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hopefully i'm getting my stitches removed tomorrow morning, if everything works according to schedule. my fear is my doctor will take one look at my thumb and tell me i should've came in earlier because it hasn't been healing correctly and now will take even longer to recover. my problem is all the action is happening behind the scene, beneath the skin, so i have no way of telling if i'm okay or not. i just know it doesn't hurt (the occasional shots of pain, not sure what those are) and i take no news to be good news. it looks awful though (i know i promised i wouldn't have anymore thumb photos until after the stitches come off, but for those who are curious [1], [2]), but i'm hoping appearances can be deceiving in this case. i've been using my right hand more and more; my index finger has become a surrogate thumb. i still can't curl my thumb all the way; i don't want to apply too much pressure on that digit and have it burst at the seams. even with the stitches gone, i'll still have to be really careful. one potential problem is snagging that piece of hangnail and ripping the wound back open. i wonder if the doctor will prescribe a thumb protector.

my mother commissioned me to make more kimchi. i got a head of napa cabbage and a daikon radish from the asian wholesalers a few days ago. same recipe as before, but this time i didn't pour out any of the reduced liquids. the problem i've been having with past kimchi is they get too dry. the reason why i dump out the liquid is because its too salty. this time around i put in less salt during the mixing stage to compensate. the other difference with this kimchi batch is the addition of chinese chives, which will make everything even more pungent. this latest batch should be ready by sunday (after 3 days of fermenting).

the weather this morning was actually sunny, but by the afternoon it became overcast and then started to rain heavily into the evening. another cold storm, good because i don't have to water the gardens, but bad for hot-weather-loving vegetables. it's been a really weird growing season.

i left the house just once to go with my father and sister to the supermarket. i didn't get much, just some pickles, a bag of cherries, some bananas, and a carton of eggs. i made scrambled eggs and sausages for breakfast, then more reuben sandwich for dinner (trying to finish my corn beef before it goes bad). i watched a 30 rock repeat, followed by burn notice and the listener.