so i did these things today, in no particular order because not only can i not remember what day of the week it is anymore, but i'm also starting to not even remember the chronological order of the things i do within any given day. you think this kind of confused state might be scary, but it actually feels pretty good, feels like freedom. this is what my hunter gather ancestors must've felt like everyday.

• i finally got a visitor's parking permit ($8) for my condo, went down to the cambridge traffic, parking and transportation department. i see a pattern now, i've been encountering the prettiest girls working behind the counters in all the places i go. this young lady told me that i could apply for a second visitor's parking permit if i sent in a written request. we've been parking illegally for a few weeks now, and we haven't been ticketed yet. i think where i live, on the border of cambridge and somerville, traffic officers don't come around very often because it's hard to tell where cambridge ends and somerville starts.

• replaced the busted tubing on the back tire of my bianchi bicycle at the wheelworks in belmont. that place was insanely busy, didn't realize how many bicyclists there were. i used the craftsman mechanic tool set to take off the wheel. i also bought a portable tire pump to replace the one that i lost and a new water bottle holder. once i got home i reattached the fixed tire and took the bike out for a spin. riding a motorcycle has spoiled me forever because now when i'm on a bicycle all i can think about is how painfully slow it is. however, you get more exercise on a bicycle than you do on a motorcycle. and on a bicycle, i never go so fast that falling off would shatter my teeth into my skull.

• called an electrician for an appointment, got his voicemail instead, hopefully he'll call me back tomorrow.

• had two vietnamese floor specialists come over to the house and give me an estimate of how much it'd cost to put wooden floors in the two bedrooms and then sand the floors for the rest of the house. i told them i'd give them an answer by tomorrow, but looks like they're going to be the ones doing the floors. they can start as early as tuesday, which hopefully zuka and crew will be finished by then.

• made an appointment to attend a re-employment options seminar next week. i wasn't going to call until the end of the week, but i figured why avoid the inevitable. the woman on the other end was very nice. all the unemployment officers i've dealt wih have been very nice. maybe for once i'd like somebody to yell at me a little bit, tell me that i'm screwed. i suppose being out of work can be a sensitive subject matter, but i've lost sensation in that region the day i got laid off.

• went to the bernie & phyl's furniture warehouse down by the galleria mall. say what you will about their commercials, but they sell inexpensive furniture. i like the foxhunt cardinal sofa set. the price for a sofa plus a loveseat is actually cheaper than the catalina sofa i saw last week. the foxhunt is a pretty comfy sofa, the kind that you can really nestle in and fall asleep on. i don't like the fact that it doesn't have legs though. tomorrow night, i'll probably visit a few other furniture stores.

• in housing news, zuka and his crew put crown molding all along the perimeter of the ceilings in the living room and the two bedrooms. they also installed the door frame for the closet. how do i know all this? because my father paid them a visit before they left for the day (9pm), to make sure they were actually working. i told him not to go because i'd appear that we didn't trust them to do the work, but my father was pleasantly surprised that they've actually been very busy throughout the night, that we're definitely getting our money's worth in labor. current estimate is maybe a day or two more of work and then they're done. tomorrow, probably mostly detail work. i think zuka wants to finish the house by the end of this week just as much as we want him to be finished.

this morning at 7:30am i found myself in brookline buying a mirror from a guy who's ad i saw on craig's list.

i've been lurking on craig's list for a few weeks, looking for cheap used home furnishing items to buy, contacted a few people (usually about photos, but i did write a nasty anonymous note to a guy selling his G3 for an obscene amount of money), but never actually bought anything. so this morning was my first craig's list transaction. i am no stranger to this secret world, having accompanied eliza when she got her used monitor, so i knew what to expect, which meant i had a 6" backup knife hidden in my boot strap and made sure nobody was ever behind me. going to brookline of course meant i'd get lost, but nevertheless, i was still early for my appointment, so i parked and read my book in the car. never arrive early, always arrive on time, or slightly late. i had an embarassing moment when i couldn't find the apartment number and had to resort to a cellphone call asking the seller for further directions. with renewed and correct orientation, i located the apartment, the seller opening the door for me.

once inside the apartment, i immediately fell in love with it. WHAT AM I SAYING? I'M NOT HERE TO BUY A CONDO! old habits die hard it seems. but truthfully, the place was like a maze, must've been 1500 square feet of space, although a little dark. for a brief second i had some second thoughts about maybe i should've bought a place in brookline instead of cambridge. at least i would've had a parking space (most places in brookline include some form of parking space, deeded or rental, since there's no street parking at night), and the interior architecture of brick homes south of the charles river (which includes brookline) are always interesting. ANYWAY, back to the craig's list story.

the mirror was no ordinary mirror my friend. it didn't tell me who was the fairest (that answer i already know), but it was a free standing nyland mirror from ikea (my first ikea! <gushing>), towering over 6 feet tall, made from imitation mahogany wood (not like the color in the image, which is a blue variant). he had some other stuff to sell ("i'm moving to california," he said in his neatly pressed black shirt, about to go to work), i eyeballed his remaining inventory, didn't want anything else, gave him $40 in cash for the mirror (the nyland originally retailed for $80), and he helped open doors for me while i slowly walked out sideways, hugging the behemoth in my arms. into the suv went the large reflection apparatus. i drove him with this fear that as soon as i got back, there'd be a large crack in the mirror. fortunately that fear was unfounded. like a hero returning with the spoils of war, i hauled the mirror into the house, setting it up in my bedroom.

so now i am a proud owner of a used free standing mirror that towers over 6 feet tall. it might be a little bit too much mirror for me. who am i kidding? i've got vanity smurf written all over me, this huge mirror is perfect!