i was up so early i could've gone out for a run at 9am but didn't leave until 9:30am. i was tempted to just stay home, but temperature was in the 50's, which is the same temperature i've ran in the past few times, which i found to be quite comfortable once you start running and warm up a bit, especially in the sun.
somebody had thrown out some glassware: i stashed a few i wanted to keep in somebody's front yard, so i could come back for it when i returned. i also spotted a large juniper tree on garden street, after noticing the sidewalk was littered with pale blue juniper berries. the run was uneventful, sunny, pleasant. coming back i was happy to see the items i'd stashed earlier were still there. that included a small glass vase and a glass ikea jar with locking lid.
i returned home an hour later, 10:30am. i had an hour to kill before leaving for the cafe.
my mother told me they already had two uber eats delivery orders this morning. despite the auspicious start, this would turn out to be a slow tuesday, and we only made half of what we made last week. the lull gave me time to make a new batch of taiwanese paocai. i made the most i ever made, using up nearly 10 lbs. of taiwanese cabbage. reducing it took a while, i barely had a big enough container to hold all that shredded cabbage. mixing in th salt was slow at first, but once it started reducing, the cabbage shrank by about half. my mother helped me julienne some carrots with the madoline slicer. i start at 1pm and didn't finish until 5pm, making 6 containers of paocai, enough to last a month depending on how busy we get.
in the afternoon i went over to my sister's place to see esmei. she'd just woken up and when she saw me she started to cry behind i was behind the dog gate. we let her outside to pee, after which she kept digging underneath the grapevine to chew on fallen grapes, which my sister said are poisonous to dogs. my sister blew some bacon-scented bubbles for esmei to play with (bubbles were a favorite of hailey), but she seemed to be afraid of them, never having experienced bubbles before. afterwards we came back inside where my sister fed esmei before i returned to the cafe.
there was a speakership vote in the house today, with jim jordan as the republican nominee. it was curious why he decided to have the vote when he didn't have the numbers. if more than 4 republicans decide to vote against jordan that would mean he couldn't win. in the end 20 republicans voted against jordan, more than he expected. wisely they decided to postpone a second election until tomorrow, but he still won't get the votes unless there's a miracle. republican drama continues to snarl the federal government to a halt.
the other big news today was israel's bombing of a hospital in gaza, killing at least a few hundred civilians. in a twist, israel said the missile came from an islamic jihad rocket that misfired. whatever the truth may be, the aftermath caused widespread condemnation, including the west bank, where palestinians rioted in the streets.
my 2nd aunt showed up at the cafe, followed by my godmother. jack - my godmother's son - made a surprise cameo appearance as well. he hadn't been there since the start of the pandemic, and saw many things he hadn't seen before. jack told me he and wife will go on vacation to japan next month, with a 5-day stop in south korea to sample the local cuisine. then my sister's godmother showed up, like by some strange coincidence everyone decided to all come today. finally my sister brought over esmei to show everyone.
it actually rained today, which was a surprise. it was sunny this morning, but turned dark and overcast later in the day. nevertheless, i didn't believe it'd rain until it did. not just a sprinkle, but enough to give the sidewalk a good soaking and leave some puddles. my plants will appreciate it at the very least. i ended up getting stuck at the cafe, waiting for the rain to stop. by the time it was safe to leave, it was closing time anyway. my father split the last of our buttercup squash in half to give to my 2nd aunt, who only ever wants to eat our garden grown squashes, even though she could very easily just buy her own. my mother packed me some leftover pork and hyacinth bean stew with rice for dinner. i left by 6:30pm.
li wasn't home, as i'd expected, figured his former advisor would take him out to dinner. i turned on the heat for the first time this season. at first i was worried the furnace wouldn't kick in, but that thing is reliable to a fault. the air from the floor vents smelled like an overheated blowdryer at first, but it cleared up a bit later. i started with my dinner after having not eaten anything all day long. i washed it down with some polar pomegranate seltzer and a couple of mandarin oranges.
li came home around 8pm. he said his former advisor took him and a few other researchers to changsho, which is like their go-to place to have dinner, the other one being zoe's. i asked him what he needed for a rental receipt and sent him a pdf.
chatting with li tonight, i learned his germany apartment is only €800, partly subsidized by the research institute. yesterday he told me he pays 40% in taxes. while living in south korea, he and a shandong coworker signed up for a garden plot where they grew all sorts of vegetables. rabbits were a problem, but rather deers, which defoliated some of their plants including the peppers. li asked if he could borrow a bicycle for tomorrow, as he planned on going down to the nearest bank of america office to reopen his old checking account. he left some money in the US thinking he'd return one day for his postdoc, which unfortunately never happened. i adjusted the nest heating schedule so the heat will kick in tomorrow before li wakes up to leave again.
tonight was the last celtics preseason game at home, against the knicks. i know it's the preseason and it's difficult to quantify how the team will perform, but from what i saw of the lineup, boston has assembled a scarily good team, designed to go the distance. can't wait for the regular season to start next wednesday.