view of boston from roxbury heights

i woke up at 7am and left shortly afterwards, back to norwood, another day of coding. i didn't think i'd stay the whole day, and i even brought bug spray, hoping i might get out early and venture to the ponkapoag bog nearby for some afternoon naturing. but in the unpredicatable world of lingo programming, you never know what's going to happen, and i encountered an unexpected bug involving multiple movies, media-key encrypted quicktimes, and disappearing audio playback. i wasn't able to leave until 4:30, by then too late to go bogging.

3 times i've gone down to norwood, for a total of 6 trips (if you count going and returning separately). i'm starting to know the area well enough that i remember where the potholes and speed bumps are, and what stores i pass along the way. the best part is the ride back, when coming over a hill in west roxbury i can see all of boston just over the horizon. i didn't get lost in the fenway area like i did yesterday, although traffic was a little hairy as i weaved and dodged between a few cars to get to the head of the line.

i decided to come back via memorial drive, which from past experience i should've remembered that it becomes bumper-to-bumper gridlock at rush hour. turning lemon into lemonade, i decided to take a short visit to microcenter. i went in with my bulging knapsack (it had my jacket, which i wore this morning), which caught the attention of store security, as i was shadowed by an undercover guard the whole time, figuring i might be a high-risk candidate for being a shoplifter. a few times i wanted to turn to him and say, "don't worry, i'm not going to steal anything!" but i stole something anyway, stuffed a G5 down my pants when nobody was looking (please, i'm joking). i rerouted via magazine street, through central square, then finally came home.

after a bit of rest, i started to clean up the place since julie was coming over. i vacuumed the bathroom, kitchen, and living room, then windexed a few dirty windows. she came by around 7:30, bringing with her a gift of basil along with the ingredients to make tonight's dinner. from her asian cookbook she dug up a recipe for a mushroom soba noodle dish, improvised with some pork gyozas and cooked in hot chili oil for that extra kick. the recipe also gave her an excuse to use up the bounty of scallions growing from her community garden plot. dinner was pretty good (it didn't hurt that i was super hungry; i had a free lunch at the client's office, but it was mostly salad).

we watched the MLB all stars game. is it just me, or does it feel like browsing at the players supermarket, as i try to imagine who else the red sox should add to their lineup? it's not just the yankees who can afford the brand new talents. after the AL got the lead, the game became boring, especially since the managers started to switch out players so everyone could get a chance to play. julie was having problems staying awake, and decided to go back home before she passed out.