i woke up early this morning to continue fixing the dryer. just thinking about it made me anxious enough that i wasn't able to sleep anyway. i managed to remove the front bulkhead, finally giving me unobstructed access to the dryer drum. i thought i'd need to remove the drum entirely, but soon realized what the problem was.

with a bit of force i was able to turn the drum manually by grabbing hold of the baffles and using them as handles. when i did that last night it made that horrible squeaking sound. the drum itself sort of floats on two roller wheels. i guess over time the drum sort of wobbled a little bit came to rest on only one roller. the fix is simple enough, i didn't even needle to disassemble the dryer to do it; all i had to do was to gentle push on the drum until it was back in alignment again. i could tell i'm doing it right because the felt fabric lining the edge of the drum would be even all around. so once i pushed the drum into alignment, it once again sat on the two rollers, and when i manually rotated the drum, the squeaking sound was gone.

but since i had the dryer disassembled, it wouldn't hurt to go that extra mile and inspect the baffles. when i run my dryer i always hear the sound of loose change clattering around inside. i never knew what it was but not realized it was coins trapped inside the baffles. so i removed the baffles one at a time to see what was inside. there was all sorts of things, from plastic wrappers, to hairpins, to pieces of lint, to well-worn coins. i also found one of the most surprisingly beautiful things: a perfectly spherical lint ball. 2 of the baffles had coins, while a third only contained lint.

putting back together the dryer wasn't as hard as taking it apart. the most difficult part was putting the front bulkhead back into place, because i had to make sure i align the dryer exhaust vent along with the rim of the drum that i had to prop up with one hand to get everything into alignment.

after flipping the power back on to the washer/dryer, i tested the dryer. not only was it not squeaking anymore, but the noise of clattering coins was gone. now the dryer runs perfectly silent, a thing of laundering beauty. so put that on my list of appliances i know how to fix!

drew left in the morning for the harvard library, but came home around noontime for lunch. i went to market basket to redeem some cans, get some groceries, then a quick trip to union square to deposit the latest rent check. i think my groin pull is mostly healed, i can swing my leg around my bicycle without wincing. when i returned home, drew was on his way back to the library.

i called greater boston motorsports in arlington to schedule an appointment to replace my rear tire. they didn't have my model - bridgestone exedra G702 (retails for about $150) - so they had to order it, which would take a few days. the woman i spoke with on the phone was super nice, and said they'd even pickup the motorcycle for me for free (if it's too cold to ride), and deliver it once it was done. fortunately replacing the rear tire takes just 45 minutes, so it's something i can just bring into the shop and wait around until they finish so i can ride my bike back. a short time later the woman called me back; according to their records, i had my front tire replaced a few years ago with a dunlop brand, so it'd be better if the rear tire was the same brand as well. i said that was okay, she told me she'd call back again wednesday or thursday when they get the new tire.

i took the motorcycle to belmont in the afternoon. despite night time temperatures approaching the freezing mark, the bell pepper plant is still alive, and even managed to turn a green pepper into a red pepper despite the lack of sunlight. i'm still debating whether to dig out the rosemaries and bring them inside for the season. they're big enough though that 1) they may very well survive the winter, and 2) they're just too big to dig up anymore.

my parents came home in the late afternoon, with the sky approaching sunset. i helped them bag leaves then we dumped everything into the large leaf compost bin we set up in the backyard. i also helped my mother make a bid on a set of special yarn she saw on ebay.

riding back to cambridge, i watched my breath come out as a plume of smoke as the temperature hovered around the upper 30's. i quickly remembered all the things i disliked about cold weather riding, including frozen fingers. it's not even that cold yet.

traditionally on monday nights drew prepares for his 2 tuesday classes, so he spent the rest of the evening in his bedroom. i spent the night watching some monday night football.