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i thought the rainstorm that was forecasted for late yesterday had skipped us completely, but overnight while everyone was asleep, it suddenly started to rain. by the time i got up this morning the rain had stopped, but it was still very dark for some reason.

kevin's returning to china tomorrow, i sent him a farewell message via wechat. i heard he's flying to los angeles first, where he'll spend 3 days getting his covid test, before continuing onwards to xiamen, china, where he'll be quarantined for 2 weeks, before continuing to his home city of taiyuan, where he'll be quarantined for another week, before finally going home.

in the afternoon i went to the huron veterinary hospital on beacon street to pick up hailey's dog medicine. afterwards i went to the nearby walgreens to get some special gum renewal toothpaste that was on sale. that was followed by a stop at market basket on my way back to get some butcher shop half sour pickles.

when i came back home i tried my new toothpaste. it was a choice between the colgate renewal or the crest gum detoxify. i couldn't decide, but went with the colgate because it advertised sensitivity repair. later i compared the two ingredients online, they both contained 0.454% stannous (tin) fluoride as the active ingredient, so they're basically the same toothpaste. stannous fluoride is more potent than the typical sodium fluoride found in regular toothpaste. i read it's 3x more effective in preventing plaque build-up, repairs early stages tooth decay, reduced cavities, and fight gingivitis. i should've been using stannous fluoride a long time ago! as for the colgate renewal, it was a clear blue gel with a minty taste. my teeth felt cleaner afterwards, but i think it was probably just a placebo effect. we'll see how my teeth are after a week of using this special toothpaste.

i finally did finish watching come and see, it wasn't scary at all, not sure what all those horror movie reviewers were talking about. it did show the horrors of war, what anyone who's read history of conquests knows the kind of awful things that happen during wartime.

tteokbokki (떡볶이)
(1 serving)

2 cups water
1/4 tsp hondashi powder
1 clump of dried seaweed

2-1/2 tbsp gochujang paste
1/2 tbsp hot pepper flakes
1/2 tbsp karo dark corn syrup

10 oz. frozen rice cakes
(1/3 2 lbs. package)

7 oz. fried tofu wedges
(half package)

2 scallions, chopped


make broth over medium heat 15 minutes combining water with hondashi and dried seaweed. discard seaweed, add hot pepper paste mixture, along with rice cakes. stir constantly to keep rice cakes from sticking to pan. midway through add tofu wedges. done when liquid reduced to shiny sauce (about 7 minutes). add scallions.

for dinner i made some korean rice cakes, as it was a chilly day, worthy of a hearty and spicy meal. i really just needed to use up some old tofu i had in the fridge, which most likely has gone bad because it tasted a bit sour. i figured maybe i'd have tteokbokki again tomorrow, but i'm all rice caked out. i'm just going to cook some simply ramen tomorrow and throw in the leftover tofu wedges as extra proteins.

i ate while watching the thursday night football game between the giants and the washington football team. it wasn't a marquee matchup but it turned out to be a great game. washington's backup QB taylor heinicke only started because ryan fitzpatrick got injured on sunday. heinicke was also the QB during the playoffs after alex smith got injured, and nearly beat tom brady and the buccaneers. this from a guy who thought his NFL playing days were over and went back to school to get a math degree. heinicke is now one of my favorite QB's, his performance tonight (washington won) will make people wonder if he shouldn't be the starter once fitzpatrick heals up.