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i went to the basement to put away some plastic grow trays and to look for a wifi adapter card i could've sworn i saw the last time i was cleaning. never did find that adapter, but took the opportunity to bring up my air conditioner unit (sharp AF-S85PX purchased in 2009, energy reading). i'm not yet ready to install it, but good to have it on standby so i can drop it in my living room window when the mood finally does strike me.

i left for belmont a bit before noontime, having only taken a shower with no breakfast. with harvard's graduation just last thursday, a lot more students are moving out this weekend, and i came across numerous piles of leftovers on the sidewalks (cd's of bagpipe music? no thanks). the best was on huron avenue, several boxes of books: on law, on sailing, on competitive cycling, on marathons. i found a copy of the AIA guide to boston (unfortunately only the 2nd edition, not the latest 3rd edition); i already have one, but it'll make a nice gift for any future house guests interested in boston architecture. i also picked up a large hardcover for a hollow book conversion.

today was so hot i personally watered the garden 3 times because the soil kept looking dry. most of the leafy greens have started to bolt due to the high temperatures, and i snipped off the flower stalks in order to prolong the leaf production. i should've started earlier in the season (when the weather was cooler), and i should've left more spaces between plants, i always make that mistake. it was so hot i couldn't do much in the backyard besides water the plants.

my father and i finally rolled out my motorcycle today. we weren't sure if we left the battery on the bike until i removed the seat and found the battery still intact. either way, it wasn't very good, because it meant the battery hadn't been charged for almost 2 years. when we tried to charge it with the trickle charging battery tender, it didn't work at all. we then used a car battery charger to give it more juice. later after i went home my father reported that once he switched over to the trickle charger, it was charging the battery again, so i may not have to replace it after all. still, it's no fun being stranded because of a dead battery. regardless, that means depending on the weather, i can finally take out the motorcycle sometime next week. it's been 23 months! long overdue for a ride!

i helped my father replace the old oven range (electric smoothtop) with the new used one from my aunt and uncle (which had been sitting in the garage long enough that it was covered in a layer of yellow tree pollen). the new oven range has a much smaller storage drawer, but it makes up for it with a larger sized oven. it can also do a self-clean, something that the old range never did, and comes with 5 burners (although one of them is just for heating, not cooking). after my mother used it for the first time, she noted that it heats a lot faster and hotter compared to their own range.

my mother and sister returned home from walking hailey at the middlesex fells. they also went to find ladyslippers and for my mother to look for birds (no birds, but they did encounter a fabled white ladyslipper close to the reservation entrance, i'm tempted to go with them next time). unfortunately for my sister, the parents of our next door neighbors hit her parked SUV. my father saw the whole thing, as my sister ran out to exchange papers. the weird thing was their parents played it like maybe the $2500 worth of crumbled bumper was already there to begin with. so not a good day for my sister.

finally, we moved the pieces of the ikea kallax shelf to the basement bedroom and assembled the 4ft long steel shelving unit with wheels. putting together one of these is so much easier with 2 people. afterwards, we were able to declutter some of the basement (although there's still a lot of old clothes and shoes, almost like the garment district down there).

after dinner, i watched my parents finish eating the pints of häagen-dazs ice cream i bought for myself when i was housesitting for them last month. i didn't mind, because i had ice cream of my own back in cambridge.

i bumped into bruce and jack on my way home. they were coming back from hollywood video, stocking up on dvd's from their going-out-of-business liquidation sale (15 dvd's for $100).

as if continuing on today's theme of getting things done, i brought out my barstool (to stand on) and trimmed some of the low-hanging locust branches blocking my view of the street from my living room window. i then finally went inside to take off my sweaty clothes and have a shower. i finished off the evening snacking on cherries and drinking my southern sweet tea.