with a storm arriving, i didn't bother leaving the house. the temperature in the morning with in the mid-40's, and by afternoon it started to rain at a steady clip. 
the temperature slowly dropped until by evening it finally reached the lower 30's the precipitation started coming down as snow. not really enough to shovel, maybe just kick off the sidewalk with my shoes. it'd already snowed once before in mid-october, but that was just a flurry, with nothing really sticking. tonight's storm was a more palpable demonstration that we're definitely kicking off the winter season now.
i felt bad for my roommate, wandering around new york city on this wet and cold and miserable saturday. actually, i'm more concerned about his camera equipment. he's basically a digital SLR virgin, and doesn't know all the tricks regarding bad weather photography. i wonder if he even took my advice and swapped the UV filter onto his kit lens, which is the one he'll be using most often. the bad weather is only today though: the rest of the weekend until monday night (when he returns) will be relatively stable and dry.
i woke up early this morning to bid on a pair of OEM honda shadow VT750 motorcycle mirrors. i'm under the impression (true or false, i don't know) that if i wait until the last minute to bid on an ebay item, any other bidders won't have time to mount a counterbid (provided i bid above their maximum limit). the seller was from pennsylvania and i won the bid at $15.50, with an additional $10 for shipping. i'm currently watching a few (3) used clutch mount brackets; there's less than 2 days left on the items, each selling for $20 with various rates for shipping. had i known money could be made from all these used motorcycle parts, i would've stripped down my honda rebel before the insurance company towed it away for scrap metal (i did remove the mirrors and the 6v battery though).
i found an online bicycle store last night that was having a weekend sale: 15% off on all park tools, and free shipping when ordering 6 or more items with no minimum purchase price. i ended up ordering $50 worth of bike tools and another $30 for a replacement crankset (shimano M191 170mm 28/38/48 silver without chainguard). the tools i got were: cassette lockring remover, crank puller tool, chain whip with pedal wrench, a bottom bracket pin spanner, and a bottom bracket lockring spanner. this should be it as far as bike tools, i don't plan on getting anymore in the near future. every once in a while i get these obsessions and i end up going on a spending spree. it was like this when i was really into aquariums, and that winter when i built a grow house in my closet.
a few packages arrived in the mail, all for my father: a replacement motorola cellphone recharger plug and a pair of batteries. i ordered the BT90 thinking they'd work with the KRZR phones (1800 mAh versus the usual 940 mAh on a BT51 battery), but turns out they're a lot thicker (actually, they will work, but i'd need to buy a special extended battery door cover). anyway, besides the batteries not working, one of them arrived already torn from the packaging and with the battery completely deformed (smooshed on one side). i'm sending it back to amazon.com for a refund.
i had a slice of custard pie for lunch but had a heartier meal of homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner (mixed with steamed cauliflower, broccoli, and corn and spiced with a dash of south american chili powder). i caught up on some downloaded shows and movies, including 30 rock, community and extract (that mike judge comedy).
the wet snow may freeze overnight, but by tomorrow most of it will have melted. theoretically, since none of the snow will be sticking around for long, my motorcycle riding season isn't officially over yet. but with the recent damage, i'm kind of not really in the mood for riding anymore and my main focus for the motorcycle now is to get it fixed, cleaned, and put away in storage for the rest of the season.