at exactly 24 hours since i put in the order with google voice to port over the t-mobile cellphone number, google notified me that the transfer was successful. i went to obitalk to add the obihai device, but there already seemed to be a google talk account active. i didn't have to do a thing! so i test dialed the number from my iphone, and my old corded phone - which hasn't rung in decades - was now ringing again. i also tried calling from the corded phone itself to my mobile phone, which also worked. i told my father the good news and had him call me on the old number. i heard him crystal clear; he said my voice on his end was a bit choppy. since it was rainy, i had no easy way to get to the cafe to install the phone, so my father said he'd come and pick me up.

most of the heavy lifting was already complete (i.e. double porting), so the actual installation was very simple: just plug the ethernet port to the router, and the phone jack to the phone. it couldn't receive any calls at first, because i'd turned off call forwarding to google chat. apparently you need that in order to receive calls. calling out was no problem however. with google voice voip it meant my parents could finally cancel the comcast voice line ($40) and return the voip gateway which they had to rent as well ($12), a total savings of $52/month (actually just $42/month, because comcast will remove the $10 service discount now that they no longer have an internet/voice combination). going with google voice voip essentially pays for itself just after a month, and saves them more than $500-600/year. take that comcast!

next my father and i went to my grand uncle's house to replace the defective foscam with the new one that came yesterday. having set up these webcams so many times over the past week meant that setting up this new camera only took a few minutes. even easier was since this was the same camera model (just different color), we didn't have to readjust any of the settings to see the camera on our phone apps.

my 2nd aunt had some leftover dishes she prepared so i stayed at the cafe and had some lunch.

i was ready to walk home (it was still raining, but not as heavily as earlier), but my father said he'd give me a ride. since he wasn't busy, i asked him if we could swing by the watertown home depot so i could pick up a replacement liberty-brand double robe hook ($1.68/each). it took a while to find because the specific item i wanted wasn't on display. i ended up having to ask an employee, who located the box up on one of the overhead storage areas; he got it down for me by using a broomstick and knocking the box onto the ground. i also bought 3 packets of seeds: thai basil, tomato (rutgers heirloom), and hot pepper (hungarian wax).

once i got home i began installing my double robe hooks onto the closet door in the foyer. i first taped the hooks onto the door so i could figure out their final positions. then i drilled 3/32 pilot holes before hand-turning the screws. these hooks are pretty solidly mounted, i don't think they're ever going to come off! i tested out some jackets: light and medium jackets are okay, but a heavy winter coat might present some problems because it's so puffy.

my mother called me in the late afternoon from the new cafe voip phone. she could hear me just fine, but i was hearing a lot of choppiness, the same thing my father experienced earlier. i wonder if it's because the cafe internet speed is too slow? something to keep an eye on. it'd suck to finally leave comcast voice but then realize that this new internet phone solution has crappy voice quality.

i spent the rest of the day cleaning up the house in anticipation of mary's return tomorrow morning (tentatively around 9am). i had some annie's cheddar shells for dinner. only then did i began doing the taxes. this year not only do i have to do my own, but i also have my 2nd aunt and my sister's godmother to take care of. granted, none of them are that complicated, and turbotax basically walks me through. once i get started, it's easy to get them all done pretty quickly. unfortunately for my aunt and sister's godmother i have some questions to ask them so i'll have to wait until tomorrow to finish them.

so i managed to clear a few more items off my list, and partially completed a few more. hopefully i can get everything done with plenty of time to spare, so i won't be stressed out about it. i'm only leaving for 2 months, but i don't want to leave something hanging, especially if it's something like a payment or taxes that i need to get done before i leave.