i was going to send back the MBP 2012 laptop battery (for refund) and the MBP 2012 itself (for repair). i gave the MBP one final pass so i could describe in the detail what the problem was. as for the battery, something new happened this time: instead of asking me to drop off the return package at the nearest UPS store, the instruction told me to drop it off at the nearest amazon packaging center, in this case central square. i could still drop it off at an UPS, but it'd cost me; dropping it off with amazon however was free.
as the packages were going in different directions (one porter square, one central square), i decided to visit the post office first. even though the box was bigger, shipping cost from cambridge to new york was about the same, $13.50. the clerk was the same woman i saw the last time around. i told her how the laptop still wasn't fixed ("half fixed," i said, which brought a chuckle from another customer), and when she asked if i wanted to add insurance and i said no, she smiled as if to say, of course not.
i went to the cafe. normally my parents have mondays off, but because they're going to bermuda next week and my 2nd aunt will have to work every day while they're gone, they told her to stay home today while they came in. i came by to do two things: to upload an updated memory list to my father's baofeng radio, one that included cruise ship frequencies and a repeater station on bermuda; and to check out the front porch of my sister's place which needed repainting.
i went with my father on a quick (less than a hour) supply run to baifu (food-pak express), the asian restaurant supplier, just southeast of boston medical center, in the triangle of roxbury, dudley square, and andrew square. when we came back i left with a container of fried rice for lunch.
later in the afternoon i went down to central square to return the battery. the new amazon office is right in the center of central square, in the storefront that i think used to belong to verizon or was maybe a bank. there were all these electronic storage lockers (that you can send your packages to for manual pickup) but also a spot in the back for returns, with a shoot to drop in your packages.
afterwards i went to market basket to get some groceries, some yogurt for lunch, some frozen spinach cheese raviolis for dinner. i also bought some ingredients for making reuben sandwiches, found myself with a craving.
GC came home around 6:40pm, immediately going to the kitchen to make dinner. while he was waiting to reboil his beef, i quickly made myself a reuben sandwich in about 5 minutes. he was intrigued, but when i offered to make one for him, he said it wasn't necessary, that he already had his meals for the rest of the week already planned out so he can use up as much groceries in the fridge and cupboard as possible. i found out that he actually doesn't have an office anymore, that he gave it up when his boss returned to alabama because the original office owner only lent it to his boss; he's been spending his time in the library. the fact that he even makes an effort to go into the office at all is surprising; if it was me, i would've just stayed and worked from home.
1 i have never actually seen the bullhorn truck myself, only heard about it. i can never get myself to get up that early when i hear the announcements.