i got a ride at 11am to my parents' place after finishing a bowl of corn pops for breakfast. i would've been happy to take the bike but my parents thought it was just too cold. my father found another humidifier in the sun room that belonged to my sister, this one an ultrasonic version (comfort zone cool mist CZHD22). i like these better than evaporation humidifiers because they seem to output more visible moisture. we didn't have a working hygrometer in the house so we couldn't easily measure the increased humidity, but the whole reason why we fired this one up in the first place was when we noticed the wall unit measurement said the humidity in the house was 20%.

i helped my father pick out a new multifunction network laser printer to replace his old samsung 4725FN. we were hoping to find one that could use the same toner (since we have a spare) but no luck on that. after narrowing it down to a few candidates, i decided on another samsung: the samsung M2070FW. it's not the most powerful laser printer, but the one part where it does shine is an assortment of wireless printing options, including from phones and tablets. and it was only $105 (original retail price $299). i can't wait for it to arrive so i can play with it.

after dinner i drove one of the cars back to cambridge. on my doorstep were the pair of fox river extra heavy double ragg mittens ($16) i ordered. i lost my pair of found mittens about 2 weeks ago and was looking for a suitable replacement. these things are thick - like wearing a pair of heavy duty wool socks over my hands - and when i wear them they look like tiny boxing gloves. i can't wait until the temperature dips down again so i can try them out.