it's been more than 3 weeks since i last contacted next step living about insulation work for my walls. my agent stella said she'd get in touch with me in about a week with a contract to sign to get the service started, so that's long overdue. they finally got in touch with me: apparently stella left the company, and my account went into limbo. they apologized and assigned me a new agent. she called me later, said that a new contract would be drafted next week.

in the afternoon i went with my parents on a lengthy supply run: restaurant depot, chelsea market basket, everett michael's, costco. after dropping things off at the cafe, i went with them to belmont to have some supermarket-purchased fried chicken for dinner. i also left behind a fermenting jar of sichuan paocai (jar 1). i got a ride back to cambridge.

the nest thermostat was on the heating setting (70°) when i got back home around 8:30, but the temperature inside the house was 57°. did it somehow recognize there was nobody at home, and not turn on the heat on purpose? in any case, a few minutes after i got back, i suddenly felt the furnace kick in. i'm still not sure if the thermostat is working properly or not. i'll give it a few more days before i call tech support. i also need to get to home depot for some thermostat wires. i wanted to go today but didn't have enough time. if it isn't raining tomorrow, i'll bike up to the somerville store and get some.

my turquoise rocks arrived today. i bought it through ebay a few weeks ago, from a seller in china. i got it on a whim, based on the fact that i wanted to get some turquoise when i was in western sichuan, but they were all drilled for beading, none natural.