i woke up at 9am, waiting for kevin to come out of the bathroom so i could use it. afterwards i went to the post office to return the seaflo series-33 pump. i figured it was about $10, the actual cost was $14.40. i then went to pemberton farms to see if they had any pepper seedlings. the only ones they carried were in quart containers, i was looking for a 6-pack. i haven't used the bicycle since i adjusted the seat, i moved it as forward i could, but it wasn't a comfortable position. the seat was also tilted forward slightly. when i came back i readjusted the seat.

because today was such a sunny day, i decided to do a load of laundry and hang dry it outside. it was also a bit humid, with humidity in the 50's, so by the end of the day, some of my t-shirts still felt slightly damp. i don't hang dry my underwears and forgot that meant drying them in the kitchen draped on the back of chairs, which i apologized to kevin over having to witness such a spectacle.

i had a chicken sausage defrosting since monday and finally cooked it in the toaster oven as i prepared some oatmeal for lunch. it also gave me a chance to use up the cilantro i bought last week which was already starting to go bad. usually i cook chicken sausages in the foreman grill but it was too much hassle; it didn't turn out too bad baking in the toaster oven, the key is to turn up the heat (450°) to form some nice caramelization.

i spent a good chunk of the day researching homeowner insurance. the policy i have with concord insurance group was transferred to me when i bought the house from the previous owners. every year around springtime i shop for better rates (the policy get renewed early june), but could never get the same amount of coverage for the price i was paying, even though it felt unnecessarily expensive. my annual premium when i first moved in was less than $400; 18 years later it's now $1200+ because they raise the premium 20% every year.

i discovered that my policy is actually for a homeowner policy, not a condo policy; that's probably why i could never get matching coverage without the premium getting super expensive because typically a condo is worth far less than a house. unfortunately in hot real estate markets like cambridge that's not the case. when i searched for homeowner policies, suddenly i saw a bunch of bargains. concord insurance currently has my dwelling coverage at $275k for which they're going to charge me a $1200 premium; by comparison, at geico, they estimated my dwelling coverage to be worth $226k with an annual premium of just $570. but say i want matching coverage, and decide to bump up my dwelling coverage amount to $275k; even then the premium is just $620. it doesn't make sense for me to continue with concord insurance.

so i called up concord insurance group (which has since sold my policy to perry insurance) and spoke with an agent about cancelling my policy. of course he wanted to see if he could get me a better deal, so a few hours later he called me back, saying he can lower my premium to $1000. what he doesn't tell me is next year it'll jump back to $1200, and $1440 after that, and then $1728. i said i'd think about it but i was already pretty much decided. they've taken enough of my money already, it's time for me to start saving for a change.

9 more days!

for dinner i reheated a frozen block of chicken broth i made nearly 2 weeks ago. once it was nice and melted and boiling in the pot, i added my rice vermicelli and additional spices.

in the late evening i went out for a quick stroll to tag some pokestops and look for rare pokemons. with everything pretty much closed, there's hardly anyone outside, just a few dogwalkers. i wore a mask but everyone i saw walking in the dark went maskless. by the end i took mine off as well. when did i get so used to wearing a mask when being outside?