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just when i was trying to make up for that night of insomnia yesterday, once again i didn't go to bed last night until almost 5am. the reason this time was i was chatting with wu weiyu, getting her to give me live updates as the annular eclipse was happening in chongqing. unfortunately it's currently the monsoon season there, and everyday is cloudy and rainy, including yesterday. still, the sun did peek out briefly for WWY to get a video of the eclipse at 60%. the sky also darkened for a bit, but not enough to make you think there was an eclipse, more like, "oh, i think some torrential rain is about to come." i think very few people even knew a 96% annular eclipse was happening.

i woke up at 10am, wishing i had more hours to sleep. but i had a mission this morning, to bike down to harbor freight and pick up a mandrel for the 1-5/8" hole saw. it was already a hot day, i could feel the bare skin on my arms searing in the heat. after a stop at HF, i headed over to aldi's to see if they had anymore of those $10 orchids. there was a small line, i waited patiently for my turn to go inside. a chinese woman waiting in line behind me got out of line to stand in front of the line. at first i thought she was trying to cut, but turns out she was trying to avoid the sun. when the attendant came out, she thought the chinese woman had been waiting in line and beckoned her to go inside. this woman had the gall to go inside when the rightful woman who was at the head of the line complained that the chinese woman had cut the line. the attendant told the chinese woman to get in line, but she stood there gesturing with her hands like an imbecile. the attendant simply ignored her. the chinese woman stood there for a few more minutes, until she saw the line was getting longer, and there was no way she was getting in without lining up first, so eventually she dutifully fell back in line. i almost wanted to say something to her but decided to ignore her, too hot to argue. when i finally got inside, all the orchids were sold out except for one white one. i exited the store just as quickly as i entered and biked back to cambridge.

i had some leftover xuelihong noodles for lunch in belmont. it was too hot to do anything in the backyard, including watering.

we did manage to drive the rabbit out once more, or so we thought. it was in fact still hiding in the backyard, and once we locked the gate, we saw it back on the lawn eating the clovers. i'm not sure if rabbits are stupid or smart. a smarter animal would learn the dangers of being in the backyard after we chased it so many times. maybe it's just persistent and elusive, which makes it seem smarter than it actually is. what we need is one of those cats that can hunt small animals, though it would also kill birds which isn't what we want. or better yet, a hunting dog that can actually kill game. maybe sister's dog likes to chase squirrels but it has never caught one, and rabbits when they stand still become almost invisible to hailey, and there's been occasions where a rabbit was right next to her and she didn't do anything.

i washed my motorcycle as i noticed it was started to accumulate sticky tree sap residue as well as bird droppings. now that the sidewalk tree is gone, there's no shade in front of the house, and washing in the hot sun is not ideal, but it does mean the bike dries that much quicker. i had some leftover car wash soap so i washed the toyota as well. when i tried to wax the bike afterwards, i couldn't find the can of meguiar's cleaner wax in the garage. not a big deal, that can was getting old anyway, i'll just order a new one online.

i finally got a haircut today from my mother. nobody has cut my hair since last september, so it's been over 9 months. normally i cut it at the end of the summer and the start of spring, but this year with the coronavirus pandemic, with all local barbershops closed, it was actually the new normal not getting a haircut. my long hair became a testament to my dedication to adhering to social distancing rules, not because i was lazy and unemployed. i also didn't want to get it cut while kevin was here, i didn't want him to know i had access to a barber (my mother) while he was giving himself mangled bathroom haircuts. the moment kevin moved out, i was already thinking about cutting my hair. it's gotten long enough that i've been tying it up before showering for weeks, and now that i'm back to living alone, i kept it tied up whenever i'm home just to keep the hair out of my face. my mother gave me an adequate haircut, she's gotten better at using the electric clippers after cutting my father's hair. unfortunately she made a mistake right before finishing, leaving a bald spot behind my right ear. i don't mind, that slightly DIY haircut look is the latest style.