we already finished with our costco shopping right around the time the general public was allowed in. i carefully removed two boxes from the jenga pile of boxes. i was looking for the tony tipico van - which we always see - out in the parking lot, but they were nowhere in sight. only when we left the parking lot did we see the van parked right next to the store (they must've got there early).
instead to our next supply run destination, we took a side trip to the nearby dollar tree so my mother could look for some cheap yarn (even though a michael's crafts store was just a few stores down). while she was doing that, my father and i went to total wine & more to get some chinese baijiu. i was also looking for nitro milk stout but couldn't find it. they have a good selection of moonshine, but a lot of it was novelty flavored shine, including one with pickles. while my father returned to the car, i went to the dollar store to find my mother, who was already paying. when we went out, we saw a man that looked almost like my father from the back, including a limp.
we didn't need to go to restaurant depot or the chelsea market basket, so instead we started to head back, stopping at bianco's to get some chinese sausages.
next stop was the nearby wellington circle plaza. while my father and i went to harbor freight, my mother went to ocean state job lot. we were in search of $10 PVC folding sawhorses on sale. we weren't the only ones, there was another man there looking for the same thing. in the spot where they should be was just an empty space. i tracked down an associate to ask if they had anymore. he told us no, but did suggest trying some nearby stores where they still had a few in stock. that's okay, we didn't really need them, just looking to buy spares in case the ones we did have fail. plus, there's always the option to build our own cheap sawhorses (non-folding) using 2x4 and 3" deck screws. we left with some magnetic hooks.
i went to OSJL to find my mother. it was weird inside. for one thing, everything was dimly lit, they only turned on ever other bank of ceiling light. many of the aisles also weren't fully stocked. it felt like they were going out of business or something. my mother did not find any cheap yarn, just a shopping cart full of cheap foods, including a jar of latvian sprats.
leaving wellington circle plaza, we saw a row of shiny new tesla chargers. say what you will about that company, but their chargers seem to be everywhere. you might not want to buy a tesla because you're no fan of elon musk, but his car company seems like the ones about to easily find a charger.
our final destination was the somerville market basket. typically we return via temple street and up school street by the somerville high school. but earlier when we passed by that area there was a lot of road repairs and we noticed we couldn't come back the same way. so instead we ended up cutting through union square. we were behind a guy dressed in business casual clothes riding an oversized dirt bike. whenever he came to a stop he was on his tippy toes. it seemed not only uncomfortable but dangerous as well.
my father found some pork butts at the somerville market basket, not the best, but not the worst either. we didn't need to get them grounded so that saved us some time.
i got dropped off at my place while my parents continued to the cafe. i grabbed my things and headed to the cafe as well to help unload. along the way i saw someone had tossed out a large birdfeeder. i grabbed it and stuffed it inside my saddle bag, along with a very pretty book (a reader's digest condensed book from 1977) that i'm going to hollow out and turn into a book safe.
costco opening an hour early for members such as ourselves allows us to get our supply run finished a bit earlier. we were back at the cafe around noontime to unload everything. getting ready to leave, we bumped into my sister taking esmei out. her dog seemed friendlier today, greeting everyone (though probably still sniffing for food).
i got a chance to examine the bird feeder i found. it's a squirrel buster finch feeder that sells for about $80. it's twice as large as the squirrel buster feeder i own, and it only takes nyjer seeds - 2.4 lbs. worth to be exact. the most common bird that eats nyjer are goldfinches.
we cooked the freshly marinated garlic wings we bought from costco. instructions said to preheat the oven and set to medium and grill for 20-30 minutes, turning frequently to prevent scorching. we also had some hot italian sausages. these wings are bigger than the ones we usually eat (frozen kind that we dry brine then grill, applying a sweet thai chili sauce in the process), so i was afraid they wouldn't as well, but they turned out great. we did in fact cook them for almost 30 minutes, but that was the proper time to get them crispy on both insides. a few wings underneath the dripping sausages got burnt from the searing flames. i couldn't tell these were garlic wings, but they had a good flavor nevertheless. i think they'll taste better tomorrow as leftovers, since these were more wings than we normally eat in a day.
my mother harvested another luffa gourd, and a bunch of long beans, enough to ferment another batch in a quart-size mason jar. so also collected the last of our bitter melons. we still have a few luffas hanging from the vines, but the bitter melons seem to be all done of the season, now that the weather has turned colder.
i went out to the backyard to fly my drone. according to my record, the last time i flew was back in late november? so almost a year! i wanted to get some photos of our garden. afterwards i flew up to inspection the neighbor's new mcmansion in progress. they built the foundation a few weeks ago, and already they're starting to construct the frame of the house up to the first floor. honestly, they're making a lot of progress and building faster than i expected. i wanted to do some distance flying but my battery was running out so i brought the drone home.
in the late afternoon my father and i went outside to screw the back braces to one of the picnic table seats. the idea is to connect the two boards together so they can become a seat, but not attach them in case we need to take off the seats for some reason (like moving the table so it's not as heavy). it took a while because the two boards were not entirely flat. we were hoping the wooden braces would flatten them, and they did to a small extent, but the boards are simply too warped. i also managed to bash my knee into one of the "struts" for the seats, hard enough to break the skin and it'll probably bruise over by tomorrow. a potential fix for the wobbling bench would be to attach a shim to one of the corners.
for dinner we finally had some of the fermented long beans. my parents cooked them with some ground beef and chili peppers. it was good, but the beans can be even more sour for maximum flavor. thankfully we have plenty more long beans fermenting.
i returned home. at the intersection of linnaean and mass ave, a car in front of me had the green light but was waiting for a driver in the walgreens parking lot to get ahead of her. it was taking forever and i started revving my engine. the car behind me started honking its horn before it realized i was putting on an obnoxious motorcycle noise show. it was loud enough to attract the attention of nearby pedestrians. i finally managed to turn as the light was turning yellow.
there was a vikings-bears game tonight but i wasn't interested in either teams. hoping to get to bed early so i can continue reading starving saints by caitlin starling. not even sure i found this novel, described as a medieval horror with LGBT elements.
back to work tomorrow, with the possibility of finally getting my ebike on wednesday (though i'm not holding my breath). i kind of like the idea of having an ebike, but to actually have one, to take care of it, it makes me nervous. i also don't want to be a statistic, one of those unlucky people who get their ebike stolen days after getting it. i feel as a seasoned bike rider i'm pretty good with my bike security, but that's also because i've been riding a junk bike for the last 20 years, never ridden a bike that's actually worth stealing.