i was in the backyard replacing my mason jar solar lights. when i got my first batch back in september 2019, i was crazy for them, thought they were the coolest things. but after a while i figured out a few things about them. for one thing, the ones that i got weren't waterproof, despite what the advertisement said. rain and melted snow would get inside the solar panel, either shorting out the circuit, or over time flooding the jar with water. the lids will also rust over time, and the surface of the solar panel will turn opaque. the only thing that stood the test of time and the elements are the wire handles, which i assume is some kind of stainless steel. anyway, there's no denying their cool factor, and i found myself buying another set (8); hopefully they've been upgraded since the last time i bought them. these new lights have 20 led's instead of 10, which makes them use twice the amount of electricity as before, though they'll be twice as bright.
everyone came home while i was in the backyard. esmei rushed inside the house and totally ignored me, headed straight to the kitchen hoping to score some food. my sister let her outside in the backyard, where she got the zoomies and ran around the yard like a crazy dog. she also played some fetch, or more accurately, chased some balls around, but never bringing them back. eventually she got to a point where she had enough and simply sat down. no amount of encouragement with balls or fake running would get her to budge. eventually she thought maybe somebody inside the house was calling her (for possibly food) and she ran back inside.
i refilled the seed birdfeeder. the squirrel buster was a good investment. yes it costs more than most other birdfeeders, but it does what it advertises, keeps the squirrels out. keeping out unwanted birds however, that's a different story. i added a fish weight so when heavier birds try to feed, the baffle will close on them. that means mostly bluejays. birds like grackles however are smart enough to defeat the closing mechanism. and since house sparrows are the same weight as the good birds, it's impossible to prevent them from feeding, though i've been lucky, junk birds don't usually show up until later in the season. not a lot of birds can feed from the suet feeder though. the only birds i've seen are downy woodpeckers and on rare occasions carolina wrens. chickadees will feed on suet as well, though they prefer sunflower seeds, as they prefer taking their food elsewhere to eat. so far since i've put out the bird feeders i haven't seen any chickadees yet.
my mother made turkey broth rice noodles for lunch. my sister left with esmei, taking her home for lunch before promising to walk with a neighboring old lady later in the afternoon.
there was a patriots giants game though it was painful to watch. i only watched the first half before turning it off.
i spent some time researching impact drills. we have two regular drills but don't have an impact drill. impact drills are designed for drilling and removing screws. previously we though a regular drill can do that, but after having used an impact drill to drive some screws, we now know the difference. i showed my father a ryobi 18V brushless cordless compact 1/4 in. impact driver kit from home depot for $90. it includes two 1.5Ah batteries and a charger. we might get it so we don't have to keep on borrowing my sister's impact driver (which she actually took home today).
i also looked up bird ebikes. apparently they're on sale for $500-700, which is a bargain for something as sleekly designed as a bird ebike. but further digging revealed the reason: the company itself is on the verge of bankruptcy, and they're selling their bikes for cheap, hoping to recoup some cost. they're a real bargain, but once the company goes out of business, it'll be impossible to source parts. it's a repeat of what happened to vanmoof electric bicycles.
my mother's new keurig k-mini arrived today, a day ahead of schedule. it's a lot heavier than the chinese-brand keurig coffee maker we bought a month ago. you could tell it's better designed. we didn't make any coffee but we did run an empty cycle to rinse out the interior. i like the single hand operation of the lid and the clear reservoir in the back is a lot easier to pour water into than our old mister coffee keurig machine. the reservoir has a built-in strainer filter to keep any solids from entering the brew chamber. i also like the big brew button, smart enough to wait for you to put a keurig coffee pod inside before it'll start brewing. there's an indicator light that either flashes or says solid depending on what's happening with the coffee maker. the machine cost $50 yesterday, but already the price increased to $60 today.
for dinner my mother suggested having some spicy luosifen noodles. my father didn't want any but made them for us while he just had rice porridge with some salted duck eggs. spicy noodles really hit the spot on a cold night, not sure if i could've stomached anymore turkey.
i left after dinner, getting home around 7:30pm. temperature was still in the 40's, so it wasn't too cold, though i could see my breath. everyone seemed to be back from where ever they went for thanksgiving, as i couldn't find any parking and had to circle the block twice before i parked in a questionable spot. afterwards i went back outside and put the rain cover on the bike as it's going to rain overnight, as much as an inch. we're lucky the temperature isn't any colder than it is, otherwise we'd be seeing a foot of snow.
there was a hawks-celtics game today at 6pm. i caught the final quarter after getting back. both porzingis and holiday were out due to injuries, so celtics was left with the remnants of its original crew from last year. fortunately it was enough to beat the hawks, 113-103. boston seemed firmly in control for much of the game, it wasn't one where i was worried about the outcome. magic also won tonight, beating the hornets, extending their winning streak to 7 games, just a single game behind the celtics for best record in the eastern conference.
i bought a 32" high 8-panel dog playpen tonight for $70. my sister had been clamoring for my parents to get one, so she can leave esmei in belmont and have a time-out place to put her when she misbehaves (which seems like most of the time). i didn't think it was a good idea, figuring she'd eventually outgrow her "chewing on everything" phase, but my mother wanted to get one, so i had my sister send me so links and i went and looked for the best price. i also wanted to buy a used playpen off of craig's list but my sister said it was too high (4ft) and another one i saw looked too flimsy. this new playpen is due to arrive on saturday, but knowing amazon, it'll probably arrive a day or two earlier. the one i got is also designed for outdoor use, so when esmei outgrows this playpen, i can still use it in the garden to keep rabbits out of sensitive areas.
i also spent the night researching a new phone for my mother. she currently has a samsung S9+ which is 5 years old. the phone has started to have some issues, like dropped calls, so it's overdue for a replacement. after much analysis, i've decided she should get a renewed samsung S21+ for around $275. the S21+ is nearly 4 years old, but still a decent phone. it also had 3 camera lenses: wide, ultrawide, and zoom.