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it was dark when i woke up this morning, as the sky was obscured by rain clouds. when i looked outside the living room window, i was pleasantly surprised by how much snow had been washed away by the rain. around 11am the rain had mostly stopped by it remained cloudy for the rest of the day.

i called the cambridge social security office this morning. i was on hold for 15 minutes before i spoke with someone about getting benefit verification letters for my 2nd aunt and uncle. i was prepared for the worst, but it was actually pretty easy, once i gave them my uncle's social security number and address, they were also to find his info in the system and told me they'd mail the letter to him, as well as one for my aunt. i also downloaded SSA-1099 forms for my parents and e-mailed them to their accountant.

my electric hand-held milk frother (zulay $14) arrived before lunchtime, just in time for me to make a matcha latte while i heated up my leftover cheese burger. it didn't come with batteries but i had my own. while i microwaved the milk, i frothed the matcha powder with some hot water. while i agree the frother stirs the matcha much more than i ever could with just a spoon, i wasn't quite happy with the performance. for one thing, it had a tendency to splash, so there little flecks of green matcha all over the countertop. another thing, it didn't seem to really mix the powder, and there were still unmixed clumps at the bottom of the glass that i had to scrap with a teaspoon. the one thing that a frother is good at is frothing. but mixing? and keeping clean? not so good.

i should've known something was wrong when i noticed that my heated milk was lumpy. i thought nothing of it while i added the frothed matcha. when i took a sip i immediately sensed something was wrong. it didn't have the sweetness of warm milk, but instead it tasted like sour green tea. even then, i didn't trust my taste buds and kept sipping until it finally hit me that the milk was bad. i poured it all out and started over with a new gallon of milk.

the second glass of matcha latte went much better. it still splattered a little bit from the electric frother, but it tasted normal. another thing i realized with the electric frother is i cheaped out and didn't get one with a stand because i didn't want to have yet another kitchen gadget crowding my countertop. but without a stand it's hard to dry the frother after washing, and i basically had to balance it on the dish rack to dry. and because the frother is not waterproof, when i wash it i have to make sure i don't tip it the wrong way otherwise water will run inside the motor.

so now i kind of regret getting the frother. i can do just as good a job mixing matcha powder in a jar with some hot water. i think tomorrow i may try adding the matcha powder directly to the heated milk and frothing it that way. the other thing i can use the frother for is to mix my eggs for an airy omelette. but how i usually get those soft cooked eggs is by adding some milk.

i had my matcha latte with my warmed up cheeseburger while watching the news. more coverage about the freezing conditions in texas. we also have another snowstorm heading our way, late thursday into all of friday, 4-8" of precipitation.

in the early afternoon i ran some errands. it was warm enough that i thought about just going out in a sweater, but nobody needs me to be a hero today, so i wore my jacket. i walked to the dollar store to pick up a plastic shoe box for all the seed packets i have. after returning home, i got my bike from the basement and went to the beacon street whole foods to get some fried tofu squares. my glasses were fogged up the whole time i was riding with my KN95 mask. i rode with one hand on the handlebar and the other hand wiping my lenses like windshield wipers.

i continued watching the cache of old dream on episodes. those episodes are nowhere to be found (legally) online, not even HBO has them available for streaming. the ones that i've found, the uploader flipped the videos horizontally to avoid AI copyright scrubbers. it doesn't detract from the episodes unless there are words on the screen that needs reading, then it get confusing.

when evening came, i warmed up a brick of lasagna in the oven while i used the bathroom and took a shower. i ate dinner while watching the celtics game, they beat the nuggets in boston, after having recently lost to the two worst teams in the NBA. the weather forecast for thursday-friday is more snow, as much as 4-8".