instead i did some work with the raspberry pi, installing a MQTT server and trying to get a DHT11 temperature/humidity sensor to work. i installed all the necessary libraries to test the DHT11 but i couldn't get a reading. all 4 power pins on the raspberry pi were used up (433MHz transceiver pair, infrared transceiver pair), so i had to power the temperature/humidity sensor from a secondary breadboard powered by a MB102 power supply IC. i never got my infrared transceiver setup to work either, so maybe the problem is conflicting software on the pi. i'll try running the sensors off of a clean raspbian install from a different pi3.
craving some snack but wanting to stay healthy, i made myself some indian popcorn in the afternoon. it was a major production as i had 3 fans running in the kitchen trying to blow out the smell. it's called indian popcorn because i add heaps of indian spices (garam masala), but i didn't have enough salt so it still tasted bland. the first time i had indian popcorn was probably in 5th grade, when an indian classmate brought some to school. it was the most delicious popcorn i've ever had, and ever since then i've been chasing after that same taste but still haven't found it yet. i popped 3/4 cup which i poured into my largest pyrex dish but managed to eat almost the entire bowl in a single sitting.
i watched the italian-spanish crime-thriller ricco (1973). on paper it sounds like a great story, former mafia boss's son getting out of jail and wanting revenge on his father's murderer, but the lead actor - the expressless christopher mitchum - son of robert mitchum - is quite terrible, and seems to be in the movie only to cash in on his famous last name. everyone else however does a good job, including of course barbara bouchet, whom i'm a big fan. the dialogue is dubbed in english but had the option for either (original?) italian or spanish audio, which actually sounded worse. this film also features death by acid, gogo dancers, moka pot cameo, dated judo moves, striptease diversion, bocce balls, henchman castration, hero dying in the end, and gratuitous closeups of bouchet's assets.
since i didn't get any groceries, i had to eat what i had in the house. fortunately there's still plenty of food. in fact, i could probably go a few weeks before i'd finally run out of food. granted, much of is processed, but they keep longer than fresh food. i was going to heat up a lasagna, then thought maybe i'd have some ramen, but finally settled on some xi'an paomo.
i've been trying to figure out the best way to clean my contigo travel mug. i did it once before using a technique now lost that resulted in a perfectly clean inside. i thought the secret was a vinegar + water soak, but i left it for most of the day and there was still brown tea stains. 
i then tried some baking soda mixed with water, enough to make a slurry. it didn't do anything at first until i started scrubbing with a bottle brush. i noticed it right away, all the areas i scrubbed with the baking soda mix was now clean. it took 3 cleaning but eventually i got the inside looking like a brand new mug. i also have an old contigo that no longer insulates; i remember it too was dirty on the inside, so i tried cleaning that one too until it also looked brand new.
not sure what possessed me, but next i tried cleaning my old moka pot. various coffee drinking roommates have used it. the one who used it the most was italian marco, and he was also the one to melt the plastic handle (i don't mind, it gives me fond memories of his stay). eliza was the last person to use it. she discovered it was leaking from the side, the result of a faulty gasket. not sure why i never replaced it, 
but i went online and bought some new ones for $6 (3 gaskets, 1 filter disc, arriving saturday). the hardest part was figuring out which moka pot i had. i thought it was the 1 cup version, but turns out it's the 3 cup, each cup being smaller espresso sizes. i read a wikihow saying to use a cream of tartar paste to polish the aluminum moka. i tried it but i didn't really notice any improvement. i next went with the baking soda slurry which seems to work better, especially on the interior surfaces (i had way more baking soda anyway, compared to the tartar cream). later i read baking soda is too abrasive, and cream of tartar is better because of its high acidity, which can also be used to polish silverware.
i didn't see it, but L2 computer wrote me back after i wrote them 2 messages this week and haven't gotten any response back. they said they were testing my machine to make sure it was actually completely fixed this time (and stable), and would either ship out my MBP end of this week or next week. i was afraid i was getting ripped off and they'd already sold my machine for parts.