i biked to belmont this morning to check out the clearance sale on summer gardening supplies. i was hoping to beat the rain, which according to the forecast would start around noontime and continue raining into the evening. during my ride there was a misty fog that dissipated midway through.

i found my mother just about to leave for her daily walk. my father was in the backyard harvesting spiderwort stalks and purslane to eat. he said he'd go with me to target and came inside to get ready.

my father showed me the pantry moth traps that arrived yesterday. the ones set up in the living room and sunroom actually caught some, while the one in the bedroom didn't seem to do anything. they were all hanging flat instead of folded into a tent. the one in the living room hung by a light that attracted the moths in the evening and helped to trap them. these are just for pantry moths; the traps for clothes moths will arrive today.

we went to the watertown target. as we were leaving, a fedex delivery truck driver dropped off two large boxes. they were the medical supplies we'd ordered less than 2 days ago. we also saw my mother on her way home, we waved to her from the car as we droved by.

haven't been there in a while, they did some additional renovations, including expanding their food department and now offering beers and alcohol. we found the garden clearance items at the back of the store, but only a few of them were actually on clearance, the rest were still regular price. of course all the clearance items were already sold out. we left with 4 bottles of 70% alcohol ($3/each), basically emptied their alcohol supply.

back at the house, i got ready to leave. my sister had also stopped by. even though it was now sunny, thick cumulus clouds filled the sky, threatening rainstorms at any moment. i wanted to get home before that happened. i took my new omron series 10 blood pressure monitor (BP7450, $68), a box of bandaids (family pack), a pantry moth trap, and a box of cedar wood for my closets and dresser.

i didn't get back home until after 12:30pm. after placing the various cedar blocks throughout the house, i set up the pantry moth trap still in its foiled packaging. instead of laying it out flat i folded it into a tent. there was already a pantry moth in the empty cupboard and i sort of manually snared it with the trap, so my first moth was actually a cheat. later in the afternoon i did find a second moth lured by the trap; whether it was attracted to the pheromone scent i can't say. throughout the day i found a few more moths in the house after having gone a few days where i didn't see any; those i dispatched manually, no trap required. there's also been a fruit fly infestation in the house on top of the pantry moths; i set up a little trap jar of apple cider vinegar with some dish soap; by evening's end i still hadn't caught any.

for lunch i had some vanilla yogurt mixed with granola.

i received another call from the census department. the agent let me know that training will begin on july 21st, time and location to be determined. it will be 2 hours, you need to bring 2 forms of id or a passport, and must wear a face mask. additional PPE will be provided along with an iphone which will be used for making calls. the rest of the paid training will be done online (for social distancing reasons). i will be receiving a confirmation e-mail within 24 hours.

i tried out the new blood pressure monitor (BPM). my 11+ year old omron HEM-711DLX still works but the LCD has started acting weird, disappearing numbers even after i tried fixing it. i figured i was due for a replacement, and nowadays BPM's have bluetooth and can transfer data into a phone app that can then be exported.

i was surprised it came with 4 AA batteries, i figured i'd have to supply my own. it also came with an AC adapter plug. i thought my old BPM was big; the BP7450 is even bigger if that's even possible. everything seems larger, from the screen to the numbers. the old BPM resembled a large plastic door wedge; this new BPM was like a loaf of pound cake. the BP7450 isn't exactly portable, more of a desktop monitor; maybe that's why it didn't even come with a carrying case. the new monitor not only shows me my current measurement but my last measurement as well. i really like the white digits on black background, feels easier to read.

despite everything seemingly jumbo-sized for the sake of seniors, the patented comfit cuff is smaller than my old BPM. omron also carries a more traditional d-ring cuff but i'm used to the pre-formed comfit cuff. the smaller cuff size fits me just fine but i'd imagine it'd be more difficult for somebody with bigger muscles. the design of the comfit cuff has changed; my old cuff had felt fabric on the inside, i was always worried i'd get it dirty and wouldn't be able to clean it; the inside of the new cuff is made of a water resistant fabric, less likely to get stained and easier to clean.

i downloaded the omron connect app and tried setting up an account (it doesn't connect with the BPM unless you have an account) but it wouldn't let me, something about a server error. i kept trying, finally by late afternoon i managed to create one. there's a bit of a technical fiddling but once i got it set up, transferring data to the phone app was a breeze.

after taking several readings, i was surprised that my blood pressure was elevated again. the phone app really accentuates that fact with warning colors and categorizing my blood pressure as hypertension stages 1 and 2. i thought switching to irbesartan finally kept my numbers down after all these years, though i have been snacking on some very salty foods lately. i thought maybe it was the new monitor but when i measured my blood pressure with my old reader, it was just as high. the app allowed me to take screenshots initially but later blocked me from doing so, not sure what the security risk would be from capturing them on my own phone.

i spent the day waiting for rain, but whenever i do that, rain never comes, and that was true for today. the radar showed it was pouring rain everywhere except for areas around boston. i don't mind since we've already filled up our rain barrels, but with so much cumulus clouds today, i was almost expecting to see something spectacular stormwise. i went out a few times to bring in the trash. i bumped into renee for the first time in a long while; she told me about camping at the cape last week. i wanted to bring up the firewood piled against our house situation but decided to wait for another time.

for dinner i reheated the leftover tofu/rice cakes from yesterday. it wasn't that great but it was edible. the remainder of the week i'm having fool-proof greek salad.