the police had the length of my street blocked off for the modular house delivery. cars that didn't heed the posted warning signs were unceremoniously towed away without owner's consent. modular homes? i didn't know what to expect, and in my mind i pictured a tiny fully-formed cottage house being delivered on the back of a large flatbed truck. in reality, the modular home arrived in four pieces each the size and shape of a shipping container. covered in white plastic, you wouldn't know it was a house if it wasn't for the occasional windows and doors. there was a tall crane that lifted each segment and stacked them on top of each other to form a cube in the prepared empty lot.
with the weather so nice (i.e. not raining), i motorcycled to chinatown to pick up my plane ticket and my passport with my new china visa (good for 180 days). there's just a single blank page left for stamps before i'll need to get a new passport. i got some groceries from a nearby supermarket and stopped by the cafe briefly before returning home.
i worked on some code before taking a break and heading back out again, this time to the garment district to look for some traveling pants. they had some my size but the fabric wasn't light enough and i tried to imagine wearing them during the hot chinese summer and how sweaty i'd be. why not just wear shorts? partly because i don't want to get mosquito bites, and partly because i don't want to look like a tourist. maybe i can buy some cheap pants when i arrive in shanghai.
in the evening julie came over to make a pasta salad for dinner. my housemate came home but quickly left to have dinner with a friend. julie and i watched the game; the red sox won again and their victories are becoming so routine that they're starting to be boring. nothing that a mets pitcher by the name of pedro martinez can't solve tomorrow night.