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woke up from a strange dream involving a malfunctioning camera, the mermaid parade, a rickety bridge, halong bay, san francisco, and an old friend. my subconscious is working overtime these days, churning out vivid dreams, incoherent mashups of memories. was it something i ate? life stress? who knows, but i can't wait to fall asleep tonight and see what else the mind has in store for me.

this morning i discovered i won an ebay auction in the middle of the night. turns out i was the only bidder, which is good news because there's no competition, but could also be bad news, because maybe the other collectors know something i don't (cursed objects!). a set of six aqua glass insulators at about $3 a piece including shipping and handling. they're due to arrive sometime this week, can't wait to get my hands on them.

i went with my father into boston on a chinatown supply run. we first visited ming's market, followed by the new c-mart (formerly super 88). the first and last time i was this particular c-mart, we had to cut our trip short because my father had to race back home to use the bathroom. it was also snowing at the time. on this occasion, no time restriction, and a steady drizzle instead of snowflakes. i made an important discovery regarding this new c-mart: its prices are more expensive than ming's market. that being the case, it's still the most well-stocked (and clean) asian supermarket in the chinatown area. it's nice for browsing, but if you want deals, go to ming's market (the parking situation is a little better at ming's as well).

back at home, a package was waiting for me on my doorstep. i searched my brain, trying hard to remember what it could be. turns out it was the used replacement chrome-plated rear brake pedal i bought for $8 through ebay on friday (super fast service). even though it was still raining, i went out and replaced the old pedal with the new used one. i was afraid that this 1987 pedal wouldn't work but it fit perfectly. however, the contact point where the pedal touches a nut mounted on a bolt is off by half a centimeter. not that big a deal, but i may want to glue some foam material to dampen the strikes. the pedal also has a few nicks and a tiny amount of rust, but not bad for $8 (a new pedal would cost $80). i can't wait to try out the new pedal tomorrow, when it stops raining.

made some calls in the afternoon. first to a solar water heater company to inquire about shipping cost. every summer my father wants to install a solar system for their house, i was helping him inquire about prices. i also called verizon FIOS, scheduled an appointment to install fiber optic cable/internet at my parents' place next monday morning. although it wasn't specified online, i managed to get the salesman to give me the free HDTV set top box (STB) for a year deal. that's $80 for double package plus an additional $6 to rent a second STB (standard version).

for lunch and dinner i had the leftover steaks and ribs from last night. monday night is all about chuck and now my new favorite show, battle bc on the history channel.