another day wasted because the census still hasn't fixed my training situation. counting orientation day on tuesday, it's been 3 days and they still haven't resolved the issue. i called my supervisor, who called her boss, who told her they were going to escalate the matter, whatever that means. at this rate everyone will be done with their training and going out and working while i'm still waiting for my online training courses to show up in my account. on a positive note, my supervisor told me i could add 2 hours to my training yesterday because of all the time i spent checking to see if they'd fixed the issue yet. i even asked my supervisor today if there was anything i could do, like call some census IT person directly to bug them about the fix. this all feels very familiar, all my years having to deal with comcast to get my internet and cable fixed is prepared me for this day.

i went down to the community garden this morning: not to water but to pick some ripe cherry tomatoes and shishito pepper i saw when i came a few days ago. the air was already soupy, quite uncomfortable to be outside. i thought i was the only person crazy enough to be in the garden but there was one other gardener. after i picked my tomatoes and pepper i quickly returned home.

while channel surfing, my attention was diverted to days of our lives. normally i'd never watch soap operas, but there was a wedding, and the bride's breasts were almost bursting out of her dress. then there was an explosion in the church and the groom disappeared under some falling rubble while everyone else seemed to be okay. tall about your drama!

i went with my sister in the afternoon to wellington circle plaza to use a 15% off coupon at pet supplies plus (today was the last day) before going grocery shopping at aldi's. i was looking for fish food at the pet shop but a quarter ounce of flakes cost $4, and i can buy 2 ounces for the same amount online. i also looked at activated carbon, but it too was more expensive than online prices, even with the coupon. instead my sister bought mostly treats for hailey along with a $100+ 25 lbs. bag of dog food. she was surprised how much money she saved, thought maybe they had a scanning error.

at aldi's we bought $150 worth of groceries. i bought a box of cherries for $6 but when i came home and tried them, they were either bland or sour, total waste of money. leaving aldi's, the air was oppressively humid and hot, the sky overhead dense with storm clouds.

the thunderstorms didn't start until 4pm. it was the kind where the sky turns dark and suddenly there's a hissing sound outside as the rain comes down in sheets. i'd already covered the motorcycle, the rain from last night more than enough to wash the bike. it was torrential at times, but i was afraid it might be too fast too much, which meant the rain barrels wouldn't have enough time to fill all the barrels before the rain water would come out of the overflow.

in the early evening when my parents returned home from the cafe and when the rain had stopped, my father sent me a photo of the rain barrel water level gauge. he sent one this morning, even after all the rain we got last night, the barrels were only half filled. in his latest photo, the barrels were still not to capacity, about 6" less from maximum filled. i can't complain too much since rain and rain, and some is better than nothing, which is what we've been experiencing for a while. long range forecast shows the potential for a few days of rain next week, so as long as we have a normal weekly rain schedule, the barrels can be used.

when i went to go order the fish food on amazon, i realized the cheap price was because there was a minimum quantity of 2. with a minimum the price wasn't that cheap after all and i regret not buying the fish flakes at the pet store, even if it was more expensive. thing is, a small 0.22 container of fish flakes i can use for about a year since the fish don't eat very much, i only need a very small amount, not the ounces that amazon wants me to order. i'll check the fresh pond petsmart to see if they got any fish food, otherwise i'll have to return to pet supplies plus to get what i need. i did order the activated carbon on amazon though, it should arrive by saturday.

as if there wasn't enough things to worry about in the garden, from the critters to the bugs to the diseases, today i learned of a new menace: jumping worms. never heard of them, but apparently they're taking over north america. it made me realize that maybe the worms i encountered in RB4 when i was digging out the garlics were actually jumping worms. 2 things that make me believe that: when i would accidentally touch a worm, they felt hard and would surprise me by quickly slithering away. i thought that was a typical worm-like thing to do, but now i wonder if their aggressive escape response might mean they're actually jumping worms. secondly, the soil underneath all that salt marsh grass does resemble coffee grounds. when i first saw it i thought it was a going them, because it means there's a lot of worms in RB4. but now i realize that maybe it means there's a jumping worm infestation and it destroyed all the nutrients in that bed, causing the garlics to be stunted when they were doing so well up until june. i just attributed it to the lack of watering but maybe the jumping worms are to blame. this weekend i plan on digging up portions of RB4 and inspecting the soil to determine whether or not i do have jumping worms. the robins will be very happy if that's the case.

for lunch i finished the last of my bagels (been in the house for months, i'm surprised it hasn't turned into a rock or grown moldy) with a piece of grilled chicken from last night slathered with some honey mustard sauce. for dinner i made the last of my chicken caesar salad. it wasn't that good, the cold chicken tasted a little undercooked (just my imagination), the romaine lettuce tasted raw (because it was). fortunately i got some pasta salad from aldi's which i'll have for dinner tomorrow. or maybe i'll have that for lunch and eat the rest of my biang biang noodles for dinner. whatever the case, let's just hope the census gets its act together and i can finally start my training. tomorrow's already friday!