i thought it was amusing, and was even tempted to open my window and invite her to a tour of my place.
i biked down to boston to quincy market to buy a souvenir boston t-shirt for wangyang. i figured if she couldn't come up to boston, the least i could do is get her some special boston-related gift. i also took a bunch of photos so i could send her, since she's been sending me photos all week. at the very last minute i decided against getting her a boston t-shirt but a harvard one instead when i saw an apparel kiosk. they had t-shirts in women's style but i got her a regular unisex small ($14) just to stay on the safe side. it's not an official harvard university t-shirt, but have you seen the prices for a real one? besides, regardless if it was from the coop or from a pushcart, it's from boston/cambridge, that's what counts. later i checked the tag: i was so afraid it was made in china (that'd be embarrassing), but thankfully it's from the dominican republic.
i bought a few things from nearby haymarket. nothing for myself as i won't be here for most of next week, but i got: 2 bundles of asparagus ($1/each), 2 boxes of strawberries ($1/box), 5 lemons ($1), a papaya ($2), and over a pound of longhorn peppers ($2). one of the vendors was selling leek for $1, something karen and i couldn't find when we came here 2 weekends ago.
i bumped into my parents' friend nancy before i left. i run into her all the time, and in the most random places. our minds must be in sync.
i had a hard time biking today, the bike felt heavy, and it seemed like i didn't have enough energy. temperature was in the 50's today, but there was a strong wind, which could explain my difficulties. despite the drain on my muscles, i still made to boston and back in about the same amount of time. i returned home to collect my things before continuing onwards to belmont.
i arrived by 2pm. my parents were waiting for me so we could go to the waltham costco. i didn't need anything, but made sure we got some windshield wipers that were on sale. i just tagged along so i could continue playing pokemon go from the backseat. i managed to collect 2 new mons: aipom (encountered it before 2 weeks ago, but it escaped) and sunkern (one of the lesser 2nd generation mon, but i'm only finding it now). we also got a pair of goji saplings. they were also selling small fig trees but we didn't think it'd survive our new england winters. after costco we stopped in warrendale so my father could get 3 empty propane tanks filled ($17/tank).
my father and i replaced the windshield wipers on the toyota camry. the rubber squeegee on the passenger side had ripped off during the winter when i was cleaning the car, because it was frozen onto the glass windshield. i never knew this, but windshield wipers can be of different lengths, depending on whether it's on the driver or passenger side. for the camry, it's 24" on the driver, but 19" on the passenger. the ones we got from costco were goodyear hybrid wiper blades. it took us a while to figure it out, because it came with a bunch of accessories, which we realized in the end we didn't need. the wiper hook arms on the camry were j hook types, which can be replaced without additional parts. once we figured it out, it was actually pretty easy.
wangyang sent me some photos of her first full day in washington dc. the first museum she went to was the american history one, a museum she didn't plan on visiting until i recommended it to her. she ended up staying there for 3 hours. she also visited the lincoln memorial and the vietnam and korean war memorials. the second museum she went to after lunch was the natural history museum. later i asked her what was the best thing she saw today. initially she said everything, but then picked the mineral collection as her favorite. she has one more full day in dc tomorrow, but will check out of her current hotel and move to a youth hostel dormitory to save some money for her final night stay.
we bought 2 slabs of memphis ribs from costco, to inaugurated the gas barbecue grill for the season now that we also have a full tank of propane. the first 15 minutes of grilling was a bit too much on high and it scorched the ribs, but luckily just the underside. we had a more controlled grilling on the good side (15 more minutes), before letting it slow cook in the barbecue for an additional 45 minutes. my mother prepared the asparagus on the stove and we also had whole wheat mantou buns. i managed to eat 4 ribs for dinner before calling it quits.
i returned home a little after 7pm. earlier this morning i did a load of laundry, then left the clothes tumbling in the dryer when i left for boston. only now did i have time to fold my clothes and put them away. as i have another day before i leave for new york city, i'm not panicked yet, but tomorrow by this time i will be less calm as i try to figure out what i need to bring.