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i woke up this morning and went to market basket for supplies. my father needed ground pork to make the minced pork bento boxes. i was waiting for the butcher with an old jamaican man. i asked what he was working on. "jerked pork," he told me, and was telling me about his recipe, how he'll marinated the meat in jamaican spices for 2 days, and how he'll make two batches - spicy and non-spicy. after groceries, i stopped by the vet's office to pick up hailey's medicine. i returned home with just enough time to use the bathroom before arriving at the cafe by 11am.

i prepared myself for a busy day because it was sunny and warm (as in it wasn't as windy as it's been the past few days), but business was slow and we only made about half of what we made yesterday. i also thought it was going to get busy because we had an online order as soon as i got to the cafe, but that was the only online order of the day.

my father pan-fried some leftover dumplings that i had for lunch along with the last bit of horchata. it was a little grainy because of all the leftover sediment. i took a look at my sister's front porch to see how i could mount a security webcam. she already has one pointing out her window but the view is obscured, and she wants one pointing right outside her door looking out if possible. because there's a porch light with an unused socket, i can get a lamp socket outlet adapter and use that to power a webcam. i even have an used eufy 2k camera although i'm a bit leary to use it because it's not designed for the outdoors (it's even called an *indoor* security camera). later in the evening i ended up spending $70 on a renewed eufy solo 2K C24 outdoor cam, because it's weatherproof, although i may end up returning it if i can find a cheaper solution.

i switched the nest thermostat to summer mode, which means switching the wires to the roof-mounted air conditioner, especially since the temperature later this week is supposed to hit the 80's. i already turned off the cafe heater last week.

during an afternoon lull i tested the rotisserie cage of the sur la table air fryer to make some french fries with some really old potatoes that had started to turn green. i cut the potatoes (about a pound worth, 3 medium spuds) into slices, drizzled some vegetable oil and sprinkled some salt, then loaded them into the cage. the french fry preset already had the rotisserie turning as the default (or maybe it sensed i had the cage loaded so it turned on the rotating motor) and i cooked the fries at 400 degrees (the highest temperature) for 20 minutes. by the end it started smelling like a fast food joint, even though there was no actual frying. the fries turned out well, the rotating cage helped coat all areas of the fries in oil and salt. because i was afraid of burning my hands, i waited until the cage cooled down before dumping out the fries, which meant they were already cold when i started eating them. i could've cooked doubled the amount of fries, they also shrink after they've been cooked, so you end up with less that what you started with. the rotating cage is kind of mesmerizing, like watching a fire, and i probably could've spent the whole 20 minutes watching the fries slowly tumble inside the cage. a few fries were trapped at the ends and didn't mix with the other fries; those turned out to be the crispiest because they were essentially burnt. i imagine i could also roast nuts using the rotisserie cage, like hazelnuts or peanuts, something worth trying in the future.

around 4pm during another lull, i went out into the parking lot to flying my drone for 20 minutes. i waited too long, now most of the flowering trees have finished flowering and many trees have leafed out. i took a look at the boston skyline then went up the hill to tour some mansions.

not a lot of bentos sold today, but even then, i made another half dozen tea eggs so there'd be 2 dozen in the 3 quart crockpot. the longer the eggs have a change to steep, the better they taste.

i finally left the cafe by 5:45pm. it was so late, my father thought i was going to belmont afterwards, but i went home instead so i could catch game 5 of the bucks-celtics game starting at 7pm.

my new seat post was waiting for me, i installed the new bike saddle then swapped out the seat post. my old seat post was definitely 350mm, i think it came with the bike, one of the last few remaining things i haven't replaced yet. the new post is 300mm, i made sure i greased it up before inserting it in the bike frame.

i got the seat post with bracket instead of just a naked seat post because the attached bracket is easier to adjust, just a single 5.5mm hex wrench, versus the adjustment on a naked seat post, which required two handles and two tools (socket wrench, crescent wrench, adjustable wrench).

jeff came back from work right when i was finishing up. we talked bicycle, he said he used to commute 10 miles a day to work back in san francisco, and compared to there, cambridge-boston is essentially flat. he had all sorts of lights on his bike, including fork lights, and even wore a reflective jacket, and had a gopro mount on the handlebar ("so my wife knows who to sue").

the game soon started when i got back inside. during halftime i quickly ran into the kitchen to make some french bread pizza. at one point the celtics had a 13 point lead, and both teams played well throughout, but boston lost its focus in the final few minutes, allowing milwaukee to creep back and get the lead, which they never relinquished. series go back to milwaukee on friday with the bucks in the lead 3-2 and looking to close out the series. the second after the game was over i turned off the television, couldn't bear to watch anymore. i hope to avoid all sports news from now until friday night.

my mother was sleeping all day and called me in the evening asking me to check on the special united airline reimbursement for her delayed flight. she was thinking some kind of fancy expensive gift, but it was only a $150 discount off the next united airline trip, and was set to expire after a year. so it's basically, "we screwed up, so we want to make it up to you by making you spend more money with us." my mother also noted the new caulk around the bathtub, said the bathroom now looked brand new and cleaner than ever. the only thing missing is to repair the rusty ring around the drain, which requires a tub ceramic epoxy. i also spoke with my father, we was telling me about the battery box that arrived today. he said it fit our LiFePo4 cells just fine, but it's long enough that we can not only fit the BMS but an inverter as well.

i finished watching the bootleg of doctor strange in the multiverse of madness. it was pretty good, i really like the little raimi flourishes from his horror film roots. i'd love to see sam raimi to do another horror movie (like he did with drag me to hell). until then, we have this doctor strange film, which has some genuinely scary parts. i didn't like that the scarlet witch was a villain, i rather see her as the good guy, but it's basically an extension of her tv series. i wasn't so sure when they cast america chavez, but i really like xochitl gomez after seeing the movie. hayley atwell as captain america! that was one of my favorite cameos.