i woke up at 8am to use the bathroom but couldn't fall back asleep again after that. the guest bedroom was dark - and it wasn't because it usually doesn't get a lot of sunlight. no, it was dark because the sky was dark, as the forecast of rain started to arrive in the greater boston area. i finally got up for good around 9am.
judging by the way the storm clouds were drifting through the city, there looked to be a window between 11-12pm where it might stop raining for a brief period and i could quickly ride down to the cafe for my friday shift. i was all dressed up, watching the news for the latest updates. all the local news had broken into the usual morning broadcasts to report on possible tornado activities in southeastern massachusetts.
at about 10:30am i took my chance, as the rain seemed to have stopped for the time being. i grabbed my bike and pedaled to the cafe. i brought with me salt i got from market basket yesterday, a pair of glass pot lids i found while coming back from running, and a tube of rare earth magnets. one of the lids fit perfectly, the other one a bit too small. i also found out later that there was plenty of salt at the cafe, just kept in the fridge cabinet.
rained seemed to be over and i started moving chairs and tables onto the patio deck. it was busy today, a steady steam of customers. no big orders, but i actually prefer those, make the same amount in a jumbo orders instead of several small separate orders. my most important duty seemed to be making another batch of tea eggs, as we were running out again. tea eggs are selling so fast, i'll need to make yet another batch tomorrow.
my aunt showed up in the afternoon after our lunchtime busy stretch. she left a bit later once we started getting busy again. usually time seems to go quicker when we're busy but it wasn't the case today, as i kept looking at the clock think it was still early.
we rescued a pair of large wooden rotating bar stools with backs from neighbors moving out. they also left an assortment of tea bags.
around 3:45pm the sky turned dark again. a check of the doppler radar showed self-generating storm clouds forming. i brought in all the chairs and tables from the back except one set. that turned out to be a mistake as we experienced torrential downpours, and all the furniture left outside were soaking wet afterwards. the rain probably last 20 minutes, afterwards it was really hot and humid outside, as the sun came back out. i went outside to look for rainbows. all i saw were massive cumulus clouds on the horizon.
i ended up staying until closing time since it was busy for almost the entire stretch of the day. today ended up being the 2nd busiest day of the year in terms of profit. the number one busiest day was actually january 11th, though according to my blog entry there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy about that day.
i didn't get back home until 6:40pm. there was a foul smell in my alleyway, damp and mildewy from all the rain. i didn't have dinner until 9pm, made the last of my ham & egg & cheese bagel sandwich.