers game as well earlier in the day, it was pretty awesome, a new england victory for a change!). my parents called from taiwan, on their way back home to boston, to give me their arrival time and flight number.

later in the evening i put in an order for a 15" macbook pro from macconnection. it's the last place online that still carries a rebate for that machine. unfortunately, it's currently backordered and the rebate expires at the end of the month. if they still don't have it in a week, i might cancel and order from someplace else, it's only a $50 difference. apple computers are notoriously expensive, and i'm still trying to justify the purchase to myself, but my 5 year old ibook is so slow, it'd be nice to be fast for a change.