i went across the street to get some red gatorade this morning. it took longer than usual because one of the 8-pack i got was leaking. the young man working there helped me to get a new one, but put the leaking package back on the self. "isn't there a place you usually put damaged goods?" i asked him, "otherwise it's going to leak everywhere." he ended up taking the package to the back of the store. i also had some coupons from recycled cans i deposited last week. those wouldn't scan in the self-checkout, the guy came back and gave me my deposit money as a separate checkout. all the while, behind me was a old lady lamenting, "can someone help me? i don't know how to use this thing," in regards to the self-checkout, as this star market seemed to have done away with human checkout lanes.

i then spent a good amount of time packing the back of my bicycle, with the gatorade and the things i bought from chinatown yesterday. i had to use a separate box strapped down with a bungie netting, along with my messenger bag, to carry everything, before i left for the cafe.

two things i had to do at the cafe today: make a new batch of tea eggs and a new batch of taiwanese paocai. it took me most of the day, as i worked in time to make both between fulfilling customer orders.

my sister bought a new timer for the cafe. superficially it looks like our old lime green timer. but this one had a tiny star icon on the lower right corner. turns out that's more than just a graphic flourish, it's actually the spot of an led indication light when you press any of the buttons. the timer also has another hidden feature: it has a secondary toggle switch to turn off the beeping sound (which sort of defeats the purpose of a timer).

my 2nd showed up at the cafe today. she came today because she'd be busy on friday. she had some zhajiang noodles for lunch before leaving.

checking the news (as i'm wont to do), i saw the latest breaking announcement: wagner founder and russian insurrectionist yevgeny prigozhin's plane had crashed in russia. there was footage of the plane smoking and spiraling in the sky before it smashed into a field. all onboard believed death, including prigozhin. as surprising as it was, it's also the least surprising news coming out of russia. prigozhin's days were numbered, especially after he marched his mercenaries to moscow in a short-lived coup. if anything, the surprise is that he lasted as long as did, before he had a fatal accident, as befalls numerous putin opponents. also nobody's really mourning for prigozhin, he was a bad man. later in the day i saw news that the plane was most likely shot down by anti-aircraft fire, as footage of the wreckage showed bullet holes in the wings.

the taiwanese cabbage i used to make the paocai weighed 4.3 lbs, which is about the maximum size limit of these cabbages. it's enough to make 3 containers of paocai which should last us 2-3 weeks depending on how busy it gets, especially now that we're including paocai in all the bento orders. i got a chance to use the new handheld julienne peeler i got from temu ($2.48). i used it on some carrots. it wasn't that easy to use on account that the carrots were a little old and a bit soft. it also wasn't very economical, as it left behind these inner carrot cores that i wasn't able to peel. i think it might work better next time with fresher carrots. or as my mother suggested, just cut them up by hand.

so my 2nd aunt's new couch from wayfair was due to arrive today, a few weeks ahead of schedule. last time she had a wayfair delivery, they contacted me the night beforehand to confirm and then called me again in the morning 15 minutes before delivery. they didn't do that this time, said they'd just drop off the sofa, nobody even needed to be home. they also wouldn't tell me when the delivery was, just that it was today. luckily my 2nd aunt came back from her dentist appointment before the delivery guys came to her house and dropped off the sofa inside her apartment.

around 4:30pm i left and went to my 2nd aunt's place to help her assemble her new sofa. first thing i noticed was there was only one package. in all the e-mail communique, it was always two packages. even on the box it said 1-of-2 packages. so my 2nd uncle went downstairs to check. in hindsight they must've forgot about the second package but then delivered it a few hours later, because i received two text messages about deliveries made. my 2nd uncle returned with the second package.

i brought tools - screwdriver and pliers - but these online furnitures are designed to be assembled without tools. i saw their old couch: when my 2nd aunt said there was a dip in the middle cushion, i couldn't even imagine what the actual dip looked like, which was essentially a giant hole in the seat. how that could've even happened, and how they could continue using it in that condition, i really don't know. that old couch is only 3 years old: either it wasn't very good quality, or my 2nd uncle used the hell out of that thing. while i tried to assemble the new sofa with my 2nd aunt's assistance, my 2nd uncle just sat there watching, muttering some prayers under his breath, zero help at all.

the back cushions and back rests were hidden inside the "bed" of the sofa seat itself. i attached the feet first to the two arms, then attached the arms to the main seat. first arm was easy, but the second arm would not latch together no matter what. it wouldn't been easier if i had help, but my 2nd aunt wasn't strong enough to lift up the sofa while i tried to latch onto the arm. finally i managed to connect the arm. after that i inserted the sofa backs and put on the cushions. the back cushions hook onto the sofa backs while the bottom cushions just rested in place. my 2nd aunt specially wanted a sofa with removable cushions, so she can swap them around if one should start to sag. the problem with her old sofa was the cushion was attached to the sofa itself, so once they go bad, the sofa basically done. not only were these cushions removable, but the covers can also be taken off and washed. not the case with the back cushions however for some reason, but still better than nothing.

the new sofa was a grey linen material while the old sofa was a blue linen. the old sofa cost twice as much, and you can see it in the material, which felt softer than the new sofa. to be honest, the old sofa still looked new with the exception of the big hole in the middle cushion.

the new sofa was comfortable. my 2nd uncle said it was too small, until we moved the old and new sofa back to back and could see they were the same length. the left arm which i had problems attaching was actually still crooked, so i had to readjust it.

with the new sofa completed, i started taking apart the old sofa, so it'd be easier to throw out. since all the cushions were attached, that sofa was essentially the sofa bed, the sofa back, and the two arms. when i flipped over the sofa bed, i discovered why there was a big hole: the springs in the sofa had broken somehow.

i finally left by around 5:30pm. my 2nd aunt gave me a leftover burger king chicken sandwich she bought earlier, along with some fries. once i got home, i ate the sandwich immediately, as i didn't really have lunch at the cafe (just some carrot cores, a few longans, a piece of chicken, and some paocai). i didn't even bother heating it up, when you're hungry, everything tastes good.

lounging on the couch, i fell asleep around 7pm, didn't wake up until 9:40pm. i woke up feeling i should make something to eat, and ended up having an instant cup of ramen noodles, while watching the republican debate on fox news. afterwards i watched the post-debate commentary on MSNBC.