i woke up at 9:30 this morning (went to sleep at 2am, which is early), partly in response to the thumping from upstairs, partly over anxiety of burst plumbing at my grand uncle's place. while karen was in her room video consulting with a nutritional patient back home, i quietly slipped out and drove down to the cafe. i kept my eyes on a particularly choice parking spot, hoping it'd still be there when i returned.
i got the apartment key from my 2nd aunt. i might've already had the key on the ring my father gave me before he left, but i wasn't sure which one, and easier just to get the right one from my aunt. i went inside the apartment and quickly reconnected the water pipe heat cable. i'll leave it plugged in for the next few days, keep my eyes on the weather, wait until we're safe from another bitter freeze. before i left, i signed my aunt up for autopay on her comcast xfinity cable bill.
i drove to belmont to check up on the house. a package was on the doorstep (subscription dog treats). the room temperature was down to 50°F, a little cold but still much warmer compared to the temperature outside, 
which was in the upper teens. i went to the basement to check the pipes but didn't even bother because the basement was actually much warmer than upstairs, i'm guessing temperature in the 60's. i don't have to worry about the pipes bursting anytime soon.
my aunt called me, said she had some rent checks if i wanted to take them to the bank. i told her i'd do it on monday, but then decided just to do it today to get it out of the way, so i stopped by the cafe again. i also took with me a dozen-and-a-half eggs for making tea eggs (i need to get down to chinatown to get the necessary spice packets). i went to the cambridge trust on huron avenue, but left embarrassed when the teller told me my deposit slip was actually for century bank instead. so i drove down to north cambridge, to the century bank there, to deposit the check, before finally returning home by around 11am, parking in that choice spot i saw earlier.
i made myself one final honey ham english muffin sandwich. the ham already had a rancid smell, and i debated whether or not to toss it out. but i have a high tolerance for suspect meats, so decided to risk it, but pan-searing each slice of ham as a precautionary measure. i ate the sandwich just fine, no side effects.
karen was soon on her way out to another lecture conference at harvard. she was obligated to attend because her advisor was one of the speakers. the good thing was she could at least get a free lunch out of it.
after she left, i used the bathroom to my heart's content, taking a hot shower afterwards while listening to NPR on my shower radio. it was a quiet rest of the afternoon, just hunkering down indoors, with the temperature climbing into the upper 20's before dropping back down again into the teens. in the late afternoon my mother got in touch with me on line via audio message.
for dinner i boiled some garlic cheese tortellini and heated up half a jar of tomato sauce. karen came home around 8pm. she must've ate because she didn't make dinner. she chatted with her boyfriend in her room then later came out to watch some law & order: SVU.