i couldn't lie on my right side because of the flu shot, so i didn't sleep too well last night. for lunch i finished the rest of my breaded pollock. in the early afternoon i rode to the cafe to pick up the shoes my 2nd aunt had ordered but now wanted to return. my sister's godmother was there, i helped her print out her taiwanese quarantine hotel booking invoice using the samsung remote printing app on my father's phone. i also went down to the basement to check the bundles of leftover insulation i can use in my house.

next i went to belmont to pick up some potting soil. i moved the fudingzhu osmanthus outside so it can get some daytime sun and nighttime cooler temperature, as i heard the cold weather induces flower production. my father's 2n order of osmanthus was arriving today but unfortunately it hadn't arrived yet.

from belmont i rode to watertown to home depot to get some perlite and a cheap utility knife. they seem to be reducing their garden department in order to make room for the holiday decorations. the perlite i was looking for was heavily discounted so of course it was all sold out. i asked a worker there for help, she basically what you see is what you get. i left with just the utility knife, paid using a home depot gift card i found in the house (still $36 left).

returning home, i stopped by bonnie's near fresh pond to see if they carried perlite. i'd never been there before, only seen it in passing. originally i wanted to go to hillside garden on blanchard road in belmont, but after 3pm on a weekday that stretch of road that goes to route 2 is entirely bumper to bumper traffic as pandemic workers leave their office early to go home. anyway, bonnie's had it, but an 8 quart bag cost $9, while it was just $5 at home depot, even less with the seasonal discount. i decided to get it anyway, to support local business, even though it pained me to pay twice as much for something. it meant i could do my gardening work today and not have to wait until tomorrow (where i planned to visit the somerville home depot).

back at the house, i repotted my thanksgiving cactus. it'd be growing in normal soil, but with all the rainy weather we've had this season, the soil has become soaked and the cactus has suffered for it, rotting at the roots and developing all sorts of leaf diseases. i decided to go with a peat moss heavy potting soil mixed with a quarter of perlite.

next i worked on replacing the crankset from my bike now that i had a new crank puller tool. i thought it'd just take a few minutes but it took more than half an hour as i struggled to remove the crankset, all the while backyard mosquitoes were circling my face, biting me whenever they had the chance. i hit the crank with WD-40 but it just wouldn't come off. i need more leverage, like metal a long metal pipe to extend the crank puller handle. i finally gave up, figured i'd try again tomorrow when it wasn't as buggy.

mike from alewife company didn't get in touch with me today nor did i contact him. i will definitely reach out tomorrow for that repair estimate. my bit of bathroom work today was to score (with my new classic stanley retractable 99E utility knife, $4.48) the inner corner of the "box" facing away from the toilet to remove that strip of sheetrock and expose the wooden 2x4. i'll need to do it with the other corner, but it's a bit more difficult as the sheetrock is tightly wedged inside the wall and part of the toilet is in the way. i also tried to remove the wooden trim at the bottom of the floor; i loosen it up but it's still attached.

when my parents returned home i called my father to ask about the new osmanthus which was finally delivered earlier in the afternoon. at 2.25 gallons, it's the same size as the pot we moved our fudingzhu osmanthus into. it's an osmanthus but a different variety than the fudingzhu, with bigger leaves. the biggest difference however is that this new osmanthus has no flowers, not even buds. it's also in rougher shape, the branches are clumped together and there's signs of insect damage. i told my father to put it outside, maybe the colder weather might induce this new osmanthus to flower.

for dinner i had a salad along with a bowl of samyang buldak ramen. i haven't had it in a while, totally forgot how spicy it was. to think: it's not even their spiciest flavor! this is just the first level.

i watched the NL wild card game between the cardinals and dodgers. i was rooting for los angeles because of mookie betts. i also didn't realize relief pitcher joe kelly was on the dodgers team as well. if the red sox don't make the distance, i will happily root for the dodgers. LA ended up winning in spectacular fashion, a walk-off homerun in the 9th inning.