today was hot but it wasn't that humid. of course i was wearing black running shorts and a dark-colored t-shirt, which probably made it hotter. i was in no mood to do some light running to loosen up, i only started running when i finally walked down to the river. passing by radcliffe, i saw freshman students moving into their dorms.
coming back from the run, i picked up an unwanted used lodge-brand cast-iron square grill pan. there was a few rust spots but it looked to be in good-shape. these things typically go for $22 online. that's another great reason to run: i've found so many cool things people have tossed out. plant jars, to books, and now a cast-iron pan.
i stopped by the community garden to do some watering. i hadn't been there in over a week, i was due for a visit. i set the cast-iron pan on a fence post and unfurled the hose. that's when i heard somebody talking to me: i didn't even notice dave was in his garden! he wasn't doing any watering (he already did that this morning), just came back to harvest his vegetables. i thanked me for the bitter melon plant i gave him, already harvested a few melons. he was showing me how much the plant had grown where i spotted a very large bitter melon hiding in the trellis. i myself had many ripe vegetables in my garden plot, but because i didn't bring a bag, i couldn't take any of them home. after i finished watering i grabbed my pan and got ready to leave. because it'd been sitting out in the sun for 20 minutes, it'd gotten so hot that i had hot-potato the pan back home, until it got cool enough to carry.
after a shower, i finished the rest of my lemon pound cake for lunch.
i went out again by 1:30pm, this time taking the motorcycle. i went to whole foods to return the magnetic stud finder, then market basket to get some groceries. as the week is already winding down, i didn't get any fresh ingredients (get them next week), instead i picked up some kleenex and basic household supplies. i ran out of unwaxed dental floss but they didn't have any there.
i returned home briefly to drop things off, before riding out again to the watertown target to return the 1.2 qt stanley insulated bottle. in hindsight i should've returned it earlier, because i forgot the college students are back, so the place was packed with kids gathering dorm supplies. the line to return was long, until i realized it was the pickup line; there was another line for returns/exchanges. the people who at the customer service department are not helpful at all, making customers wait longer than usual, disappearing for long stretches at a time. when it was finally my turn, it look something like 15 seconds to process my return, didn't even need my original credit card.
next i went to the mt.auburn star market to get some boneless chicken thighs on sale. today was the last day, and i was using my 4th star market account to get the additional discount.
i went to the cafe to drop off the chicken. they tried the tayama rice cooker a second time using less water, the rice still came out too wet compared to the zojirushi rice cooker. i suggested we return the cooker, but my father already threw out the box, so we have no choice but to keep it. my mother thinks if we use even less water, eventually we'd find the sweet spot for cooking perfect rice.
i left the cafe by 3:30pm and went to the community garden again. this time i had a plastic bag. i watered my plants again while at the same time harvesting the vegetables: 2 pingtung eggplants, bunch of serrano and thai chili peppers, 2 buttercup squashes, a bunch of tomatoes, and about a dozen dried long bean pods.
when i returned home, i bumped into a neighbor who chatted me up about motorcycles. we finally introduced each other, i see leon all the time and wave but i never knew his name. he said he saw me earlier taking off on my motorcycle and he said it looked so cool. he wants to get a motorcycle too - he used to ride (unlicensed) when he was younger - but also realizes they're really dangerous. he also told me the two times he's been hit by cars just riding in the neighborhood. just a month and a half ago he was involved in a hit-and-run where he was knocked unconscious and the driver drove off. another time a car bumped into him and the driver called him the n-word then ran over his bike. given his bad luck with bicycles, i worry if he were to get a motorcycle. "at least i'd be able to chase them down," he told me.
back in the house, i watered my outdoor potted plants on the backyard deck (umbrella plants, pileas, prayer plants) before taking my soaking leca and rinsing them off one last time.
for dinner i reheated the chicken broth my mother gave me yesterday. once it came to a boil, i added some thin korean noodles. to finish it off, i added chopped scallions, some pickled radishes, and a dash of hot sichuan chili oil.
jeff contacted me via text. he said he's out of town, and that michele twisted her ankle yesterday. because she can't walk, she's been letting jackson go to the bathroom in the backyard. i actually saw a video yesterday of her hobbling out of a car with one shoe on, so i had a feeling she maybe injured herself. and because i haven't seen her walking her dog, i knew something was up, but didn't realize she was using the backyard as a dog bathroom. anyway, jeff returns on saturday, and said he'd pick up any dog poop.
i continued updating some old blog postings. i managed to clear up another 15GB worth of storage space after erasing some used photos. there are still 42 postings i need to populate with photos. if i do just 10 every night, i can be done with it by this weekend.