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"burrito fan wrench 3D invoice" - that was the note i left for myself in my cellphone last night, a to-do list for monday.

the "fan" is to remind myself to go down into the basement and salvage one of the PSU from a pair of defunct PC computers. in less than 24 hours i've become totally obsessed with externally driven case/cpu fans powered by a computer PSU. not only did i strip out the power supply, but i also removed the fan from the athlon cpu module.

a PSU gutted from a pc makes an impressive-looking trophy, with it's strangely organic tendrils of rainbow-colored wires snaking out from the metal chassis. i put my prizes into a plastic bag, ready for transport.

the "wrench" was a reminder to bring my socket wrench toolkit. i'll need that to remove the satellite dish in my parents' backyard, which hasn't worked since the 90's. they used to use that to receive chinese-language television programs, but the satellite signal has long since been discontinued and they get there asian entertainment and news elsewhere these days.

victor fried another hamburger last night, the sizzling sound of oil elevating my blood pressure. i was afraid to look last night but this morning i finally saw: although better than before, there was still a radius of oil splatter on my stove which just last week i spent 2 hours cleaning. it's a good thing he doesn't cook like this all the time.

what began as a drizzle that became a steady rain soon developed into full-on sleet. i'm was a little optimistic thinking i could ride my bike in this weather and not get completely soaked. i stopped by boca grande to get a chicken colorado burrito for my mother. i must've looked like a crazy person, with helmet over wet hair, two bags slung across my chest, and in my hand a plastic bag full of computer parts.

it was not a fun ride. what kept me going was knowing that it'd take just 15-20 minutes to arrive at my destination. i seriously need to invest in some rain pants because my jeans were soaked down to my underwear. i couldn't see through my rain-soaked glasses, and at one point i thought about taking them off completely, since blurry vision was better than nothing. even the hooded sweatshirt i wore underneath my rainproof windbreaker was completely wet.

since my pants were soaked, i wore my father's swimming trunks for the rest of the day. later when i started feeling cold, i wore my thermal underwear underneath (really just a pair of spandex) and put on my still-damp sweatshirt. i could've just thrown all my stuff into the dryer but i was hoping they'd be ready to wear by the time i left.

throughout the afternoon large snowflake clumps fell from the sky. if it wasn't for the meteorological reassurance that this was but a minor snow shower, i would've sworn this was the start of a major blizzard. the snow finally stopped by early evening.

hailey has a vet appointment tomorrow but in the meantime my sister and i decided to change the dressing on her paw. i held her down while my sister unwrapped the bandages. it was the first time i saw the wound for myself and it looked quite serious: a gash on the heel of her paw print, it was an inch long and maybe 1/8" deep. it was a wound that looked like it would never heal back together so she'd probably have a permanent scar on her foot when this is all over. it was still pink but not particularly bloody, although it still looked gross. the new dressing didn't seem to alleviate the injury because she spent the rest of the night walking gingerly on that paw, or even just holding it up like she's begging for a treat. i ended up contributing some money to her vet bill.

maybe the snow had stopped, but precipitation was still falling by the time i returned to cambridge. on the one hand it wasn't rain, but on the other hand it was little ice pellets that clattered across my helmet. there was a good reason to ride slow, otherwise the hail would hit my face like pinpricks. i got home right when victor was leaving the house to get some groceries.

the rest of the evening was spent (after a well-deserved hot shower) playing around with google's 3D sketchup application. i'm trying to create a mockup of the proposed raised gardening beds in my parents' backyard. i wonder if engineering students are using this program instead of the traditional autoCAD for their drafting/design needs. i was also watching the celtics-knicks game. despite being down by 15 points, boston staged a comeback in the second half to beat new york. tomorrow's to-do list includes sending out a final invoice to client E.