GC is going back to alabama on saturday and not a moment too soon. as a roommate he's fine, but he has just too many little annoying habits that prevents him from reaching the top roommate echelon. while i was in the bathroom today i came to the realization that he always seems to leave 3 things behind on the bathroom floor: urine, pubic hair, and toothpaste drips. urine not so much after i spoke with him, but he still dribbles on the toilet bowl rim and urine spray is still all around the floor that i'm still constantly wiping the tiles and smelling phantom urine odor. as for the hairs, i imagine he's pretty hairy in his nether regions, as every day i find "private" hairs, feels like i'm being sexually harassed. finally, the toothpaste drops. it was something that happened occasionally, which was a minor nuisance but not enough to raise a stink over, but i've noticed recently it's becoming a daily thing now, drops all over the bathroom carpet, and clumps of toothpaste in the sink. i just need to wash the carpet when he's gone. it makes me think his alabama apartment must be a complete pigsty, a place i'd be afraid to visit. just 5 more days until he leaves!

my mother called me this morning asking me to find them an exterminator. they used to have one, but haven't had any pest problems for a while so they cancelled the service. not that there's anything happening at the cafe, but the health department came by today and said they were required to have evidence of pest management. since my parents are leaving for vacation on friday, they needed to get this done within the next few days. i called a local place i found on google (with 50 reviews, all suspiciously 5 stars) but i called them a few times and kept getting a busy signal. i called ultra safe pest, which did the termite treatment at my parents' place; they charge $149 for a consultation, not to mention how much it'd cost to set up a periodic pest inspection with them. it didn't matter anyway since their earliest appointment wasn't until monday. i then called waltham pest control, which gave free consultations, and could be at the cafe friday morning. that was cutting it close, but better than nothing. i called my mother back to let her know, but she said my father was speaking to the nearby restaurant and asking for a referral from the pest inspector they use. just so happens the exterminator was coming tomorrow for his monthly visit. i texted the guy (he only responds to texts), told him the situation. he replied back, said he'd be willing to do it, $125 for the initial visit, $35/visit/month after that.

i went outside around noontime to move the motorcycle back in front of my house after this morning's street sweeping. i bumped into renee who once again was able to snag me for a free technology consultation. this time it was to check if her television was an HDTV and to see if she could get channels over the airwaves using an HD antenna, thereby cancelling her unnecessary comcast cable subscription. she didn't know that you can get cable internet without needing to get cable tv as well, though that didn't matter in her case since she gets her internet from verizon DSL. she did in fact have an HDTV, and when we did a sweep using the antenna, it found 30 clear channels. the cable she gets now is just basic, but it still sets her back something like $50/month from equipment rentals and fees. she gets it primarily to watch the cambridge community television shows, but also her amy goodman, which she can receive over the internet (though i'm not sure how well it streams over DSL). anyway, i didn't get back to my house until an hour later.

i had a yogurt for lunch along with a small salad, a strange combination, but i needed to finish the salad greens before they go bad. i thought about getting some more groceries (want to make a sausage with rotini recipe), but decided to wait until later in the week, so i can have fresh ingredients to make it over the weekend. instead, i went down to the somerville rite aid - just a 5 minute walk - to collect some snacks (almonds, jerky, altoids).

i saw sara my upstairs neighbor buy a used bicycle today. the seller actually came by the house with the ride so she could test it out. i actually saw the exchange, it think it was at least $80, if not more. had i known i might've been able to lend her one of my spare bikes. she asked if she could put the bike underneath the tarp by the side of the house. later we brought out the trash.

that's where i saw the big metal box of dials and switches renee must've thrown out. something called an "TV-FM sweep generator & marker", even though i didn't know what it was, it looked so much like old radio equipment, i decided to bring it inside and see if i could make it run. manufactured by EICO, a new york based company that made electronic test equipment starting from the mid-40's but going out of business by 20th century's end. model 368, i managed to download an old manual but still couldn't make sense of it. thinking it might be worth something, i went onto to ebay to check for prices, which range around $20-30, so not particularly valuable. my father has a friend who collects old radio equipment, maybe he might be interested in having this.

GC came home around 6:30pm, went to the kitchen to read from his MBP. i made another reuben sandwich for dinner, this time heating the sauerkraut in the pan so the sandwich would be hot when i assemble it all together. later in the evening with watched episode 2 and 3 of season 4 of better call saul (he already saw episode 1 on his own a few days ago).

i finished watching hereditary (2018). i've been watching it in pieces all day, too intense to watch in a single sitting. it's by far one of the scariest creepiest movies i've seen in a while, probably not since it follows (2014). i've also seen a quiet place (2018) which was suspenseful, but not creepy. korean the wailing (2016) was another good one, that shares the same creepy and scary category. but hereditary had a lot more random shots of creepiness that made you uncomfortable, leading up to the ending.