i had 2 things to do this morning: pay my dentist a visit at allston center to get a cavity fixed, then go down to the fenway REI and return the pair of unused merrell moab hikings shoes (womens variant) plus some hiking socks.

the appointment was for 10:00, i set my alarm to 9:00, which gave me 30 minutes to get ready before i had to leave. at 3.5 miles to allston center, it takes 25 minutes of street riding to get there. i had my REI returns in the rear basket. for some reason my legs felt dead, like i didn't have any strength. maybe the hot (near 90's) overcast weather had something to do with it. i immediately regretted wearing pants instead of shorts. another regret? the fact that i ate garlic chive chinese dumplings with a chopped garlic dipping sauce the night before a dentist appointment.

when i finally arrived, i was a little sweaty and out of breath. sitting in the exam chair, i realized that my oral surgeon dr.chan had been sharing progress reports of my dental implant procedure with my dentist dr.huang. that explains why out of the blue dr.huang called me about the cavity, which i didn't think he knew about. i don't mind this personal dental data sharing, but i don't think i ever consented to it. i also found out the dental implant inside of my mouth is a keystone brand genesis implant, made of grade 4 titanium with a proprietary textured and ionized surface for quicker recovery. dr.huang had also finally upgraded his x-ray equipment: even has late as my previous visit, he'd develop the x-ray images on negative film. this time, he had a digital system, which gave instant results on the computer. he must've recently gotten it because he was still trying to figure it out.

the cavity was to the rear molar on my upper right jaw, right next to the dental implant. it cavity was actually inside the tooth, which i'm not quite sure how that could happen. the only risk was if the cavity was too close to the nerve, in which case the subsequent filling would transmit heat/cold sensations directly into the tooth (which is a bad thing). i got two shots of novocaine before he started working. i could smell the burning enamel as he drilled into my molar, and at one point he even accidentally cut the inside of my cheek. the procedure was actually pretty soothing, and i almost wanted to fall asleep, despite having fingers and tools inside of my mouth. total cost: $145. the next time i come will be for a crown fitting in the fall (i can then finally eat with the right side of my mouth, hooray!).

i've never gone from allston center to fenway before. at 2.3 miles, the calculated time to arrive at my next destination was only 15 minutes. for some reason around 11:00 there wasn't that much traffic, so i leisurely made my way east to REI via commonwealth, st.paul, then beacon. the car parking lot was mostly empty, so i was afraid they weren't open, but all the bike parking was full. returns are actually processed downstairs, and i effortlessly got $138 dollars put back onto my credit card (which just about covers the cost of fixing my cavity).

from there i returned home via the BU bridge then along the memorial drive pedestrian trail all the way to harvard square.

i had to wait an hour before i could eat. technically i don't eat with the right side of my mouth anyway, but i decided to wait just to be safe. i ended up not eating until 1:30, heated up some leftover chinese dumplings from yesterday.

in the late afternoon (3:00) i went market basket to get some groceries then to my CGP to do some more weeding and watering.

for dinner i had a salad kit (caesar) with half a can of garbanzo beans for protein. i ate a nectarine for dessert, washed it all down with some sweet southern ice tea. i watched another episode of the roosevelt documentary on PBS followed by a new episode of frontline, which basically explained how the obama administration had a part in the creation of the ISIS crisis currently engulfing the middle east.

wangyang contacted me late last night (i was already asleep), with an already-written invitation letter i had to sign and a request for a copy of my passport: all documents she needed so she could apply for a USA visa. i took a look at the invitation letter, which was a very formal cookie cut letter written in the first person, with wordings like, "i guarantee she will leave the USA before the expiration of her authorized stay. please kindly grant her a multiple entry visitor visa." if i was going to write an actual invitation letter, it'd be in my own voice and style. so i wrote this really genuine letter, which she received later in the evening (morning in china). she's actually using a visa agent (the process is so complicated, people hire agents to file the proper paperwork) and the agent told her to edit out certain lines, which i had no problems doing. hopefully she'll be able to get her visa. she'll be the first person from my recent china trip to come visit me.