my latest obsession are glass insulators. so much so in fact that late last night (when my spend inhibition was at its lowest) i put in a bid for two aqua glass insulators circa 1883 and 1893. it wasn't very much, just $2 at the time with free shipping, i figured it was worth a shot. i said i'd go as high as $5. this morning the auction ended and i received an e-mail informing me that i lost, with the final bid being $10.50. on second inspection they weren't in very good shape, a lot of nicks and cracks. i won't rest until i can get my hands on a few glass insulators though, so now i'm searching ebay for another auction.

my day 4 starter wasn't as bubbly or smelly as it was yesterday, so it made me wonder if it'd gone bad. i'm also concerned over the lack of rising within the jar. if i had to finger point, i'd say maybe it's just not warm enough, even above the aquarium lights. nevertheless, i scooped out half of the content and replaced it with a feed of equal flour and warm water. instead of setting it out again though, i covered the top with a piece of saran wrap and elastic band, poking a breathing hole. into the fridge went my starter, to be slow grown until the time i need to make my actual sourdough bread.

i kept watching the weather today, waiting for the rain to stop so i could ride down to my parents' place. judging from the doppler radar there'd be a break in the afternoon, so i got all dressed up, periodically looking out the window to see if the rain had stopped yet. however, my mother and sister were in the area and told me they could give me a ride. i was going to do my taxes this weekend but i got as far as installing turbotax deluxe and importing data from last year's returns.

my sister spent the day reminding everyone that it's hailey's one year birthday today. nobody really knows when she was actually born because she was donated to an animal shelter, so her birthday is just a close approximation. in the late afternoon it actually thunderstormed briefly and rained intermittently throughout the rest of the day. after dinner i got a ride back to cambridge, when it was still raining. i'm glad i didn't have to endure a freezing wet ride on the motorcycle.