sunmeng woke me up at 9:00 to videochat, unfortunately on one of the few days this week where i could afford to sleep late. i finished the rest of my potato salad for lunch. there were a few things happening in boston that i wanted to check out: charles river swimming costume contest, fenway park secret gardens - but i ended up doing none of those things, the cold and grey weather a key factor (another key factor: general laziness).

i stayed home until the mail arrived (orbital sander replacement parts, tire patch kits) then rode to belmont (stopping at the mass-walden formerly-hess gas station to fill up with $2.55/gallon gasoline, i'd traveled 106 miles already).

i went to home depot to look for shop vac adapters, so i can connect the 1-1/2" output port from the ryobi belt sander to the 2-1/2" input port of the shop vac. online it said they were available, but when i got there, they were all loose with no packaging. i may end up just making my own with some stiff cardboard and some duct tape. i ended up just getting a can of professional strength wasp insecticide ($4) that i carried back on the bike of my motorcycle underneath some bungie netting.

i was in the garage installing the rim lights to the front wheel of my old fuji bicycle. that bike has already been modified when a few years ago i added some white electroluminescent wire lights to the frame. now combined with the magenta/hot pink glowing front wheel, the effect is pretty cool. i'm sure it'll look even better at nights. now i need to install the other set of lights onto the back wheel. all this in preparation for the midnight bike run next month.

my father didn't get back home until 4:00, after which we left for the waltham costco. my mother was jonesing for some memphis-style ribs again. what was remarkable wasn't how crowded it was, but the fact that there were so many chinese people there. costco seems like the unofficial weekend chinatown. before we left, we got an order of their deluxe pizza. while we waited, we shared 2 hot dogs and a pair of self-dispensed drinks (raspberry ice tea).

after pizza dinner, my father and i went outside to fix the old orbital sander with the newly-arrived replacement parts. using blocks of wood and a brass water nozzle, he gently bashed the new ball bearing into the bearing case. we then replaced the brake skirt and the sanding pad. the sander fired up without any problems. a little stiff, but that's mostly because of the new break skirt. it should loosen up after some sanding. now the old sander is better than the new sander!

since it was getting late, the yellowjackets have all retreated back to the nest. i took the opportunity to climb the ladder and stuff the eaves gaps of the roof with some newspaper. i was a little worried that the wasps would wake up and sting me, but fortunately that didn't happen. blocking access to the nest might be enough to kill them off; i might end up returning the insecticide.

after i got home, i put the tarp over the motorcycle, in anticipation of the rainstorm forecasted for tomorrow (i'll believe it when it arrives).