once the cards were finished, i made a grocery list and went out to run errands. walgreens was the first stop, to pick up some magnesium citrate for my mother's colonoscopy monday morning. second stop was the union square post office to drop off the cards. third and final stop was market basket. a few things for me, a few for the cafe, and some for my mother, including clear foods like apple juice and jello (the day before her examination she can only eat clear foods).
i got back home by 11:30am but left soon afterwards, this time taking the motorcycle to belmont. with temperatures dropping into the teens this weekend, now is a good time to empty all the rain barrels, especially since today was a relatively warm (50's) day. i worked outside wearing just a long-sleeved pullover which was enough to stay warm especially out in the sun. i had 7 rain barrels to empty. a part of me did feel a little bad clearing them out, as these were valuable rain water we'd accumulated. but with the freezing temperature, there was no way i could keep them and not have the water turn into ice and potentially damage the barrels.
i was in belmont for nearly 2 hours, waiting for the barrels to empty, getting creative with the garden and sump pump hoses. i had 4 pumps attached to a manifold that was hooked up to a 100ft garden hose. that took a very long time to drain, so much so i stopped using it and went with black sump pump hoses instead. my sister showed up with esmei briefly, scared me as i didn't hear them come into the backyard.
after the barrels were emptied, i stacked the black storage barrels by the fence behind the bamboos. i also moved the cinder block bases in case we need to get onto the roof to clear the snow off the solar panels.
i returned home a bit before 2pm. the final thing i had to do was fix my bicycle. the brakes don't work very well anymore and i'd had rear derailleur shifting issues for month. i could still ride with a wonky shifter, but getting the brakes fixed was the important thing. i thought i had to change the pads but i realigned the front wheel and shortened the cable for the rear brakes. i also cleaned the frame with some dollar store furniture polish, and applied new wax lube on the chains (there was a tiny bit of rust from the road salt), wiping it clean with a rag. i was going to call it a day, but decided to fix the derailleur issue since i already had all my equipment out. to do that i needed to get the bike onto the stand. i decided to do that indoors.
my sister showed up around that time, the second time i've seen her and esmei. she was washing a large rug at the nearby laundromat (the only place with a big enough washer to fit the rug) and showed up with her dog. esmei went through the house exploring everything, i kept an eye on her, afraid she might suddenly go pee because of her steroid medication. my sister returned to the laundromat at one point, leaving esmei behind. her dog climbed onto the couch and looked outside.
my sister finally left before 4pm, as i returned to my bike repair. it took quite the effort to get the bike onto the stand. my bike must weigh something like 60 lbs. easily. i had to balance it with one hand, while trying to clamp it to the stand with the other hand. finally i got the bike frame mounted.
the issue wasn't the rear derailleur, but rather the shimano 7-speed trigger shifter (altus SL-M315). it's a common issue, the grease inside the shifter mechanism gets gummed up, causing the shifters to get stuck. i opened up the housing but couldn't make sense of anything inside. i didn't see any grease, but it could be hidden behind the many gears and springs. i did douse the inside with some triflow oil, but kind of helped, until it got stuck again. i decided to live with the sticky shifter for the time being, maybe watch some more how-to youtube videos before tackling the issue again. but the brakes are fixed, which is the most important thing.
i pushed the bike outside and brought the disassembled bike stand down into the basement. i checked out the wheel light patterns earlier, even under a controlled setting i couldn't make any sense of the patterns. for now i just appreciate them for the flashing colors, which give me more visibility at night.
i decided to keep the merrell moab hiking shoes i bought last week. they're a women size 9, which is comparable to a men size 7.5. maybe a smidge shorter, and slighter thinner, but once i start wearing them they'll expand. for $69 they're a real bargain, considering they're also waterproof.
i heated some soft pretzels in the oven as a sodium-rich snack. looking at the cafe transactions, i noticed a $250 spike. afraid it might be a big order, i checked the webcam and didn't see any activity. i called my mother, who told me binbin came by earlier and made a big order for her company for tomorrow noontime. a bunch of noodles, a few bentos, and over a dozen boba drinks.
when evening came i remembered to go outside and put the cover on my motorcycle (parked just outside) as it's supposed to rain around 7:30pm.
for dinner i heated up a signature ultra thin curst garlic chicken alfredo pizza. that's the second night in a row where i've had chicken alfredo! thin crust is not a feature, it's a bug. it's like having a pizza on a thin cracker. ultra thin? ultra ripoff more like it. the pizza was okay.
nothing good on television (basketball doesn't resume until tomorrow) so i started watching the agency, the new spy series on paramount+. it's got a star-studded cast, including michael fassbender, jodie turner smith, richard gere, jeffrey wright, and katherine waterston.