would i go for a run this morning? temperature after all was in the lower 40's, not too cold, good enough for running. but i just couldn't get myself to go. i figured i could go later in the afternoon when it was warmer. instead i headed out to market basket to get a few things.

after returning home briefly, i went to my 2nd aunt's place. i was there to install the IYF app on her google tv HDTV. i was sure if it'd work (i've only installed it on my xiaomi streaming box). i installed a file manager app first, then used that to launch the IYF apk installer on the thumb drive. it turned out to be a success, my 2nd aunt was very happy that she could now watch her streaming shows on her HDTV instead of just on her ipad.

next i went to the cafe to drop off a few supplies. i ended up going to my sister's place to check on her esmei webcam. for some reason it wouldn't connect to the network. fortunately she had a spare camera (brand new still in box), but when i tried to set it up, it too wouldn't connect. so instead i swapped it with her street facing camera for the time being, which does work. my sister was in the backyard with esmei. esmei wouldn't come back inside the house, but instead just sat and watched from behind a raised bed. when i called her she finally responded, running towards the house. but it looked like she was disappearing underneath the back porch, but a second later i saw her standing right by my feet. apparently she find a shortcut, running up a cemented drainage ditch. that dog is just too smart.

i ended up going back to the cafe and actually working for a little bit because my mother told my sister she could stay home because it wasn't busy. korea air contacted my parents and told them their flight itinerary for their march taiwan trip had changed: now they're flying china airline from incheon to taipei. unfortunately they won't be able to select their seats until they get to the airport checkout desk. my father even tried calling china airline but they said the tickets were locked. i then helped my parents book ($138) a transit hotel at the incheon airport (terminal 2) for their return trip. i called fireman's fuel and ordered 100 gallons of heating oil ($3.59/gallon) for belmont. i finally left around 1:30pm.

as for my run, the weather actually turned colder, as the sky became overcast and looked like it might rain. instead of running, once i got home, i did some raking, collected a barrel of dead leaves and pine cones. a neighbor's backyard pine tree lost all its pinecones during yesterday's rainstorm, launching them into our backyard. plus the gutter cleaners we came a few weeks ago also dumped leaves in our alleyway.

back inside, i finally made some lunch around 3pm, scrambled eggs and kielbasa sausage. i managed to burn the sausage which left a smokey smell in the kitchen which i tried to clean by using the air purifier. i also made a fruit smoothie, work in more potassium into my diet.

my sister sent me a link to the dog adoption website where she found esmei (originally named gidget). esmei was discovered with her brother as lost puppies in someone's backyard. so they have no idea what their parents were like. esmei's brother has a very classic beagle head. their parents must also be mixed-breed dogs because esmei looks very different from her brother, though their body is similar. some of the descriptions on the adoption site are kind of depressing. one dog was adopted but his owner got cancer and ended up returning him again. another dog was given up for adoption because the couple that originally own him had split up.

i spent some time today trying to retroactively update some older blog posts. 2023 is almost over and i have a huge backlog of missing photos, some dating back to 2022 even. at this rate they'll probably never get updated but i'm still going to try whenever i have some free time. it's not very hard but it's very tedious and takes a long time.

i also ran a time machine backup. it's been more than 2 weeks since my last backup. it hasn't been that long, but it's a good habit to routinely backup just in case.

later i started making my clam chowder (first part of it anyway). i found an america's test kitchen recipe online for new england clam chowder that looked very simple. it used a very unique technique of marinating the slightly cooked potatoes in clam juice to extract more clam flavor. so i cooked the potatoes and left it to marinate overnight, before making the actual chowder tomorrow. the recipe doesn't call for it but i also want to add some bacon (though i may leave it out, save my bacon for the weekend).

for dinner i just heated a package of frozen macaroni and cheese in the oven. i timed it to coincide with the celtics-warriors game, but forgot since it's out on the west coast, it wouldn't start until 10pm.

i flashed my quansheng UV-K5 tonight, using the online chrome browser method. i installed the egzumer custom firmware (v0.21). couldn't have been easier. i was initially hesitant to flash the firmware because i wasn't quite sure how to flash it back. but i don't think i'll ever go back to the original stock firmware after seeing all the new and useful features in the custom firmware (there's also a manual for the egzumer firmware).

as for that celtics game, they had a sizable lead early in the game, but the warriors came back and managed to tie it and send it to overtime. playing the warriors in a close game is super dangerous, and sure enough, celtics managed to lose, final score 126-132. we were playing without porzingis but didn't need him initially as we played for well. but there was a stretch where we had terrible shooting despite great offensive rebounds. it was just a weird game. hopefully when the warriors visit boston in early march celtics can get their revenge.