after a blueberry muffin for lunch, i biked down to haymarket around noontime. it was my first time riding the bike after i fixed the brakes yesterday, excellent stopping power, almost too good, and i had to get used to not pulling back the brake lever all the way down so i wouldn't suddenly stop and launch myself off the bike. there wasn't a lot of variety at haymarket, just the boring usual. my haul: 2 lbs. of longhorn peppers ($2), 1 lbs. bag of red sweet peppers ($1), 2 bags of clementine oranges ($3), 1 bag of small honeycrisp apples ($1), 2 english cucumbers ($1.50), stick of garlic ($1), and 3 bags of moon drop grapes ($5).
i biked to the cafe to drop off my haul, returning home shortly after. after using the bathroom, i got ready to go out again, this time down to harvard square to see the annual hasty pudding parade. 2020 woman of the year is massachusetts-native elizabeth banks. i have a special affinity for elizabeth banks because we nearly have the same birthdays: hers is just 2 days earlier than mine.
the hasty pudding parade goes by pretty quickly. it gives simple folks like us a chance to see a celebrity. i arrived at 2:40pm, figuring i could use the extra time to use some of that unlimited data on my phone, but i'm so not used to using my tiny iphone 5s for anything other than texting/calling/gps, it had a hard time doing anything else. both my mother and i use hand-me-down iphone 5s', but we really should get a phone upgrade, those 4" screens hurt the eyes. i kind of like the google pixel 3a because supposedly it has an excellent camera (with AI assistance).
after the parade was over, i biked down to the allston trader joe's to look for some peruvian inca corn. just like last time, they didn't have any. seems like the only place that does carry them is the memorial drive trader joe's. i left with some consolation snacks, some spicy jerk plantain chips and some asian rice crackers.
kevin came home at 4pm, while i was in the bathroom. he jiggled the handle, even though he knew i was home (since my key was in the door lock). when i came out i saw him in the kitchen doing a load of laundry. he even washed his bedsheets, maybe to make up for the fact that he really didn't have too many clothes to wash. he went into the bathroom almost immediately after i got out, didn't bother waiting for the smell to dissipate or the seat to turn cold.
kevin basically barricaded himself in his bedroom. sometimes he leaves the door open, today it was closed. around 9pm i heard him in the kitchen making dinner. did he also make some lunch to take to the office tomorrow on a saturday? who knows.
today we had some promising production with another sunny day that turned overcast by late afternoon. no damage was done however as we had generated most of our electricity by that point anyway, and ended the day with 30.57kWh, breaking the 30kWh+ barrier yet again.
that means january 2020 we not only the best january of all times in terms of production, but this month we also beat the months of october-november-december in overall production. 2020 is starting on a very auspicious note solar-wise.
trump loves his travel ban: his latest is banning anyone traveling from china, which pretty much bans most chinese from entering the country. only citizens and permanent residents are allowed back, and they must disembark at one of 7 designated screening airports (unfortunately boston isn't one of them). those from hubei will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine, while anyone else will have to follow a 14-day self-imposed quarantine at home. several american airlines have also suspended flights to and from china. american and united will stop flying to china until march 28th, while delta will suspend china service for 3 months until april 30.
the senate tonight voted on whether to call witnesses in the impeachment trial. we already knew since yesterday when retiring republican senator lamar alexander said he wouldn't vote for witnesses that democrats wouldn't have the votes it needed. there was still hope for a tie, in which case judge robert might make the deciding choice. but just today alaskan senator lisa murkowski said she wasn't going to vote yes either, which meant republicans already had the necessary 51-votes to deny the motion. when the vote finally came down, i was surprised that utah republican senator mitt romney and maine republican senator susan collins both votes yes. collins is fighting for her job, but chances are she's out of work come next year, as maine becomes increasing liberal and have tired of collins. of the republican senators, only romney had the political courage and moral value to vote for witnesses. let's see how both romney and collins vote when it comes to the actual removal verdict which i hear is scheduled for next wednesday.
for dinner i heated up some more spicy mexican chicken soup. i still have one serving left but i'm already sick of it, simply ate it because i didn't want it to spoil. i also had some moon drop grapes, which turned out to be pretty sour, not sweet at all, i got some bad luck buying some many bags of it.
around 1am i went to the kitchen. kevin was already asleep judging from the lack of lights in his bedroom. in the kitchen, a stack of dishes piled up in the sink and unwashed pots on the stove. i washed the kitchen knife, as i like to keep it clean and dry, along with the cutting board. the rest i left to soak. kevin must've heard me because minutes later i heard noises in the kitchen as he woke up to do the dishes.