i fired up the pro-lite message board (PL-M2014) to see if i could get it to work. i remember there was something wrong with it, but couldn't recall exactly what. my notes (from 2012) said that it'd occasionally crash and display garbage on the righthand side, but when i turned on the board, it seemed to be working just fine. i was also able to program it with the remote without any issues, although it's kind of a pain. it even remembered my programming even though i unplugged it for a few seconds (one issue i do remember was the internal battery had leaked; i ended up getting a new battery part, but haven't replaced it yet; it may still erase the programming if i leave it unplugged for a longer period). i ran the message board through the wattage meter to check its power consumption. when turned off it still uses up 7.5w of power; when turned on, depending on how many LED's are lit, it can use up to 34w of power. so definitely not an energy saver.

after some bottom-of-the-carton raisin bran for lunch, i went to the community garden to water my plants. i ran into the woman who has the plot next to mine. she was also concerned about losing her plot, but neither of us had any idea what would happen next season. i told her about other community gardens in cambridge, but given the choice, i still prefer sacramento street just because it's within walking distance from my house. she asked me if i was going anywhere this summer. i nonchalantly replied no, forgetting that when people ask me this question in the garden, it's so they can ask me to water their garden while they're away (joel asked me the same thing).

after i returned to the house i went for a bike ride with no destination in mind. the bike works a lot better now, shifting isn't smooth, but at least it shifts now. i probably still want to replace the shifter cables at some point. if that still doesn't fix everything then i'll know for certain it's the derailleur that needs to be replaced. i wanted to ride by the somerville community garden because most of beacon street was blocked off due to heavy duty road construction. i tagged a few pokestops before returning home.

i took the motorcycle to belmont in the mid-afternoon. i was tempted to ride the bicycle because i could pogo while i ride, but with the weather so hot, i didn't want to get a heat stroke. actually, today's official boston weather (from logan airport) never reached the 90's, so the heatwave is officially over, but temperatures were still in the 80's.

from my parents' house i could see a pokemon gym at the grove street playground. not only was it team mystic (my team) but it was a level 3 gym with an empty slot! i could join a gym without ever once battling anyone! this was an opportunity i couldn't pass up, so i went out to find this gym. i ran into my parents on street on their way home. "looking for pokemons?" they asked me as they drove by. i crossed the field to get close enough to the gym and added my best fighter, a CP 574 hypno that i evolved. i felt like a real poser standing shoulder-to-shoulder with level 24 and 25 trainers, with their CP 1500+ pokemons, which was 3x stronger than mine.

my 10k egg finally hatched, producing a magmar. it's not particularly strong, and even if i powered it up (maybe CP 700 maximum), it has a weak 6 point karate chop attack (not even fire, just a regular fighting attack). i'll sit on this one until i can get a better magmar, or use it against pokemons with fire-type weakness.

i spent some time watering the backyard, which can take a while, going from one side of the house to the other. fortunately we have a 100ft hose (but it needs replacing, since it has leaks and bulges in several spots).

after dinner i checked the status of my pokemon and saw that it had been returned, meaning it was defeated. the gym was taken over by a yellow pokemon trainer. what i didn't realize was i could've collect pokecoins right away when i joined the gym; i thought you had to wait 21 hours. so i never did collect on my reward. i'll know for next time, but coming across an empty gym slot is pretty rare. hopefully by then i will be a strong enough trainer with pokemons that can challenge the more elite trainers.

i rode straight home, although i was tempted on a few occasions to pull over on the side of the road and check a few pokestops.

at night is when all the pokemons come out, as workers return from the office and students get out of class. a casual check of pokevision revealed a cubone pokemon by star market with an 8 minute despawn, enough time for me to get down there. so i got dressed and ran out, and sure enough, i caught the cubone (CP 207).

i spent the rest of the evening watch night 3 of the democratic national convention. a stirring speech by biden was later followed by the evening's main speaker in the form of president barack obama. listening to an obama speech is like listening to an inspirational sermon. after you hear it, you feel like everything is possible. man, if only he could serve a 3rd term! but i think clinton will be a good president as well.