i woke up before 10:00 and victor was already up, surfing the web in his bedroom. usually on weekends he sleeps in late; maybe he's actually serious about going into boston today. even though it wasn't his original plan, when i told him about the st.patrick's day parade he decided to catch it while he was in the city. he actually left the house before i did.
my parents were going to the somerville christmas tree shop and asked if i wanted to come along. when they arrived, i loaded up my bike in the back of the car. i've come to realize that some of the stuff at the christmas tree shop are off-brand inferior knockoffs. like i noticed a few boxes of refurbished kitchen appliances and all their cooking pans seem to be remainders. nevertheless, business seems to be good as they were pretty crowded with customers today. my father ended up getting a small japanese maple tree packaged inside of a box: it didn't even have any leaves, just an empty stem with some roots bundled in some peat moss.
next we went to home depot, which was where i actually wanted to go from the beginning. i was looking for pruning tools, particularly for a one-handed miniature pruning chainsaw. apparently they don't make those out of safety concerns. i then found a bottle of bonide all seasons spray oil for killing the scales infestation on the fruit trees. my father picked up a package of pre-mulched grass seeds. while checking out the lumber department (for making raised garden beds), my mother entered herself in a free store raffle. minutes later they made an announcement over the PA. "did they call my number?" my mother asked. sure enough the number matched when they repeated the announcement a second time. my mother left to claim her prize. when we found her she was calling us over. figuring it was one of those promotional prizes - like a discount over some sort of fancy installation - we were prepared to say no to whatever deal swung our way. in actuality, my mother was just calling us over to help her decide on her prize: a set of new faucets, a collection of home improvement books, or a pair of travel tea tumblers. she ended up picking the tumblers.
coming back, we stopped at a KFC to get some chicken after seeing the $10 for a 10 pieces bucket of chicken poster (sunday special). in union square, we stopped at the korean supermarket to get some groceries. after one final stop at the cafe, we finally made it to belmont, where i could finally eat my chicken in peace (and also use the bathroom). we ordered the crispy style, and i quickly ate 3 pieces, even though i could've ate the whole bucket (wanted to save my appetite for dinner).
my father found a spare computer power supply in the basement attached to an external computer fan. he was never able to get the fan to work, but ever since we figured out a way to jump start the PSU, we thought we could try that trick again. with a paper clip inserted into the right holes on the main power plug, the fan suddenly started working. a lightbulb immediately went off in my head. one of the problems i have germinating vegetable seeds in my grow closet during the spring is the lack of proper circulation. i've tried rigging up a few usb-powered fans in the past, but the don't work very well. however, if i can attach a bunch of relatively inexpensive desktop computer fans to a hacked power supply unit, i can have all the ventilation i want. i look forward to putting this newfound technical knowledge to good use within the coming months.
while showing my father something on my laptop, he accidently knocked over a glass of hot tea across the dining table. some of it got onto my computer but i didn't think anything of it because i was too busy cleaning up the spill. my father suggested i shut down my machine despite the fact it was still working, in order to prevent a possible short circuit. i didn't think it was necessary, but when we tipped the closed laptop on its side, some liquid dribbled out. for the rest of the evening i couldn't use my mac because i was waiting for it to dry.
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bike rides this time of the year start off cold but end up hot. even though today was the official start of spring, the forecast says there will be two bouts of snow this week, monday and wednesday. returning home i rode close behind another rider, a teenager on a bike with no reflectors. maybe that explained why he was riding on the sidewalk the whole time instead of on the road, this black silhouette that i seemed to be following. the fact that we maintained our distance meant we were going at the same speed, which made me feel a little better (usually i'm getting passed). i was sweaty when i got home and i couldn't wait to jump into the shower.
later i cracked open my laptop to make sure there wasn't anymore water inside. i've opened up my macbook pro so many times, it's starting to become routine, even though it requires taking off 19 tiny screws and remembering where they go when i put the machine back together again. everything was fine inside (a bit dusty). the machine worked like normal once i reassembled it.
finally, victor paid me next month's rent before he went to sleep. awkward roommate situation resolved!