my parents left early on their own for a supply run starting at 9am. they went to baifu (foodpak) in the south end then went to the fresh pond trader joe's to gather a few more things. i was tracking their progress on google map, hoping to rendezvous with them back at the cafe so i could help unload the supplies. but they were back sooner than i realized, so after a morning shower, i opted instead for belmont.
today was another relatively mild day. not as warm as yesterday, but temperatures were still in the 40's. i saw a weather forecast that showed every single day this january has been warmer than average with the exception of one day. that will all change by the end of week, when we're going to get a shot of intense subzero temperature for 1-1/2 days, before the weather goes back to the 30/40's. anyway, heading towards belmont, i checked the map and saw my parents were still at the cafe so i took a detour. i found them in the parking lot, about to leave. then ended up arriving home ahead of me while i continued to pedal.
i asked my father to leave the cars outside so we could move the broken motorcycle jack out of the garage for inspection. it wasn't leaking hydraulic fluid from the bottle jack body, but rather the pump piston on the side. it seemed broken beyond our capacity to fix it. the only option is to buy a new one. we moved the jack (heavy! weighs close to 80 lbs) to the side of the house for eventual disposal. i wrapped it up in a plastic tarp to keep anymore hydraulic fluids from leaking on the ground and to keep the jack from getting wet.
my mother made some wonton soup for lunch. we also retasted the jiuniang i brought over from yesterday. after another night of fermentation, it too was just as sweet as the jiuniang back at home. my father said now was the best time to put the jiuniang in the fridge, where it'll slow down the fermentation but continue to grow sweeter with age.
i was telling my father that a new motorcycle jack would cost $125 at harbor freight, which had them on liquidation sale this week (normally $140). my mother overhead, and thought it'd be a great idea if we picked up the jack today, so she could also go to ocean state job lot (OSJL), and we could hit ALDI's as well.
so after lunch we left around 1pm for medford. while my father and i went to harbor freight, my mother went to OSJL. they had 3 motorcycle jacks for sale. they were heavy enough that you couldn't help yourself to the item, but instead took a ticket and showed it to the cashier. i was happy to see that the bald guy who hates me wasn't working there today. instead it was a different bald guy, one much friendly. he went and brought out the jack on a hydraulic table cart. after we paid for it, he brought it out to us and helped us load it into the back of the utility vehicle.
we met up with my mother in OSJL. she had $30 worth of yarn and two packages of pecan. after we paid, we drove to ALDI's on the other side of the strip mall.
at ALDI's we stocked up on baby cucumbers, but they only had 2 packages of scallions that were in pretty bad shape so we didn't get them. my sister was asking us where we were. as soon as i texted her we were at ALDI's, she texted me a list of things she wanted, which i tried to ignore, but my phone kept on ringing.
we returned to belmont by 2:30pm. we cleared out the garage again so we could assemble the new motorcycle jack and put it in action. the harbor freight one has the same design as the old broken craftsman one, but i think the craftsman is better made. 
after we pieced it together, my father and i jacked up the motorcycle. i turned on the ignition to run the engine dry, but it seemed to have choked out before then, and when i tried to restart the engine, the battery didn't have enough juice. i connected the trickle charger and left it charging the motorcycle battery in-situ. once fully charged, i'll run the engine again to make sure it's used up all the gasoline in the carburetor before the motorcycle can be safely put away in storage. we put everything back inside the garage before closing the door.
so the whole reason why i decided to get a new motorcycle jack was because when i looked online for a replacement bottle jack compatible with the motorcycle jack, the only one i could find cost $120. craftsman never made replacement hydraulics for their jacks. once it broke, you basically had to buy a new one. the jack came with a lifetime warranty, but the equipment itself has long since been discontinued, and craftsman the company is just a shell of its former self. i did find something that looked close to a replacement on aliexpress, and it costs just $32 for a 2-ton bottle jack. unfortunately shipping costs $91. i kept looking and found a place selling ATV and motorcycle parts that had a replacement scissor lift stand jack. it looked like a workable replacement, and a reviewer even left a photo where he used it to fix his broken craftsman motorcycle jack. best part? it only costs $60, with just an additional $10 for shipping and taxes. had i known this existed, i could've gotten this instead for $70, fix our old craftsman jack. i told my father and he said it was easier just keeping the newer jack.
of course that didn't sit well with me. if i can do something that saves money, i will always go that route even if it takes up more time and effort and hassle. besides, the craftsman motorcycle jack is still in pretty good shape; it just needs new hydraulics. so i went back outside with some tools and removed the busted bottle jack from the craftsman, just to see if it can be done. it was actually quite easy to disassemble, and the more i worked, the more it became evident that a simple replacement part swap would bring the craftsman back to life. instead of unceremoniously abandoning it outside, i gave it a quick wipe down and put it back in the garage, along with the broken bottle jack. there's a possibility that the only thing wrong with the jack is the o-ring, which can be easily replaced. the fix to the craftsman may cost us nothing more than a $5 box of replacement o-rings.
while i was outside i also got a large hose clamp and secured it to one of the braces of my rear back baskets, the one that's loose and currently held in place with a few wire twists. it's not an ideal solution, but it seemed to have fixed the wobble issue for the time being.
back inside the house, while my mother was making dinner, i was in the basement grow room watering our houseplants. overall they seem to be in good shape. yellow sticky traps continue to catch fungus gnats, but it's mostly concentrated around the christmas cactuses, which can't be watered too heavily with the gnat killing Bti-infused water. but i didn't see any signs of mealybugs. one of our two belle of india jasmine plant doesn't seem to be doing too well. it's leaves has always been yellow, but its gotten worse. i maybe try to take a pH same next time, i think the soil isn't acidic enough and it doesn't like that. or maybe change location. two of our orchids already have flower stalks, with one of them forming several buds. i filled up all the 5-gallon buckets with water before treating them all with water conditioner to neutralize the chloramines the town adds to the drinking water.
the extreme cold weather snap later this week has got me worried about the plants in the sunroom. so far this season the coldest it's ever gotten inside there has been 40 degrees. but how cold will it get when the outdoor temperature dips below zero? could my tender seedlings survive? earlier my father suggested we move the aeroponics tub. with two people it's very doable. 10 gallons of water weight around 80 lbs., which is about how much the motorcycle jack weighs, and i could carry it by myself (though two person would be easier). but instead of moving the tub, we could just move the seedlings inside their net cups for the time being. they're still so small, it wouldn't hurt them at all. then later in the weekend when the weather turns warm again, we can move back the net cups. i've also been thinking about the possibility of moving the aeroponics down to the basement. yes, mustard greens and chinese celery can survive the cold weather, but they're not growing at all. i think the warmer conditions and having some dedicated grow lights will work better. also tonight i put the 4 remaining rockwool plugs into the net cups. 2 of them are showing signs of germination, while 2 more are still dormant.
the 6.6qt joydeem electric dough maker and fermenter arrived today ($149), a day ahead of schedule. it's bigger than i thought, which is a good thing, means more capacity. my father will take it to the cafe tomorrow and test it out. unlike a stand mixer, the dough maker will not only knead the dough, but then also proof (ferment) the dough by warming it up. my father says if this works as well as he thinks it will, they may retire their stand mixer, which not only is it heavy and takes up a lot more space, but can't proof the dough.
we had salted pork again for dinner. not sure where my mother is getting all this salted pork from. she also made a bokchoi stirfry. earlier i'd streamed 2 episodes of poker face for my mother. she wanted to watch the remaining 2 episodes but i was leaving. instead she watched some indian movie on netflix, the one with a jackie chan wannabe. i left by 7:40pm. the temperature was now 38 degrees.
back at the house, tried my jiuniang again. it was even sweeter now after another day of fermenting (outside of the warm bathroom for this latest 24-hour cycle). i also tasted some carbonation, can't remember what phase of fermentation that indicates. still no alcohol taste, which is fine by me, i prefer my jiuniang to be sweeter than alcoholic. i put all 5 jars of jiuniang into the fridge. this latest batch - 6 cups of rice with some scorching - was a success after 4 days of fermentation.