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i crept out of bed early to put on another coat of polyurethane on my backyard door. last night's rain had finally stopped and the temperature was 45°F, supposedly going up to 60°F by the afternoon - the perfect working condition. the tarp i'd taped to the door had been blown off by the wind, but i didn't need anymore since i figured it wouldn't be raining. it didn't take long for the sun to shine through the overcast. i didn't clean the paintbrush well enough the last time so now there flakes of dried polyurethane getting on the door.

my neighbor jeff was selling his house today. i saw him outside his soon-to-be-former home, smoking a cigarette, waiting for the real estate agent. he seemed lost in thought, i didn't want to disturb him. however, i was curious to know who would my new neighbors, since i never got the details from jeff himself. i wasn't here for most of this past weekend, otherwise i would've visited. jeff and i both moved to the neighborhood the same year (2002). i did some interior painting work for him, which was where i also met bruce. kind of weird to see him go, he was definitely a local fixture. not even sure where he's living now, but i heard he wanted to stay in cambridge. i don't think my new neighbors will be anywhere as interesting.

my other neighbor renee asked for my help today, something about a virus on her pc. i was waiting for my door to dry so i didn't have anything to do anyway so i agreed to take a look. her computer has grown progressively sicker the past few years and today was finally the day to call it quits. she'd contracted a nasty trojan horse disguised as an anti-virus software, popping up all sorts of windows and hijacking her browser. maybe there was some way to repair her machine, but the easiest solution was just to copy her user folder and erase the hard drive, do a fresh start. i told her to buy a flash drive and went back home, pretty certain i'd be returning tomorrow for more free computer repair service. if nothing else, i'm hoping a brand new system would fix all her problems so she won't be knocking on my door in the near future.

now in the full sun, the polyurethane dried quickly. i did some wet sanding with the 320 grit sandpaper before putting on the third and last coat.

for a late lunch i heated up the chicken soup i made from 6 days ago. i'd put it in the fridge, but only after it'd been sitting outside for 2 days. it had a weird smell but i figured heating it up would kill any bugs. i threw in some rice noodles into the mix as well. it definitely didn't seem right, and the bits of chicken tasted sour. i ate what i could and threw away the rest, preparing myself for the digestive apocalypse that would surely ensue. my reaction was disappointingly mild, to the point that maybe the soup wasn't bad after all.

when comcast took MSNBC off of their analog lineup, i was pretty angry. i was mad not because i'd miss all that chris matthew, or keith olbermann, or even rachel maddow. no, i was furious because i'd be deprived of my afternoon MSNBC anchor ladies. that add a touch of hotness to my otherwise dreary day, it's pretty sad, i know. but contessa brewer? or norah o'donnell? how abut tamron hall? or the eye candy that is special CNBC financial correspondent margaret brennan?

when sunset arrived i made by way to prospect hill, the highest and nearest point to my house, so i could see the conjunction of jupiter, venus, and a crescent moon. it was higher up in the sky that i'd imagined. the juxtaposition of these three celestial objects resembled an upside down frowning face. i was expecting a crowd up on the hill but it was empty. the amber glow of somerville contrasted with the gradient blues of the sky. after taking a few photos in the windy condition, i rode back home.

i had some hot dogs for dinner. when my roommate came back home later in the evening, he paid the next 2 month's rent without me reminding him. suddenly all that ill will i was harboring from last night disappeared. he said he'd been living here for almost 3 months now and wants to improve on his english, and that starting tomorrow we will only talk in english. up until now i've only heard him say a few words ("yes","no","hello") so he's laid out a pretty ambitious plan.