with the possibility of some strong thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon, i left soon after noontime after grilling one last ham and cheese sandwich for lunch (using some suspect virginia ham). first stop was the assembly square home depot to look for some screws to repair my fuji bike rack. i also checked out some fertilizer but decided to get it elsewhere. that someplace else was OSJL, where i bought another 8 lbs. bag of espoma plant-tone ($10.75). i also picked up some burpee seeds at 50% discount: cupcake cosmos (the ones i planted a few weeks ago never germinated), autumn beauty mix sunflowers, and jewel mix nasturtiums.

looking at my watch and judging i still had enough time before the rain, i went to my last destination, 99 asian supermarket in malden. it's not too far from super 88 (also in malden), a distance of about 2 miles. i'd never been to 99, but always look forward to discovering new asian supermarkets where ever they may be.

since i never been there before, it took some effort to find my way. i tried memorizing the route from OSJL, but i had to stop twice to check the gps on my phone to make sure i was going the right way. from medford street i connected to cross street, then a right on bryant followed by a left on preston-taylor (actually albion, preston was restricted access during school hours). finally i arrived.

99 asian supermarket seemed large from the outside and it was large on the inside as well. it may be one of the largest asian supermarkets that i've been to in the greater boston area. i picked up a few things, a bag of preserved hawthorn fruits ($2.99), a bag of cherries ($1.99/lbs.), some korean golden melons ($1.29/lbs.), a bottle of goya guava soda ($1.09), and a stick of lotte black gum ($1.89). there was also a small food court but with only 3 kiosks and nondescript asian fast food.

when i came out i saw a minivan parked suspiciously close to my motorcycle. it was unusual because there was plenty of other parking, but this car just had to be next to my bike. maybe he wanted to park in the shade, but there were other shady spots in the parking lot. when i got close i saw the guy was still inside, an old black guy listening to the radio. as i loaded my groceries into my saddlebags, this guy kept watching what i was doing, to the point where i stared him back, but he didn't look away. instead of saying something i just ignored him while i checked the directions on my phone. his wife showed up soon afterwards and they finally left.

instead of going back the way i came - which was confusing and i was afraid of getting lost again - i went the more direct route, down route 99 south back to everett and the revere beach parkway. i vaguely remember that route 99/broadway is kind of tedious because of the frequent traffic stop every intersection. that turned out to be exactly what it is, and it took me twice as long to get back versus if i went my original way. the weather seemed fine though, no risk of immediate rain, so i wasn't too worried.

i went out in the backyard and fixed the fuji rear rack. it actually makes more sense to have all the connections be replaceable screws instead of the original long rivets. i put the bikes away in the basement in anticipation of the rain which never did come. the sky turned grey for a bit, but then the sun came out again. by then i was already unpacked in the living room and wasn't planning on going out the rest of the day.

my mother contacted me with info about my next roommate. i was looking forward to living solo for a while, but the money is too tempting, especially since i don't have any work. another chinese astrophysicist, originally i heard it was only for a month, but now it looks like 2 months. he's due to arrive next sunday (18th) and leave the middle of august. i haven't had a chinese astrophysicist stay at my place in a long time.

i bought another pair of rain boots. i discovered on monday when washing the mud from the boots that there was a tear on one of the tongues. it wasn't a surprise, because that area gets a lot of bends, and it was only a matter of time. the tear must've been there since the winter because i remember having wet socks in one of the boots. i thought maybe some snow had gotten in from the top but now i know it was because of a leak. i tried taping up the tear with electric tape then duct tape, but they both ended up falling off once i started walking in the boots and flexing the tongue. these are northerner brand rain boots, in a woman's size. they still made the same boots but northener sold the design to servus. i was searching online, found a pair for $25 but required a $50 purchase to qualify for free shipping. but then i found the tractor supply company which had them on sale for just $20 with free shipping on all boot purchases.

i tried the pink goya guava soda. it was okay, but tasted a little artificial (i shouldn't be surprised). later i made myself a milk shake using vanilla bean häagen-daz ice cream and some whole milk. it was pretty good but probably easily 500 calories. for dinner i finished the last of my pozole. i mixed it with some curtido and some habanero hot sauce.

i watched game 4 of the NBA finals. the cavaliers finally won a game against the warriors, but it took a relentless combination of explosive offense and defense to win the game. can cleveland keep it up in game 5? but you can argue this series should be 2-2 since the cavaliers should've won game 3 but golden state stole the game in the final moments.