when you live by yourself, it's hard not letting food go to waste. unless you have very good food discipline, and only buy what you can eat, there's always going to be something in the fridge that's about to spoil (especially if you try to eat healthy and have fresh produce). it's either not enough food in the fridge or too much food. currently i have too much food, and i'm trying to eat them all before they go bad. like the chicken salad i bought over a week ago that i've been trying to finish with my bagels. i also have a box of baby arugula, some unused scallions and cilantro, and boxes of blueberries and strawberries.
after lunch i went out to run errands. renee was getting her house insulated, that was what all the noises were this morning. they did something different though, it seemed they were pumping in the insulation pulp from the third floor, and they didn't cut up the sides of her house like they did with mine. the workers were about to leave when i left, i don't know if they're going to come back tomorrow, doesn't seem like they're done yet.
first stop was the watertown home depot. i got some rubber washers, then put one of them back on the chrome shutoff valve before returning the valve. usually to get back to cambridge i take aberdeen, but they still haven't finished paving the road yet (it's been stripped) and i didn't want to ride on it again, liable to slip, so i took a big detour to get back home.
back at home, i walked to the somerville walgreens to see if i can get a flu shot. i tried last week but they were busy so decided to come another time. there was nobody at the pharmacy today, and after getting my birthdate and name (i get my prescriptions there, so they already had my health insurance information), 
they made me sign a form and had me wait a few minutes while they got ready. they never seem to be in a rush at the pharmacy. eventually one of the pharmacist came out and asked me to come inside. it was the vietnamese woman, she's filled out my prescriptions a bunch of times. not only was she masked, but also wearing a gown, had on a face shield, and gloves. it went quick, i told her i wanted the shot on my right arm. i asked if there were a lot of people getting the vaccine, she said yes. after a brief pinch, i was done. she put a red walgreens "flu fighter" bandaid on my arm. the vaccine i got was the fluzone quadrivalent, which contains two strains of influenza A and 2 strains of influenza B.
i had a coupon for a $7 discount if i spent over $20 so i was trying to buy enough to qualify. there were some almonds on sale, but i also stocked up on some more snacks and even some halloween candy. i'm not planning on giving out stuff this year (and realistically, i don't expect to receive many visitors even if i did), but i just like to have some just in case. i got the glow-in-the-dark kit kat (which were on sale), if nobody knocks on my door, i'm more than happy to eat them myself. when i went to pay, i discovered i didn't reach $20. fortunately i had a $3 discount if i spent over $15 coupon, so i used that instead. it wasn't even a discount, it was $3 off for a future purchase.
the two other things i wanted to do today was readjust the cables on my bicycle and do a water change on my aquarium, but it was nearly 4pm, so i decided to call it a day, leave those two projects for tomorrow.
i boiled 21 frozen chinese dumplings for dinner, washed it down with some golden inca kola, then ate a bowl of strawberries. nothing like a heavy dose of carbs and proteins to make me not want to snack anymore after dinner.
tonight was the 3rd presidential debate (actually the 2nd, because trump cancelled the 2nd one because he didn't want to get tested days after he was in the hospital for coronavirus). the topics seemed the same, but this time the moderator was allowed to mute if either trump or biden tried to interrupt or spoke too long. fear of getting muted made each candidate (mostly trump) very disciplined with their timing. it was actually watchable compared to the first debate, despite the number trump lies and his lack of empathy for the american people. i don't think the debate will change any opinions, but one post-debate talking head said at least trump managed to stop the bleeding, though he probably didn't convert many voters. election day just 12 days away!