today was raining, so i ended up leaving half an hour early and walked to the cafe. my upstairs neighbors were asking me when i could start power washing the deck. i hadn't given it much though, but looking at the weather for the next few days, there was actually a window tomorrow before it'd rain for the next few days. so i wrote my neighbor an e-mail saying i would start washing tomorrow.

when i arrived at the cafe, my neighbor replied back. he basically agreed to everything i said in my e-mail, and oh by the way, we contracted covid-19 on sunday and need to quarantine for the next 10 days. so of course i wrote back digging for more info. they didn't say much, only that one of them had a sore throat sunday, and when they got tested (not sure if they used an at-home or went to a clinic), both of them were positive for coronavirus. their strategy is to quarantine for 5 days, then allow themselves to go out for the following 5 days but wearing masks.

not sure how i feel about it. for one thing it hits pretty close to home - like literally - people with covid-19 are living right upstairs from me. it made me instantly paranoid. i was packing the trash last night, could i have gotten infected from their garbage? or bringing in the trash cans, did i properly wash my hands? or even how i still have exposed plumbing in my bathroom - could i be breathing in their coronavirus germs every time they flush the toilet? if the situation was reversed, would i be telling them? and would they inform their new tenants, who will be arriving in 2-1/2 weeks?

it was busier today than yesterday, despite the terrible weather. bad weather, more customers it seems. weather doesn't seem to be a good prognosticator of whether the cafe will be busy or not, but i still think once the weather turns genuinely nice - that more people will come.

we've been adding photos to our grubhub menu, which is complicated by the fact that they have to be approved first. i think they use some sort of AI technology to verify the photos, and there are all sorts of rules. photos have to be food primarily, and can't have any words in them. when i tried to upload a photo of coffee cups branded with the cafe logo, it was rejected, but when i uploaded the same photo with the cups turned around hiding the logos, it was accepted.

around 1:30pm - during a lull - my father said i could leave for belmont to pick up the pressure washer. i drove the car to my parents' place, grabbed the washer from the garage, then drove to my house. i left my house key back at the cafe, but i could still get into the basement, so i put the washer (along with the extension cable) there, before driving back to the cafe.

i stuck around to help out with some orders that just came in before finally leaving at 3pm. i had my dSLR and took the opportunity to photograph some early spring flowers.

i bumped into jeff on my way home and we chatted on the street for nearly half an hour. the whole time i was thinking, "should i be talking with him this close without a mask?" and i also wanted to tell him about my covid positive neighbors (but didn't). i think he could've kept on talking, but i was starting to get soaked in this misty rain and said i had to go home.

when i got back home, i noticed my neighbors' car was gone. did they actually go outside, knowing they have covid-19? but then i realized they just moved the car. however, when i checked my webcam video, they did in fact leave the house today, P went out to pick up some prescriptions. he wasn't wearing a mask, and a neighbor walked right by him, not realizing the danger she was in.

i have a few projects i need to work on - set up the asus router, plant my seeds, study for the servsafe exam, use up my cabbage to make sauerkraut - but i didn't do any of those things. instead i just lounged around at home, surfing the web, snacking on watermelon seeds and beef jerky. i didn't fall asleep though, wasn't tired like i was yesterday.

i wasn't too hungry and didn't make dinner until almost 9pm. i reheated some frozen chicken broth and made some rice noodles. i ate while watching the celtics-bulls game. boston continue to dominate every team they face. with just 2 more games left in the regular season, they still have a chance to get the no.1 seed (if miami loses their next 2 games and the celtics win all of theirs). depending on how they play this week, they can either be in the 1-2-3-4 seeds.

i tried to call my mother to tell her about my covid-positive neighbors. i managed to get her on video chat but she was outside shopping and couldn't be bother to speak with me before we lost connection. i didn't try calling her back.