i called xfinity once more this morning, to get a status update on signing up my sister's godmother for internet essentials services. the first person i called, the line disconnected, not sure if it was my fault or her fault. the second person i called, a different carlos, asked about the name on the account and said he loved chinese people. he said the application had already been pre-approved, but i needed to speak with a technician about the address issue. he transferred me, i worked me way through the phone tree, but it said my application id wasn't on file, and dumped me back out to a third person, sophia. out of all the people i called the past 2 weeks, she was the only one able to fix the problem. like before, it was missing the apartment number, but she managed to add it, and then told me i could either have the equipment shipped or i could go pick it up myself. i asked if somebody else could pick up the equipment, she said it'd require a letter and my sister's godmother's id. everyone seems to tell me something different, i'll try calling again tomorrow, maybe the next person i speak to will say it's okay for another person to get the equipment. otherwise my sister's godmother will need to go to the xfinity office saturday morning and get her cablemodem.

returning to my trek utility bike, i made my way to belmont in the late morning. my sister's godmother lafuma zero gravity chair (ZGC) from france arrived today. my parents had already tried it out. it's a little bigger than the ZGC's my parents currently have, and can tilt further back, so your knees are actually above your heart. i tried it out, it was okay, not as rickety, but it also costs 3x the price of a single knockoff ZGC. i had some leftover ribs for lunch. about 1pm i went with my parents on a grand supply run.

first stop was the burlington market basket to get some cafe supplies. midway through our shopping, my father said he needed to use the bathroom but could wait it out. my mother and i went in search of japanese noodles and when we found my father, he had a look on his face that said he wasn't going to make it. i asked a worker there if they had a bathroom and my father made a beeline to the toilet while my mother and i continued shopping. my father met up with us when he was finished. he said it was the slice of dragonfruit he ate before leaving the house, dragonfruits being notorious for causing diarrhea.

our original plan was to visit the nearby burlington hmart as well, but with my father in his post-diarrhea state, we decided not to go. instead we stopped by binbin's house to pick up her mail. my father sat in the car while my mother and i went inside. while my mother used the bathroom (must've been cold, we set the house thermostat to just 50 degrees), i checked to see the house was in working order, readjusting the timers while i was at it.

returning home, we stopped at total wine & more to buy some chinese liquor. once again, my father sat in the car (watching youtube videos on his phone) while my mother and i went inside. my mother was amazed by the selection. besides chinese baijiu, we also got some japanese plum wine.

there was a michael's nearby so my father drove us to the other side of the parking lot. while he waited outside, my mother and i went inside to search for cheap yarn. their yarn selection wasn't that great, and most of it wasn't on sale. with ac moore out of the picture, michael's pretty much has a monopoly on the big box retail crafts stores in the area, so sales are more infrequent. my mother left empty-handed.

we were all set to go home, but i really wanted to visit an OSJL so i can get some seed starter trays. my mother also wanted to visit an OSJL for their cheap yarns. just so happens the nearest OSJL was a few miles away in bedford, a relatively short distance by highway travel standard. so my father drove us there, and while he stayed in the car, my mother and i went shopping.

i found my seed starter trays ($4 a tray, i bought two), my mother found her yarn (11 skeins, $3 a piece, wool blend). only then did we finally go home for real. we got back by 4pm. we were gone in total for 3 hours, driving nearly 30 miles. if only we went to hmart! then we would've hit all the stops.

back at the house, i had a closer inspection of the two baijiu we bought. both were name brands, although i wasn't familiar with either of them. one was xifengjiu ("eastern phoenix wine") at 55% alcohol ($23.50); it's actually the same brand of baijiu my father got from binbin's house though at a higher proof. it has an interesting composition: 83% sorghum, 7.6% barley, 6.8% wheat, and 2.6% pea. i didn't know pea could be used as a distillation ingredient. the other biajiu was niulanshan at 52% alcohol ($17). this one was made entirely of sorghum, same as taiwanese kinmen kaoliang (58% alcohol, $38).

yesterday my father told me he already watered the plants in the grow room. i went down in the basement to inspect them for mealybugs. i found a few on the potted floor jasmine, the terracotta pot jasmine, and the gardenia. after removing the mealybugs with alcohol, i sprayed the two jasmines with neem oil extract. the temperature later in the week will reach the 60's, i'll come back and move out all the plants and give them all a thorough soaking with neem oil. back upstairs, after discovering some mealybugs on the orchids, i moved them into the tub and sprayed them all with neem oil.

i finally bought a copy of turbotax deluxe. i'm really just buying the activation number, as i already have the software, it just won't run without the activation code. i have to do my taxes along with my 2nd aunt and sister's godmother, before passing the software to my sister.

my mother warmed up some readymade chicken tikka marsala she bought from costco on saturday. we got a package of corned beef from market basket. in years past i'd cook it in the cooker, but next weekend i think i'll make it in the instant pot, save some time.

i biked home with a bottle of insecticidal soap i mixed for my umbrella plant which can't seem to get rid of some black aphids. i created my own insecticidal soap but i don't think it works very well. hopefully this commercial blend will be better at getting rid of the aphids.

i had a brief video chat with alex tonight, got a chance to use the snap camera app to customize my appearance. it works, but many of the options are garbage, amateur fan-created effects. it was fun to play with, but i don't think i'll be using it again anytime soon.