i'd been up since 9am but didn't leave until after 10am because i tried to attach the universal seat clamp to my old bike seat. first i couldn't find the right adapter for the socket wrench until i located it still attached to a previous socket. i then tried fitting the seat clamp but it was just too wide. i used a pair of channellock pliers to squeeze the clamp a bit smaller. that seemed to do the trick, but when i went to attach it to the seat post of the old red bike in my kitchen, it wouldn't fit. so what i did was i attached the clamp to the seat post first (using brute force, pounding the clamp into the post), then attaching it to the bike seat (using the seat post as a lever to force on the clamp). by some miracle that seemed to work, even though i was sure that i got the wrong size seat clamp (though they're supposed to be universal).
the run wasn't too bad, i fast-tracked it so i could go out and come back in an hour. after a shower, i got ready to leave for the cafe. it took a long time to pack up all the supplies i bought in chinatown yesterday before i finally left by 11:40am. while riding, i ran into a pile of milk crates somebody had tossed out onto the curb. i grabbed two - tied them to my bike using bungie netting (once again, bungie netting saves the day).
business was slow at the cafe, we only made half of what we made last thursday. my father fried some breaded pork cutlets - tonkatsu - i had a plate for lunch. i made another batch of taiwanese paocai (from a cabbage that weighed nearly 5 lbs) and a new batch of tea eggs. my sister was home - and when i saw her in the parking lot with her friend's dog - i asked her when she was coming back to work. she got really angry and said she didn't want to talk about it before taking the dog to my parents' place so it could destroy our lawn. i think i've been working every single day for the past 6 weeks, with no end in sight. would've been a good day to rest at home, recuperate from my vaccine shot.
i left the cafe around 4pm. i went back to the place where i scored the milk crates - hoping to pick up a few more - but they were all gone by then.
seems like every day this week, i've managed to take a nap around 7pm, waking up by 8pm. i made some white cheddar cheese shell pasta with kale for dinner. i watched the thursday night football game between the giants and 49ers.
i ordered a new bubble counter ($7.94) from aliexpress, one that i can inject water into it without having to open the counter and let all the built-up CO2 gas escape. they also sell a different type that i almost got, but it looked a bit cheaper, so i didn't get it. i also noticed ZRDR now sells versions of the CO2 generator kit with external threading on the bottle (though listed as new for 2022), which apparently are much better at leak prevention. these new versions - called X series (taking a page from tesla) - can hold more pressure thereby generating more CO2 because they can use more materials (300g of citric acid and baking soda, compared to just 200g on the one that i have - R series). unfortunately amazon currently doesn't sell them yet, they only carry the internally-threaded versions. internal threading has a tendency to get citric acid or baking soda caught the threads, making it difficult to seal the bottle properly. the only way to get the X series is through aliexpress - $89 for the aluminum alloy regulator version (including shipping), or $94.50 for the stainless steel regulator (the bottles are always stainless steel).