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the first thing i did this morning was to go out into the backyard with my bike pump and tire levers and put a new inner tube into that 700x28c rear wheel. i inflated the tube a little bit before tucking it inside the tire, then pulled the bead inside the rim. everything was easy until the last bit of beading; some bad words were muttered until finally i used a tire lever to push that last bit inside the rim. while getting ready to inflate the tire completely, i noticed blood leaking from one of my grease-darkened knuckles. cleaning the wound was a painful job because first i had to scrub off the grease.

after i got the tire inflated, i wiped it down with a paper towel. the wheel itself is in excellent condition, and should i ever decide to disassemble the denali for parts, the wheel would be great for a different road bike. i have another spare tube but for the time being i'm not going to bother changing the front wheel (until i have a reason to, like a leak). i put the rear wheel back onto the bike tomorrow morning and see it completely assembled for the first time. i'm still wishfully thinking i can ride this bike - maybe if i wore some platform shoes so i could clear the top tube?

leaving for belmont aboard the trek express, i was hoping i'd run into my upstairs neighbors. i couldn't decide how i'd talk to them about what happened last night: serious, humorous, sarcastic, passive-aggressive? i was leaning towards humor, for the sake of condo neighbor harmony. luckily for them, i didn't see them, although i did glare up at their windows while i was packing my bike.

temperature was in the 50's but i felt warm for some reason and just tied my jacket to the rear rack with a bungie cord while i wore a simple long-sleeved shirt. i wore some light gloves though, just to keep my hands warm. i like riding with one hand, the other hand casually in a pocket, moving at a slow but steady speed.

my mother made me some noodles for lunch. she watched galaxy quest on tv and was surprised she'd never seen it before (1999). i played her the new season of game of thrones, including the web-recorded accidentally-released episode 2 that'd be airing later tonight on HBO.

i actually made a portion of dinner tonight, my ricotta spinach pie dish with bacon. i started preparations too late and since the pie still needed to bake at least 40 minutes in the oven, my mother stepped in with a pan of frozen wontons that she quickly fried in a matter of minutes. my sister also baked some cookies since the oven was already on (turning on the rarely-used oven is quite an undertaking because my parents use it primarily as storage for pots and dishes so i first had to take everything out). my parents thought the ricotta pie was good, but dinner baking is something they rarely do, so i don't expect this to be on the usual lineup.

the rest of my time in belmont was spent calming down my sister over her income tax returns. in years past i've been doing taxes for my sister (as well as my 2nd aunt), but i told her she should be doing it herself so i got her some software (which is how i do it myself). i never really examine all the documents turbotax prints out, since all i care about is how much i have to pay. my sister was checking over her returns and saw some weird numbers; turns out they're automatically generated by the software and doesn't affect the returns one way or another. she also couldn't print and convinced me to buy new toner (3!) when the probably was actually just her computer which fixed itself after a simple restart.

i arrived back at home at the exact same time my roommate was coming home as well. i didn't ask him where he was and we actually didn't even talk to one another now that i think about it. he made some noodles for dinner and ate in his room.

finally, mad men: i'm sure everyone will be talking about how don strangled madchen amick to death after sex. my jaw dropped during those final minutes. i loved how he later kicked her under the bed, which made it even more shocking (why not just literally sweep her under the shag rug?). mad men suddenly became a period murder drama! but alas, just a fever dream sequence. does this mean a more faithful don? first he loses his work mojo, and now his other mojo? 5th season draper sucks! old don would've willed his sickness into submission. elsewise, joan kicks her rapist army doctor husband to the curb! does that mean her mother will be staying even longer? that can't be a good thing either. could roger and joan eventually get together now that she's a single mom raising their love child?