my upstairs neighbors sent me e-mail this morning to let me know their dishwasher wasn't working anymore and asked me who they could talk to about it. i went downstairs into the basement to check the plumbing, but the only two water lines going upstairs were the new color-coded pex piping. i even checked their circuit box to make sure none of the breakers had popped. to me it sounded like a dishwasher issue and not a plumbing issue, but the time was too much of a coincidence, so i gave them the number to alewife co. they called and said alewife would send someone over to check out the issue. it was their problem now, not mine.

it was a dark day, the sky alternating between dark and very dark, with occasional rains, and very strong winds that stripped trees of leaves, their stems thwacking against my window screens. i had some projects lined up - doing an aquarium water change, fixing the screen door - but it was simply too dark and too depressing to be constructive.

i removed my fermenting long beans from their jars after noticing molds on the surface. not harmless white yeast molds, but more serious fuzzy black molds. the reason was i used lids that weren't air-tight. in fact, when i opened one of the lids, a fruit fly came flying out. i removed the long beans, cutting off any parts on the surface that had rotted and turned soft. i then transferred them into 1-quart ziploc storage bags, squeezing out as much air as possible, before putting them into my fridge.

i wasn't very hungry for whatever reason, and didn't make lunch until almost 2pm, another bowl of oatmeal just to use up my chicken sausages. i've discovered i don't like this brand of instant oatmeal, makes a final result that's too thick. i like my oatmeal with a bit more roughage, i probably prefer the old fashioned version, not the instant. once i finished this container, i'll get a new one. you can never eat enough oatmeal for good health. i learned a trick online on how to keep cilantro fresh for weeks, if not months: roll them up in dry paper towels and seal it in a large ziploc storage bag, making sure to squeeze out as much air as possible. so far my cilantro has kept fresh for a week, hopefully it'll last a lot longer. my former storage method was to put them in a glass of water in the fridge, but they start wilting after a few days. i ate my oatmeal in near virtual darkness, trying to get through an episode of apple+'s invasion series (it's pretty boring).

it's terrible: i spent the rest of the day snacking. that's probably why i wasn't very hungry came evening time. everything from doritos, to watermelon seeds, to licorice, to chocolate. it was like a junk food binge. i also toasted a trio of frozen soft pretzels in my toaster oven, ate with french's mustard while watching season 3 of the wire, littlefinger becomes mayor.

it takes them at least a week to show up whenever i call, but alewife co. came to my upstairs neighbors' aid this afternoon. from my window i saw it was phil. he was actually here for half an hour, i don't know if he charged them for the work. i figured he fixed the dishwasher since he was here so long, but paul never got back to me. when i e-mail him about it later in the evening, he said phil just confirmed the issue wasn't plumbing related, and they needed to get an appliance repairman instead.

i didn't have dinner until 9pm. i wasn't very hungry, could've skipped it entirely, but i had some salad in the fridge that i needed to finish otherwise it'd go bad. i thought about adding anchovies but even that seemed like too much hassle, so i just had it with some italian dressing. i also had some leftover pasta but i'll save them for another day, i really got pasta'ed out last night, not sure if i can eat anymore for a while.