i installed the new schwinn bike seat today using a combination of socket and allen wrenches. i was surprised to see that the new seat was basically the same size as the old seat (i thought the old seat was narrower), just with some slightly thicker padding and maybe an inch shorter in length. i rode to the cafe to test out the new seat. no complaints, but i need a longer ride to truly get a sense if my ass will be protected from further pounding. along the way i stopped by the real estate office to pick a free copy of the cambridge-somerville map for my new roommate.

will i or won't i have a roommate by tonight? that's the question. the local liaison person told my parents he was picking up one chinese astrophysicist from logan airport tonight at 9:00, but my secret contact back in shanghai told me my supposed roommate isn't leaving until this weekend. regardless, i continued cleaning the house. i brought a bunch of stuff down into the basement (the resting place of things i don't want to throw away but not necessarily need anymore). i tossed out a bunch of old magazines. i vacuumed. i swiffed. i sprayed. i laundered. i reorganized. by evening the house was pristine. all i had to do was wait. secretly i was hoping the liaison person made a mistake and i would be spared a roommate for another few days.

i've having a hard time trying to find a rear bike rack compatible with 24" wheels. i think the topeak one might work, provided the mounting bracket arms can bend about 2 inches from horizontal. that's how the blackburn MTN rack is mounted on my current 24" wheel bike. blackburn used to make racks specially designed for 24" wheels but they don't carry them anymore.

the later it got the more i was beginning to think i escaped the human cargo delivery. around 10:30 i heard the thump of car doors closing and then somebody ringing my doorbell. it was my new roommate. not the guy who was originally supposed to live here (the one with the wife from italy who was visiting around christmas time) but a different guy. he works in nanjing and is a coworker of my last roommate (who also works in nanjing). he's an older man, married with a high school age daughter. he's only here for a month, returning to china before christmas. although technically not his first time in the US (he'd been to hawaii numerous times for astronomy conferences), this is his first time on the mainland. he seems a good enough guy but one thing i don't like already is the fact that he smokes. not in the house mind you, but the one time he lit up in the backyard he left the door open and all the cold air rushed inside.