it's been more than 2 weeks since i last rode the motorcycle, the weather's been that grey and wet. so today i opted to ride, if nothing else, just to make sure the motorcycle was still working. i thought it'd be a dry (albeit grey) day, but there was a bit of fog and everything was saturated with rain. i put the gopro on the chest mount to shoot a timewarp video. the motorcycle started up without any problems, because it's been so warm lately. the rest test is if the battery can survive subfreezing temperature.

first thing i did when i got to belmont was to water the plants in the grow room. yesterday we soaked two buckets of rain water with mosquito bits, and today used them to do a soil drench. all things considered, the plants have been relatively free of bugs. there's still some fungus gnats, but not the infestation levels i've seen in the past before we starting doing Bti-treated soil drenches. inspecting the jasmines, i did find a few mealybugs which i sprayed with neem oil. i'm wondering if the systemic pesticide is working because we haven't seen any infestations. i also found a few mealybugs on the gardenia which i treated with some neem oil spray as well. now that we trimmed the cactuses, the aphids have moved onto the lemon verbana. i treated them with insecticidal soap. later i soaked the orchids with Bti-infused water spiked with a bit of orchid fertilizer.

for lunch my mother made some rice noodles. she said the brand i bought from c-mart the last time i was there is the best, and to make a note of it for future purchases.

in the afternoon i watched the jaguars-patriots game. new england had this game won early on, and i basically just had it in the background while i did other things. i helped my father organize the rest of the cafe finances on our shared spreedsheet, tweaking formulas and editing data descriptions when they didn't fit the formulas. patriots won the game, 50-10, i was kind of hoping for more points, at least a shutout. based on the results of other games today, new england has now clinched a playoff spot. because the bills also won today, they need to win against the lowly jets next sunday in order to win the ACF east conference, otherwise the patriots can still win if they beat the dolphins in miami. new england has a losing record when it comes to regular season ending matches in miami, but here's hoping because mac jones is a florida native, some of that luck will rub off on the team.

my mother didn't want to make dinner so we got burger king for dinner. we had a coupon for a family meal which was 3 whoppers, 3 cheese burgers, and 3 small fries for $13.99. it didn't come with drinks but we didn't them anyway. my father drove me and waited in the car while i went inside to make the order. when we left there were 4 cars waiting in the drive-through. i'm curious about the new apartment buildings next to burger king. those people must smell burgers 24/7, it could either be a selling point or a deal breaker. as much as i love burger king, i don't know if i'd want to live next to one.

as far as fast food burgers are concerned, i like burger king's flame-broiled patties, there's a bit of smokiness that's reminiscent of actual barbecue-grilled burgers. i still like the mcdonald's regular hamburgers though, there's a certain nostalgia factor, and i like how they sprinkle a tiny amount of onions just to make it tasty. i'm not a fan of burger king's fries though, they're okay. my favorite fast food fries are from wendy's.

i left soon after i finished eating. i wanted to make it home early so i could get a parking spot. the forecast for tomorrow is frigid temperatures and the possibility of a dusting of snow, so i don't know if i want to ride the motorcycle or not. the motorcycle was covered with condensation. i mounted the gopro on the handlebar to shoot a timewarp selfie. i've never actually seen myself riding before, i'm actually pretty emotionless. that's not the case when i ride the bicycle, i'm grimacing and straining as i pedal up hills.

the sunday night game was between the vikings and packers. green bay pulled out ahead early, it was obvious they were going to win. victory tonight meant the packers are number one in the NFC and have a bye week going into the playoffs.