i went the route that made the most sense to me, which was just to get onto mass ave and take it all the way into boston (traffic lights and all). despite being relatively early, i could already see groups of st.patrick's day revelers (wearing green) heading into the city. in my haste to leave, i forgot my phone. being without it felt a little weird. i couldn't gps track my location and i couldn't take any photos. approaching foodpak, i noticed what appeared to be fog, which was unusual. i had my windows opened a crack and i could swear i smelled smoke.
it was all business at foodpak. i worked from my supply list, collecting each item systemically. i was basically finished after just 10 minutes. i got everything on my list except for the light rice vinegar (forgot). me running this trip saves my parents from having to do it when they get back home. our favorite bearded loader guy was there but i got the chubby hispanic guy instead. i gave him a $2 tip.
instead of heading straight home, i decided to go to ming's market to get some chinese cabbage. i got there via washington street, parking in the free weekend lot. foodpak was sold cabbages for 89¢/lbs., while here they were 99¢. a part of me want to check nearby c-mart to see their prices, but that would've been a waste of time. at least the cabbages here were good looking though a little small. i picked 5 of the largest heads along with some carrots and left.
i returned to cambridge via berkeley street (onto storrow drive), cutting through copley square. now i was seeing even more st.patrick's day parade goers. the parade started earlier this year, at 11:30am instead of the usual 1pm. nice day for it, normally st.patrick's day is cold and occasionally wet. temperature today would hit 70 degrees, felt very spring-like even though officially spring doesn't start until next week.
i cut though harvard square to stop at my house first to grab my phone before heading to the cafe by 11:30am. i unloaded the supplies. my sister came by with an unused eufy webcam so i could put it down in the basement to monitor the contractors who will be working downstairs starting tomorrow. it's for the tenant next door, getting some more electrical and plumbing work done.
i went to my parents' place to check on the house. i watered the plants in the basement. one of my wintering hot peppers seemed to have dried up with shriveled leaves even though the soil was still moist. i ended up not doing too much watering as i gave all the plants a thorough drenching last weekend. the fungus gnats are still there, there's something off with my Bti treatment. i only watered the orchids and gave some fertilizer to the gardenia. one of the orchids had dropped a flower bud, the first time this season i've seen it happen. i think it's because the other buds are so large, they basically used up all the nutrients.
i moved outside to do some outdoor gardening. it was so warm i stripped down to just a t-shirt. i wanted to do some tree pruning, but the wooden swing was right underneath the maple tree and i couldn't move it on my own. so i ended up just doing some raking in the southwestern corner of the yard. i also put up the rabbit fencing for all the raised beds except for RB0 (needs a few more missing panels).
i went to the garage to check that the 11mm spring band hose clamps would fit the fuel line on the snowblowers. they seem to be an exact fit (much better than 12mm). they also have "11" stamps on the clamps which is a nice touch.
i left belmont around 2pm, drove back home. i thought about going to market basket, but decided it'd either do it tomorrow (by car, in the rain), or wait until tuesday morning before work. even though it was a nice warm day, it wasn't worth it going to crowded market basket on a weekend. instead i just stayed home. i didn't eat anything yet, so had some truffle cheese on crackers along with some herring fillets. these were a brunswick brand i got from market basket. they're okay, but don't have any of that smoky goodness of latvian sprats.
i finally finished blink twice (2024) last night. i'd been working on that movie for more than a week, but it's so cringe, sometimes i could only watch a few minutes before i had to go watch something else. don't get me wrong, i like the film, i think it's great, but the subject matter is very disturbing. it's the story of a pair of friends invited to the secluded private island of a rich tech mogul along with a bunch of his other friends. the place seems like a paradise at first, but there are troubling signs. like all the help act really weird. our main protagonist finds dirt underneath her fingernails every morning. a stained dress becomes clean the next day. the cast is top notch, with naomi ackie at frida, our main character. i only watched this movie after i saw her on a late night interview. channing tatum plays the tech mogul. there's also adria arjona, alia shawkat, geena davis, haley joel osment, christian slater, simon rex, and kyle maclachlan. and directing debut of zoe kravitz. doesn't that sound like a movie you'd want to see? afterwards i watched it a second time, catching all the clues i missed the first time around.
watching the evening news is how i learned there was a very large (8-alarm) trash transfer station fire in roxbury, hence the smoke in south boston today when i went to foodpak. i don't remember it smelling bad though, just a generic smoke smell.
i didn't have dinner until almost 9pm. made another serving of korean rice cakes. i've fulfilled my rice cake quota, it'll be a while before i eat rice cake again. i washed it down with some woodchuk pearsecco followed by a superbee apple.
my father called me from taiwan one last time, to confirm i'd pick them up from the airport tuesday 6:30pm when they return from taiwan. it's currently monday morning in taipei, they leave tuesday morning, which will be monday night boston time.