my father and i went to the somerville naveo credit union office at 11:30am to get some details about closing the mass solar loan. it took a while before somebody was able to meet with us, apparently the loan manager was unavailable. while sitting in the waiting area we noticed that many of the customers were brazilian. we finally met with nicolle, who took the questionnaires my father had filled out and set up a credit union membership for my father. the minimum amount was only $5 but my father had a $90 check that he decided to deposit into his new checking account. my mother will also need to do the same when they finally close on the loan. nicolle told us that elizabeth - the loan manager - would get in touch with us to schedule a closing appointment.

i made some scrambled eggs for lunch with a little bit of the half and half li has in the refrigerator. i never noticed this but i never see him drinking coffee yet he has half and half in the fridge. there has to be a good explanation, i'll ask him later tonight. i also made a fruit smoothie.

after 1pm i rode the motorcycle to belmont to water the lawn. my mother called me earlier, said that my father had found a dead squirrel in front of our house and tossed it into the trash. unfortunately it was dark and he didn't examine the squirrel too closely, because apparently it was infested with maggots, and were crawling all over the inside of the trash can. one of my task was to clean it out with a hose but the garbage men hadn't arrived yet. they only showed up just when i was about to leave. i felt embarrassed about the trash (besides maggots it was a putrid stench). after they emptied it, i got the hose and gave it a thorough wash.

it was my first time seeing the tree stump after we filled the holes with stump-out chemical. my father had put a plastic tub over the the stump, possibly to keep it from drying out. the while powder seemed to have expanded when it came in contact with water. hard to tell how effective it is, i guess we just need to wait 4-6 weeks, or possibly until next spring to really find out.

today was an exciting day as i planned on getting some fish for the aquarium. so i went down to the fresh pond mall via concord avenue to revisit petsmart. but just my luck, they were all sold out of the $1 neon tetras. i asked some of the employees and they told me that their next shipment is thursday, and hopefully some tetras will be included. i asked what time, one of them said if i got there by noon i should be good.

i went straight home but left soon afterwards, this time taking my cargo bike into chinatown (figuring i might be carrying some groceries), to search for boba ice tea tapioca balls. i left a bit after 2pm, hoping it'd be a quick run. what i wasn't counting on was how hot it was, and also humid. the ride was a real struggle, felt like i was pedaling in molasses, wiping the sweat on face onto my shirt sleeves, huffing in exhaustion, cursing as well. my rookie mistake was i forgot to bring water, and then forgot to buy water once i made it to chinatown. dehydration just made me feel more tired, not to mention i haven't biked in a while so i didn't have good endurance.

being in chinatown suddenly reminded me that october is when chinese people celebrate their independence day. mainland china celebrates it on october 1st, when mao proclaimed his communist victory at tiananmen square (people's republic of china, PRC). however, in taiwan (and likely in hong kong and other areas of the chinese diaspora), chinese independence day is october 10th, which commemorates the wuchang uprising that ended up toppling the qing dynasty to establish the republic of china (ROC). but everywhere in china were flags. not the chinese flag mind you, but mostly the taiwanese flag, as the ROC has a larger presence in chinatowns than the PRC. but here and there were still some china flags, and more so every year, as immigrants from china continue to increase. but it's interesting visiting chinatowns in early october, as a proxy war of flags wages on through the streets, unbeknownst to most americans who don't know 20th centutry chinese history.

i went to the c-mart on lincoln street first. they didn't carry any tapioca balls except those very tiny ones that are unsuitable for boba ice tea. i did however find my 2nd uncle, who was there doing some shopping. he never recognizes me even if i'm standing right in front of him, i'm always the one to initiate. how that he's moved, i never see him anymore, unlike back in the old days when he'd pass by my house a few times a week walking to market basket. he told me my 2nd aunt went to taipei, which i knew. he said good bye to me when he left the store. i ended up not buying anything there, figured i'd visit another asian supermarket at least.

next i visited jia ho supermarket (692 washington street), the one that's in the alleyway opposite the vietnamese restaurant i always go to. it's actually the asian supermarket i visit the least, but its my roommate's favorite supermarket, so i gave it another try. after a lengthy search i finally found the black tapioca pearls ($2.49/250g package). i called my mother asking her how many packages she wanted; i heard her say 4 before i lost cell phone reception (jia ho is located in a basement level so reception is terrible). i also bought some watermelon seeds ($3.69), nori maki arare ($3.59), and a package of chinese sauerkraut ramen ($1.29). returning to my bike i went to the taipei 101 pastry shop to get a few things.

i ended up going home via the charles river bike path. it's several miles longer but i didn't need to worry about car traffic. the only downside was the heat and humidity. i finally got to the cafe half an hour later. exhausted, sweat-soaked, i delivered the tapioca balls.

i didn't return home until almost 5pm. after a hot shower i crashed in the living room. not feeling hungry enough for dinner but still wanted something to snack, i finished the rest of my baguette and salami. that - along with a chinese pastry - ended up being enough food that i skipped dinner altogether.

li came home and asked, "where the fish?" i had to explain to him they were all sold out and we would need to wait until thursday for new stock to arrive.