i got up a little late - 9:30am - which gave me half an hour to prepare before i had to leave for the cafe. i made a quick stop at the gas station to fuel up the motorcycle before finally getting to the cafe by 10:20am. i cleaned the windows with some 90% alcohol, including erasing the message about face masks. my sister told me about a hummingbird feeder and i went out to grab it off the curb.
the past few saturdays have been busy - busier than the weekdays - so my parents showed up unexpectedly after their arlington teeth cleaning appointments, to help out if we were getting swamped. sure enough, it got super busy. no crazy big orders like the few saturdays, but customers kept coming in, like they all decided they wanted to eat at the exact same time. for some reason xiaojuan showed up, wanted to come by and chat right during our busiest time. she even said, "oh, it looks like you guys are having a battle here," as everyone basically ignored her, before she finally took the hint and left.
my parents returned home around 1pm. my mother returned as just they were about to leave because she saw a large group of indians coming into the cafe. they came to check out our menu, didn't see anything they liked, and then left. my mother did as well.
we only got a few more customers in the final hours. i made another batch of tea eggs for next week. i cooked up some hormel tamales from a can for lunch. never had them before, my sister said they tasted like chef boyardee's raviolis. even though it said there was no artificial ingredients, it tasted pretty processed.
i helped my 2nd aunt buy a new sofa off of wayfair during this tax-free weekend. her last sofa is just 3-years old, but my 2nd uncle basically wore it down from sitting on it every single day in the exact same spot. it's a shame, because only the center cushion is ruined, while the two on the sides are fine, but the cushions are attached and can't be moved. my 2nd aunt had a few conditions for the new couch: about the same size as the last one, in a dark linen material, with removable seat cushions. i ended up finding one exactly to her specifications and at a very inexpensive price. so we ordered it, but it's not due to arrive until a few more weeks.
after we closed, i left the cafe by around 4:30pm and headed to belmont. i didn't even bother checking the garden, will do that tomorrow. i helped my father order a new electric spice grinder for the cafe. it wasn't too long before dinner.
afterwards my father showed me a cheap 1200W portable power station for just $450. it looked promising, but there was a precaution from the manufacturer that said the unit makes continuous noises, as loud as 90 decibels when standing right next to it. that's as loud as a leaf blower, and loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss. while searching for reviews on youtube, we came across a review for the ecoflow delta 2. at $800 it was more expensive, but seemed like a more robust power station, from fast solar charging, bluetooth app, and a better design compared to some other units.
i didn't get back home until 8:45pm. the street was practically empty, seems like a lot of people were having their summer vacation. that's good for me because it meant plenty of parking spots.
tomorrow i'm going to help my parents buy a new fridge for the house. i also need to buy a a new twin size mattress for the guest bedroom as well as a matching box spring. originally i toyed with the idea of buying a folded mattress online, but i feel like they're not as good in quality compared to a traditional flat mattress. i'm probably going to order them from mattressfirm and get it delivered for free.