we were supposed to get 1/2-1 inches of rain today. that didn't happen. it's so incredibly dry across massachusetts, that it evaporated the approaching rain clouds, like a rain cloud force field. the rain was supposed to start overnight, and when that didn't happen, i should've known better and given up hope. but the latest forecast showed possible rain in the afternoon, and the sky did darken, but still no rain.

i biked to the cafe this morning, my 4L fido jar of sichuan paocai nestled precariously in one of my rear baskets, inside of a box, surrounded by inflated packaging balloons. i pedaled carefully, didn't want to bump the jar and have the contents either spill or explode. i was admiring the clouds, still thinking we might be getting some rain today.

when i arrived i opened up the jar slowly. the key word is "slowly" since the content is under pressure and will explode from the escaping gas if opened up too quickly. but that's how you know it's successfully fermented, because of the carbonation.

my father brought the 3-ft long steel shelving unit to be used as a rack for our work table. it works, but what it could really use is another shelf. i actually found this shelving unit, which only had 2 racks. it also uses non-standard sizes, so it wasn't compatible with our other steel shelves. we're still waiting on our honey-can-do 24x14x30" shelving, which amazon contacted me today and said they'd be arriving early this saturday.

i was in the basement putting away some drinks in storage, when i saw my father had installed one of the outlet switches on the shop light. this light hangs in a part of the basement that doesn't get any light, and provided much needed illumination. now that we have a switch, we no longer have to plug and unplug the light whenever we need to use it.

i learned how to make "black" noodles, which is the noodle base for many of our noodle dishes. the ingredients are a combination of salt, MSG, soy sauce, dark soy, white ground pepper, regular ground pepper, sesame oil, and regular oil.

i tried one of the new probiotic sodas the cafe now carries in a partnership with the manufacturer. it wasn't bad - strawberry rhubarb - better than the last drinks my sister ordered, which were flavored seltzer water with zero sugar.

i took the orchid and the pilea outside to spray with insecticidal soap after spotting mealybugs on both plants. i'm also wondering if i should use a systemic pesticide since these are exclusively indoor plants. the pilea wouldn't be a problem, but how do i get the orchid to absorb the granule? thankfully orchids don't have too many parts, so mealybugs are easier to spot.

later in the afternoon my father and i moved the large oven down into the basement with the use of a handtruck. i managed to get my left index finger crushed between the door and the oven when it jostled as we were pushing it out of the cafe and down the back basement door. it hurt but i don't think there'll be lasting damage. when i was down in the basement i also pumped the tires of the 3 bikes in storage. i've been trying to convince my mother to take up bicycling again. unfortunately her yellow bike my father gave to the upstairs tenants to ride. he didn't however give away the schwinn bike. there was also an old 3-speed raleigh and an old ross bike.

it wasn't too busy at the cafe, and we were afraid it might be another repeat performance of yesterday, where the cafe barely had any customers, which is surprising, because normally tuesdays are very busy. but by the end of the day we still made more than yesterday, so that's a good thing. there wasn't much left for me to do so i left by around 4pm, taking a container of watermelon. i had on the seat cover on my bike saddle, thinking we'd be soaked by this time - didn't need it after all.

because it didn't rain, and i haven't been to the community garden in 5 days, i was due a visit. there was nobody there but me and some hungry mosquitoes. i watered the best that i could and left quickly before i got anymore bites.

i fell asleep on the couch around 6:30pm, waking up two hours later with aching joints. i went into the kitchen and heated up two bricks of lasagna for dinner. i did a photo backup (about 35GB) to clear up enough space so my computer can function properly.