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there is a man who lives on my street whom i fondly call the neighborhood redneck. he sort of hangs around outside his house all day, either in a wifebeater or topless when it gets too hot. he has a mullet and a moustache and in the 6 years i've lived here we've never spoken. but with my recent newly-discovered ability to communicate with people on the fringes of society, i told bruce that the redneck and i would become friends today.

sure enough that's what exactly happened. i was making my way to the community garden to water my plants in the late afternoon. the redneck was standing outside his house (as usual) and saw me limping. "what happened?" he asked, with a trace of genuine concern in his voice. "i got into a motorcycle accident," i told him. turns out he used to bike as well, so we instantly hit it off. he told me that the red scooter parked on the lower end of our street was recently stolen. the thieves couldn't cut through the security lock so they clipped through the spokes of the wheel. the handlebar was locked but apparently they lifted it up into the back of a truck and just drove the whole thing away. by that time dennis had shown up on his bicycle, and joined in our conversation, swapping motorcycle/bicycle horror stories. i discovered that ed - his name - is a one-man community watchdog, and from the windows of his house he actually as three different webcams trained onto the street to catch any criminal activity. one time somebody tried to break into his house and he was waiting by the window with a bayonet, ready to stab the unlucky robber. fortunately for the thief, he couldn't get in and gave up. ed also told us about the drug den on beacon street, and sometimes junkies will come around looking for something easy to steal for drug money. never realize how shady my neighborhood was! having lived at the same cambridge address for pretty much all of his life, ed was also a walking encyclopedia of macabre local facts, like he can you if anybody has ever died on any particular street corner. he said if i wanted to sell my motorcycle, he'd buy it off of me, warts and all.

so i made a new neighbor friend today. never thought it'd be ed though.

in the garden i finally planted some flower seeds: mixed sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias. not sure how many will germinate, i might try sprouting some in containers with potting mix, which is easier on seedlings compared to the raw garden dirt. i also replanted a few nasturtiums into the ground, figured it was about time to release them and not keep them captive in those plastic cups. it was hot; trickles of salty sweat rolled into my eyes and mouth. the kind of heat that made me pant from exhaustion. fortunately today is the final day of our 4 day heat wave. our regularly scheduled late spring early summer weather resumes tomorrow.

when i got back home i dug out my old motorcycle lock and put it on the bike. i've always had one but never used it because i never felt i had to. the lock slips onto the disc brake. not only does it not allow the wheel to turn, but it also sounds a deafening alarm which you try to move the lock. honestly, i don't think anyone would bother stealing my motorcycle. besides being old and dented, it's also a pretty cheap ride and the parts are not worth taking. i wouldn't be surprised if there are more scooter thefts going around though; with high gas prices, scooters are now a hot ticket item. the scooter that was stolen was all shiny and new, an irresistible draw for thieves. and depending on the kind you get, you don't even need a license to operate it (with a motorcycle, you need to have your license, registration, inspection, insurance, the works). motorcycles are also serialized like cars, so reselling them would be a problem. nevertheless, better safe than sorry, and since i won't be riding for a while, i figured locking the bike wouldn't hurt.

so the foot still hurts. it hasn't gotten worse, but it doesn't seem to be improving either. i just can't put my full weight on it, the fractured foot bones having something to do with that. but my orthopedic appointment is tomorrow afternoon, so i should have a better timeframe as to when i can expect a full recovery. i sort of discovered something else within the past few days: i think i may also have some broken ribs (upper torso, below my pectoral muscles). i think it happened when i flew into the handlebars with my chest (remember the bent key? i did that. with my chest). why do i think they're broken? because it hurts when i cough or when i take a really deep breath. i'm also wondering if my idea of tolerable pain is another person's debilitating agony? i don't think it's something they can put in a cast like they can do with a limb. i guess i'll just have to let my body heal those ribs on their own. maybe a third x-ray room visit lies in my immediate future. it's going to be awkward because i told the radiology receptionist, "i hope i don't see you again."

game 3 of the celtics lakers game was tonight, in los angeles. everyone was expecting the lakers to win. if they didn't, then all of boston would be dancing in the streets since no NBA team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit. even the stats for an 0-2 team looks grim: only three teams in NBA history has ever come back from 0-2 to win it all. in any case, the lakers ended up winning (as predicted, yawn), but the celtics gave them a scare, all the way to the final minute. lakers weren't playing very well and the only offense seemed to be kobe and that 3-point shooting slovenian guy. this allowed the celtics to keep the game close and even take the lead a few times despite their own offensive problems. ray allen was the only scoring threat, garnett was a distant second, and LA-native paul pierce barely scored at all. in fact, KG + PP combined score was still less than ray allen. game 4 on thursday is the game to watch. lakers can tie it up for a best out of 3 series, or the celtics can go 3-1 and have 3 chances to get a victory to win the finals.