my father took my mother and 2nd aunt this morning to the arlington CVS (883 mass ave) to get their first covid-19 test. my aunt was scheduled for 10am, my mother 10:40am, but they were allowed to get tested at the same time. it was supposed to be a drive-through, but they went inside the store where a pharmacist gave them a self-testing swab so they could take a nose culture and send it to the lab. my 2nd aunt was very nervous because she was afraid it was going to be one of those brain ticklers (do they still do that anymore?).

after dropping off my aunt back at her apartment, my parents came to pick me up around 10:30am for a boston supply run. first stop was ming's market. next we went to baifu. i was afraid there'd be massive traffic because of the st.patrick's day parade nearby, but so long as we didn't cut across south boston, we were safe. we saw streams of people wearing green heading to the parade route. this was probably the closest i've ever come to attending a st.patrick's day parade. some of the things we wanted to get at baifu were no longer in stock, so we played a game of what can be substitute instead. the side of baifu facing atkinson street was chain locked, since that's where methadone mile is. the tents are all gone, but the drug users are still there.

my parents dropped me off at my place at 12:30pm before they went to the cafe to drop off the supplies. since my mother and aunt have a second covid-19 test at the CIC clinic in kendall square at 2pm, my parents had a quick lunch at the cafe before picking up my aunt around 1:30pm and going out for their second coronavirus test.

as for me, i used the bathroom and took a shower, moseyed a bit at home, before biking to belmont by 1:40pm. temperature today was in the upper 50's but didn't feel that warm because of the clouds and strong winds. my chain skipping issue whenever i go up a hill has gotten worse, i'll need to get it fixed soon because riding is becoming a real chore. my parents returned home soon after i arrived.

today is actually the first day of spring. looking into the backyard, most of my garlic beds have sprouted; that wasn't the case last weekend, the last time i checked, must've been all that warm weather. monkshood have also emerged, i'm hoping this will be a good year for them after i fertilized the perennial beds last fall. rows of daffodils are also emerging, no flowers yet but just a matter of time.

my mother's cheap $10 crochet set arrived today. she tried them out briefly but didn't like the feel of them and decided to return them. last night i also ordered a set of clover crochet hooks for $50, due to arrive tomorrow. my mother said she'll probably return those as well since she'll probably order a set of tulip hooks when she gets back from taiwan in 2 months, but i told her she could try out the clover set, see how they compare to the cheap set.

in the late afternoon my mother and i went out for a walk. because it was already 4pm, she had to get back by 5pm to make dinner, so we didn't go far, just a loop around the reservoir. i brought my dSLR with the telephoto lens in case i spotted some interesting birds, but other than a turkey vulture circling the thermals, there wasn't much else to see.

my torso injury from last weekend hasn't gotten better. i feel like maybe i cracked a rib. it doesn't hurt when i breathe, but when press down anywhere near the left side of my body, it hurts. i've found out a while back that i have a high pain tolerance, so i can't be sure if the pain i'm feeling is mild or severe. crack ribs will eventually heal on their own, at least 6 weeks.

for dinner i thought we were having hot pot but my parents cooked up a big pot of chinese sauerkraut stew on the stove and we served it like that instead. my sister showed up as well, thinking there was hot pot.

i emptied all the photos on my mother's phone so she'd have plenty of space to take photos and shoot videos. she has a 128GB memory card on her phone, i think that'll be plenty of storage. i also taught her how to leave voice messages and answer video chat calls.

i left for cambridge around 8pm. the pressure from my backpack was aggravating my rib injury, and i rode home with this dull pain on my left side.

i order some seeds tonight: chinese celery ($2) and baby bok choy ($3) from amazon, japanese minowase daikon radish ($2.75) from rareseeds. this time last year i'd already planted a bunch of seeds indoors. i can't remember if i started too early or too late. because i'll be using a heat mat, it'll cut my germination time down to just a few days instead of weeks, so i can afford to start my indoor seeds a little bit later compared to last season.