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today was the official start of spring. before i even knew what "equinox" meant, i associated the word with a marvel comics villain who went by the same name. it was kind of brisk for a spring day, with temperature in the 30's, but at least it was sunny outside.

i went to the MGH this morning to talk with my primary care doctor about switching to a different high blood pressure medication. i've been taken a beta-blocker (25mg atenolol) which doesn't seem to have any effect on my blood pressure. instead of increasing the dosage (one option), doctor lester switched me to an ACE-inhibitor - 10mg lisinopril (zestril is the brand name). ACE-inhibitors are actually derived from the venom of a south american pit viper. it's nice to know that i'm using snake toxin to lower my blood pressure. what exactly does it do, anyway? i have no idea. i'll return to MGH in another month to check up on my progress.

instead of going home, since it was friday, i decided to walk a mile to haymarket to get some cheap produce: 2 lbs. bags of frozen chopped goat meat $5/bag (purchased 2 bags - puritan beef 90 blackstone street), $1 for 2 strips of garlic, $1 for 3 bunches of scallions, 2 bunches of cilantro for $1, box of strawberries for $1 (i bought 3 boxes), 1 lb. of fresh ginger for $1, 1 lb. of green grapes for $1 (bought 2.5 lbs.), and 3 lbs. of tomatoes for $1.50. i would've bought more stuff but i could only carry so much with two hands.

after picking up my faxed prescription at the porter square CVS, i hopped on the motorcycle from my place and went to the cafe to dropped off some produce. i had some lunch there before returning home again to pick up a book to return to the library.

since it was along the way, i stopped by kawasaki motorsports in union square to get my bike inspected for the season. after the mechanic played around with my lights, i paid $15 for a new inspection sticker. from there i made my way to the valente cambridge library branch on cambridge street. part of my original plan involved riding down a one way street in the wrong direction, so i had to reroute. i ended up getting a little lost around the mcgrath highway area, ending up at some shady industrial site where all the garbage trucks go to park when they're off duty. eventually i made it to the branch. normally i'd go to the temporary main library, but they closed it starting in february, to reopen again at their newly renovated building on broadway street sometime in the fall.

after a bath followed by some macaroni and cheese for dinner, i settled in to catch the 2-hours series finale of battlestar galactica. season 4.5 of BSG has been pretty weak, and i've missed a few episodes. however, i can safely say the finale did not disappointed, concluding the series with a bittersweet but nevertheless happy ending. SPOILERS AHOY! every character got their own screen time, both in terms of present day situation as well as in flashbacks. there are no happy endings for either adamas, with the disappearance of both their love interests. no happiness for the chief either, who finally figures out who killed callie and gets his revenge, but looks to spend the rest of his life as a hermit (what happened to his little girl? i missed a few episodes). cylon couplings fared better, with helo and athena walk off into the sunset with hera, baltar and six, and tigh and ellen. how did they discover a new earth, unaffected by the nuclear holocaust? did they go back in time by flying around the planet backwards really fast? i missed that part. the ending sort of doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's best not to overthink it and just take the leap of faith. i'm not looking forward to seeing the new caprica series.