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temperature today was expected to reach the 80's, so it was a good day to move most of my plants outside, to let them soak up some real sunshine, get some fresh air, and get used to the outside. the oak tree in the backyard hasn't fully leafed out yet, so my back porch gets plenty of sun for the time being. even the weakest of sunlight is probably better than the artificial lights of the closet. the only reason why i didn't put them all out was i ran out of boxes. i reduced the grow closet to just a single shelf now (2 rows of lights). judging from the weather and depending on how i prepare the gardens, i expect to plant at least some of them sometime next week.

i turned off my heat last night. it was actually quite easy, and i did it from bed remotely from the nest app in my phone. the past few weeks i had the thermostat set to eco, which just means it won't go lower than a minimum set temperature (59°F in this case). but i think we've finally made the full transition to spring now, and i don't expect the daytime temperature to get below 60°F.

when i went with my parents to restaurant depot yesterday, they charged us twice for a box of frozen fish fillet. my mother only noticed it later in the evening. had it been something small we wouldn't care, but the amount was $33, so worth correcting. i was tasked with calling the store this morning to see if i can could it resolved. i was patched to a woman with an indian accent who just from her tone of voice i knew wasn't going to be helpful. i told her the problem and she managed to bring up the receipt on her computer. it's what she said next which surprised me. she said they might've double charged me, but no one caught the mistake because they must not have charged me for something else, so the count was still the same. although that may be possible, she was calling me a liar at worst, and that it was my mistake at least. she asked me when was the next time i'd be in the store. i told her next week. she said to bring the receipt and they'd take a look. before i could ask for her name, she hung up the phone.

around 1pm my father came by to pick me up so we could go to restaurant depot and get the overbilled receipt resolved. he didn't want to wait until next week, the sooner it got done the better. instead of speaking with the people in the greeters booth when you first come in (from prior experience, he said those people were generally unhelpful), he instead went directly to the main office desk. i told the woman what happened, she went to speak with a guy who was running the item count. it wasn't the same person who did our count yesterday (it was a young woman), but maybe she's new and didn't caught the error (although i personally think that if their count is less than the items on the receipt, they don't say anything because it meant the store overbilled which means more profit for them). the woman came back, told us to a register, and put the overbilled amount back onto the credit card. problem solved.

as it was on the way back, we stopped by harbor freight because my father wanted to get a new pressure washer. in the back of my mind i thought we should check the monthly catalog first for coupons, but we ended up buying a 1750 psi electric pressure washer for $100. we then went next door to OSJL. my father wanted to get some hemp twine, i wanted to see if they had any cheaper hydrangeas (they didn't have any).

i returned home by 2:30pm. later in the afternoon i went to star market to get some rose ice tea i saw a few days ago. i thought they were only $3.99 for a 4-pack, but were actually $7.99. at that price, i could make my own rose-infused ice tea. the star market near by house is terrible when it comes to labelling items that are on sale. i was going to get a box of strawberries for $2 but the label said $5/2 so i wasn't sure what the real price was so i didn't get it.

coming back, i bumped into my former next door neighbor, the turkish architect working on the chaotianmen project. he was back in the neighborhood checking on his old apartment which he's renting out. he lives by fresh pond place, but told me he was thinking about upgrading to a bigger house and renting out his other condo. he said at that rate, he might be able to retire early and become a slumlord. he was just in chongqing for a month back in february, and showed me some of the photos he took of the construction. currently it's halfway complete, and will be 2x as tall when the project is finished at the end of 2018.

paul was gardening in the backyard. by gardening i mean he chopped down the evergreen that'd been growing in the corner for the past 15 years. it should've bothered me more, but nobody liked that tree anyway, and if something better is going in its place, so be it. i also planted the hydrangea, didn't want to waste my time trying to find a cheaper plant. maybe mahoney's might have them but i doubt they'd be as cheap as home depot. maybe by late spring when all the plants go on sale i might be able to snag another cheap one to replace one of the weaker hydrangeas. i poured in some of the lobster compost into the pit before i planted the hydrangea, so i think it's going to do pretty well.

karen came home at 6:30pm, right when i was in the bathroom. immediately i became anxious and didn't have a satisfying poo. she told me tomorrow she's going out with her friend in the morning to some sort of clinic-sponsored event out somewhere that takes an hour to drive. she made dinner then spent the rest of the night in her room taking with patients i assume. as for me, i made another pulled chicken sandwich.