partners in health contacted me today via e-mail, seems like all their contact tracing positions are filled up, but told me they'd let me know if anything changes. i wasn't going to apply for the job initially, but thought about it and it seemed a lot like the census job i signed up for (now postponed), just with a lot less physical contact and everything done over the phone, so i sent in my resume yesterday.
kevin made lunch before i did, cooking for nearly an hour until 1pm. he asked if he could use my blender to make a tomato sauce out of whole tomatoes. then he asked if he could use the same blender to mince some partially frozen cuts of beef. i told him that would be a terrible idea, making a raw meat smoothie, and it was better simply to cook the meat instead.
afterwards i made my own lunch, my stomach already grumbling by that point. once again, kevin left a stack of dirty dishes and pans on the stove, even after i told him on numerous occasions to soak them in the sink if he wasn't going to wash them right away. he heard my fumbling with his dirty dishes and came out of his room to wash them. i was a little annoyed and told him i was going to clean the stovetop later since he made a mess of all my burners. he said he could do that, but i scoffed at the idea, he wouldn't the first thing about properly cleaning the stovetop.
i got two small avocados from my parents yesterday. i laughed at their small size, until my mother told me they were from trader joe's and despite their miniature proportions, they were actually better than your typical avocado because there's hardly any pit on the side. i cut one open today and sure enough, it was mostly avocado, with just a tiny pit. once more, i made another egg-ham-avocado bagel sandwich for lunch. i ate while watching zero dark thirty, kind of a strange movie to be watching, especially all the early scenes of detainees being tortured, but i'm a big jessica chastain fan.
while i was using the bathroom, i decided to clean the facility. i foam bleached the bathtub tiles and the sink and sprinkled expired baking soda in the tub before scrubbing it clean with a brush. using a magic eraser, i cleaned the toilet, even putting my hand in the toilet water because i noticed some stains i couldn't remove with the usual toilet brush. afterwards i had to crack open the bathroom window because the bleach smell was so strong, but kevin told me a while back he actually likes that chlorine smell, the fragrance of cleanliness.
today was tax day, or what was tax day before both federal and state revenue services extended the deadline until june. but i'd already done my taxes, just had filed yet. i decided to file today out of tradition and just to get it out of the way. i e-filed my federal, had to pay $400. my state tax i filed through the mail (a rebate of $100). i didn't trust the nearby mailbox, figured it was safer to drop it off at the post office.
i biked wearing a mask for the very first time. i found it hard to breathe, until i realized i was taking shallow breaths through my nose, when normally i breathe through my mouth. it can be done, but it's uncomfortable, and my cloth mask sticks to my face, making it harder to breathe. by the time i made the switch, i was already winded, and was panting when i got to the porter square post office (though nobody could see since i was wearing my mask). there was a new sign outside the door informing customers that only two people can be inside the post office at any one time. there was an indian man waiting patiently outside. while i was still trying to figure out my options, he said i could probably go in and drop the letter in the mail slot, which was what i did. i also planned on stopping by the porter square star market to get some fried chicken (having a craving), but since i already have so much food in the house, i'll wait until next week to do that.
back at home, after a shower to rinse off the bleach and baking soda from the bathroom, i started cleaning the stovetop. originally i was going to remove the burners and clean them in detail with a brillo pad, but decided i'd wait until kevin left (hopefully next month) before doing that. instead, i removed the stainless steel stove top, threw out the heavy duty aluminum foil covers and replaced them with new ones. i also wiped clean the spilled mess below the burners. kevin actually came out of his room and volunteered to help, but i mumbled something to the effect of i'll take care of it.
today was the first day that the coronavirus stimulus checks would be going out. i kept looking at my bank account periodically, hoping for some government money to magically appear. sadly, by day's end, there was still no change in my account. still, even if and when the money does come, not like it's going to amount to much anyway, since i've already paid my property tax ($550), my federal tax ($400), and will soon pay for my home owner insurance ($1000+).
maybe because i woke up so late, but the today seemed to pass quicker than usual. kevin had a weird schedule, went to bed kind of early, around 8-9pm, not even sure if he ate dinner, but woke up again around 11pm, like maybe he was going to do some late night work. he even boiled a pot of water on the electric kettle, but like so often, he completely forgot about it and i refilled my insulated thermos with his water.
as for my own dinner, i had 3 leftover jiucaihezi from yesterday. unlike at my parents' place, i had a big jar of hot bean sauce, though it looked a little expired as the paste was more black than red. nevertheless, it still tasted fine.