today i applied the slate grey coat on the surface panels of the front step, the final coat. i did prep work in the late morning, reusing the blue tape from yesterday, before leaving to run errands.

i went to dollar tree to look for foam brushes. i also stocked up on some pears glycerine soap. i then rode to rite aid to pick up my 90-day prescriptions of my HBP medications. i was afraid there would be problems (since i already had preexisting 30-day prescriptions on all those 3 pills) but everything was fine, the pharmacist rung me up for only $3.

since i was already out, i decided to take a quick trip to market basket to buy some fruit juice and a loaf of baguette. since the ban on plastic bags, grocery shopping has become somewhat impractical if you don't bring your own bags. they do offer free paper bags, but it's the type that doesn't have handles so you basically have to carry everything in your arms.

i began painting a bit after 1:30p and it took less than an hour to finish. i had a pint of benjamin moore arborcoat exterior stain in cabot slate grey. a pint is enough paint to do the front porch, i shouldn't have listened to steve and gotten a quart of the tan and red paint (more expensive too, $20 for a can, and i was stupid enough to not ask him for money even though he offered).

i was pleasantly surprised how well the front porch looked after i finished painting. if you disregard the faded wooden steps, the porch looks virtually new. i noticed a little paint seepage after i removed the blue tape, i'll go back and patch up a few tiny areas with a foam brush. later in the evening i got an e-mail from steve thanking me for painting the front porch.

i whittled away the rest of the afternoon watching the BBC series victoria starring jenna coleman. the series is interesting although i spoiled some of the surprises by goggling queen victoria's biography. the thing that really bothers me though are the blue contact lenses coleman wears for the part, they make her eyes look unnatural (like dead doll eyes). couldn't they have found a natural blue-eyed actress for the part?

i finally received the update to my pokemon go app that allows a pokemon to be designated as a buddy and earn related pokemon candies for walking the pokemon. i ended up picking an oddish, because i need 3 more pieces of candy to evolve (that equals 15km of walking). of course if i run into an oddish out in the wild, i will also earn 3 pieces of candy in the progress, so whichever comes first.

cristina came home relatively early, around 7pm. she was going out to do some grocery shopping, i volunteered to take her via the secret underground sacramento street shortcut into somerville to check out the dollar store. i think she was amazed by the inexpensive spectacle, and ended up buying a few things, including a hula hoop. she also paid for a pair of baking soda deodorizer i was getting. i returned home while she went to get groceries. i cooked up my buitoni spinach and artichoke ravioli for dinner. i didn't really notice any spinach or artichoke flavor, but the raviolis were green and pretty and i felt stuffed afterwards.

cristina told me later in the evening that her boyfriend kiki was arriving sunday night, staying for a week. she asked me if it was okay, i said yes, but ideally i prefer roommates not to have guests. besides an issue of inconvenience, there's also the logistics of sleeping arrangements. i feel bad if they think they can squeeze onto a single twin size bed. maybe he will sleep on the couch. fortunately they are planning on leaving for buffalo (to see niagara falls) thursday night (cristina is taking friday off) and returning saturday night as her boyfriend will be leaving on sunday. the things i have to put up with to make a buck! but otherwise, cristina has been a very roommate, i have hardly any complaints. and the month that's she been here already has gone by very quickly. all i can do is be a gracious host.