i left for a run by 10am this morning. temperature was just in the 50's, but perfect for running. it was surprisingly windy outside, particularly in the shade, so i tried to stay in the sun. i listening to what went wrong podcast, this one about the making of goldeneye, the pierce brosnan 007 flick. coming back, i went by the starbucks on the corner of shephard and mass ave and saw that they were closed for business, as i read about online. the windows were all papered up, the signs taken off the storefront. this place was always busy with harvard law school students. if a business with deep pockets like starbucks can't make it here, i wonder what will take its place? another bank? or maybe it'll stay empty indefinitely. not just this one, but popular locations in harvard square, davis square, and even in boston were closed today.

i got back home at exactly 11am. i was using the bathroom when my mother called. she said they needed potatoes at the cafe to make chicken curry. so my plan for today was to apply clear protective paint film on my ebike then ride the northern strand trail as far a nahant, then visit malden 88 on my way back. however, i didn't take into account how winding it was today. besides, my plan was way too ambitious. so i decided to hit some local supermarkets instead. i took a quick shower and left.

i took my trek utility bike. trying to figure out the logistics, i decided to go to the davis square h-mart first to get daikon radish. i think market basket occasionally carries it, or in one of their larger stores, but i knew 100% h-mart would have them - but at what price? they were selling for $1.29/lbs. i picked the smallest one i could find, about a pound's worth. i took a quick look through the rest of the store to see what else i could buy. even their sale items were kind of expensive, so i just got the daikon.

next i made a stop at the somerville avenue walgreens to pick up a prescription before continuing onwards to market basket. parked outside was a black ride1up vorsa ebike ($1600). i looked up the specs afterwards, it's a pretty decent ebike. it has both torque and cadence sensor, speed up to 28mph, 750W motor 95Nm, and a frame welded rear rack that can hold 150 lbs. plus it comes with fenders and front suspension. unfortunately it weighs 70 lbs. so it's not a bike for me because i couldn't lift it in and out of my basement storage.

picked up some russet potatoes ($2.99 5lbs. bag), baby cucumbers, celery, garlic, and charsiu pork seasoning. for myself i got a container of market basket chicken noodle soup ($3.99), as well as some frozen on-cor dinners and some kraft macaroni and cheese (never had them before, wanted to try them out).

i rode straight to the cafe around 12:30pm. my 2nd aunt was there today working, and my godmother was there visiting. she asked to see my ebike, but i told her i didn't ride it today. after unloading the supplies, i left, despite it getting busy.

i warmed up the chicken noodle soup on the stove. it was okay, but i kind of prefer the campbell canned variety, plus the canned version is cheaper. there's probably less preservative in the fresh noodle soup though. chicken noodle soup isn't so hard to make, i could probably make my own if i wasn't so lazy.

i went down to star market to get some 1L seltzer on sale (79¢ a bottle) as well as some triscuit crackers.

eliza sent me an intriguing e-mail today. she rented a house in hendaye france (southern france bordering basque spain) during the final full week of october. she invited me to come down because they have a spare bedroom. this happens to be the same week that my parents are on vacation and the cafe is closed. the timing couldn't be better. i'll need to cancel a few doctor's appointments and change the time of a video conference call, but it's doable. the roundtrip airfare is about $700-800.

i was supposed to be putting the protective film on my ebike frame. however, i ended up procrastinating cleaning because applying the film was tricky and i kept trying to put it off.

i ended up cleaning my basement for 2 hours. i used one of my photo lights as a work light, clamping it to one of the ceiling pipes. i emptied the two steel frame shelves and moved them up against the side of the basement wall. that's where they used to be, but i moved to the center of the basement when i had insulation pumped into my walls (they also did some work insulated the area between the basement wall and the bottom of my first floor condo). it's been like that for almost a decade now, too lazy to move it back. the problem is all the basement lights are located near the center, so the shelves sort of eclipsed them so my half of the basement was always dark. moving the shelves gives me more room now and more light.

i also designated a few more bikes to be relocated. my 24"-wheel bianchi bike i can ride to the cafe tomorrow. there's also a red 3-speed and a tall frame 10-speed schwinn road bike. i replaced the tires on the red 3-speed but it needs some new wiring work before it can ride. the schwinn is too tall for me to ride, i'll need the car to move it. there's also another trek bike that's currently upside down because i stripped the front wheel off of it one time to give to a different time. i did find a replacement front wheel rim but it doesn't have any tube or tire (i could probably scrounge something up). so the red 3-speed and the upside down trek i want to keep because i can work on those. the bianchi and schwinn 10-speed will the the last bikes to be moved.

so i never did get around to applying the protective paint film on my ebike. i did however move the bike out of the basement and into my kitchen, so i could work on it anytime i want.

by then it was getting close to 6pm, the start of game 2 of the red sox-yankees wild card series. it was must-win for the yankees; lose tonight and their season ends. i ate the leftover cold pizza while i watched the game. sox managed to match the yankees run per run, and the score was tied at 3-3 going into the final innings. yankees managed to score another run in the 8th inning, and load the bases but boston got out of the jam. unfortunately red sox couldn't get any runs in the 9th and the game was over 3-4 yankees win. tomorrow night's game will be for all the marbles.