the census in all its wisdom assigned me 27 cases, the same amount as yesterday. unfortunately, most of them were the same cases from last week, so all those nightmare addresses came back. i was a little disappointed, because yesterday i'd done some additional legwork for the new addresses, only to see them gone from my case list this morning. hopefully they'll come back again. i spent nearly an hour organizing my cases, writing down the name and phone number of management companies, real estate brokers, or owners. that little bit of advanced planning made my day a lot easier once i started working.
after a cup of noodle for breakfast, i headed out by 11am. since i already did an hour of work, that meant i could come home early, by 6:30pm (compared to my usual time of 7pm). at least i had to look forward to.
for the most part i followed the census script, didn't deviate too much from the case list, enumerating in order. i had a few aces up my sleeve, cases i knew were already finished, i just had to do the formality of ringing the bell and filing the report at the location. like a harvard housing case where i had the occupancy number and names, or an address where i managed to call the owner who told me it wasn't residential.
i had really good luck today. 2 apartments that i had trouble enumerating all last week because i could get in, i managed to speak with the maintenance guy and a superintendent, who both helped me clear cases in their building. i also called 3 other property managers/real estate agent/land lady, and they all called me back, and i cleared even more cases. i've learned that when i call somebody, i first ask them for help, instead of just asking them for the info i want. that way, they feel like they're helping me, instead of being forced to provide info. i've found i've gotten more help and less pushback when i us this method, and everyone leaves the phone call feeling good.
i took my 30 minute break at 4pm. the second half of my shift was just 2 hours, but actually less as i had to budget the time i'd take me to walk back home by 6:30pm. during this time, i had to enumerate that crappy house with a bunch of empty apartments. the father still wasn't home, i got the son again, 
but this time he answered enough questions that i was able to close 2 of the addresses, with 3 more still pending, but i feel like i'm getting closer. walking back home i was in a good mood. last week there were days when nothing went right. today was the exact opposite. i finished all 27 cases, with only 9 inactives. that meant i managed to clear 18 cases. i'm curious to see how many new cases the census will assign me for tomorrow, or will it just be those 9 cases?
i didn't meet any other census workers today, though i was hoping i would. there were a few false alarms, just people with black messenger bags. by day's end i ended up walking over 18,000 paces today. i could've made better time if i took the bike, but walking allowed me to use up more time.
after a shower, i made dinner. i remember i still had half a container of bruce's fish stew that i warmed up on the stove. while that was going on, i grilled two hamburger patties on the foreman to make a pair of hamburgers. i think it would've been more economical to roll my own patties, but frozen patties are much more convenient. i downed 2 cans of seltzer, then later a mango popsicle.
my neem oil extract finally arrived today. even though it's touted as organic, the label reads anything but. don't get on skin! don't let it run off into drinking water! toxic to bees! nothing the sort of thing to be used outdoors, more of an indoor all inclusive insecticide/fungicide. i opened the bottle to smell it, it had a distinctive smell, but nothing too bad. i'm primarily going to use it to stop the spread of powdery mildew on our squash plants, but maybe only spray in the early evening when bees are no longer active.
i really love my new chin-up bar. it's like having my own in-home jungle gym. whenever i'm bored, i go do a few chin-ups or pull-ups, or simply hang from the bars, work on my arm strength.