with my roommate gone this past weekend, it's been like a vacation. with him coming back later tonight, the vacation would soon be over. today wasn't much of a vacation day anyway since i had to work, some debugging for client S. fixing code makes me feel like an electrician or a plumber: but instead of working with wires and pipes, i'm dealing with programming. sometimes i even think of myself as a surgeon, digging deep into code, finding the problem, and fixing it. clients call me, i make things better, i get paid, and then i leave.

i was done with my bug fixes by early afternoon. i was kind of proud of myself for not prostinating, even though i did promise the client i would have something for them today (they weren't in any hurry though, i could've easily extended the deadline). for lunch i mixed up the remaining bits of thanksgiving turkey meat with some rice sprinkled with japanese furikake.

bunch of presents arrived in the mail. the garmin dashboard gps mount, a seat leash (not that i needed one, since my bicycle seat post is already secured with a security bolt), and replacement motorcycle mirrors. these chrome-plated mirrors cost $40 a piece brand new, but i bought these pristine condition used genuine honda VT750 mirrors for just $15.50 a pair. the shipping was a bit expensive at $10, but i won the ebay bid on saturday morning and got my mirrors monday afternoon, about 48 hours later. if i want, i could sell back the right mirror (the one i'm not replacing) and recoup my cost.

i had some leftover macaroni and cheese for dinner. my roommate came home around 10:00. he went immediately to the kitchen to fix himself some dinner before coming out into the living room to eat. he bought some meat buns from the new york chinatown and shared them with me. he told me about his weekend adventure then later showed me his photos from his trip, about 250. i saw pictures of his friends, mostly around dining tables either in homes or restaurants. i noticed nobody was smiling. don't they know how to smile? or maybe nobody was having a good time.

also this evening i was watching two honda clutch brackets up for auction on ebay. the better of the two started at $10 this past weekend but apparently there was a bidding war and the price rose to $25 with about an hour to spare. a bit out of my price range, i watched a series of bid in the remaining seconds that pushed the final price to $31. the other bracket was selling for $20 with no bids and about an hour before it expired. i waited until the last 4 minutes to put in an opening bid. i thought i was safe, but within the final 30 seconds 4 other bids came in and i was outbid with a final price of $24. apparently used clutch brackets are a popular item! looks like i'll just have to buy a new bracket which sells for $18 brand new (minus the clutch lever and associated bolts and screws but i still have all those on my motorcycle).

i'm not in any rush to fix up the bike. i'm sort of resigned to the fact that the riding season is over, especially since the weather has gotten colder and there's still ice on the ground from saturday's snowstorm. i'm going to give the bike a good washing tomorrow morning, clean out the garage, and then put it away for the winter. i'll spend the next few months watching ebay for cheap used parts. all i really need is just a bracket, and if i really want to be a stickler, maybe replace the bent rear signal light and one of the rear shock absorber springs. by next spring, the bike will be as good as new!

finally, i've reached a yellow star status on my ebay profile. i've never sold anything, but i have bought 10 items throughout the course of the past half decade (my first purchase was back in 2004, i think a betty boo cd).