t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


it was bad enough that i had a desperate need to use the bathroom this morning (was it the cheese from last night? maybe the pasta) but LJ was in there brushing her hair. when i finally made it inside, i was greeted to a floor covered in long strands of wet hair. i almost screamed but nobody would hear it since LJ had already left for work by then.

there was a car parked askewed outside my house with a flat tire. i thought maybe it was an abandoned stolen vehicle, and thought about calling the police. instead i left a note on the windshield, informing the owner of the flat tire (in case s/he didn't know already). anyway, this morning i saw the owner, a fellow neighbor that i'd seen before but never talked to. he was trying to replace the tire but couldn't get it off so ended up calling AAA.

i walked to the dollar store to get some more kitchen trash bags. i was also looking for some dental floss but they rearranged the aisles and the oral hygiene section was gone. teeth aren't that important anyway. i did however buy a bag of hickory wood chips (something like $2.39, much cheaper than what i paid for mesquite at home depot). i don't know why i'm so into food smoking when we haven't even successfully smoked any foods yet.

the owner of the car was still on the curb outside my house waiting for AAA to show up. i dropped off my things and went back out again, this time to market basket to pick up some dinner ingredients (i was thinking chicken vindaloo). when i came back the car guy was finally gone, along with the car. checking my bag, i realized the scallions i bought were missing. either i left them back at the supermarket or they fell out onto the street. i retraced my steps but didn't see them; nor did the cashier remember me leaving them behind. i ended up getting some more, $1 for 3 bundles, as well as some whole wheat crackers and a carton of vanilla häagen-dazs ice cream.

all this hot dry weather has an unintended down side: the city of cambridge smells. disgusting streaks of leaking garbage truck juices coat the streets. with no rain to wash them away, they just sit there and ferment, a smell that won't go away, like the worst possible stench you can imagine. salvation won't be until sunday night, with the possibility (but not guarantee) of rain. barring that, monthly street sweeping for my street begins next week.

walking, bicycling, and now finally motorcycling: i went to assembly square mall, my usual haunt. k-mart was my first stop, where i spent most of my time in the gardening department. they finally pulled their seeds display, replaced with motorized gardening equipment. i was browsing the assortment of fertilizers. i wanted to find something that would help with the melons, but most of them were heavy in nitrogen (when i wanted more phosphorous and potassium), which helps with leaf production but does little for flowering and fruiting.

i also like browsing their selection of ray padula sprinklers, nozzles, and hoses (in their distinctive green-blue color palette). i picked up another plastic y-connector ($2.99) and got a another spray nozzle for the victory garden. the RP-SRNO caught my attention because instead of a trigger, it uses a thumb-controlled ball valve switch. otherwise it's not very fancy, with a traditional nozzle tip (not one of those rotating variety with the different options), but it's cheap at only $2.99.1

the pretty cashier from last week wasn't working today; instead i got a girl who was flirting with a boy; she stopped midway while ringing me up to give him her k-mart discount code via smartphone. i also bought a tube of sunblock (neutrogena ultimate sport SPF 30, $10.49) - i have a bottle somewhere but it's like a million years old (all watery) so i figured time for some new lotion.

next stop was home depot. just some browsing, checked out their hose attachments as well, their fertilizers, and their wire fencing. i was hoping to find some caladium bulbs but there were none (sort of late in the season anyway).

returning home was quite the adventure. i took a wrong turn and found myself northbound on I-95. although my motorcycle can easily handle major highways, i try to avoid them (especially when there's a lot of traffic) because i want to stay alive. i got off at the next exit, which was medford center. once again, i went the wrong direction and circled medford center for a while before finding my bearing, skirting across tufts (so many new buildings! happy summer school coeds!) and returning home via davis square (making a quick stop at rite aid to pick up some almonds for snacking).

my mother called me soon afterwards, to let me know my 2nd aunt was at the cafe. earlier i'd printed out some boarding passes for her 3 weeks trip to california to attend a cousin's wedding (a cousin i haven't seen in over 2 decades), so i went to the cafe to drop them off. she'd just come back from chinatown and bought some pastries which she gave to me, including a vietnamese sandwich (which i'd later have for dinner, delaying homemade vindaloo for another night). my father had to work into the evening but my mother went home via bicycle, the first time she's biked by herself i think. i called her to make sure she was okay but she didn't have her phone with her.

when LJ came home, i intercepted her in the kitchen while she was making dinner to gently ask her if she could pick up her hair from the bathroom floor. she thought of her hair were landing in the sink. i told her that wasn't the case (i didn't tell her that i've been cleaning up her hair every morning).

despite all my gripes about LJ, and my declaration a few days ago on how she's pretty much turned me off to hosting future roommates, she's actually not that bad. yeah, she's got some annoying habits, but usually she fixes them after i let her know. i'm sure she's a nice person in real life; just not a very good roommate (at least incompatible with my lifestyle).

i've been rewatching season 1 of breaking bad, in order to psyche myself up for the season 5 premiere happening sunday night. it's just as satisfying watching it a second time, especially with foresight. everyone was so innocent back then! it's a direct dvdrip, which means none of the language has been bleeped out (don't remember there were so many f*bombs!). i like walter the best when he's humiliated but then turns the table when he has nothing left to lose. his confrontation with subsequent baddies are good walter white moments. but i also like it when he's kind of this avenging angel, dishing street justice to the likes of bullies (those guys making fun of walter junior trying out pants) and annoying people (obnoxious lawyer who gets his car torched).


1 the ray padula RP-SRNO spray nozzle sells on amazon.com for $11.76. ray padula products generally get awful online reviews. some people like their products, but apparently their lifetime warranty is suspect at best. "ray padula" probably isn't even a real person, just an entity some corporation made up to humanize their products. a search for "ray padula" photos reveal just a handful of a young man who looks like a professional model.