i left my house at 9:00, bicycling down to the watertown mall to pick up a few quarts of motor oil. i headed to the charles river and took the bike path for about 30 minutes before arriving at target. there was almost nobody on the trail so it was really peaceful but it was still jarring to be exercising so early in the morning. i arrived in belmont at 10:00, waiting for my father to get home so we can work on the motorcycle. he showed up an hour later, and had already wheeled the bike into the driveway. we started up the bike to warm the engine and to allow the added stabilizer fluid to mix with the fuel. we hit all the potential rust points with some WD40 and wiped the whole bike down. while i was busy polishing the chrome, my father had already drained the oil, a metal pan worth of dark viscous sludge (it was a good idea to change the oil after all). we poured in 2.3 quarts of new oil and ran the engine again to let the fluid circulate. with that done we put the bike away in storage again. when i get the chance i need to remove the battery and protect the bike from dust with the rain cover.

i also had some time to replace my sister's broken ibook keyboard. of the 2 that arrived yesterday, only one of them was an exact match to the old keyboard. however, that's the one that's slightly bent and with a crooked keyboard fastener. i also noticed that the exposed bracket on the missing delete key was also missing a pair of clips that secured the key to the keyboard. just out of curiosity i tried the 2nd keyboard. despite the mismatch, it still fit the old ibook perfectly. i reassembled the computer figuring my job was done, until i noticed that a handful of keys on the upper left corner of the keyboard were dead. i replugged the keyboard a few times but no go. finally in the end i went back to the 1st keyboard, replaced the bad bracket with the good bracket from the original keyboard, and then attached the delete key. i also managed to bend the keyboard as a whole to make it a bit flatter. that finally did the trick, and now my sister has a working keyboard again. the 2 keyboards were an ebay purchase, and i could've given the seller a negative feedback, but they were just $2.50 (an additional $5 for shipping), and in the end i still got everything to work.

i got a ride with my father back to the cafe. after a bagel for lunch, i borrowed one of the cars so i could drive my roommate to the airport early tomorrow morning.

despite still suffering from my foot pain (right foot, i think i might've strained a tendon), i walked down the 15 minutes it takes me to get to harvard square to see if my sister's friend michael was working at the eyeglass store today. once again, no such luck. i then hobbled back home, cutting across the divinity school instead of my usual way up oxford street.

my roommate came home around 6:30. since it's his last night here in cambridge, i asked if he wanted to see some holiday light displays before he left. we went down to concord avenue in somerville to check out a few festive houses. later when we came back home, i made my mexican tortilla soup, but my roommate didn't want any because he was trying to finish the last of his food. i accidently smashed a glass vase while topping off the aquariums. i vacuumed the carpet but i've got my fingers crossed that there aren't any surprise shards still lurking on the floor.

here's my itinerary for tomorrow morning: drive my roommate to logan airport in boston at 6:00, return my parents' car in belmont, ride my bicycle back home to cambridge in the predawn hour, then clean the guest bedroom (vacuum the floors, launder the sheets) before my next roommate arrives sometime between 8:00-9:00. it's like some kind of triathlon!