this morning i tried removing the 3 remaining stripped wood screws from the loose front step with the easy out screw extractor tools. the extractor worked on one screw. the secret i found is drilling with one size then moving up one larger for the extractor. it didn't work for the second screw because it was already loose so there was no bit. i managed to remove it using a pair of pliers. that's when i discovered the screw had broken in half. the final and last screw was screwed in at an angle. it too was loose so i couldn't get a grip, but i discovered it was no longer biting into the stair stringer, so at that point i could just lift out the step board. i tried hammering out the screw but it was a no go. i also retried the screw extractor a few times but that didn't work either. finally i ran out of time because i needed to head down to the cafe to work.

i got to the cafe by 10:40am, right before my mother arrived in my sister's car. i was surprised my sister came to work since she'd been absent most of this week, focused on her house insulation repair work. my father showed up a bit later, to relieve my sister so she could go clean her place.

since it was memorial day weekend, i didn't think it'd be busy, but i was wrong. by the end of the day we nearly doubled what we made last saturday. a lot of noodles sales for some reason. i also brought the taiwanese paocai i made last night, everyone liked it, so every time anyone ordered a bento box, i added a small amount of bonus paocai with the order. it's a little spicy so not everyone will like it.

my mother was complaining about feet pain from standing so much, and said she wanted to get some better shoes. when i told her my godmother got a pair of hoka sneakers, she wanted a pair herself and went online to search. the hoka website had some on sale, but free shipping only for full price items. afraid to buy the shoes sight unseen (and having to deal with both send and return shipping), we looked online to see where we could possibly sample some hoka sneakers before either buying in store or online. dick's sporting goods in medford seemed to have some, so we decided to do a quick everett-medford supply run after work, since costco will be closed on monday, and visit dick's afterwards.

the replacement router antennas for my sister's place finally today. i went over to install them. these are not OEM, so they're a bit longer than the originals, but they still fit. i only replaced the broken one, leaving the other two antennas as-is. later i returned with my father, dropping off a few pieces of furniture.

we left the cafe pretty much right after closing time. we didn't bother cleaning since we'd be back to drop off the supplies. we went a new way, cutting through davis square, which is the most direct route possible from the cafe. we got to costco by 4:30pm. the only thing we really needed were eggs, but still left with a cart full of stuff. it was pretty busy, a lot of people were probably stocking up for their holiday weekend (especially since costco will be closed monday). even after we left at 5pm, there were still people coming in (costco closes at 6pm).

next we went to dollar tree so my mother could get some cheap yarn. i myself went to total wine to see if they had the assorted pack of woodchuck fruit drinks (they didn't) but left with a bottle of baijiu. i also briefly went to five below and bath & body works.

we left by 5:30pm and went to dick's sporting goods in the meadowglen mall. i haven't been here in ages. they have a wegman's here which i've never been to today, but we didn't have time, so it shall remain one of the only local supermarkets i've never visited before. coming into the parking lot, we saw a parked SUV with its alarm going off. next to it was a crying toddler, who seemed to have just "escaped" from the car and was running around unsupervised. luckily there weren't any cars around except for us. the toddler ran in the direction of the nearby store, where a kind woman intercepted him and brought him inside to hopefully find his mother. it was a scary scene, had there been cars, the toddler might've easily been struck. he how escaped from the car remains a mystery.

the dick's sporting goods felt familiar even though i don't remember coming here; maybe all dick's sporting goods have the same layout. we went in search of hokas, before one of the employees working in the sneakers department basically told us this particular store doesn't carry any, and the best way would be to just order them online. my mother did try a pair of brooks ghost 15 in a green irish pattern (size 6). she liked them, but not enough to buy ($140).

we drove back to the cafe the same way we arrived, via davis square. part of the way was a familiar route i used to take going to and from tufts university to my parents' house. we unloaded the supplies at the cafe, picked up any ingredients we needed for the barbecue tomorrow, did a bit of cleaning, before finally heading back to belmont by 6:15pm.

my sister was waiting at the house for us to get home so we could get dinner from burger king. my father and i left to get the food, finally getting back around 7pm. i ate quickly - whopper, fries, onion rings - before mixing the ground beef for tomorrow's blue cheese burgers.

i finally left around 8pm, getting home to watch game 6 between the celtics and the heat. win and the celtics force a game 7 - only the 4th time in NBA history after being down 0-3. celtics played well, and kept a lead for most of the game, though just a small one, with the heat always within striking distance. boston's 3-pointers were not falling like they were in game 5, but their defensive game was top notch, which kept them in the game. miami's role players were the stars tonight, scoring enough to keep the game close despite initial struggles from butler and adebayo. boston was up by 11 points in the 4th quarter when it looked like they were playing not to lose instead of playing to win. miami went on a run and had the lead with minutes left in the game. it went back and forth for a while, until horford fouled butler making a 3-point attempt and butler made all subsequent 3 free throws to give miami a 1-point lead with only 3 seconds to go. the final sequence was crazy - and a bit of luck - for marcus smart to miss his shot but for derrick white to tip it in with the game clock expiring. there was confusion as the announcers were saying the shot didn't go off in time, but the looks on the celtics team said the opposite, until the announcers finally changed what they said and revealed the shot did go in. derrick white saved the celtics' post-season. game 7 will happen now in boston monday night. can the celtics do what no team in NBA history has ever done? lose 0-3 only to reverse sweep to win the series?

during the first half of the game i was also in the kitchen making pasta salad for tomorrow. it's not complicated, but just a lot of ingredients to prepare, including making the salad dressing.