i went to the cafe today to help out around lunchtime and to make some pastrami on rye sandwiches. pastrami is just a more seasoned version of corned beef, and the sandwich itself is similar to a reuben. i warmed up the sauerkraut in the microwave and heated the pastrami deli meat in a microwave steamer. my father helped me butter and grill the rye bread. after assembling the sandwich, i toasted it in the oven for a few more minutes to reheat it. my parents and 2nd aunt all had sandwiches with russian dressing while i went with a spicy mustard for mine. i also remembered to give each person a half sour pickle. both my mother and 2nd aunt liked the pastrami, said it was very tender.

my aunt stopped by the cafe briefly, with a cameo appearance by matthew, who was driving her to an acupuncture appointment in metrowest. my sister was also at the cafe today, which meant i didn't need to be there. she left around 1pm. we determined that our very slow business yesterday was due to passover, which made us wonder just how many of our customers were jewish. i did my sister's godmother's taxes at the cafe, she didn't qualify for the earned income credit (EIC) because of her age, so she owes the IRS almost $1000 in taxes for 2022. it got busy in the afternoon and i couldn't leave until after 3pm. i still planned on biking to haymarket.

i dropped off my computer at home before leaving to boston around 3:30pm. it was actually pretty warm earlier - temperature in the 50's - but now the temperature was dropping. on top of that there were very strong winds. luckily for me it was a tailwind, and i made it to haymarket in record time, just 19 minutes.

i bought three kinds of oranges: navel (12 for $2), a large tangerine (14 for $4), and a bag of clementines ($2). i also got some dill ($2), some english cucumbers ($1 a piece), 2 boxes of strawberries ($3), persian cucumbers ($3), and a pillow of spinach ($3). yes, a bag the size of a pillow stuffed with spinach.

i left haymarket around 4:10pm. the ride back was not as fun, since i was facing a headwind this time. winds were so strong, traffic lights were swinging and signs were fluttering. there were a few times when i was stopped at an intersection when the wind nearly knocked me off my bicycle. i finally made it home a bit after 4:30pm.

at 6:30pm i started the process of planting my seeds. i set up my grow closet, 3 banks of led strip lights per shelf (3 shelves total). i also put in the power supply unit that will drive the computer fans that will circulate the air inside of the closet. finally i set up a heating pad to germinate those seeds that would benefit from some heat.

i'd soaked some seeds overnight, but i still needed to pick my remaining lineup for the upcoming season. they are as follows: 12 long beans, 12 bitter melons, 12 blue beans, 12 buttercup squashes, 12 hyacinth beans, 3 thai basil, 3 goat horn hot pepper, 3 ground cherry, 2 habanero, 6 chinese eggplant, 6 zebrina malva, 4 cherry tomatoes, 4 independence day hybrid tomatoes, 4 cloudy day tomatoes. in starter cells i planted a bunch of flowers: 24 nigellas, 12 dwarf mix snapdragons, 12 lavender, 12 chinese aster giant perfection mix, 12 delphinium.

i started filling the pots with potting soil, then watering the pots from the bottom using a bucket of warm water in the sink that i kept refilling. after that i planted the seeds, all of them except for the starter cells, which i hadn't watered yet. by 7:30pm i had the celtics game turned on, by 8:30pm i was warming up some chicken alfredo in the oven.

i wasn't done until 9:30pm, just in time for a late dinner. i ate my creamy chicken pasta while watching the rest of the game. celtics faced the raptors for the second time in 3 days. with seed placement all finalized, some people thought maybe boston would rest its key players, like many other teams. but the celtics have a contrarian streak and coach mazzulla opted to play everyone, though he did sit some guys once it was obvious the celtics were going to win. raptors probably weren't ready for that level of intensity, figured it'd be an easy victory, when it fact it was a rout. celtics lead at one point by 36 points.

i did my aunt's taxes after dinner. she leaves for her european vacation next friday so she needs it done before then. it wasn't hard, just some social security benefits, she neither owed or refunded any taxes. i printed out her tax forms and filled out some envelopes, she can sign them tomorrow and send them out.

after 11pm, i went back into the kitchen to make my tzatziki. i shredded my english cucumber, chopped some fresh dill, waited for the cucumber to reduce. that's when alex skyped me again. i video chatted with him on my phone while i planted the flower seeds into the seed starter trays. he actually thought i was joking about my grow closet until i actually showed him what i've been doing every spring. while assembling the tzatziki, i discovered i actually bought the wrong kind of greek yogurt, vanilla flavor instead of plain. that meant i wouldn't be able to make tzatziki. alex was shocked to see me eating directly from the carton of yogurt, he said it was something only a single guy would do.

i grabbed one of the tangerines i bought from haymarket. it looked promising, though when i peeled it, it looked more like a slicing orange than a peeling orange. i ate a piece. not only was it super tart, but it was also super bitter! not a hint of sweetness! but very aromatic, if you can overcome the bitterness tartness. i looked at the produce label: seville-marmalade oranges. i searched online, sure enough, they're a type of bitter oranges used for make marmalade, not for direct eating. i ate the whole thing, even though i nearly passed out. it was so bitter and tart, afterwards my mouth felt numb.