today was a gentle work day to start off the week. i'm only working today and wednesday, before leaving for new york city thursday and friday, coming back early saturday morning to work again. i also have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so a lot of running around this week. plus my former roommate drew is visiting for a week next weekend, and i need to clean up the house before he arrives.
i didn't need to make any tea eggs today, as we still had a backup batch i made on saturday. i did make 8 boxes of ice. my father was the busiest, making new batches of zhajiang and minced pork sauces, flaying an assortment of chicken, all in between coughing fits. it got busy around lunchtime as well as after 5pm.
the cantilever umbrella straps i ordered last week finally arrived today. they were a lot smaller and flimsier that expected. i realized they wouldn't work with our setup as the straps would block customers from accessing the patio deck.
i went to trader joe's in the afternoon because we ran out of baby cucumbers. i kept myself busy by either cleaning or refilling sauce bottles. i also brought outside two small jasmine plants after my father noticed mealybugs; i sprayed them with 70% alcohol before bringing them back inside.
esmei flitted in and out of the cafe today. my sister took her to the vet to get allergy shots which cost $400. i never heard of a dog with allergies before. dogs are pretty dirty by nature, i figured all that wallowing in the mud makes them somehow allergy resistant. esmei was wearing a new purple harness that belonged to hailey. the combination of purple with her white collar reminded me of a priest. on their way back from the vet, my sister found two milk crates.
my mother packed me some leftover dinner before we closed for the day. i strapped it to the back of my bicycle as i rode home. i ate as soon as i got back, taking a shower afterwards.