today was just as busy as yesterday, even though the weather was barely in the 70's (so a cool day). we had 3 online orders and 2 grubhub orders (customers came to pick up in all instances).
the cafe bug zapper went dead a few days ago (12th, last sunday). it looked like one of the fluorescent UV bulbs had burned out, even though we just replaced it a few weeks ago. i brought it down to inspect it, and to my surprise, it was actually the new bulb that burned out. either it was just a poorly manufactured bulb, or our bug zapper has some circuitry issue, causing the bulb to burn out quicker. as a test, i put another new bulb in the spot that didn't burn out, and switched the old bulb to that spot. if it burns out again, i'll be able to say whether it was a bulb issue or a bug zapper issue.
i climbed a ladder to close the screen window in the cafe kitchen. it'd been opened since forever, but because it's so high, we figured no critter could actually get in through the one inch gap. however, when the UV light on the bug zapper is on at night, it attracts all sorts of bugs (moths in particular) that then get zapped. sometimes also a fly might fly in during the day, attracted by the scent of foods. so hopefully finally closing the screen window will fix this problem.
around 3pm - once business slowed down - i went to my sister's place to prune more of the rhododendron bush in front of her house. i ended up trimming about a third, after trimming back a quarter last saturday afternoon. that time was basically reducing in size at all cost, while today it was more about lowering the height with some shaping whenever possible. the bush now looks a little bare, i'm hoping new leaves will emerge now that the interior is more exposed to the sunlight.
i also cut down the pine tree growing in front of my sister's place. that tree was planted a few years ago for fun when the florist gave my father two saplings. however he never considered what would happen if you plant a white (?) pine that can grow 50-80 ft in front of the house. so we had to chop it down before it got any bigger and we wouldn't be able to cut it as easily. it also helps that the tree has an adelgid infestation, so another reason to remove it (although to be honest, it could easily be controlled with insecticidal soap, it was more of an aesthetic issue rather than actually hurting the tree). i first trimmed off the side branches with the loppers, then removed as much as i could of the main trunk, before i used a pruning saw to cut the base, which had 2-3" diameter. one thing about pine pruning, it smells pretty nice! although be careful of the sap as it can be quite sticky. i felt a little bad cutting down a healthy tree, but hopefully we can plant something else nicer in its place, one that won't eclipse the front of the house over time.
i was finally done an hour later, by 4pm. back at the cafe, my godmother was there. michael called me to let me know my glasses were finished, i told him i'd come pick it up tomorrow. i readjusted the parking lot camera, packed ice from the ice machine into freezer containers, before finally leaving by 5pm. it was too late to go to the community garden so i went directly home instead.
i haven't been getting a lot of quality sleep recently, anywhere from 5-7 hours a night. so in the early evening i was fighting the urge to take a nap, especially since i was lounging on the couch. i decided to have dinner early - like a normal person - but still didn't eat my pulled pork sandwich leftovers until 8pm. to make the coleslaw tasted better i added some habanero sauce to it which gave it a nice kick. the pulled pork i reheated in the microwave for one minute before adding the barbecue sauce.