i've been getting good quality sleep the past few weeks, especially ever since i got a cold. i figured i needed all the recovery time i could get, going to bed around 11pm, falling asleep by midnight, getting some good 8 hours of sleep. unfortunately last night was not one of those nights. i stayed up late planting indoor seeds, didn't finish until 12:30am. i was in bed by 1am, but watched videos in bed until 2am, so only managed 6 hours of sleep.

i went to star market this morning before working. 99¢ sale on ham, but of course they were all out. instead i got some shaved steak and two large but unripe cantaloupes.

today was another busy day, in a week where we've had nothing but busy days despite the sometimes bad (cold, rainy) weather. i made some banchan with old bean sprouts. i had some tripes. more tong hao in chicken soup with tofu over rice. the two potted jasmines both suffered pest infestations: not only mealybugs but what appears to be spider mites as well. i sprayed with alcohol and my father cut off a bunch of the stems, but i think the only real way to cure these plants of pest is to spray them with bifenthrin. i did that with most of our grow room plants, and not a single one of them have mealybugs or spider mites. of course that means these jasmines can't go outside for the next few months, and will have to be houseplants for the time being.

i continue to manage my cold symptoms. surprisingly, i'm symptom free when i wake up in the morning. i think some mouth breathing because of my snoring dries up my throat, with the side effect of temporarily clearing up my post-nasal drip. but the moment i get to the cafe my symptoms kick in. the bit of labor from the bike ride ends in a serious coughing fit. now i'm starting to wonder if some of it isn't spring allergy symptoms thrown into the mix. i had a zantac but it didn't seem to do anything. cough i control through cough drops. periodically i blow my nose, thick viscous discharge.

we had zero customers in the final 1-1/2 hours. that's typical of a friday, a lot of people have weekend plans that don't involve a visit to our cafe first. the weather was still cold when we left, more winter than spring. at least it wasn't raining, which won't be the case this weekend where once more it's expected to be wet. despite all the winter snow and spring rain, much of eastern MA is still in a drought stage, the aftermath of the dry summer we had last year.

i had the last of my leftover gyudon for dinner. i'm getting better at assembling everything, from heating up the gyudon and rice in the microwave, to chopping up the scallions, to making a poached egg on the stovetop. it was okay but i'm pretty gyudon'ed out. i look forward to eating something else.

hornets played the celtics tonight. boston had everyone available except jaylen brown. charlotte led for much of the first half, though only by single digits, so boston was always within striking distance. i think the celtics were just pacing themselves. in the second half the celtics flipped a switch and not only regained the lead but continued to expand upon it. 4th quarter was played with bench players, and in the final minutes it was the bench bench players. celtics win 94-130.