errant magazine subscription update: TWX finally did reimburse me the money (march 1st) for the magazine subscriptions they automatically renewed without my permission. it wasn't all of it, but just the full amount minus issues already sent, which seems fair enough.
wattage update: after letting the wattage meter measure the refrigerator overnight, it gave me an estimate of how much i can expect to pay over the course of a single year: $78. so about $6.50 a month, which is about a fifth of my total monthly electricity bill. that seems surprisingly low, i was expecting the fridge to be most of my power consumption. later i took the wattage meter to my new MBP (with an LED display). running off the charger, the computer uses less than 14 watts. my old macbook pro used 84 watts when it was on (26 watts in sleep mode).
back/neck pain update: my shoulder blade/neck/upper arm still hurts. i've been taking some advil but i'm not really noticing any improvements. i don't think it's serious enough to go see a doctor yet (although this coming from a guy who walked for a few days on a broken foot) but i wonder if there's anything i can do to speed up the recovery. maybe a nice hot soak in the tub.
no pope for you: i have no vested interest in the matter, but i'm kind of excited to see who the new pope is going to be. i actually vividly remember when pope benedict XVI was elected: april 2nd, 2005, i heard in the news in my saigon hotel room while waiting for my handwashed clothes to dry. this time around it'll be a lot less dramatic. every single news network here in the city has sent a reporter to vatican city. there's a lot of local interest because boston cardinal o'malley seems to be one of prospective candidates despite being an american. i think the city would absolutely go crazy if he became pope, especially with the st.patrick's day parade this weekend.
i heard it would rain today so i stayed indoors for most of the day. turned out it wasn't anything substantial but spotted showers. in the late aftenoon i made a quick run to the grocery store to get some bagels. since i already put my usual bike in the basement, i rode david's bike. he told me a few days ago he might've bent the one of the chainrings and even took it down to broadway bike to get it adjusted. i noticed the gearing was usually tight and at one point the chain came off and jammed between the frame and crankset. i had to pull over and reset the chain (i used a tissue paper so i wouldn't get my hands dirty).
early spring is the coldest time in my house. i still have the heat on, but it doesn't kick in often enough to really warm up the house since the temperature is just hovering below my thermostat threshold. the house actually gets warmer the colder it gets, but colder inside as the outdoor temperature warms up.
with no roommate around, i could play me some dishonored without guilt. i've been trying to go through the game with minimum casualties, but my overall chaos level is still high. the stats only tell me how many hostiles i killed, but i feel like i spared an equal amount if not more. i'm definitely getting better at sneaking around though, which maybe might come in handy in real life as well.
for dinner i made myself a sandwich (yes, i'm back to sandwiches again). the only difference is i'm using thick slices of pepper jack cheese instead of drab american cheese.